🙏 He walked into his boss's office at a top Chicago investment firm to resign and got cut off seven words in with, "Are you quitting right now?"

The LIVing Room welcomes the co-founder of Hallow, the Catholic prayer app that beat six national Super Bowl campaigns to the #1 spot in the entire App Store. Liv Harrison talks with him about the year he went without a paycheck, the Mark Wahlberg ad that changed everything, and why he still insists "nobody needs an app to pray." This one's for you if you've ever wondered whether walking away from a "sure thing" was worth it.

Guest Bio:

Alessandro DiSanto is a co-founder of Hallow, the Catholic prayer and meditation app that became the first faith-based app in history to reach #1 across the entire App Store. He began his career on Wall Street before working as a private equity investor, before leaving finance entirely to help build Hallow with his friends. He and his co-founding team have since led the app through a Mark Wahlberg–fronted Super Bowl campaign and continued growth across 150+ countries. He lives with his wife, Sam, and their three young sons.

In This Episode:

00:00 Conference Fame and Life as "The Guy" Behind Hallow

01:00 Humility, Marriage, and Three Boys Under Four

03:00 Being a "Professional Catholic" and Conference Survival Hacks

05:00 From Wall Street Investor to Founding a Prayer App

07:00 The Late-Night Friend Group That Became Hallow

08:00 "Have Good Breakups": The Ex-Girlfriend's Sister Story

10:00 A Half-Day Retreat and the "Light Switch" Prayer Moment

12:40 Quitting Day: "Are You Quitting Right Now?"

15:00 A Year With No Income — Eggo Waffles and Ramen

18:00 Launch, First Hires, COVID, and 700% Growth

20:00 The Super Bowl Ad Nobody Thought Would Work

21:30 Mark Wahlberg, Jesus, and Beating Temu to #2

22:30 Colbert, Jonathan Roumie, and Hitting #1

23:30 The Risk of Celebrity Partners — Chris Pratt to Gwen Stefani

27:00 "A Heart for the One, Not the 99" and Saints in Seven Days

30:00 Moving People From the App Back to the Altar

32:00 St. Thomas Aquinas, "Everything Is Straw," and St. Joseph's Silent Service

✍️ Eliza signed a book deal with Penguin Random House's Catholic imprint — and it started with a Lilly Pulitzer blog about Demi Lovato in eighth grade. In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison sits down with Catholic writer and content creator Eliza to trace the unlikely path from middle school recess "therapy sessions" to one of the most honest Catholic voices on the internet.
They get into just war theory and the Iran conflict, the dignity of people sleeping on the streets of downtown Charleston, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter and what it means to "stand up and be counted" when no one is with you, and how Eliza handles it when she posts too fast and gets it wrong. This one's for the woman who knows she has something to say but keeps waiting for permission.

Guest Bio:
Eliza is a Catholic writer and content creator based in Charleston, South Carolina, known for her Instagram platform Eliza Writes Things, where she covers faith, human dignity, and Catholic social teaching with a distinctly unfiltered voice. She built her audience from scratch beginning in 2020 while studying English and creative writing, later serving a year on mission in the Diocese of Charleston, and currently works in marketing. She has recently signed a book contract with Penguin Random House's Catholic imprint. Eliza also leads small group ministry for middle and high school girls at her parish.

