As the host of our system, I've learned that some of the hardest battles happen where no one else can see them.

In this episode, I share what it feels like to be outwardly present with family and friends while internally trying to comfort younger parts who are overwhelmed, frightened, or hurting. It's a strange kind of helplessness - trying to keep the outside world moving while everything inside is asking for safety at once.

I also talk about a nightmare that didn't stay in the dream. For the first time in a long time, my body screamed out loud while I was asleep - loud enough for my husband Kevin to hear it. All I could see was darkness, but I could hear Buttercup's terror as if she were calling from somewhere I couldn't reach.

Screaming at the Unknown is a conversation about fear, responsibility, and what it means to carry the role of host when the people you're trying to protect live within you. It's about listening when the screams don't make sense yet... and choosing compassion over judgement.

For a long time, these conversations came from one place.

A driver's seat.

Not because that's where I imagined this podcast would begin, but because it was the place where I found enough quiet to speak honestly. Between appointments, after long days, and in the middle of rebuilding a life that no longer looked the way I thought it would, that little space became the birthplace of Unmuted.

This episode is a reflection on beginnings - the ones we plan for, the ones we don't, and the ones we only recognize once we've already started living them.

Whether you're navigating change, grieving what was, or quietly hoping that something better is still ahead, I hope you'll come sit with me for a little while.

Every family will one day say goodbye to someone they love. How we love each other before and after that goodbye matters.

In this episode of Unmuted: Families, we're talking about one of the Darkest Days villains: Grief Ghoul. Grief Ghoul isn't a monster that causes death. Instead, Grief Ghoul represents the grief, sadness, confusion, and questions that can arrive after we've lost someone we love.

Together, we'll explore how death can affect every member of a family differently, why there isn't a "right" way to grieve, and how talking openly with one another can help us carry both our sadness and our love.

This isn't a conversation about having all the answers. It's about making space for questions, memories, tears, laughter, and the people who continue to shape our lives even after they're gone.

As you listen, I encourage your family to pause whenever you need to. Share stories about someone you miss. Ask one another questions. Remember together. Love one another well.

Because while we can't stop grief from becoming part of our story, we can choose to love people deeply while they're here, cherish the memories we create together, and honor those we carry in our hearts long after they've left this world.

Thank you for inviting me into your family's conversation today.

What looked harmless isn't always harmless.

A bike ride.
A cactus.
A question.

Some stories take years to reveal what they were really about.

In honor of Men's Mental Health Month and Father's Day, I invited my husband, Kevin, to join me for a conversation.

What followed became one of the most honest and meaningful episodes we've recorded.

This was Kevin's first time ever being on a podcast, and together we explored topics that don't always get enough space in everyday life: mental health, fatherhood, relationships, vulnerability, resilience, and the expectations many men carry without ever speaking them aloud.

As Glow Loudly Grown-ups and as parents, we wanted to offer a real-life example of what it looks like to communicate openly, listen with curiosity, and work through important conversations together. Strong families are not built by having all the answers. They are built through connection, honesty, and a willingness to keep showing up for one another. We hope this episode provides a small glimpse into that process.

Some moments are thoughtful. Some are difficult. Some are funny. And throughout it all, you'll hear two people learning, listening, and growing alongside one another.

This conversation ended up being one of our longest episodes yet. Whether you listen in one sitting or a few minutes at a time throughout the week, we're glad you're here.

Happy Father's Day to all of the men who step up each and every day, even when life gets tough. To the fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, father figures, husbands, sons, brothers, and mentors who continue showing up for the people they love - thank you. Your presence matters more than you know.

And to everyone listening, thank you for spending part of your journey with us.

Friends can make us laugh, help us feel included, and create some of our favorite memories. But sometimes friendships can be difficult. We may feel left out, hurt by someone's words, or blamed for something that wasn't our fault.

In this episode of Unmuted: Families, we explore what it means to be a good friend, how to navigate friendship challenges, and why our value doesn't change based on someone else's choices.

