Have you ever built a life that looked good from the outside but left you exhausted on the inside? Brooks Bell knows that feeling. At 38, she was the driven CEO who could carry it all until her body told her something wasn’t right. What followed was not only a colon cancer diagnosis but a reckoning with how she had been living.

This story isn’t just about surviving illness. It is about letting go of perfection, rediscovering joy, and realizing that fun is a form of healing, too. Brooks learned to trade achievement for presence and to see connection as the real measure of success.

Take your time with this one. It is tender and full of light.

What You’ll Hear

How ignoring small signs can change everything

The moment Brooks finally let herself feel

Why fun and play became her new measure of joy

What happens when identity is no longer tied to success

The power of turning pain into purpose through connection

Guest Bio

Brooks Bell is a cancer survivor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of World Class Clothing, a nonprofit brand raising awareness about colonoscopies and funding screenings for underinsured communities. After being diagnosed with colon cancer at 38, Brooks turned her experience into a mission to normalize conversations about prevention while also creating more space for fun, connection, and joy.

Connect with Brooks

Website: www.worldclassclothing.com

Instagram: @worldclass_clothing

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Have you ever realized you were living the life someone else imagined for you?
Andrew Mitch did everything right on paper. He followed the rules, earned the degrees, and chased approval until the weight of it all became too heavy to carry. When he finally walked away from the life others expected, he found the beginning of his own.

What unfolded next was unexpected. A stranger at a restaurant table looked at him through tears and said, “Whatever you have, the world needs to hear it now.” That moment shifted everything. It was the reminder that his voice mattered, and that he no longer needed permission to use it.

This is a story about leaving certainty for something more alive. About learning to be seen, to create honestly, and to trust that your real self is enough.
Take your time with this one. It is tender and real.

What You’ll Hear

The quiet pressure of chasing someone else’s version of success

How leaving a PhD program became an act of self-trust

The beauty of being seen by a stranger who changed everything

The tension between faith, identity, and authenticity

Learning to stop asking for permission to create

What it means to live unapologetically yourself

Guest Bio

From small-town Ohio to Nashville, Andrew Mitch is making waves in country-pop with raw emotion, personal truth, and storytelling. His breakout single “all in my head” went viral, crowdfunded his debut album, and earned features from CMA, CMT, GLAAD, and more. With millions of views, 30K+ followers, and praise from artists like Carly Pearce and Ingrid Andress, Andrew has since released songs like "back home boy" (featured on Nashville's very own WSMV4) and "unapologetic." He continues to prove there’s power in being unapologetically yourself.

Connect with Andrew: https://www.andrewmitchmusic.com/

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I’ve never been great at journaling.
I’d start strong, buy the nice notebook, write for a few days – then stop.

But through The Life Shift Podcast, I learned how powerful reflection can be when it’s real, not forced. So I created something I’d actually use.

It’s called The Life Shift Journal.
A 12-week guided reflection with one simple prompt each day – designed to help you slow down, pay attention, and see how you’re changing along the way.

The rhythm repeats every four weeks – awareness, letting go, connection, becoming – three full cycles that help you notice how your answers evolve with you.

You can find all the versions here:
👉 thelifeshiftpodcast.com/p/journal

Available in:

If you’ve ever wanted to start journaling but never stuck with it, this one was made for you.

Sometimes the story we never wanted becomes the one that shapes who we are. When the people we love disappear too soon, we begin to understand how fragile and precious it all is.

Ricardo was only ten when his mother dropped him and his brother at the bowling alley and promised she would be right back. She never came back. That moment changed the way he saw the world. Through grief, silence, and eventually cancer, he learned that joy is not something that just arrives. It is something we build through intention, practice, and the quiet decision to keep living.

This conversation holds space for grief that never fully leaves but grows lighter with care. It is about learning to carry what is heavy without losing sight of what is still beautiful.
Take your time with this one. It is tender and real.

What You’ll Hear:

The moment that changed everything for a ten-year-old boy

How two brothers carried the same loss in completely different ways

The lessons Ricardo learned about speaking grief instead of burying it

What cancer taught him about time, fear, and perspective

The daily practice of building joy after loss

How choosing presence can soften even the hardest memories

Guest Bio

Ricardo Viso is a global entrepreneur, speaker, podcaster, and former executive who’s turned life’s toughest moments into powerful lessons on joy and resilience—and he’s got the scars (and stories) to prove it. Born in Denver, raised in Mexico City, and now calling Austin home, he’s been through it all—losing his mother to suicide at 10, overcoming a stint of incarceration, and even battling cancer. But instead of letting life break him, he used these experiences to build something incredible.