In This Episode:
00:00 The Charm Necklace That Preaches a Homily
01:45 Hart Hagerty, Charleston, and Walmart Knockoffs
02:45 Eliza's 8th-Grade Lilly Pulitzer Blog (It's Still Live)
04:00 How Eliza Writes Things Actually Started in 2020
05:30 The Holy Spirit, a Resume Line, and Her First Marketing Job
07:20 "Your Dreams Are Gonna Come True" — The Penguin Book Deal
08:45 The Non-People Pleaser Who Built a Following for It
09:50 Her Mom, Her Grandmother, and the League of Women Voters
10:40 Fourth-Grade Recess Therapy and the Tree Sign
12:00 Human Dignity as Her North Star — JP II, Sacred Heart, and Both/Ands
15:00 What Issues Keep Her Up at Night in 2026
16:30 Just War Theory and Why Iran Doesn't Clear the Bar
17:45 The Poor Aren't an Abstraction — Life on the Streets of Downtown Charleston
20:45 Mary Magdalene and Why She's the Saint for Suffering
23:00 Two White Women in Charleston — Addressing the Elephant in the Room
24:30 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter: The One Man Who Voted No
32:00 "It's Enough Just to Stand Up and Be Counted"
33:30 When You Post Too Fast and Have to Take It Down
39:30 What Accountability Actually Looks Like for Catholic Influencers
41:00 Why She's Excited About Gen Z Catholic Creators
44:30 How to Raise Kids Who Stand Up for Something
47:30 Book Jail, Book Mansion, and How to Pray for Eliza Right Now

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🤍 She was a federal law clerk in Vegas, a managing editor of Law Review, and a prosecutor — and she drove home one morning drenched in spit-up thinking, who am I? Nell O'Leary spent decades performing her way through life until a daughter's mysterious illness, the collapse of a ministry, and a silent retreat stripped everything away and left her with one answer: beloved.

In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison and Nell cover the identity crisis hiding inside early motherhood, what it actually feels like to enter silence when you have the gift of gab, how Nell's marriage deepened when she finally understood her husband's prayer life — and the Catholic mommy wars nobody wants to admit are real. If you've ever felt like you are what you accomplish, this one is for you.

Guest Bio:

Nell O'Leary is a Catholic writer, speaker, and ministry consultant based in St. Paul, Minnesota. A former federal law clerk and prosecutor, she went on to spend nearly a decade in women's ministry before transitioning to freelance consulting, writing, and speaking for Catholic organizations. She contributed to or edited over 50 books, wrote the prayers for Ascension's 2026 planner, and is currently finishing her first solo book with a mainstream publisher. Nell and her husband Anthony have five children.

In This Episode

00:00  Welcome — Nell and Liv in the Living Room

01:30  What Nell's life looks like online (and why it works)

02:15  18-year-old Nell: poetry, horses, and zero plan

03:45  How a love of show jumping led to law school

04:30  Ave Maria Law School and meeting her husband

05:45  The Vegas clerk era — dry cleaning and federal judges

06:30  Liv's origin story: kindergarten teacher to podcaster

07:45  The identity crash of early motherhood

09:30  Dropping her husband at a big law firm, covered in spit-up

11:00  "You are not what you do" — the Nazareth years

12:15  The thread connecting law, ministry, and storytelling

13:30  Nell's Substack and a first book she can almost announce

14:30  Learning when things are for the internet — and when they're not

15:15  "Who are you at 43?" — the identity question

16:00  What "I'm his beloved" actually cost her to believe

17:30  When her daughter got sick and she stepped away from everything

18:30  The 30-week Ignatian retreat — what it is and how it works

20:30  The first third: accepting that she was worth God's time

21:30  The middle third: imaginative prayer she didn't expect

22:15  The last third: real silence, and finding God in it

23:30  "Just turn your face" — what silence looks like now

25:30  Turning toward God all day long, not just in a prayer room

27:00  Nell's love story: two attorneys, law school, Nebraska

28:30  Her husband — ex-seminarian, former hermit, most patient man

30:00  How the retreat finally helped her understand her husband's prayer life

32:00  The strongest years of their marriage — and the hardest

33:30  Sending your spouse on silent retreat (even with five kids)

35:30  The evolution of arguments across 17 years of marriage

37:00  Choosing your family's life over your individual preferences

39:00  Female friendship: the good, the painful, the evaporated besties

41:30  Realistic expectations as a love language

43:00  Catholic mommy wars: beeswax candles, home births, and judgment

45:30  "Is your baby alive? Great." — on not policing other women

47:15  How can we pray for Nell?

