Shows
Overcomers ApproachHow A Wildland Fire Became A Story Of Survival And CommunityA wall of fire doesn’t just burn trees, it burns through every assumption you had about safety, preparation, and what the human body can endure. I’m joined by 2023 Library of Congress award-winning author A.J. Otten to talk about Burned Over, her narrative nonfiction book about Montana firefighter Dan Stephenson and the Red Lodge community that refuses to let him be “just another tragedy.”We get into the wildland firefighting realities behind the Robertson Draw Fire, including how a distant storm can hide a dangerous downdraft and turn a small fire into an 80-foot firestorm in secon...
2026-04-1428 minOvercomers ApproachA Stroke Forced Her To Stop And Finally ListenSuccess can look flawless on the outside while life feels tight and fragile on the inside. Nichol Ellis-McGregor and transformation facilitator Heather Stewart unpack what “alignment” really means for high-functioning women who carry big roles, big expectations, and quiet burnout. Heather’s turning point is startling: after years in corporate leadership, then wellness work as a yoga teacher, personal trainer, massage therapist, and coach, she suffered multiple strokes during COVID. With no visitors and limited ability to distract herself on a phone, she was forced into stillness. That pause became a reset that sharpened her message on self-worth, sustainable change...
2026-04-0742 minOvercomers ApproachMidlife CallingThat quiet thought, “Is this really it?” isn’t a character flaw. It’s often the first sign your life is ready for a more honest kind of alignment. Midlife “crisis” or midlife calling? If you feel guilty for wanting more, this conversation will hit home. Learn how to spot your unique gifts I sit down with Anna Quigley, transformational speaker and founder of Journey to Purpose, to reframe the midlife crisis into a midlife calling. We talk about why so many of us feel guilty for wanting more even when things are “fine,” and how purpose isn’t a single mo...
2026-04-0135 minOvercomers ApproachFrom Job Loss To A 1,300 Employee-Person Centered Mission Business!Getting fired can feel like the moment your life splits in two and you don’t recognize either side. We sit down with Merry Korn, author of Fired to Inspired, to unpack what happens after a sudden job loss when you’re scared, responsible for a family, and tempted to shut down. Mary shares the exact crossroads she faced at 46 as a single mom and the “get moving anyway” mindset that helped her climb out of paralysis and into purpose.What makes Merry’s story different is how practical it is. She explains why informational interviews beat begging fo...
2026-03-2425 minOvercomers ApproachHow Blending Life And Business Builds A Truer YouWhat if your biggest challenges are the raw material for a truer life? We sit down with coach and spiritual leader Kristan Swan to explore how aligning who you are with what you build can turn pressure into purpose and bring real ease back into your days.Kristan traces her path from business strategist to whole‑person mentor, revealing why separating “work” and “life” often blocks momentum. We talk about defining success in plain words, the practical steps to align actions with values, and why clients follow people first. You’ll hear how inviting your full self into your bu...
2026-03-2432 minOvercomers ApproachFrom Personal Trauma To Collective Healing and Healing a Nation's Wounds.What if the tools that mend a fractured family could also help heal a divided nation? That question drives our powerful conversation with psychotherapist and author Phyllis Leavitt, whose new book America in Therapy reframes politics through a mental health lens. We trace her journey from buried childhood trauma to profound spiritual moments and the steady, practical work of psychotherapy, then connect those lessons to the crises we’re all living through.Phyllis argues that unhealed wounds don’t disappear; they reenact as harm. From the genocide of Native peoples to the legacy of enslavement to waves of m...
2026-03-1033 minOvercomers ApproachFrom Hidden Hurt To Honest Faith: Jessica L. Morris On Addiction, Recovery, And SurrenderPain can teach you the wrong lesson: that you’re alone, unlovable, and stuck with what broke you. Jessica L. Morris grew up in a small town where her father’s charisma in the pulpit masked the chaos of alcoholism at home, and the word “mistake” lodged deep in her heart. She found early comfort in food and alcohol, carrying the family’s secrets while trying to outrun shame. Yet even through addiction and a fraught relationship with organized religion, her love for Jesus never fully let go—sometimes quiet, sometimes stubborn, often the only thread that made sense.We...
2026-03-0540 minOvercomers ApproachNever Too Late To Build WealthA pink slip at 63 could have been the end of the story. For David Nassief, it became the start of a comeback: from stalled interviews and age bias to a commission-only sales role, a flood of rejection, and then a breakthrough that paid more than his old salary. The real turning point wasn’t a hot stock or a risky bet. It was a one-page wealth compass—nine steps on one side, timeless principles on the other—that he reviewed for two minutes a week. With that simple system, he saved more, paid less in fees, and invested in broad...