Together, we'll discover why the most important friend you'll ever have is the one who will be with you your entire life...yourself.

Unmuted: Families is a place for families to listen, learn, and start meaningful conversations together.

To support the mission of educating, healing, and protecting families and schools in the digital age, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-the-lioness-in-the-darkness

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of PTSD, death, grief, violence, and fears surrounding the sudden loss of loved ones.

In this episode of UNMUTED, Brie reflects on the lasting impact of learning about the death of her online friend, Tomorrow, and how that loss awakened fears that had been quietly living beneath the surface for years. Through raw and honest reflection, she explores the reality of PTSD, the way traumatic loss can reshape a person's sense of safety, and the exhausting awareness that life can change without warning.

The episode examines fears surrounding the people she loves most - her children, her husband, and her closest friends - and the unsettling realization that sometimes loss arrives without a goodbye, without an explanation, and sometimes without us even knowing until we unexpectedly stumble across the truth.

A conversation about grief, hypervigilance, trauma, love, and the difficult task of continuing to live fully in a world where nothing is guaranteed.

To support the mission of educating, healing, and protecting families and schools in the digital age, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-the-lioness-in-the-darkness

A reflection on the adults who quietly change a child's life, and the heartbreaking reality that love is not always enough to overcome the barriers created by the people around them.

In this episode of UNMUTED, Brie explores the "Miss Honey" phenomenon - those safe, caring adults who see a child clearly, encourage them, believe in them, and offer the kind of steady presence every young person deserves. She also speaks about the painful reality that sometimes those same adults become viewed as threats by the very families they are trying to support, leading to distance, separation, and endings that neither side wanted.

Through personal reflection, this episode explores attachment, protection, loss, and the complicated emotions that arise when meaningful relationships are interrupted before either person is ready to say goodbye.

A conversation about trust, caregiving, childhood, and the enduring truth that even when people are separated by time, distance, or circumstance, love and memories often remain long after the relationship itself has changed.

To support the mission of educating, healing, and protecting families and schools in the digital age, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-the-lioness-in-the-darkness

In this episode of Unmuted, Brie speaks about family, boundaries, accountability, and the grief that can follow when people choose replacement over repair.

Many survivors are told that setting a boundary will heal a relationship. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it reveals something far more painful. That the people involved would rather fill the space you left than examine why you left it in the first place.

This conversation explores the complicated emotions that can arise when accountability never comes, reconciliation remains out of reach, and life moves forward without the repair you hoped for. It is not a conversation about bitterness. It is a conversation about grief, acceptance, and learning how to keep walking when closure never arrives.

Some relationships end with understanding. Others end with silence.

This episode is for the people learning how to live with the difference.

To support the mission of educating, healing, and protecting families and schools in the digital age, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-the-lioness-in-the-darkness

A reflection on grief, resilience, healing, community, and the unexpected moments that remind us we are not carrying life alone.

In this episode of UNMUTED, Brie speaks openly about the past two weeks, including reading court documents connected to a friend who is no longer here, processing the emotions that followed a meaningful letter being torn apart, navigating the temptation of relapse, and spending a day surrounded by children, laughter, and inflatable water slides at a school event.

Through these experiences, she explores the reality of holding multiple truths at once. Grief can exist alongside joy. Anger can exist alongside gratitude. Healing does not always happen in quiet rooms or profound conversations. Sometimes it happens in ordinary moments when we realize how much has changed.

This episode is a conversation about loss, recovery, service, connection, and the gradual realization that support can come from unexpected places. It is about discovering that being loved is not dependent on being understood by everyone, and that belonging does not require universal approval.

Some forms of strength are loud.

Others arrive quietly when you realize that no matter who stays, who leaves, who agrees, or who doesn't...you are no longer walking through life alone.

To support the mission of educating, healing, and protecting families and schools in the digital age, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-the-lioness-in-the-darkness