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🎨 She quit a stable youth ministry job to become a full-time Catholic artist — then, after her biggest vendor event ever, realized she never wanted to do it again. Valerie Delgado (known online as Pax Valerie) spent three years running her own Catholic shop, illustrating books, and traveling to conferences. Then she closed it all down. Not because she failed, but because she finally figured out who she actually wanted to be.
In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison and Valerie also dig into the pressure Catholic singles face about vocation, a doctor's wake-up call about food and heart health a month before her 30th birthday, and how Bad Bunny's Super Bowl set made her cry thinking about Hurricane Maria. This one's for you if you've ever built something good — and then had to let it go anyway.
Guest Bio:

Valerie Delgado is a Catholic artist, illustrator, and parish communications professional based in Houston, Texas, known online as Pax Valerie. She spent three years running her own Catholic art shop — selling prints, traveling to conferences, and building a following on social media — before closing the shop to focus on illustration and parish work. She has illustrated nearly 10 books, primarily reflective journal-style titles, working with multiple publishers. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Texas, her identity as a Puerto Rican Catholic deeply shapes both her art and her faith.

In This Episode
00:00 Welcome to The LIVing Room — Liv & Val's Houston Reunion 
01:00 "Are You Pax?" — The Origin of the Name Pax Valerie 
02:00 Wait, Val Does Art? How a Non-Artist Discovered She Was One 
03:30 A Random Summer Day, Hobby Lobby, and a Sunflower on YouTube 
05:00 Painting Bible Covers, Grace Painted, and Praying Through Art 
06:30 COVID, Youth Ministry Falling Apart, and a Shop Being Born 
07:30 Quitting the Stable Job to Sell Art Full-Time (With No Idea What She Was Doing) 09:00 The FOCUS Conference, the Big Booth, and "I Never Want to Do This Again" 10:30 Giving Up Social Media for Lent — and Finding the Most Peace She'd Ever Felt 11:30 "I Don't Want to Be a Businesswoman. I Just Want to Doodle for God." 
13:00 What She Does with Her Art Now — Etsy, Digital Downloads & Illustrating Books 15:00 The Scariest Part of Listening to God (and Trusting Him Through Anxiety) 
16:30 Ministry Is Not Always Rainbows — The Church as a Hospital Full of Broken People 20:30 Being Catholic and Single: The Pressure to Have a "Capital V Vocation" 24:00 Growing Up, Not Going to College, and Feeling Like She Missed the Bus 
27:30 A Doctor Said She Could Have a Heart Attack at 30. One Month Before Her Birthday. 
29:00 What She Actually Did — Discipline, Blood Work, and Leaving Food at the Foot of the Cross 
31:00 Spiritual Directors, Therapists, and Why Finding One Feels Like Dating 
33:00 Life in Her 30s — Dog, House, Church Job, and a Dream Trip to Puerto Rico 36:00 Born in Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny, and the Super Bowl Halftime Nobody Was Ready For 
38:30 Hurricane Maria, Her Grandma Walking to Church Every Day, and Crying at the Power Lines 
42:30 What Does Being Catholic Mean in Puerto Rico? Culture vs. Intimate Faith 
44:00 How Can We Pray for You? Val's Ask + Liv's Therapist Referral

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🎙️ He came out, left the Church, got a dream from God he tried to ignore, and now he works full-time for a ministry that helped bring him home.
Manny Gonzalez is a Catholic campus minister turned mission development director at Eden Invitation, an apostolate for LGBT+ disciples pursuing the Lord in alignment with Church teaching. In this episode, Manny walks through his full story — the years of suppression, the combustion, the ultimatum he gave Jesus on his knees in his bedroom — and what it actually looks like to carry a cross you didn't ask for.

They also dig into conversion therapy narratives, the "father wound" assumptions Catholics throw around, what the Church gets dangerously wrong about belonging, and the belong → believe → behave framework that should flip how we think about evangelization. This one's for you if you love someone navigating this — or if you've ever said something well-meaning that landed like a brick. The LIVing Room with Liv Harrison — pull up a chair.

