The Stories That Sparkle

What happens when you stop waiting for the perfect setup and drive across the country with a car, two mics, and a mission? To mark the one-year anniversay of the Discoball Tour, I am joined by my dear friend and guest host Laura Sweeney (writer, actor, and director of the documentary short Tiny Movements ) who asked me how I turned a dream into a 30-day, nearly 5,000-mile journey to record 18 wome...

Patricia Dalen, LMHC, CCEP, is a psychotherapist and Certified Core Energetics Practitioner who integrates relational psychotherapy with somatic and experiential approaches. Her work has a particular focus on chronic shame and the ways it can hide beneath anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, withdrawal, and the fear of being seen. Drawing on both clinical practice and her own lived exploration...

My guest today is Callie Greenberg . Her pain started at thirteen. She did not receive a diagnosis until she was 37. For decades, despite countless doctor visits and emergency room trips, she endured the pain and sat with questions that deserved answers. It was crazy-making. Because when you’re dismissed long enough, when you’re told by enough people that nothing is wrong with you, you start to be...

Today’s episode continues the four-part podcast series “The Quiet Part Out Loud” (four women, four kinds of shame, four ways of working through it) with one of the most joyful women I have ever met—Kayti Grubstein. It was her joy that drew me to her the first time I met her when I took her Monday morning Core Power Fusion class at Queens Community Yoga in late 2025. Little did I know then what a j...

To kick off the four-part podcast series “The Quiet Part Out Loud” (four women, four kinds of shame, four ways of working through it), I bring you my conversation with Shawnna Journagan, artist and beautiful human, whom I met on Instagram because she reached out to me. And I’m so glad she did and thrilled she agreed to join me and share about the immense amount of loss (multiple people, relationsh...

Jaclyn Dima is a NYC-based, nostalgic pop/rock artist blending 80s/90s-influenced songs that balance celebration, power, and purpose. Drawing from influences like Florence + The Machine and Erasure, Jaclyn delivers performances that feel both intimate and electric, inviting audiences into a world where mysticism, empowerment, and connection take center stage. And all of that came through when we g...

Cri (pronounced “Cree”) Gabriele’s path to here was anything but a straight line. It started with making jewelry, working for a fine jeweler in London, and building her own jewelry company. But as she explored her creativity in different ways and places, everything she created, including her jewelry, became part of the process—sometimes a launchpad, sometimes an inspiration, and always a vehicle f...

Megan Klein is the founder Little Saints —a beverage company that is focused exclusively on zero-sugar, non-alcoholic cocktails and spirits fueled by functional mushrooms. Megan started this company because she had a need and she continues to build it because others have the same need. Meeting in New York for the first time in person (she lives in Miami and I live in Virginia), Megan and I recorde...

Annie Herman is a mom, wife, yoga teacher, part-time school teacher and owner of Queens Community Yoga . During our conversation, I learned what led Annie to yoga, how she arrived in this place, and why it was so important to her to open the studio and create a space not only for herself but also for others to be as they are. Spending time with Annie and recording with her in the studio while sitt...

Georgia Clark is an eight-time published novelist, founder and host of Generation Women, a monthly intergenerational storytelling event at Joe’s Pub in New York City, and the woman behind My Novel Year, a one-year writers program that helps writers finish their books without burning out. And less than two weeks out from the release of her latest novel, Play It Again (the book launch is June 16th a...

May marks the anniversary of the launch of The Stories That Sparkle Podcast …It has been a full year (and one week) since the first episode hit the pod-verse. I'll Go First (Hella's Story) (use link to listen) One year later, this episode is part celebration (of how I gained my voice in amplifying other women’s voices), part look back (to two years ago when all this really began), and part look ah...

In this (video pod) episode of The Stories That Sparkle Podcast , I am joined by Dr. Lillian Medhus (founder of Aspire Women’s Wellness ) to talk about how her own health journey led her to change how she practices medicine, listens to the women who come to see her, and asks questions to help them navigate complex gynecologic issues—especially endometriosis and pelvic pain (and of course menopause...