Now, he’s on a mission to help others break free from autopilot, shift their mindset, and create real joy in their lives and daily activities—without waiting for a life-altering wake-up call. As the founder of Joyful Living Lounge, Viso created a space where people can unwind, laugh, and soak up all the good vibes. No pressure, no perfection—just real people sharing stories, tips, and moments of joy.

As developer of the RIC Method, Viso has created a game-changing approach that helps individuals and teams rediscover passion and purpose in their work and lives. Imagine a workplace where people actually love what they do—engaged, thriving, and delivering incredible results. That’s the magic Viso brings.

His journey from tragedy to joy has been featured in International Business Times, proving that long-term fulfillment isn’t just possible—it’s something you can create, starting now. For those ready to unlock more joy, Viso offers practical strategies and a fresh perspective, inviting audiences to discover the roadmap to a more fulfilling life—inside and outside of the workplace. Read more here.

Listen to more episodes of The Life Shift Podcast at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com. For ad-free early releases, visit Patreon. Sign up for the newsletter and connect with me on social media for more stories that remind us we are not alone.

Have you ever looked back on your childhood and realized how much you learned to keep inside? How the silence around you became something you carried, long after you left the place that taught it to you.

Shigeko Ito grew up in a home that looked perfect from the outside but felt empty inside. Years later, after a moment of betrayal that changed everything, she began the long work of finding her way back to herself. Her story moves from isolation to understanding, from blame to compassion, and from surviving to healing.

This conversation is about what it means to stop a generational pattern of silence and choose honesty instead. It is about finding language for pain that never had words. Take your time with this one. It is tender and real.

What You’ll Hear:

How emotional neglect can shape a child’s sense of safety

A moment of awakening that changed everything

The long journey toward naming trauma and reclaiming self compassion

The quiet power of writing as a tool for healing

What it means to end generational silence

Finding freedom through vulnerability and truth

Listen, share, and subscribe at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow.

For ad-free early access, join me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/thelifeshiftpodcast.

Sign up for the newsletter and connect with me on social media for more stories that remind us we are not alone.

Guest Bio

Shigeko Ito is an educator, mental health advocate, and debut author of the memoir The Pond Beyond the Forest: Reflections on Childhood Trauma and Motherhood (She Writes Press). She grew up in Japan and immigrated to the United States in her twenties to pursue higher education, earning a PhD in Education from Stanford University. Drawing on her cross cultural experiences and academic expertise, she explores themes of trauma, resilience, and healing, with a particular focus on childhood emotional neglect. Shigeko lives in Seattle with her husband of thirty years. Learn more at shigekoito.com

If you grew up carrying things no one else could see, you may feel yourself in this story. Maria Gallucci was a bridge from the very beginning. As a child of deaf adults, she learned early how to interpret not just words, but emotion, context, and belonging. She understood how small acts of inclusion can change the way someone feels in a room. And later, she found herself interpreting the hardest words a person can hear when she had to tell her mom she was dying.

In this conversation, Maria reflects on growing up between worlds, the weight and beauty of being the one who explains life to others, and how grief continues to shape us long after the moment of loss. She also shares how parenting through grief deepened her sense of compassion and clarified her commitment to building a more inclusive world. This is a story about love, responsibility, and learning how to stay soft while carrying so much.

Take your time with this one. It is tender and real.

What it feels like to grow up as the bridge in your family

The moment Maria had to interpret her mother’s terminal diagnosis

How grief reshapes identity and relationships

Parenting while grieving

Why small acts of inclusion matter

A reminder that your story matters too

Guest Bio

Maria Gallucci is a multi-award-winning real estate agent and proud CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). Growing up as one of six hearing children raised by Deaf parents, she learned ASL before English and helped her parents buy a home at just 12 years old. This experience shaped her passion for inclusive communication and helping those who are often overlooked.

For over 30 years, Maria has supported homebuyers from all walks of life, with special focus on the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and LGBTQ+ communities. She’s the founder of Uptown Realty Group, Gallucci Homes, ASL @ Compass Affinity Group, and ASL Realty, a national platform connecting Deaf & Hard of Hearing clients with signing agents. She ranks in the top 1% of agents in Colorado and top 1.5% nationwide.

Maria also serves on boards for Rocky Mountain Deaf School, DOVE, and Colorado Association of the Deaf. Her motto, "just try," reflects her belief that meaningful connection starts with one small step. Her debut book, Raised in Silence, is both a love letter to the Deaf & Hard of Hearing community and a guide for bridging communication gaps.