Guest Bio:
Manny Gonzalez is a Catholic speaker, content creator, and mission development director at Eden Invitation, a lay apostolate for LGBT+ disciples pursuing faithful discipleship in alignment with Church teaching. He holds a master's degree in catechetics from Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he also served as a campus minister for three years. Now based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Manny works on community growth and mission partnerships for Eden Invitation while using his platform to share his story and speak hope to disciples navigating similar experiences. He is a self-described dramatic Hispanic man who once gave God an ultimatum on his knees — and credits what happened next as the turning point of his life.

In This Episode
00:00 Technical Chaos, Pet Birds, and Getting This Thing Rolling
04:10 Manny's New Life in Minnesota (One Month In)
05:45 Six Months Unemployed After Franciscan — The Real Talk
10:30 Breaking Performance Mentality and Learning Who God Actually Is
13:00 21-Year-Old Manny vs. 27-Year-Old Manny
17:50 The Both/And: You Can Be Grateful AND Say "This Sucks"
19:00 Saints Were Messy Too — Why Grit Is the Point
22:00 Manny's Conversion Story: Growing Up Catholic, Coming Out, Leaving the Church
30:00 October 2018: The Ultimatum on His Knees
33:30 Eden Invitation — What It Is and Why Manny Joined Their Staff
36:00 "I Could Have a Girlfriend and Still Go to Hell" — Dismantling the Wrong Goal
38:30 What the Church Actually Teaches on Chastity (And What It Doesn't Mean)
40:30 Conversion Therapy, Father Wounds, and the Dumb Stuff We Say to People
43:00 Liv Gets Real About Her Own Cross — Weight, Suffering, and What "Rid Of" Actually Costs
47:00 How to Be a Better Ally Without Becoming the Savior Nobody Asked For
50:30 Belong, Believe, Behave — The Framework That Should Change Your Parish
53:30 How Can We Pray for You, Manny?
55:45 Goodbyes and "We're Definitely Road-Trip Friends"

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🎙️ He got on a bus at 17 with no faith, no plan, and honestly — hoping to meet a girl. He got off it a completely different person. That one weekend in Monterrey set the next three decades in motion: a career switch from economics to communications, a conviction that the Church deserved better storytelling, and the founding of Digital Continent — the creative powerhouse behind some of Catholic media's most recognizable productions, including Seeking Beauty on EWTN.

But building something great on the outside doesn't mean everything is okay on the inside. In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison sits down with Edmundo Reyes for the conversation behind the résumé — the 14 months that quietly took everything apart and put it back together differently. Therapy for the first time at 48. This one is for anyone who has been building, serving, and showing up — and suspects there's still something God is trying to get to underneath all of it.

Guest Bio:
Edmundo Reyes is the founder and creative director of Digital Continent, a Catholic media and production collective that partners with organizations and individuals to bring mission-driven content to life. His work spans high-profile Catholic media productions, most notably Seeking Beauty, a series currently airing on EWTN that he counts among Digital Continent's proudest achievements. He and his wife Melanie live in Michigan where they have grown a beautiful family over the last 24 years.

In This Episode
00:00 Cold open: the retreat, the therapy, the spiritual director 
01:30 Welcome, marriage jokes, and how Liv keeps getting Edmundo's story wrong 
05:30 Meet Melanie's husband — and the man behind Digital Continent 
07:00 Not an agency — a collective of dreamers and builders 
09:30 Liv calls him a creative architect — and he nearly cries 
12:00 Why great creative work looks effortless — and what that actually costs 
13:30 Your team is not a contract — they're brothers and sisters in Christ 
16:30 Growing up Catholic in Mexico — faith as a subject, not a relationship 
18:30 17 years old, friendless, and talked into a retreat he didn't want to go to 
19:30 Arms crossed in the back row — his first encounter with charismatic Catholics 
21:30 The retreat leaders wrote him off as a lost cause — then God showed up 
23:00 "What if this is actually true?" — the leap of faith that changed everything 
24:30 From economics to communications — why the Church needed better storytellers 
27:00 God's dodgeball team — and raising his hand to be picked 
30:00 He said yes before he knew what he was good at — and that's how he found out 
31:30 How is your prayer life different now? — the question that opens everything 
32:30 Walking 46 miles on Holy Week because his ego takes two hours to quiet down 
34:30 He used to see himself as St. Francis. Now he sees Pontius Pilate. 
36:00 The Jesuit spiritual director who stopped him mid-sentence 
37:30 Two things he finally learned: the depth of his sin and the depth of God's love 
40:30 Gen X, Mexican, male — and finally in therapy at 48
42:30 The JP2 Institute healing work — and crying in a reflection he didn't expect 
44:00 Healing shows you the wounds. Therapy explains why you kept reopening them. 
46:00 How can we pray for you? — closing a chapter of healing, entering one of giving 
47:30 Hurt people hurt people — but healed people heal people 
48:00 Seeking Beauty on EWTN — where to find it and why you should watch it

