Shows
Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastWhat Happens When You Lose the People Who Made You?This week, I’m sitting down with journalist, author, and former CNN Senior Copy Editor John DeDakis to talk about the kind of loss that rearranges everything you think you know about yourself. John lost his mother first. Years later, he watched his father take his final breath right in front of him. He describes the aftermath as feeling “orphaned at 45,” and it became the moment that forced him to confront grief in a way he had avoided for years.
John walks through what it felt like to lose the last parent, how childhood memories hit differently once t...
2025-11-191h 03Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastNext Level Grief: Turning Pain into Purpose with Alan LazarosIn this episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I sit down with Alan Lazaros, CEO of Next Level University, a global top 100 podcast dedicated to helping others level up in life, love, health, and wealth. Alan lost his father in a car accident when he was just two years old, a loss that created deep pain and a sense of disconnection that would shape his entire journey. Decades later, after surviving his own near-fatal car accident, Alan found himself questioning everything: his choices, his identity, and the trajectory of his life. Instead of running from grief, he...
2025-10-2945 minUnparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastA Surfers Mindset: The Surfer’s Mindset: A Lesson for Life and Grief with Angie HawkinsWhat can surfing teach us about grief, resilience, and learning to live in the present?
In this episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I sit down with Angie Hawkins, author of Running in Slippers and a coach helping high-achieving women let go of external validation. Angie lost her dad in 2017, a loss that sent her into the deepest grief she’d ever known and ultimately into a journey of healing, transformation, and connection with her father on the other side.
Angie shares how surfing became more than a daily practice in Hawaii, it be...
2025-10-151h 31Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastLearning to Grieve After Losing a Mom | Lisa’s StoryWhat happens when you lose your mom at just 18 years old, before you’ve even had the chance to figure out who you are?
In this episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I sit down with Lisa Espinosa, a writer, speaker, and certified grief and loss counselor, to talk about the life-altering experience of losing her mom as a teenager. Lisa shares how her mom’s death from lung cancer shaped her early adulthood, what it taught her about love, presence, and faith, and how it later influenced the way she mothered and now “Mimi’s” her o...
2025-10-021h 29Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastA Father’s Story of Love and Loss | Sean Foster on GriefWhat happens when your children lose their mom before they’re old enough to remember her?
In this episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I sit down with Sean Foster, host of The Next Minute, to talk about what it means to raise two boys in the shadow of grief. Sean’s wife, Taylor, died in 2020 just 12 hours after giving birth to their youngest son, leaving him a grieving husband and single father overnight.
Sean shares the reality of carrying not only his own grief but also the grief of his sons, helping them...
2025-09-171h 14Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastGrief Is Love With Nowhere to Go | Zulma “The Swearing Therapist” WilliamsWhat happens when you lose both parents as an adult, one unexpectedly and one during a pandemic?
In this episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I sit down with Zulma Williams, better known as @theswearingtherapist, to talk about grief in its rawest form. Zulma shares her story of losing her mom and dad within seven years, navigating cancer, depression, and abusive relationships, and still finding her way back to resilience.
She reminds us that grief is love with nowhere to go, and that there is nothing to “get over.” Instead, we can choose how...
2025-09-031h 47Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastLosing Both Parents Before 30 | Becka’s Story of Grief, Identity, and ResilienceBecka lost both of her parents before turning 30. In this conversation, she shares how grief reshaped her sense of identity, the isolation of feeling “orphaned” as an adult, and the surprising gifts that loss can bring. We talk about therapy, comparison, and learning to linger in moments of grief.
If you’ve ever felt alone in your loss, or want to share your story on Unparented, I’d love to hear from you.
2025-08-211h 36Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastHow We Grieve | Therapist Lydia Lomahan on Loss, Trauma, and HealingGrief is not one-size-fits-all. Therapist Lydia Lomahan joins me to talk about why grief is an extension of love, how cultural scripts around loss can create pressure, and what it means to hold space for grief without trying to “fix” it. This conversation is for anyone carrying loss, trauma, or big emotions that don’t fit neatly into a box.
If you’re a therapist, caregiver, or someone walking through grief who wants to share your perspective, I’d love to have you as a guest on Unparented.
2025-08-0547 minUnparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastAdoption, Loss, and Searching for Identity | John’s Story of Losing a ParentJohn was adopted at birth, and after losing his adoptive dad, he found himself navigating two stories at once: grief and identity. In this episode, we talk about what it means to lose a parent, how adoption shaped his grief, and the search for connection with his birth family.
If you’ve walked through loss or adoption and want to share your story, I’d love to connect. Guests are always welcome on Unparented.
2025-07-2254 minUnparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastParenting After Losing a Parent | Grief, Childhood Trauma, and Raising My Kids DifferentlyWhat happens when you grow up without parents and then become one yourself? In this episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I share how losing my dad at 15 and my mom at 26 shaped the way I parent my own kids. From the fear of dying young like my father, to breaking cycles of grief and trauma, this is a raw look at becoming the parent I never had.
If you’ve lost a parent and want to talk about how it shaped your life, I’d love to hear your story. Reach out if you’d like...
2025-07-0819 min
Unparented: A Dead Parents Club PodcastLosing My Parents Young | Grief, Loneliness, and Finding a Way ForwardWhen I lost my dad at 15 and my mom at 26, grief became the story I couldn’t escape. In this first episode of Unparented: A Dead Parents Club Podcast, I share my journey of losing both parents, the loneliness of navigating life without them, and how therapy and faith have helped me carry the weight.
If you’ve lost a parent and want to share your story on the podcast, reach out. This space is for all of us learning how to live with grief.
2025-07-0322 min