What if the thoughts you never challenge quietly become the life you live?

In this deeply soulful episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri R. Broussard sits down with acclaimed actress, author and Inner Fitness pioneer Tina Lifford for a conversation about the relationship we spend our entire lives inside: the one we have with ourselves.

Known to millions for her work on Queen Sugar and a career spanning more than 100 television and film characters, Tina's work today reaches far beyond the screen. Through The Inner Fitness Project, she is helping people strengthen their inner lives with the same intention we bring to strengthening our bodies, careers and relationships.

Tina shares the unforgettable story of her godmother, Aunt Pang, a magnetic and beautiful woman whose life was ultimately shaped by a painful belief she had absorbed about herself. Her story opens a larger conversation about the "lies" we inherit, how our thoughts become reality when left unchallenged, and why knowing that we are inherently whole, purposeful and worthy can change the way we experience our lives.

Terri and Tina also explore Tina's framework of the surviving self, thriving self and infinite self, and why healing does not require rejecting the parts of ourselves that once protected us.

The conversation becomes deeply personal as Terri shares what her recent back pain has revealed about years of prioritizing work over her body and herself. Tina responds with a remarkable story about an ankle injury she carried for decades until one unexpected act of acknowledgment changed her relationship with the pain.

This isn't a conversation about fixing yourself.

It is an invitation to remember yourself.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT

• Why Tina describes herself as an "old soul"

• Being different and learning to see difference as a gift

• Why every person is inherently whole, purposeful and worthy

• The "big lies" we absorb about ourselves

• Tina's powerful story of Aunt Pang and the consequences of believing someone else's definition of you

• Why principles only transform us when they become actions

• How an uninterrupted thought can become our reality

• The difference between the surviving, thriving and infinite selves

• Why Tina doesn't believe we need to destroy or reject our "shadow" selves

• What physical pain can reveal about emotional experiences we have never acknowledged

• Terri's realization about the relationship between her back pain, work and rest

• Why inner fitness can be trained just like physical fitness

• A simple question Tina recommends using to interrupt an unwanted thought

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You are inherently whole, purposeful and worthy. Your experiences may make you forget that truth, but they do not erase it.

A thought uninterrupted can become reality. When an old belief appears, you have the ability to interrupt it, question it and create space for something truer.

Your surviving self is not your enemy. It helped you navigate what came before. Growth means learning to support that part of yourself while strengthening the part that can imagine something new.

Acknowledgment can be healing. Sometimes what a wounded part of us needs most is not to be overcome, analyzed or ignored. It needs to finally be seen.

Inner fitness is trainable. We deliberately exercise our bodies and educate our minds. Tina believes we can bring the same practice and discipline to our inner lives.

ABOUT TINA LIFFORD

Tina Lifford is an acclaimed actress, author and the founder of The Inner Fitness Project. Across a career spanning decades, she has portrayed more than 100 characters on television and film and is beloved by audiences for roles including Violet Bordelon on Queen Sugar.

Her work beyond the screen focuses on helping people build their Inner Fitness, strengthening their capacity to understand themselves, trust themselves and navigate life with greater wisdom.

She is the author of The Little Book of Big Lies and creator of Inner Fitness practices and tools designed to help people live well from the inside out.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Tina Lifford and The Inner Fitness Project

• The Little Book of Big Lies

• Tina's Inner Fitness practices

• Self 365: Inner Fitness in a Box

• Tina's "Dream" video on YouTube

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What happens when life asks you to surrender everything you thought you could control?

In this deeply moving conversation, Terri Broussard sits down with healthcare communicator and patient advocate Erica Olenski to explore the extraordinary lessons born from caregiving, grief, healing, and purpose. After her infant son, August, was diagnosed with brain cancer, Erica's world shifted from career ambitions and carefully crafted plans to a profound journey of presence, resilience, and spiritual awakening.

Rather than allowing tragedy to define her family, Erica discovered that August wasn't simply someone to be healed, he was a teacher whose life transformed everyone fortunate enough to know him. Together, Terri and Erica reflect on trusting intuition, navigating life's biggest transitions, recognizing signs from loved ones, and finding the courage to become who you were always meant to be.