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🇻🇦He named all four of his sons after Popes — Leo, Gregory, Nicholas, and John Paul — and he's a contractor who fixes toilets by day. Matt from The Popecast joins Liv in The LIVing Room for one of the most surprisingly moving conversations about papal history, faith, and what it actually feels like to "meet God on the way down." Matt opens up about his first marriage, a quick annulment, and how sitting in a Starbucks writing six and a half single-spaced pages finally gave him peace beyond understanding.
They also dig into the Pope who accidentally kicked off the Reformation with a pet elephant, why Pope Leo XIV's Lutheran best friends still call him "Bob," and what the loneliness epidemic looks like from the front seat of a contractor's truck. This one's for you if you've ever loved the Church but felt like the mess of your life didn't quite fit the story.
Guest Bio:

Matt is the creator of The Popecast, a podcast and Instagram account dedicated to papal history with a mission to remind people that the chaos of today is nothing new in the life of the Church. He launched the podcast in 2018 after writing a daily email series on the full history of the papacy, and his Instagram following has grown larger than his podcast audience — a fact he finds equal parts ironic and delightful. By day, Matt runs a small remodeling company in the Diocese of Spokane; by night, he digs into 2,000 years of Church history. He and his wife are expecting their fourth child, whose name — John Paul — was never really in question.

In This Episode:
00:00 Mystery Face Reveal: Matt Finally Shows Up on the Internet 
01:20 What Is The Popecast? Papal History, Instagram, and One Man's Anxiety Cure 
03:30 The Hiatus, Pope Francis Dying, and Getting Back in the Game 
04:00 Father Rich from Duluth and the World's Largest Private Papal Collection  
05:00 How Marilys and the Conclave Put Matt on Liv's Radar 
06:00 "Aggressively Normal Catholicism" — Matt's Approach to Faith Online 
07:30 Faith Journey: Growing Up Catholic in Montana, Carroll College, and FOCUS 
09:00 The 2013 SEEK Conference That Changed Everything 
09:45 "I Met God on the Way Up, Got to Know Him on the Way Down" 
10:30 The First Marriage, the Divorce, and What Nobody Talks About at Mass 
12:00 Pope Francis, the Annulment Process, and Why Matt Defends It 
15:30 Starbucks, Six and a Half Pages, and Peace Beyond All Understanding 
18:00 Contractor by Day, Pope Nerd by Night — What Self-Employment Actually Looks Like 
20:00 Digital Life vs. Real Life: What the Loneliness Epidemic Looks Like from a Truck
22:00 The Widow with the Alzheimer's Husband and the Cup of Coffee That Matters 
24:30 Historian of Real Life — Teaching Kids to Reverence Old People and Old Things 
25:30 Meet the Kids: Leo, Gregory, Nicholas, and Baby John Paul 
27:30 Pope Leo XIV, "Bob," and His Lutheran Best Friends Who Called It 46 Years Ago 
31:30 The Wildest Pope Facts: A Pet Elephant and Death by Eel 
35:00 The Pope Who Founded Western Civilization: Gregory the Great Explained
40:00 Five Popes at the Mac and Cheese Dinner Table 
46:30 How Can We Pray for You? Matt's Request and Closing Prayer

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🎙️ She called it. In 2005, as a high schooler, Katie McGrady emailed her principal requesting they air the papal conclave on school TVs — and she correctly predicted Benedict XVI. Fast forward to 2026, and she was front row in Rome on a CNN panel when white smoke rose over the Sistine Chapel. No theology PhD required — just a lifelong obsession, a microphone, and a Cajun accent.