2026-03-0435 minOvercomers ApproachEmpowering conversation with Robert Mahoney Violence Prevention Expert & Founder of TVTP Solutions. Prevention Works When Identity, Community, And Purpose Are Met.The story we tell about safety shapes how safe we actually are. With Rob Mahoney of TVTP Solutions, we explore why targeted violence is rarely random and how communities get trapped in a cycle of visible defenses—cameras, detectors, drills, that protect during an incident but do little to keep one from forming. Rob traces a common arc across cases: people notice concerning behaviors for months or years, yet rigid thresholds, privacy silos, and mismatched incentives delay action until prevention becomes response.We dive into the psychology of security and the unintended messages we send. When every do...
2026-02-2550 minOvercomers ApproachInsightful conversation about how to stop Performing For Love And Start Loving YourselfImagine rebuilding your life from the ground up, starting with the belief that once convinced you that you were unlovable. That’s the turning point Angie Hawkins shares as we unpack how grief, a cross-country move, and a hard look in the mirror led her from people pleasing and perfectionism to a life powered by self-trust and clear boundaries. It’s a candid journey with practical tools you can use today.We get specific about what kept her stuck and what set her free. Angie explains why general advice and spiritual highs weren’t enough without integration, and ho...
2026-02-1833 minOvercomers ApproachPermission, Faith, And The Power Of Becoming A LighthouseWhat if the fastest way to lead better is to stop striving and start listening? I sit down with bestselling author and strategist Cortney McDermott to explore intuition as a practical, reliable guide, one you can access in minutes with simple, science-backed resets like lying down, yawning, and shaking off stuck energy. Cortney shares how chasing gold stars led to a cold, lonely “top,” and how tuning into her inner teacher opened doors that policies and precedents said were impossible.She traces her journey from executive assistant to main-stage presenter at The North Face, unpacking why so-called coin...
2026-02-1039 minOvercomers ApproachFrom Stress To Resilience Through Creative MindfulnessWhat if calm could be something you can see on paper? I sit down with mindful art educator and creator Cynthia Hawk to explore how drawing, doodling, and watercolor, paired with simple breathwork, become practical tools for stress relief, better sleep, and emotional regulation you can feel within minutes. No perfect sketchbooks, no pressure, just process over product and a kinder way to meet your day.Cynthia breaks down mindful art as short, accessible practices that make meditation visible. From “drawing the breath” to her aquadoodles approach, she shows how externalizing your focus steadies attention and expands your...
2026-01-2833 minOvercomers ApproachShe Survived, Started Eleven Companies, And Still Has Time For Nineteen GrandkidsWhat if surrender is the catalyst your strategy has been missing? I sit down with transformational leader and serial founder Holly Porter to trace the arc from a 70‑day near‑death experience to a purpose-first life defined by service, intuition, and bold execution. Holly unpacks SHIFT—Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, Transformation—and shows how each element turns chaos into clarity, not as a slogan, but as a lived operating system for health, business, and legacy.Holly shares the moment she returned with two clear directives: start a nonprofit and walk away from an enticing tech partnership that wasn’t a...
2026-01-1334 minOvercomers ApproachFrom Wounds To PowerWhat if the loudest voice in your head isn’t truth, but a hurt mind replaying an old script? Nichol from Overcomers Approach Podcast sits down with Hilary Momberger Powers, voice of Sally from the Peanuts specials and a mentor with 40 years in recovery, to trace how trauma, family dynamics, and early fame shaped a life she later rebuilt from the inside out. The conversation moves from survival roles like people-pleasing, isolation, and control to the practices that actually restore safety: stabilizing your senses, telling the truth, setting boundaries, and building a daily relationship with a higher power.
2026-01-0656 minOvercomers ApproachFighting for Us: How Couples Turn Pain and Trauma Into Deeper LoveI had an insightful conversation with Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist Kayla Crane. She specializes in relationships and trauma. She works with couples to help them improve communication, heal from infidelity, and develop conflict resolution skills. She practices relational life therapy, EMDR therapy, solution focused therapy, systematic affair recovery therapy, and attachment theory.We converse about how conflict isn’t proof your relationship is broken; it’s a signal that growth is knocking. Therapist Kayla unpack show couples can turn tension into connection by building better communication, honoring trauma histories, and learning the language of attachment. From anxi...
2025-12-3035 minOvercomers ApproachRebuilding Life After Brain Injury And Breast CancerWhat if rebuilding your life starts with a single, present moment? I have great conversation with author Shannon Michelle to trace an extraordinary path from a catastrophic motorcycle accident and months in a coma to living with severe short‑term memory loss and then confronting a breast cancer diagnosis. Shannon’s story isn’t framed by grand gestures; it’s anchored in tiny, repeatable practices that restore dignity: taking bullet‑point notes to remember conversations, choosing a quiet cup of tea, walking the dog, and meeting each day without demanding it look like the last.We talk honestly ab...
2025-12-1630 minOvercomers ApproachRebuilding After LossI have a awesome conversation with Chanoa Inez, author of Dream On: How to create the new life of your dreams after upheaval or loss. The heart of this conversation with Chanoa Inez is the quiet stretch between loss and the life that waits beyond it. We explored how a dream trip turned tragic in a single night, and how that shock rippled into years of hidden grief, health issues, and a muted version of normal. The turning point wasn’t a single fix but a series of choices: leaving a familiar city, shedding an inherited identity, and building da...
