Phoenix Lessons

Send us Fan Mail Grief is woven into the human experience, yet we often spend enormous amounts of energy trying to outrun it, avoid it, or convince ourselves we’ll deal with it later. But sometimes, we can feel the fire coming. We know a Phoenix Cycle is upon us, and the ashes are coming whether we’re ready for them or not. So what if, instead of resisting the inevitable, we prepared for it? Can w...

Send us Fan Mail After growing up in the shadow of his parents’ painful divorce and a distant relationship with his father, David Goldberg made a promise to himself: his children would never experience the same loss and instability he did. For years, that promise shaped every decision he made. But when his own marriage became impossible to sustain, David was forced to confront his deepest fear — b...

Send us Fan Mail Would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane? Amanda and Cami would... and they’ve discovered that skydiving has a lot more to teach us about life than you might expect. What makes us willing to step out of the plane, trust the parachute, and embrace the unknown? And how do we know when it’s time to stay safely on the ground and when it’s time to take the leap? A candid, though...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you lose your mother at a young age? Move to a new country alone at 18? Or face the end of a marriage while raising two young children? For Ronit Molko, life brought one fire after another. But instead of asking, “Why me?” she chose a different question: “Who am I now?” In this episode, Ronit shares her journey through grief, reinvention, resilience, and personal...

Send us Fan Mail When you survive childhood by being as good as possible, the drive to achieve and please often follows you into adulthood. What coping strategies once kept you safe but have outlived their purpose? Support the show

Send us Fan Mail From fleeing a war-torn homeland to navigating the chaos of a drama-filled family, Reza Farahan learned early that life rarely follows a straight path. Through every setback, his mother instilled one unwavering belief: no matter the challenge, he would find a way to win. When relationships evolved, careers shifted, and opportunities disappeared—including the sudden end of a hit re...

Send us Fan Mail When you're faced with a choice, do you play it safe? Do you think about the future before the moment? Or are you the type to leap first and figure it out on the way down? Life constantly asks us to choose between caution and risk. Experience can make us wiser—but it can also make us more hesitant. So where's the balance? At what point does protecting ourselves begin to...

Send us Fan Mail For years, Daniella Capitano lived with a secret that fueled pain, silence, and addiction. Growing up in a home marked by abuse and hidden truths, she learned to numb her emotions rather than face them. But everything changed when she decided to reclaim her voice. In this powerful episode, Daniella shares her journey from survival to healing, from addiction to freedom, and from si...

Send us Fan Mail Plot vs Theme. Fact vs Feeling. What vs So What. The events of our lives may seem straightforward—but the meaning we make from them is where the real story unfolds. In this episode, Cami and Amanda explore the difference between what happened and what it means, and how digging into the “So What?” can reveal deeper insights, healing, and understanding. Join them for a thoughtful co...

Send us Fan Mail After losing her home and everything she owned in the Palisades fire, screenwriter Firdosi Wharton-Ali faced the unimaginable: a chance to begin again from nothing. But instead of only rebuilding what was lost, she chose to reimagine what her life could become. First, she poured herself into helping others in her community recover and heal. Then she turned inward. Standing in the...

Send us Fan Mail Can men and women really be “just friends”? As When Harry Met Sally  declared, “the sex part always gets in the way,” cross-gender friendships have always carried a certain cultural tension. But are we still stuck in that narrative? This week, Cami and Amanda unpack the emotional complexity of friendships across genders: jealousy, boundaries, attraction, emotional intimacy, and th...

Send us Fan Mail Ashley Borden—celebrity fitness coach and no-nonsense truth-teller—has built a career helping others transform their lives. But her own story is just as powerful. Like many of us, she’s faced breaking points, burned it all down, and rebuilt from the ashes more than once. In this episode, Ashley opens up about one of her most powerful, life changing decisions: choosing herself over...