In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison sits down with Katie to unpack the Catholic revival happening right now (those 139% conversion spikes aren't a fluke), why Gen Z is actually turning toward the Church, what it really means that we have an American Pope — and what parishes have to get right before this moment slips through their fingers. This one's for you if you love the Church and want to actually understand what's happening inside it right now.

Guest Bio:
Katie McGrady is a Catholic media personality and radio host based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, known for her work as a Vatican commentator and her on-air presence in Catholic broadcasting. She serves as a regular contributor for CNN and hosts a show on SiriusXM, where she has covered papal transitions including the elections of Benedict XVI and Leo XIV, the latter of which she reported on live from Rome. She and her husband Tommy co-host *Family Mass Prep* on the Hallow app and she recently launched a segment called *Call In the Converts* on The Katie McGrady Show. A lifelong Louisiana native, Katie has chosen to root her broadcasting career in her small hometown while maintaining connections to major media markets in New York and beyond.


In This Episode

00:00 Colors Done, Taxes Paid, and One Toilet Flush for NASA
02:20 The American Girl Book, an 8-Year-Old, and Impending Doom
05:15 Karma, Kids, and Bluey at Easter Mass
07:00 Two Catholic Kids and the NFP Judgment Olympics
09:30 Europe, Legoland, and the Grace of the Family of Four
11:45 Matt Maher, Spontaneous Concerts, and the Joy of a Small Family
13:30 Why Katie McGrady Has Not Left Lake Charles
16:00 Her Sister Entered the Convent — And She's It for Her Parents
18:20 Missing Ryan Gosling at SiriusXM (And Getting Andy Weir Instead)
20:00 "I've Been Vatican Influencing Since High School" — The Origin Story
22:30 Predicting Benedict XVI as a Teenager, and Getting the Call from CNN
24:45 Was She Surprised It Was an American Pope?
26:00 "He's Not Conflicting — He's Contrasting": Breaking Down Pope Leo XIV
28:30 The Catholic Revival Is Real — Here Are the Numbers
31:00 What Parishes Have to Do Before This Moment Slips Away
33:30 Hallow, Call In the Converts, and the Digital-to-Parish Pipeline
36:00 Bob from Chicago Is Still WhatsApp-ing People
38:30 AI, Human Wisdom, and the Moon Crater Named After Someone's Late Wife
42:30 Prayers for Big Transitions — and Sister LP Who Kept Her Initials
44:00 Big Cajun Hug Goodbye

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🥒 He got diagnosed with one of the rarest childhood liver cancers in the world — only 1 to 3 kids a year — and two months after his liver transplant, he's walking 1.5 miles a day and going viral for it.

Fitz (short for Fitzgerald, age 9) joins Liv Harrison in The LIVing Room for a conversation that will wreck you in the best way. They talk about what it's like to grow up in the hospital, how dark humor becomes a survival tool, and the miracle that happened on a runway when a better liver showed up right before the wrong one took off. If you're a parent, a caregiver, or anyone who's forgotten how to be brave — this one's for you.

Guest Bio:

Fitz (George Fitzgerald) is a 9-year-old content creator and positivity advocate from Houston, Texas. Diagnosed with a rare liver cancer affecting only 1–3 children per year, Fitz received a liver transplant and began documenting his journey online immediately after his diagnosis, quickly going viral. He now runs "Positive Pickle," a daily video series spreading encouragement and joy to viewers of all ages. His family and Liv's family are longtime best friends.

