Shows
Hope Comes to VisitLearning to Love What You Don’t Like | Oneika Mays on Mindfulness, Rikers Island & Radical Loving KindnessSend a textWhat if you don’t have to like someone to love them?In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, I was honored to sit down down with mindfulness coach, yoga teacher, and master storyteller Oneika Mays to explore what it means to practice loving kindness in the hardest places — including Rikers Island and how these experiences inspired her new book: Sit with Me: A No BS Journey to Mindfulness & Meditation.Oneika spent years teaching meditation and yoga inside one of the most notorious jails in the country. What she...
2026-02-1630 min
Hope Comes to VisitPancakes for Roger: Love, Service, and the Lessons Our Parents Leave Us — with Susan L. CombsSend us a textSeason 2, Episode 5A Missouri girl in a New York world on founding Combs & Company, honoring her father’s legacy, and why hope is the only thing greater than fear.This week I’m joined by Susan L. Combs—president of Combs & Company, bestselling author, and daughter of Major General Roger E. Combs. We talk about the moment “Pancakes for Roger” was born, the quiet heroism of caregivers, what the military gave her family (and took), and how a single story can ripple into grants, breakfasts, and thousa...
2026-02-0253 min
Hope Comes to VisitLaugh, Cry, Cuss, Evolve: Practical Hope for Divorce with Jessica AshleySend us a textThis week on Hope Comes to Visit, I’m joined by my long-time friend Jessica Ashley—the Divorce Coach for Moms (CDC Certified Divorce Coach®), award-winning writer, and pink-haired powerhouse helping women move through divorce with clarity, community, and yes… a little cussing. We talk about identity, grief that resurfaces in tiny moments, and how to be “amicable” with yourself when co-parenting isn’t collaborative.I have so many favorite moments from this episode - but Jessica helps women move through divorce with grace, creativity, and community. We talk about what it...
2026-01-2636 min
Hope Comes to VisitWhen Love Stay: Showing Up for your Partner Without Losing Yourself with Tina Hamby S2 EP3Send us a textSeason 2, Episode 3What does it look like to love someone through addiction—without losing yourself? My dear friend Tina Hamby shares the messy middle of her marriage: the years her husband Adam was drinking, the boundaries that kept her safe, the moment everything changed, and the daily practices that keep their extraordinary family grounded now. We talk faith, community, parenting through guilt, and why “nothing changes if nothing changes.”Listen for: • The difference between fixing and loving • Boundaries that protect you (and your relationship) • Finding your recovery “thing...
2026-01-1950 min
Hope Comes to VisitFrom Marriage to Team: Our Co-Parenting Playbook with my ex-Husband Jeff SmithSend us a textWhen the marriage ends but the season isn’t over, what does it look like to stay on the same team? In this candid conversation, I sit down with my ex-husband (and friend) Jeff Smith to share the co-parenting playbook that’s worked for us: kids-first decisions, private huddles + public alignment, respect over ego, and informed support through recovery. No trick plays—just fundamentals we run every day.Today’s game planKids-First Offense: decisions that put the children on the scoreboard, not our...
2026-01-1239 min
Hope Comes to VisitSeason 2 - Light, Audacity, and Showing Up- My Word (and Work) for 2026Send us a textThis year, my word of the year is Audacity—not the loud kind, the tender kind that says: I’m still here, and I’m going to live like it.If you are here right now and/or planning to press play today, thank you. You’ve taken a chance on me—and on this new season.I’m choosing Audacity for its tiny brave steps, presence over perfection, and hope that shows up.Season 2 starts officially starts here...
2026-01-0524 min
Hope Comes to VisitWhen the Paint Chips: Finding Light After Unthinkable Loss with Theo BoydSend us a textContent note: This episode includes candid discussion of traumatic loss, suicide, and grief.In this final Hope Comes to Visit episode of 2025, I sit down with award-winning Texas author, grief educator, and podcaster Theo Boyd. Every story has a turning point and she joins me to talk about hers...including her new USA TODAY bestselling book Hope All the Way—and the life behind it. Theo shares the day everything changed: her mother’s tragic death in a farm accident, the unraveling of her...
2025-12-2936 min
Hope Comes to VisitFrom Guilt to Guidance: How to Talk About Senior Care with Shona McIntyreSend us a textContent note: This episode includes candid conversation about aging, dementia, and caregiver stress.What’s the right time to talk about senior care—and how do you even begin? In this episode of Hope Comes to Visit, I sit with Shona McIntyre, a senior care advisor, social worker, and certified dementia practitioner with nearly two decades of experience helping families navigate complex decisions with clarity, compassion, and confidence.We unpack the messy middle: noticing early signs of change, starting “the talk” without stripping dignity, and why plan...