This conversation is ultimately about remembering that healing is not something we arrive at. It is a way of living.

• Why caregiving became Erica's greatest leadership education

• How one diagnosis transformed every aspect of her life

• The surprising connection between healthcare and spirituality

• What it means to become a steward instead of trying to control outcomes

• How to trust your inner knowing, even when it contradicts conventional wisdom

• The role intuition plays in healing

• Why grief can become one of our greatest teachers

• How loved ones continue communicating after death

• Why believing in yourself is often the most spiritual act you can take

• How life's hardest seasons often reveal our deepest purpose

Erica Olenski is a healthcare communications strategist, patient advocate, entrepreneur, and transformational storyteller whose life was forever changed when her infant son, August, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Through years of caregiving, advocacy, and profound personal loss, Erica has become a compassionate voice helping others navigate healing, resilience, and purpose with authenticity and grace.

Roots+Rebirth™ explores the moments that transform us. Through honest conversations with leaders, authors, healers, innovators, and changemakers, host Terri Broussard uncovers the experiences that shape who we become and the wisdom we gain when we embrace both our roots and our rebirth.

What if the healing you've been searching for is already inside of you?

In this deeply personal and expansive episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri R. Broussard sits down with healer, teacher, and founder of Good Energy Heals, Sheryl Netzky, for a conversation about intuition, emotional healing, grief, embodiment, spirituality, and returning home to yourself. Terri shares how Sheryl's work helped transform her own life during one of its most difficult seasons, navigating a concussion recovery, burnout, grief, identity shifts, and the unraveling of a marriage.

Together, they explore the whispers we ignore, the cost of disconnection, and the profound healing available when we learn to listen inward. Sheryl explains how her journey began with meditation and stress physiology at age 14, evolved through decades in education and yoga, and ultimately expanded into shamanic energy work focused on helping people restore balance physically, emotionally, spiritually, energetically.

This conversation is both grounding and expansive. It is for anyone who has ever felt disconnected from themselves, overwhelmed by life, grieving deeply, or quietly sensing that there is another way forward.

What We Talk About

• How stress and thoughts affect the body physically
• The connection between stillness, intuition, and healing
• Why high achievers often disconnect from themselves
• Teaching, energy sensing, and embodied awareness

Where to Find Sheryl and Terri:

Website: https://www.goodenergyheals.com/

Instagram: @sherylnetzky

Facebook: Sheryl Netzky

LinkedIn: Sheryl Netzky

Instagram: @TerriRBroussard @rootsandrebirthpodcast

In this episode of Roots and Rebirth, Jason G. Green joins Terri R. Broussard for a deeply personal conversation about family, purpose, identity, and the power of community. Jason reflects on his journey from working in the Obama White House to rediscovering his roots through the stories of his grandmother and the historic Black community of Quince Orchard, Maryland.

Together, they explore the inspiration behind his bestselling memoir, Too Precious to Lose, and discuss what it means to preserve generational stories, embrace belonging, and build stronger, more compassionate communities in today's world. The conversation also touches on grief, legacy, faith, ancestry, and the moments in life that quietly redirect us toward who we are truly meant to become.

Connect with Jason Green:

• Instagram: @jasongerardgreen
• Book: Too Precious to Lose: A Memoir of Family, Community, and Possibility

Too Precious to Lose explores the power of family legacy, community, identity, and the stories that shape who we become.

Follow and Connect with Terri! @terrirbroussard

Follow Roots+Rebirth! @rootsandrebirthpodcast

#RootsAndRebirth #Podcast #JasonGerardGreen #TooPreciousToLose #Community #FamilyLegacy #Storytelling #GenerationalWisdom #Ancestry #Identity #Belonging #Purpose #PersonalGrowth #Healing #Faith #Leadership #CommunityBuilding #Memoir #BlackHistory #FamilyHistory #Transformation #TerriBroussardWilliams #SelfDiscovery #Connection #MeaningfulConversations

In this powerful episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri R. Broussard sits down with executive leader, speaker, and advocate Melissa Akie Wiley for a transformative conversation about disability, identity, beauty, trauma, and belonging.