Chapter Markers

00:00 Green Donuts, Dr. Pepper, and the Guest Liv's Known Since the Womb

01:00 "My Name Is Fitz for Fitzgerald" — And Why That Became His Intro 

02:00 The Hospital Is Basically His Second Home 

03:00 Disney World, a Buffet, and Throwing Up Three Times Before the Characters Came 

05:30 Dad Covered the Plate and Moved It — A Dad Move for the Ages 

06:30 The ER, a Wrong Diagnosis, and Texas Children's Downtown 

07:30 The Tumor Was Growing Like a Bomb — and They Had to Take the Whole Liver Out 

08:30 Corn Dogs, Pink Throw Up, and Thinking He Just Had a Tummy Bug 

09:30 McDonald's, Barely Three Chicken Nuggets, and a Stomach Like a Rock 

11:00 Dark Humor as a Coping Strategy: "If You're Not Laughing, You're Crying" 

12:00 Dr. Pepper With Aunt Liv and the Recap So Far 

13:00 Yes or No on the Transplant — And the Miracle That Happened on a Runway 

15:00 Two Months Post-Transplant, Walking 1.5 Miles a Day 

16:30 How Fitz Stays Close to God Through All of This 

18:00 Why He Started Making Videos — and What "Positive Pickle" Even Means 

19:30 The Letter From a 20-Year Survivor and the Person Who Started Walking Again 

21:00 Positive Tacos, Positive Potatoes, and the Future Career Plan 

22:30 What to Say to a Kid Who Just Got a Cancer Diagnosis 

23:30 It's Okay to Not Be Okay — "Ups and Downs Connect the Puzzle Pieces" 

25:00 How to Pray for Fitz: Platelets, His Arm, and "Love the Liver"

🔔 Mary Lenaburg and her husband Jerry started reviewing Hallmark Christmas movies to honor their daughter Courtney, who was blind and loved the sound of bells. What began as Instagram Stories turned into a viral moment on Yahoo Entertainment with Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar sliding into their DMs.

But this episode goes way deeper than movie reviews. Mary opens up about navigating perimenopause, healing from a seven-year pornography addiction in her marriage, and what intimacy actually looks like after 38 years together. This one's for you if you've ever felt like nobody talks honestly about what happens to your body, your marriage, and your faith after 40. Welcome to The LIVing Room with Liv Harrison.

Guest Bio:

Mary Lenaburg is a Catholic speaker, author, and mentor known for her candid teaching on marriage, grief, and midlife faith. She and her husband Jerry have been married for 38 years, and she cared for their daughter Courtney, who had severe disabilities, for 22 years until Courtney's passing in 2014. Mary speaks nationally at universities and parish events, and she and Jerry went viral on Yahoo Entertainment for their Hallmark movie reviews on Instagram. She lives in Fairfax, Virginia.

Chapter Markers
00:00 Virginia Snow, Texas Tornadoes, and Mother Nature's Hot Flash

01:45 Wait — Nobody Gave Us the Menopause Talk?

03:10 Hysterectomies, Catholic Sex Ed, and the Nun's Supply Drawer

05:00 Aunt Mary's Honest Guide to Perimenopause (She's Been Through It)

06:30 Finding the Right Doctor: Why Mary Now Sees a Menopause Specialist

07:45 Cortisol, Adrenal Support, and Healing Your Gut — Liv's Type 2 Diabetes Too

11:00 Nobody Talks About Midlife Intimacy — So Mary and Liv Will

12:30 Quality Over Quantity: Real Talk About Sex After 50

14:00 Porn Addiction, Trauma, and the Marriage God Restored — Mary Gets Vulnerable

16:30 "Things That Used to Live in Maine Now Live in New Mexico" — The Body Changes

18:30 Growing Old Together Is NOT the Notebook — It's Depends and Mushy Food

20:30 Mary's 85-Year-Old Mom Still Goes to Daily Mass — Aging as a Gift

23:00 The Titus 2 Woman: Reaching Back and Pulling Another Woman Forward

26:00 How a Hallmark Christmas Movie and a Daughter Named Courtney Started It All

29:00 Yahoo Entertainment, Danica McKellar DMs, and Going Viral in Their Late 50s

34:30 Candace Cameron Bure, Silver Bells, and Favorite Hallmark Films

38:30 Marriage Books, Theology of the Body, and What Actually Helps Couples

40:30 Praying for Mary: Her New Marriage Ministry and What God Is Stirring