2025-12-2225 min
Hope Comes to VisitKleptomania, Consequences, And HopeSend us a textThis episode includes honest discussion of addiction and legal consequences.What does recovery look like when the compulsion won’t let go? In this conversation, I am privileged to sit with Kelli Bauer, who lives with kleptomania—an often-hidden addiction—and has paid steep personal and legal costs. This conversation is brave and vulnerable. We talk about the difference between “shoplifting” and a clinical compulsion, how shame and secrecy keep us sick, what (actually) helps day-to-day, and why, for Kelli, hope looks like refusing to give up—one hour, one errand...
2025-12-1550 min
Hope Comes to VisitA Life Bigger Than Grief: Melissa Hull on Grace, Forgiveness and Choosing JoySend us a textGentle note: we talk honestly about grief and child loss—please listen with care and kindness for yourself.What does healing look like when the unthinkable happens? In this episode, I’m sitting with Melissa Hull—author, speaker, coach, fierce advocate, and Drew’s mom. After losing her son in a tragic drowning, Melissa has worked to choose a different ending for herself: love in motion, faith as a daily practice, grief as a path that can still lead to purpose.In this conversation, we get real...
2025-12-0844 min
Hope Comes to VisitStart Anyway: K.T. Jay on Grief, Courage, Indie Publishing, and ImaginationSend us a textGentle heads-up: mentions of grief and loss.If you’re new—welcome, I am so grateful you are here. If you’re back again for hope to visit—welcome home. In this episode, I'm delighted to be chatting with K.T. Jay—the Amazon bestselling author of Inkbound Inheritance—to talk about imagination, healing through story, and the courage it takes to begin. We explore how grief shapes us, why stories can steady us, and what it’s really like to indie-publish a debut that lands on...
2025-12-0133 min
Hope Comes to VisitEp 38 Hustle, Heart, Hot Dogs & Hope: Danni Eickenhorst on Feeding a CitySend us a textI love conversations that make you want to show up for people. This is one of them.Today’s guest is Danni Eickenhorst, the heartbeat behind Hustle Hospitality and some of St. Louis’ most beloved spots: Steve’s Hot Dogs, Steve’s Meltdown, The Fountain on Locust, and The Stardust Room.Danni and I talk about what it really means to be “a neighborhood place”: paying people with dignity, creating spaces where everyone belongs, and...
2025-11-1725 min
Hope Comes to VisitEP 37 Hope, Hustle & Tiny Tags: Melissa Clayton on Building a Beloved Brand & Hitting Dream Milestones (Like Making Oprah's Favorite Things!)Send us a textIf you’re new—welcome. If you’re back—welcome home. Today I’m sitting down with my friend Melissa Clayton, founder & CEO of Tiny Tags—the personalized jewelry brand born at a kitchen table and now beloved by moms, worn by Meghan Markle, sold in Target stores nationwide, and (pinch-me) featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things 2025. We talk about the quiet courage behind the milestones: bootstrapping for 15+ years, saying no to shiny objects, building a values-first team, and telling real stories of moth...
2025-11-1032 min
Hope Comes to VisitEP 36 From Panic to Peace: Everyday Practices for Anxious Hearts with Amanda WillsonSend us a textIf you’re new here—welcome. If you’re back—welcome home. Today I’m sitting with my dear friend of 12+ years, Amanda Willson, a life coach and anxiety expert who has walked this road and now teaches the rest of us how to find steadier ground. This isn’t theory; it’s real tools for real life.We talk about simple practices that change the moment you’re in: 4-7-8 breathing to settle your nervous system, the 5-4-3-2-1 senses reset to get you out o...
2025-11-0625 min
Hope Comes to VisitThe Night Laughter Saved My Life: Ron Blake on PTSD, Community, & 522 Boards of HopeSend a textA gentle heads-up: In this conversation, we name some hard things — including suicide and sexual assault. If that’s tender for you today, please listen with care, skip ahead, or come back when you’re ready. If you need support in the US, call or text 988.Sometimes hope is a laugh you didn’t expect. At 10:44 PM on November 2, 2015, Ron “Blake” Blake was ready to end his life. A split-second laugh during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert interrupted t...
2025-10-2841 min
Hope Comes to VisitWhen “Try Again” Isn’t Enough: Sam Bonizzi on Missed Miscarriages, IVF & Finding CommunitySend us a textHope isn’t the absence of fear—it’s the light that keeps you moving when fear won’t leave. In this tender, no-fluff conversation, I sit with Sam Bonizzi, co-author of The Losses We Keep, as she shares how two missed miscarriages upended everything: the shock of hard news in an ultrasound room, the moment she fired a clinic that wouldn’t test her partner, and how she built a real support web—REI + acupuncture + therapy + a circle of women who “got it.”
2025-10-2134 min
Hope Comes to VisitFrom Silent Suffering to Solid Support: Lucy Rose on Healing Chronic LonelinessSend us a textSome seasons of my life, loneliness wasn’t a passing mood—it was the air I breathed. I didn’t always call it by name, but my body did: tight chest, racing thoughts, that sense of being “with people” and still feeling alone. In this conversation, I sit down with Lucy Rose, founder of The Cost of Loneliness Project, to talk honestly about what chronic loneliness does to us—and how we can gently stitch connection back into our days.We weave together science and story: cortisol and inflammation, yes—but also...