Connect with Maria:

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What happens when one choice alters the course of your life?

At 20 years old, Cheryl Wilder made a decision that led to a devastating accident and decades of shame, guilt, and self-questioning. For years, she carried the weight of what she now calls moral injury, unsure if she even deserved healing.

In this candid conversation, Cheryl opens up about the accident, the long and layered path toward forgiveness, and how poetry and storytelling became her lifelines.

This episode is about accountability, healing, and the courage it takes to finally believe you are worth good things.

Guest Bio

Cheryl Wilder is an author, coach, and motivational speaker. She helps clients connect their personal lives with their skills and knowledge to create a professional presence aligned with their values. A natural mediator and believer in the journey as a destination, Cheryl has an instinct to understand people, anticipate their needs, and listen to unvoiced questions. She’s passionate about helping clients see purpose and connections in everyday occurrences.

An advocate for the arts, Cheryl was the Burlington Writers Club president (2022–24) and is a co-chair of their Alamance County, NC Student Writing Contest. She’s co-leader of the For Alamance Arts & Culture Team, teaches writing workshops, and serves as a member-at-large for the North Carolina Poetry Society. As a poet, Cheryl could talk about line breaks all day. Other topics of proficiency are poetry and architecture, shame and forgiveness, the arts and community, and reinventing the self. Learn more at bornwilder.com.

Listen to more episodes of The Life Shift Podcast at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow.

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Have you ever felt the quiet pull to change everything you thought you were building?

For Marty Ross-Dolen, that moment came on September 11, 2001. She had devoted her entire life to psychiatry, but as she watched the towers fall with her children nearby, something in her said it was time to let go. That decision set her on a new course — one that led to motherhood, teaching, and eventually a memoir that uncovered the silence of multi-generational grief.

In this conversation, Marty shares what it means to step away from a lifelong identity and find a new one through writing and reflection.

Marty’s journey is both personal and universal, a reminder that it’s never too late to begin again.

👉 Listen to the full conversation and support more stories like this.

Marty Ross-Dolen is a graduate of Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her memoir, Always There, Always Gone: A Daughter’s Search for Truth, was released with She Writes Press in May 2025. She teaches writing and lives in Columbus, Ohio. Learn more at www.martyrossdolen.com.

🎧 Listen and follow at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/follow

✨ Support the show with ad-free early access at www.patreon.com/thelifeshiftpodcast

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What happens when life forces you to stop fighting and finally let go?

For years, Isabelle Daikeler lived in pain and fear, holding tightly to identities that no longer fit. It all came to a breaking point on the floor of a bedroom in Hawaii, when surrender became her only option. What unfolded was not instant healing, but the start of a transformation that continues to this day.

In this episode of The Life Shift Podcast, Isabelle shares:

This is a story of patience, surrender, and learning that strength often shows up in ways we don’t expect.

👉 Listen now and feel less alone in your own process of change.

Guest Bio:

Isabelle Daikeler is a visionary holistic wellness expert committed to guiding you toward inner alignment and spiritual healing. In her one-on-one sessions, she creates a sacred space where clients can connect with higher wisdom and release what no longer serves them. Her work includes the Harmonic Egg, a sound-and-light modality designed to restore balance and deep calm, along with intuitive channeling and energy healing. Inspired by her own journey through pain and awakening, Isabelle empowers others to access their inner wisdom and embrace authentic living. Learn more at AuthenticityStressless.com.

What happens when you realize you don’t actually believe you can heal?

Heidi Blackie spent a decade battling chronic illness, grief, and perfectionism until one raw moment in her kitchen changed everything. She asked herself a simple but life-altering question: What am I believing about my ability to heal?

In this conversation, Heidi shares how that vow to believe in herself shifted her relationship with her body, her perfectionism, and her sense of self. Her story will resonate with anyone who has felt trapped by patterns, weighed down by loss, or unsure how to move forward.

You’ll hear about:

Healing isn’t quick or easy, but it starts with belief.

Guest Bio:

Heidi Blackie is a speaker, consultant, and creator of UnshakableMe®, a science-meets-soul program helping women dismantle limiting beliefs and reclaim their inner power. After chronic illness brought her to rock bottom, she made a radical choice to believe in her body’s ability to heal — a turning point that reshaped her life from the inside out.

With 25 years as an Occupational Therapist and hard-won lived experience, she now guides others to meet adversity with clarity, connection, and self-trust. Her story is an invitation to anyone facing personal challenges, offering grounded hope, actionable tools, and a powerful reminder that we are far more capable than we think.

Connect with Heidi:

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