Melissa shares the life-changing story of surviving a devastating dog attack at five years old that left her facially disfigured and launched her into decades of reconstructive surgeries. Together, Terri and Melissa unpack the hidden ways society ties women's worth to physical appearance and how childhood stories, media, and cultural narratives shape the way we see ourselves and others.

Melissa also discusses the mission behind her organization, Forget the Fairy Tale, and how she is helping schools, workplaces, and families redefine beauty, empathy, and inclusion.

This episode is a profound invitation to rethink how we define beauty, worthiness, and what it truly means to belong.

• Disability, facial disfigurement, and belonging

• Childhood trauma and resilience

• Beauty standards and the social conditioning of girls

• Identity formation through hardship

• Rewriting harmful narratives around appearance

• Parenting with empathy and inclusion

• Emotional intelligence and human dignity

• Finding worth beyond physical appearance

• Healing through acceptance instead of perfection

• Expanding society's definition of beauty

• Familiarity reduces fear and increases empathy

• Children internalize how the world treats them

• Hardship is not a reflection of intelligence or potential

• Women's worth is often unfairly tied to appearance

• Beauty standards shape how girls see themselves early in life

• Acceptance can be more powerful than perfection

• Children should be taught to recognize inner beauty and emotional safety

• Difference exists everywhere in nature and humanity

• We cannot change what we refuse to confront honestly

• A meaningful life is built through authenticity, not external approval

Website: https://melissaakiewiley.com/ Speaking and workshops focused on disability inclusion, belonging, empathy, and redefining beauty standards

In this episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri sits down with psychic medium and spiritual coach Snowy Rodeo for a deeply personal and expansive conversation about intuition, lineage, grief, and purpose. Snowy shares how her gifts emerged in childhood, how they were shaped by both Catholic faith and a Cuban lineage of healers, and how she ultimately reclaimed her calling after stepping away to build a successful career in fashion.

This conversation explores what it means to trust your inner knowing, navigate grief while staying connected to loved ones in spirit, and build a life aligned with purpose even when the path is not easy or understood by others.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Roots in lineage, spirituality, and early intuitive gifts
• Rebirth through career loss and reclaiming purpose
• Balancing religion and spirituality through faith
• Grief as connection rather than separation
• The emotional responsibility of spiritual work
• Intuition as a skill everyone can access and strengthen
• Love, alignment, and trusting divine timing

Key Takeaways:

• Intuition is not something you gain, it is something you remember
• Spiritual gifts often require courage to fully claim
• Grief can deepen connection rather than end it
• Alignment requires boundaries and energy management
• Purpose is revealed through both loss and trust

Notable Moments:

• Snowy's first spiritual experience at age four
• Learning tarot at nine and keeping the same deck for decades
• Leaving a high-level fashion career and returning to her calling
• Helping families during a tragic flood and navigating emotional impact
• Meeting her husband through her mother's intuitive guidance
• Receiving a spiritual sign from her mother on her wedding day

Where to Find Snowy Instagram: @snowyrodeotarot

Services: Tarot readings, yoga, sound healing, retreats, and classes

Follow and connect with Terri @terrirbroussard & follow Roots+Rebirth! @rootsandrebirthpodcast

Grief isn't something that simply happens to us—it's something we actively move through.

In this deeply meaningful conversation, Terri sits down with renowned grief scholar Thomas Attig to explore a transformative perspective on loss, love, and what it truly means to heal.

Drawing from over 40 years of research and teaching, Thomas challenges the traditional idea that grief is passive or something we "get over." Instead, he reframes grief as a process of relearning how to live in a world that has been profoundly changed .

Together, they unpack:

• Why the concept of "closure" doesn't hold up when it comes to love
• The shift from loving someone in presence to loving them in absence
• How our relationships continue to shape us—even after loss
• The role of soul, spirit, and connection in navigating grief
• Why you are more equipped to handle grief than you may believe

Terri also shares personal reflections on losing her father and grandmother, offering a vulnerable look into how grief can open the door to deeper connection, awareness, and even spiritual growth.

This episode is both grounding and expansive—a reminder that while loss changes everything, it doesn't end the relationship. It transforms it.

