In this week’s Best Of episode of The Step Stories podcast, Robin sits down with Cameron Normand, CEO of Stepfamily Solutions and host of the Stepmom Diaries podcast. Cameron shares how she shifted from a 23-year career as a lawyer and policy executive on Capitol Hill and for Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures into stepfamily coaching after becoming a stepmom of four in a high-conflict situation and struggling to find resources. They discuss why stepfamilies are underserved, how untrained guidance can harm families, and Cameron’s Step Family Coach Academy built around research and Dr. Patricia Papernow’s framework. Cameron highlights common challenges like the “stuck outsider” role, Mother’s Day and event dynamics, the importance of encouraging parent–child one-on-one time, and key advice for stepparents: focus on connection over correction and be less hard on yourself.

2026 Stepmoms Summit Affiliate Link

Cameron Normand

Email:  [email protected]

Website: https://stepfamilysolutions.com/contributors/cameron-normand/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/stepfamilysolutions

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/stepfamilysolutions

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stepfamily-solutions/

Podcast: Stepmom Diaries 

TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@stepfamilysolutions

Pintrest : https://ro.pinterest.com/stepfamilysolutions/

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast

YouTube

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Host Robin Breuner welcomes Michael Vinton—comedian, actor, nonprofit director, and host of Unspoken Grief—to this week’s episode of the Step Stories Podcast to talk about building a blended family through adoption and fostering. Michael shares how he and his husband Tony pursued private open adoption in 2015–2016, including meeting their first daughter Zanna’s birth parents, and explains challenges for same-sex adoptive parents across different state laws. He contrasts fostering—where reunification is the goal—with adoption, describing multiple heartbreaking foster placements that returned home. Michael recounts how their second daughter, Sabrina, came to them via safe surrender after a NICU stay, adding a biracial dynamic to their family. He also discusses losing his brother in a murder-suicide, founding Impacted Survivors of Murder Suicide, and using Unspoken Grief to provide education, resources, and support groups, ending with advice on patience, openness, and acceptance in blended families.

Michael Vinton:

Email:            [email protected] 

Website:        www.michaelvinton.com 

                       http://www.impactedsurvivors.org

Podcast:        Unspoken Grief 

IG:                  @therealmichaelvinton

FB:                 Michael Vinton

Linkedin:       m/ichael-vinton-6702a373

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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On this week’s episode of the Step Stories Podcast, Host Robin Breuner shares a curated set of powerful clips from a few memorable guests from the show’s first 3 seasons. Christina Nelson (Radical Stepmoms) describes the conditional, often excluded experience of stepmothers—especially around Mother’s Day and family milestones—and how misunderstandings between stepmoms and stepkids can escalate without honest communication. Author Hope Edelman advises widowed fathers to wait at least a year (ideally two) before serious dating or remarriage, to support children through “firsts,” while also noting the risks of never moving forward. Barbara Sabido discusses fostering, attachment, and how fathers may struggle most with saying goodbye. Robin closes with insights from her daughter Natalie about compounded grief, anxiety, and the long, messy journey of blended-family life.

Hope Edelman

Email:    [email protected]

Website: www.hopeedelman.com

         www.motherlessdaughters.com

Instagram: @hope_edelman

Facebook: hopeedelmanauthor

Christina Nelson

Email:            radicalstepmomspodcast

Website:        radicalstepmomspodcast.com

Instagram:     IG/radicalstepmomspodcast

Barbara Sabido                              

Website:        apParent Love

Facebook:     @bsabido

Linkedin :      Barbara Sabido

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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In this episode of the Step Stories podcast, host Robin Breuner interviews author and memoirist Reema Zaman (I Am Yours) about divorce, blended families, and how childhood family dynamics shape adult relationships. Zaman, originally from Bangladesh and raised in Thailand, shares her perspective as the oldest child of her parents’ arranged marriage, what she witnessed in an unhealthy home, and how her mother’s quiet deference changed after leaving the marriage. She discusses how the divorce affected siblings differently, the “tax” divorce can bring, and why she still advocates for divorce when a marriage is unhealthy. Reema also describes her mother’s rapid, loving remarriage, her bond with her stepfather (whom she calls Dad), and her ongoing journey of healing, belonging, and reclaiming her voice through writing.

Reema Zaman:

Email:           [email protected]

Website:        http://www.reemazaman.com/

Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/reemazaman

Youtube:        Reeman Zaman Ted X 

BSSP book :           I Am Yours

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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In this week’s Best Of episode of The Step Stories Podcast, host Robin Breuner sits down with Greg Eskridge, whom she met through Diane Kahn’s Humans of San Quentin. Greg describes being raised by a single mother who moved from Memphis to Southern California, later enduring severe abuse from his mother’s partner, running away at age 10, and cycling through 15–20 foster and boys’ homes while surviving unhoused. He recounts the fight outside a Shakey’s Pizza that led him, at 20, to fatally shoot someone, for which he received 58 years to life plus two life terms. After decades at San Quentin, Greg explains his deep remorse, his rehabilitation in prison, a recall of sentence after laws changed, and his current work as co-director of the Uncuffed radio program amplifying incarcerated people’s stories.