In this (video pod) episode of The Stories That Sparkle Podcast , Katya Eckert (founder of A Domani Sleep ) and I talk about her mission to help women get the rest they deserve while feeling good and sexy in their sleepwear—and their bodies. We also nerd out about textiles, sustainability, and supply chain—just in time for Earth Day 2026 and Mother’s Day (you can get a little A Domani Sleep for th...

As a survivor of sexual assault, I know how difficult it was for to come forward and share with anyone—friends or family—about what happened to me. I suffered for many years alone and in silence until I felt safe enough to talk about it, heal from it, and get the support I did not know I deserved. Today, I do what I can to help raise awareness, and since April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, I...

In this (video pod) episode of The Stories That Sparkle Podcast , I am joined by Adele Wimsett, women’s health practitioner based in the UK whose practice Harmonise You specializes in the intersection of ADHD, perimenopause and the female nervous system. Because there is too much information out there, I wanted to get good information to you straight from the source. Adele and I discuss her FREE s...

Howdy! My first ever VIDEO podcast episode of The Stories That Sparkle Podcast is now live—woohoo! To celebrate, I offer you my one-on-one look back on the Discoball Tour (including my key take-aways) and a look ahead for what’s next for the podcast (including a new regular release schedule and topics I want to explore further). Please note: this is not a docu-series episode or behind the scenes f...

I am thrilled to participate in this year’s Podcasthon , the world’s largest charity podcast event during which podcasters worldwide release a special episode of their podcast between March 14-20, 2026 and shine a light on a non-profit of their choosing. This dedicated episode of The Stories That Sparkle podcast features The Laurel Center , a non-profit located in Winchester, VA which provides 24-...

This episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast is the last one I recorded on the Discoball Tour and boy am I grateful that this, of all the episodes, is the one I recorded with Jenn. Curled up on the couch in her living room while a kid’s birthday party next door filled the air with sounds of joy, Jenn shares about her experience with postpartum depression, anxiety, and shame, and how, with the...

Part trip down memory lane, part real talk about being a woman in the music business (especially a female composer), and part artist-to-artist chit chat, this episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast is a wide-ranging conversation between me and Shara Nova , the woman in front of and behind My Brightest Diamond . So grateful my Discoball Tour dates matched up with her schedule so that I could s...

When I asked Regina to record an episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast with me (as part of the Discoball Tour), she took a risk when she told me she wanted to share about her concept of spirituality. A retired holistic psychotherapist and award-winning author ( Courageous Gilbert ), Regina talks about how the spiritual connectedness of all beings, how that connection shows up in her daily li...

I am so excited to share my conversation with Anita Knotts (founder of the Lotus Women’s Institute, TedX Speaker, and Podcast Host) in this episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast . I first met Anita in July 2024 right as my corporate job ended and I had a decision to make. She inspired me then and she re-inspired me again during this conversation. We talk about Money (with a capital M) includ...

In this episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast , my good friend Sue (whom I have known for almost twenty years but with whom I am rarely together with in person) shares her story of meeting Greg, the love of her life, only to lose him suddenly in late 2019. Even though it still hurts, Sue’s face lights up every time she says Greg’s name, thinks about him or talks about their time together. An...

Tara, Sheri’s niece , was so determined to tell her story, and through that, her daughter Naomi’s story, that she drove five hours across the full length of Nebraska to spend the night, record with me, and turn back around the morning to drive home. Tara’s journey as a medical parent and the lessons she learned from Naomi’s six-year fight against all the odds is a true inspiration. And despite sti...

This episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast is part story, part conversation and part homecoming. Sheri and I have known each other for a long time and even though we have never lived in the same place, we are very close and I count her as one of my nearest and dearest. So, it was a no-brainer to make her home in Lincoln a stop on the Discoball Tour. What I did not realize was that we would d...

This episode of the Stories That Sparkle Podcast is more of a conversation. That’s because my first “encounter” with Kristen (aka Sofia Dragon) was a visit to her Instagram page after a friend of ours introduced us. And in her profile, I saw four letters that totally freaked me out: BDSM. Boy am I glad that I took that as an opportunity to be curious. As soon as I stepped into Kristen’s apartment...