If you've ever been told to "move on" or "find closure," this conversation offers a different path—one rooted in connection, meaning, and the evolution of love.

🎧 Listen now and discover how grief can become an invitation to live, love, and carry forward what matters most.

What happens when life doesn't go according to plan—and you realize it was never meant to?

In this powerful episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri R. Broussard sits down with resilience expert, author, and speaker Courtney Clark to explore what it really means to navigate life's unexpected turns with courage, clarity, and ownership.

Courtney shares her deeply personal journey—from surviving a life-altering traumatic event to rebuilding her identity, redefining resilience, and choosing to live with intention instead of fear. This conversation is not about bouncing back. It's about moving forward with truth, agency, and grace.

Together, Terri and Courtney unpack how resilience isn't something we're born with—it's something we build. And sometimes, the most powerful rebirth comes from the moments we never asked for.

This episode is a call to reclaim your narrative, honor your growth, and lead your life from a place of deep alignment.

• Courtney's personal story of trauma and survival
• The difference between "bouncing back" and moving forward
• How to redefine resilience on your own terms
• Letting go of the life you planned to embrace the life you have
• The role of mindset in navigating adversity
• How to take ownership of your story without minimizing your pain
• Leading with authenticity after life-changing experiences
• Why resilience is a practice, not a destination

• Resilience is not about returning to who you were—it's about becoming who you are now
• You don't have to minimize your pain to move forward with power
• Your story is yours to own, rewrite, and reclaim
• Unexpected moments can become defining turning points for growth
• Healing and leadership often happen at the same time
• You can choose meaning, even when you didn't choose the moment

Website: https://courtneyclark.com/

Instagram: @courtney_l_clark

Website: https://terribroussard.com/

Instagram: @terrirbroussard & @rootsandrebirthpodcast

In this episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri R. Broussard sits down with one of her oldest Austin friends, Stacy Armijo, a senior banking executive who made a bold pivot after a 17 year career in marketing. This conversation centers on a feeling many people quietly carry. Everything looks fine. The career works. The life works. But something does not feel right.

Stacy shares how she navigated that internal disconnect, from leaving a long held identity to stepping into an entirely new industry, all while facing a life changing health diagnosis and redefining what fulfillment truly means. This episode is about clarity, courage, and choosing yourself even when there is no obvious reason to leave.

What We Talk About:

• Stacy's journey from PR executive to banking leader
• What it feels like to leave a long held identity
• Why your real skill is not your title, it is your ability to learn
• Navigating a breast cancer diagnosis and reclaiming agency
• Making life decisions when everything is "fine" but not aligned
• How to think about family when making difficult decisions
• The difference between fear based decisions and faith led ones
• Why honoring your needs changes everything.

Key Takeaways:

• You are not your title, you are the constant across every environment
• Clarity often comes slowly, not through one defining moment
• Hard decisions are not always about escaping something bad
• Choosing a new future does not mean your past was wrong
• If you do not honor your needs, they will surface anyway.

Follow & Connect with Stacy!

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In this episode of Roots+Rebirth™, Terri R. Broussard sits down with Eastern medicine practitioner Dr. Alyse Snyder to explore the powerful connection between energy, intuition, and healing. From her roots in North Carolina to becoming a trusted guide in acupuncture, Reiki, and energetic medicine, Alyse shares how frequency, presence, and listening to the body can transform the way we live and heal. This conversation is a reminder that the medicine we seek often lives within us.

Key Takeaway:

Your body is constantly communicating with you.

What we often interpret as stress, pain, or imbalance can be signals asking us to slow down, listen, and reconnect with the deeper wisdom already within us.

Healing begins when we stop searching outside ourselves and begin trusting the energy and intuition we already carry.

Connect with Dr. Alyse Snyder

Follow Dr. Alyse on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dr.alyse

Website: www.dralysesnyder.com

Dr. Alyse offers acupuncture, Reiki, sound healing training, retreats, and virtual sessions for clients around the world.

Follow us on Instagram: @terrirbroussard @rootsandrebirthpodcast

Website: movementmakercollective.com