2025-12-1132 minOvercomers ApproachHealing From Complex TraumaWhat if high functioning is just a polished form of survival? I sit down with therapist and podcast host Malisa Hepner to trace a life from chaotic beginnings to grounded, embodied healing and the messy middle where most of us get stuck. Melissa opens up about growing up with addiction, foster care, and never feeling safe, then explains how those patterns shape perfectionism, overthinking, and the urge to push people away while craving connection.We dig into practical ways to build safety from the inside out. Malisa breaks down why your brain’s job is survival, not ha...
2025-12-0239 minOvercomers ApproachRedefining Success Without BurnoutWhat if the version of success you’re chasing is the very thing draining you? Nichol sits down with Dorota, a former consultant and go-to-market leader who hit her “success wall” and rebuilt a life that performs at a high level without burning out. We unpack the turning points that matter: trading pride in five-hour nights for restorative sleep, swapping perfectionism for clear priorities, and using neuroscience-based tools to calm a busy mind.You’ll hear how micro-habits like a book before bed, seven-hour sleep minimums, and a mindful morning routine created compounding gains in focus and energy...
2025-11-1933 minOvercomers ApproachRewriting Identity After Divorce, Cancer, And ChangeThe ground can fall out from under you—divorce, cancer, a job ending—and still become the place you learn who you are. I converse meditation teacher and Breathe app co-founder Lynn Goldberg to unpack how identity gets rebuilt from the inside out and why presence is more reliable than control when life swerves. Lynn’s story moves from profound loss to radical reinvention, and along the way she shares the practical tools that turned fear into agency.We dive into a clear, science-backed view of stress as the gap between expectation and outcome, and how attention traini...
2025-11-1235 minOvercomers ApproachCareer joy, on your terms.Your work shouldn’t drain the life you’re trying to build. In this candid, energizing conversation with veteran coach and therapist Rachel Speckman, we unpack how to find the “right room” for your talents and design a career that matches who you are now—not who you were five roles ago. Rachel draws on 15 years in brand marketing, a decade with startup founders, and clinical training to translate big ideas into small, doable moves that restore momentum.We dig into her strategic overlap framework—where skills you enjoy, values that feel true, and topics that spark curiosity me...
2025-10-2834 minOvercomers ApproachFrom Caregiving Burnout to Boundaries: Building a Life That Honors You.What if the bravest thing you do for your health is say “no” on a Sunday? I sit down with Tiffany Moore, Chief Inspirational Officer of Moore to Wellness, to explore how a life built on caregiving, faith, and trial-and-error became a blueprint for sustainable self-respect. From packing up Minneapolis for Dallas with no safety net to navigating the shock of full-time caregiving, Tiffany shows how the wellness wheel—emotional, spiritual, social, financial, physical, occupational, intellectual, and environmental—turns real when one spoke wobbles and the whole ride gets rough.We dig into the difference between therapy and coac...
2025-10-0738 minOvercomers ApproachUnleashing Your Personal Brand: A Holistic ApproachAuthenticity in branding isn't just a buzzword—it's becoming essential for entrepreneurs who want their message to resonate in today's hyper-connected world. In this fascinating conversation, Nichol Ellis-McGregor speaks with Hersch Rephun, a holistic brand therapist who transforms how conscious entrepreneurs present themselves and their missions.Hersch shares his personal journey from corporate brand strategist to personal brand therapist, sparked by the isolation of the pandemic and a desire for more meaningful connections. "I wanted to feel like I was helping people one-on-one with their personal brand, because attached to every personal brand is a mission," he ex...
2025-09-3034 minOvercomers ApproachConquering Self-Doubt: A Psychologist's Guide for creatives, entrepreneurs, artists and influencersEver feel like you're playing a role in your own life? Dr. Albert Bramante, psychologist and veteran entertainment industry professional, joins the Overcomers Approach podcast to reveal why so many talented performers struggle with debilitating self-doubt.Drawing from his doctoral research and over twenty years of experience as a talent agent, Dr. Bramante unpacks the psychological underpinnings of imposter syndrome in actors and other creative professionals. He explains how constant rejection combines with childhood wounds to create powerful patterns of self-sabotage that can derail even the most promising careers.The conversation takes a fascinating turn...
2025-09-2426 minOvercomers ApproachBreaking Free from Credit Card DebtWhat if everything you believed about credit card debt was built on a misunderstanding of banking? Tommy Kilpatrick's remarkable story begins with $85,000 in credit card debt and ends with a financial revelation that changed his life forever.When Tommy found himself drowning in credit card obligations after a promised contract fell through, he didn't accept defeat. Drawing on his accounting background, he questioned the fundamental nature of his financial arrangement with the banks. His discovery was stunning – the banks had no invoices for his purchases and he had never signed a promissory note, two essential components of a...
2025-08-2638 min