Send us Fan Mail What does it really mean to be “old?" Is there a moment when you’re supposed to hang up your soccer cleats, retire your dance shoes, or put away the baseball mitt for good? This episode challenges the idea that aging has to mean slowing down or settling for less. Yes, the years add up—but who says they have to take your curiosity, energy, or sense of possibility with them? We...

Send us Fan Mail Meet Final Straw — our bold new series hosted by the incredible Mindi Rivin. Every transformation has a breaking point. That split-second when something inside you snaps and you think: I’m done. The job, the relationship, the city, the version of yourself you’ve outgrown — whatever it is, the final straw has landed. And from that moment? Everything changes. Final Straw dives into...

Send us Fan Mail Would you run a marathon? Now imagine running two back-to-back —no breaks, no excuses, just grit. Cami doesn’t just test her limits—she obliterates them. After a decade of dreaming, training, and refusing to quit, she’s finally conquered a 50-mile ultramarathon. But this isn’t just a story about running—it’s about resilience, mindset, and what happens when you refuse to give up, e...

Send us Fan Mail Creativity isn’t reserved for artists—it’s something every one of us needs. But what happens when you feel burned out, like the fire has gone out and you’re left standing in the ashes with no energy, motivation, or ideas? The truth is, creativity doesn’t return all at once. It comes back the same way it often begins: one small step at a time. Join Amanda and Cami as they share how...

Send us Fan Mail Danielle’s master’s degree project took her to Thailand, where she interviewed current and former sex workers. One woman’s answer changed her life forever. Twelve years later, Danielle and her co-founder Nee created Shared Space for All , an organization dedicated to supporting families in Thailand’s poorest region. Together, they have helped hundreds of children stay in school, k...

Send us Fan Mail After escaping a high-control religious environment, Heidi Fischbach dedicated her life to helping others not just survive—but truly thrive. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard and multiple professional certifications, equipping her to help clients reset their nervous systems and experience lasting freedom. Find her at heidifischbach.com . Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Do you have a goal, resolution, or “focus” guiding your year? Even with the best intentions, what happens when you miss a day or fall off track? Cami and Amanda share an honest, uplifting conversation about staying focused on what matters, finding grace when you stumble, and getting back up after a setback—or even a complete reset. Plus, don’t miss one of our favorite TED Talks me...

Send us Fan Mail Kristi Lyn Reddy is one of the strongest women we know—and we know a lot of strong women. She rescued herself and her daughter from domestic violence, built a successful real estate business, won a hard-fought battle with cancer, and recently returned to school to reinvent herself and rise once again. Find her at BalancedLivingTherapy.com for therapy, KristiLynReddy.com as an auth...

Send us Fan Mail Goals? Resolutions? Bucket lists? How do we decide what’s actually worth chasing—and what “success” even looks like for us? In this episode, we explore how to set meaningful goals, define our own finish lines, and create realistic plans to get where we want to go. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Wills and trusts attorneys sit at a rare intersection of law, family, and mortality. They see the practical realities of what happens when someone dies—but also the emotional, often messy human side of it. From that vantage point, someone like Amelia Heath can offer remarkably grounded wisdom about both grief and planning .  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail It’s incredibly painful when your grief is still raw but the world around you seems to have moved on. That mismatch—between your inner reality and others’ expectations—can make you feel isolated, defective, or misunderstood. But nothing is wrong with you. Grief is not linear, it does not follow schedules, and it certainly does not obey other people’s comfort levels. Support the sh...

Send us Fan Mail Debbie has spent much of her life untangling the knots of shame and blame—trying to understand what truly belongs to her and what never should have. While the answers might seem obvious to some, they become far more elusive when you’re raised in a toxic spirituality that insists you’re always at fault. From the clothes she wore to the abuse she endured, the cult-like faith of her...

Send us Fan Mail Mindi Rivin spent much of her adolescence searching for herself on the streets, navigating instability and hardship. Eventually, she found safety and a sense of purpose at a local community college, where she began to rebuild her life. As a young adult, she became engaged—only to be confronted with the unexpected: her fiancé announced they would be living under the strictest tenet...