2025-10-1745 min
Hope Comes to VisitSeen at Last: Dr. Deb Muth on Women’s Health, Functional Medicine, and Finding AnswersSend us a textIf you’ve ever been told “it’s normal” when you knew it wasn’t—this episode is for you. I’m joined by Dr. Deb Muth—naturopathic doctor, functional medicine expert, and founder of Serenity Health Care Center—to talk about being seen at last: how to advocate for yourself, ask better questions, and get to root causes instead of living on prescriptions that never explain the “why.”We dig into:Why women are diagnosed 4–5 years later than men for many conditions—and what to do about it in real time.T...
2025-10-1347 min
Hope Comes to VisitWho Gets a Seat at Your Table? Curating Your Life with Clarity, Care, and CourageSend us a textPull up a chair and take a breath—then ask the question most of us avoid: who gets a seat at your table, and why? In this solo episode, I treat your table as a living metaphor for your energy, time, and love—and names what it takes to protect that sacred space without apology.We get practical fast. You’ll hear clear, compassionate scripts for late-night crisis friendships, boundary-pushing relatives, and overflowing workloads, plus a four-part framework to sort who stays, who stands, and who
2025-10-1014 min
Hope Comes to VisitBack to School: Dr. Gina Barreca on Hope, Grief and How Laughter Gives Us the MicSend us a textHumor doesn’t just make us laugh—it hands us the mic. In this episode, Dr. Gina Barreca—award-winning professor, cultural critic, and bestselling author of Gina School—shows how wit turns grief into agency and outsiderhood into belonging. From losing her mother young to pioneering gender-and-humor studies, Gina traces the path where jokes become bridges and stories transform shame into connection.We dig into how many women use humor differently—not as a weapon, but as an invitation—and why inclusive laughter thrives in everyday places (yes, even the women’s restroom). G...
2025-10-0649 min
Hope Comes to VisitPlanning in Pencil: Candice Suarez’s Life Drafting After Tongue CancerSend us a textContent note: candid discussion of cancer diagnosis, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and recovery.What if hope isn’t “it’ll be fine,” but “I can handle what comes”? That shift changed everything for Candice Suarez. In this conversation, Candice takes us inside a whirlwind season: a misread ulcer during COVID, a tongue-cancer diagnosis, surgery removing over half her tongue, a forearm graft, and weeks of radiation and chemo. She walks us through recovery’s gritty middle—managing pain, relearning to swallow, and returning to public speaking with a voice that invit...
2025-10-0333 min
Hope Comes to VisitBuild-A-Bear, Build-A-City: Maxine Clark on Curiosity, Business & BelongingSend us a textWhat happens when you treat curiosity like a business plan and community like your bottom line? Maxine Clark—founder of Build-A-Bear and the force behind St. Louis’s Delmar Divine—talks about creating brands that hold people, not just products. We explore the question that keeps opening doors for her: “How can I help?” and the multiplier that guides her work—1+1=100.We don’t run the play-by-play; we sit with the pivots: listening to children, translating insight into action, and building places where families can a...
2025-09-291h 02
Hope Comes to VisitAgainst All Odds: Fatherhood, Loss, and Hope with Richie TreadwaySend us a textContent note: pregnancy loss and medical trauma. Entrepreneur and dad Richie Treadway joins me to talk about becoming a parent later in life, the moment everything fell apart—and the choice to keep going. We don’t relive every detail; we sit with what it took to advocate, to grieve, and to try again. Richie names the kind of love that “changes the way your heart works,” and defines hope as the resilience to not quit against all odds. If you’re s...
2025-09-2640 min
A Storied TableAt the Table | Danielle Elliot (Climbing the Walls)Text me! Tell me something good!When you hear “ADHD,” do you picture a little boy who can’t sit still in class—or maybe an adult who keeps forgetting their keys? That’s the story we’ve been told, but it’s not the whole truth. This week I’m visiting with documentarian and journalist Danielle Elliott, who created the podcast series Climbing the Walls. She’s digging into what ADHD really looks like for women—the messy, complicated, real-life version that doesn’t fit the stereotypes.We talk about everything from the winding road of di...
2025-09-2442 min
Hope Comes to VisitBellamy Young on Caregiving, Liver Disease & the Freedom Beyond ShameSend us a textActress Bellamy Young, from the hit TV shows Scandal and Brilliant Minds, joins Danielle to share the story behind her advocacy for liver disease—and the caregiving journey with her dad that began when he was diagnosed with cirrhosis and later hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Bellamy speaks candidly about shame, stigma, and the moment everything changed: realizing liver disease can affect the brain, memory, personality, and daily life.Together, we talk about the hypervigilance of caregiving, why community matters as much as treatment, and the essential practice of as...
2025-09-2222 min