Greg Eskridge

Email:   [email protected]

Website: KALW

Instagram:     We.Are.Uncuffed

Facebook:     Uncuffed

Linkedin:       Greg Eskridge

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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On this week’s episode of the Step Stories podcast, host Robin Breuner talks with writer and stand-up comedian Laura House about step-parenting older teenagers and navigating blended-family dynamics with authenticity. Laura explains why you can’t force connection, how she approached her stepkids (then 18 and 19) by giving them space and aiming to be a “safe adult” rather than a controlling authority, and how a health crisis—her partner Brian’s emergency triple bypass—deepened family bonds. She also shares her adoption story: knowing she was adopted early, searching for her birth mother through sealed and redacted records, feeling rejected after failed contact attempts, and ultimately connecting via 23andMe with a half-brother who introduced her to her birth family, including a grandmother who had prayed for her each birthday, leading to a new understanding of nature, nurture, and family.

Laura House:

Email: [email protected] 

Website:       http://laurahouse.com

Facebook:    FB/imlaurak

Instagram:    IG/imlaurahouse

Youtube:       @imlaurahouse

Linkedin:      in/laura-house88       

Substack:     substack/@laurahouse      

Publications:         LA Times article

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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On this week’s episode of the Step Stories Podcast, Host Robin Bruener welcomes South Africa–based animal expert and pet custody mediator Karis Nafte, author of “Who Keeps the Dog: Navigating Pet Custody During Divorce,” to discuss how pets are often overlooked in divorce and blended-family transitions. Nafte explains that sharing a dog between two homes may not work because frequent moves can stress dogs, and custody decisions should prioritize what’s best for the animal based on practical realities like housing, schedules, and the dog’s needs. She shares strategies and stories about integrating pets into new households—slow introductions, scent swapping, walking dogs together, and careful dog-cat integration—plus cases where rehoming was the healthiest choice. They also cover introducing dogs to newborns, managing pets with kids, choosing appropriate breeds, and not taking dog behavior personally.

Karis Nafte

Email:  [email protected]

Instagram:     iIG/whokeepsthedog

Website:        www.whokeepsthedog.com

Book:             Who Keeps the Dog:

Navigating Pet Custody During Divorce

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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On this week’s episode of the Step Stories podcast, Host Robin Breuner interviews Lanee Blaise, an executive producer of film and TV projects and co-writer of the family-friendly drama Blended, about friends becoming family after a tragedy. Lanee shares her own blended-family experience: her parents divorced when she was four, both remarried within a year, and all four parents worked cooperatively, including managing long-distance visits and holiday travel. She describes gaining multiple step- and half-siblings, often taking on caregiving responsibilities, and how her upbringing shaped her parenting and nearly 30-year marriage. Lanee emphasizes that time, forgiveness, and consistent age-appropriate conversations with children can reduce stress and help families “blend it for the best,” even through moves, loss, and change.

Lanée Blaise

Email:   [email protected]       

Instagram:     IG/blaisetalks

Linkedin:       IN/laneeblaise   

Podcast:        www.imagineyourselfpodcast.com/

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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On this week’s episode of the Step Stories Podcast, host Robin Bruener interviews Dr. Rob Scheer, a former foster child who entered care at 12 carrying belongings in a trash bag, was pushed out at 18, and later joined the U.S. Navy to build a future. Rob and his husband Reece built their family through foster care, adopting five children—each arriving with a trash bag and significant trauma—and sharing lessons on consistency, grace, empathy, and unconditional love. Rob describes creating Comfort Cases to replace trash bags with backpacks filled with essentials and comfort items, delivering over 320,000 to all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. He discusses transracial parenting, forgiveness, therapy, maintaining connections to birth families, adopting an 18-year-old without a stipend, and the reward of never giving up, highlighted by son Makai’s progress despite fetal alcohol syndrome.

Rob Scheer:

Email:  [email protected]    

Website:        https://comfortcases.org/

Facebook:     FB/comfortcases

Instagram:     IG/comfortcases/

TikTok: TTcomfort cases

Youtube:        YT/comfortcases

Linkedin:       LI/comfort cases inc

Podcast:        podcasts

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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On this week’s episode of the Step Stories podcast, host Robin Breuner interviews Debbie Loeffler about her path into step motherhood and what helped her build strong relationships in a blended family. Debbie shares how her parents’ divorce and her stepfather’s confident, “let the kids come to you” approach shaped the way she first met and bonded with her husband’s two children. She discusses delaying introductions, maintaining boundaries, and navigating a stepson’s anxious, difficult teen years while recognizing discipline should come from the biological parents. Debbie emphasizes starting with goodwill, staying out of ex-spouse conflict, and being proactively kind to the children’s mother—calling her on Mother’s Day and never speaking negatively—because it affects how kids show up at your home. She reflects on the payoff as a grandmother with close adult stepkids.

Debbie Loeffler

Email:  [email protected] 

Robin Breuner 

Email:  [email protected]

Website:  www.robinbreuner.com

Instagram: stepstoriespodcastIG

Facebook: stepstoriespodcastFB

Linkedin:  RobinBreunerLinkIN

Podcast:  StepStories Podcast

Threads:  @robinbreuner

YouTube: StepStories Podcast YouTube

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