Almost Grown Up

The votes were counted. The signs came down. And Lexi Melton — a mom of two and nuclear medicine tech — was left sitting in the silence that comes after you give something everything you have. In Part Two of our conversation, Lexi unpacks what happens next — the grief, the relief, and the strange in-between where you’re rebuilding without a title, without applause, and without a clear next step. T...

Nobody plans to run for office. Especially not while working in nuclear medicine and trying to keep two kids alive and semi-fed. But one local issue shoved Lexi Melton out of the stands and onto the field. In Part One of this two-part conversation, Lexi talks about what it’s like when an ordinary life collides with an extraordinary call - the fear, the chaos, and the kind of messy courage it takes...

If the first half was about the stories we were handed, this half is about what we do with them now in the middle of real, messy life. In part two with Dr. Gwendolyn Dolske, we get practical about: Loving well when life feels overwhelming. Why certainty might actually be overrated. How to keep moving when you don’t have all the answers. Caffeine & Coping: the small, grounding things keeping us...

We’ve all been told what a “good life” is supposed to look like: work hard, stay on the path, check the boxes. But what happens when you do all that and still feel like something’s missing? In this conversation with Dr. Gwendolyn Dolske (philosophy professor & host of Good Is in the Details), we wrestle with: The recent death of Charlie Kirk and how moments like that force us to confront life’...

The second half of my conversation with Sean Critchfield is just as real, but with a whole different kind of energy. We get into his experience on Queer Eye Season 9 - what it was like to let the cameras in during one of the most vulnerable times in his life - and how that experience changed him. We talk about why he started sharing those quick hits of encouragement on TikTok , how family and natu...

Holiday season is here, and for a lot of people, that means family gatherings filled with mixed emotions. Some moments feel warm and familiar. Others feel uncomfortable, tense, or draining. And if you’ve ever walked into a holiday dinner hoping for a calm night and ended up dealing with old dynamics, hard conversations, and emotional pressure, you’re not alone. In this solo episode, I’m talking ab...

Sean Critchfield spent 20+ years performing in Las Vegas until an injury ended that career overnight. You might know him from Queer Eye Season 9 or from his 30-second encouragements on TikTok, but this conversation goes deeper. In Part 1, we dig into what it’s like to lose the version of yourself you thought you’d always be, the unlearning that happens when you finally let people take care of you,...

In part two of my conversation with Marissa Franks Burt , we shift from the past to the present and the future. We talk about what it means to reparent ourselves , raise kids without repeating the same cycles, and find some grace in the messiness of healing. This episode is honest and hopefully a reminder that while we can’t rewrite where we’ve been, we can choose a different way forward. Instagra...

If you grew up in church culture, you probably know the pressure to pray right, act right, be “good,” and somehow make your family look like a picture of holiness. In this first part of my conversation with author and podcaster Marissa Franks Burt , we talk about what it felt like to grow up in that world, the invisible scripts it wrote for us, and how those patterns follow us into adulthood. This...

This week on Almost Grown Up, I catch up with my friend and former coworker Julian Vaca . Julian is an Emmy-winning writer and the author of two YA novels, The Memory Index and The Recall Paradox. He’s also a first-generation Mexican-American whose work often wrestles with themes of heritage, identity, and the stories that shape us. In this conversation, we talk about: What it means to grow up bet...

We took a break. And somehow ended up more tired than before. Season 2 kicks off with Nic and Janna catching up on what was supposed to be “time off” — which turned into car wrecks, kid chaos, and the kind of parental burnout you can feel in your bones. It’s equal parts honest, funny, and mildly unhinged. They talk about surviving the end-of-school madness, the myth of the magical summer, and why...

They lied to us again. And by they, I mean our parents, teachers, church leaders, and literally every adult we trusted in the 90s. This week, Janna joins me for part two of our ongoing breakdown of the weird shit we were told growing up. Myths like: • Swallowing watermelon seeds = watermelon growing in your stomach • The 5-second rule is basically science • You’ll die if you go outside with wet ha...

In this episode of Almost Grown Up , I’m asking the question I think a lot of us secretly wrestle with: Did I already live the best version of my life—and what the hell do I do if I did? Back in 2009, I was on fire. My wife and I were helping start a brand-new church. I was leading music, surrounded by a group of talented, passionate weirdos who felt like family. Every week was electric—playing mu...

Remember when swallowing gum meant a 7-year digestive sentence? Or how Pop Rocks + soda would literally blow your insides up? Yeah… turns out, most of what we were told growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s was straight-up bullshit. In this solo episode, I’m diving headfirst into the hilarious (and slightly unhinged) myths we were raised on — from Santa surveillance and poisoned Halloween candy. We’ll h...

Let’s just say it up top: If your version of masculinity requires silence, dominance, emotional shutdowns, and your wife walking on eggshells around your moods… you’re not strong. You’re just emotionally constipated. And it’s bleeding into every part of your life. This episode is not a TED Talk on men’s mental health. It’s a raw, personal unpacking of how toxic masculinity screws with our heads, o...

Part 2 picks up right where we left off: two old friends, mid-story, trying to remember how we got here. This half goes a little deeper though. Some of the messier stuff from our time in Huntsville, what it looked like to stay connected even when life got weird, and why we’re still friends even though we barely talk and took totally different paths. Plus, Caffeine & Coping : • I had a final in...

This is the story of how an unexpected friendship turned into a decade long bond full of chaos, kids, bad haircuts, late night hotel stories, and one questionable church season in Huntsville, Alabama. In Part 1 of this two part catch up, I sit down with my longtime friend Jason Cagle (someone who’s known me through multiple versions of life) to remember how our families met, the weird way we becam...

What comes after the unraveling? In Part 2 of my conversation with life and faith transitions coach Leslie Nease , we move past the internal shifts and start talking about what happens when your beliefs have changed, your identity feels different and now you have to go out into the world and be a person again. This one’s about the messy middle: • Trying to make friends post-deconstruction (without...

We’ve all told ourselves the lie: Once I get the job. Once I make the money. Once I leave that system… I’ll finally feel at peace. But what happens when you actually hit the milestone and it still doesn’t fix the internal chaos? In Part 1 of this conversation with author, speaker, and life + faith transitions coach Leslie Nease , we dig into the myth of arrival: that illusion that healing or clari...

What kind of parent hates playing with their kids? Apparently… me. In this episode, I’m saying the quiet part out loud: I don’t like pretend play. I love my kids deeply, but crawling on the floor doing silly voices while holding a Barbie? It drains me. And if you’ve ever felt that guilt—the kind that creeps in when you say “not right now” or zone out halfway through a game—you’re not alone. I talk...

This week, I’m calling B.S. on one of adulthood’s biggest myths: work-life balance. Because if balance means being calm, focused, and fully present at work and at home, I’ve never had it. Not when I was a cop, not when I worked in ministry, and definitely not now juggling remote work, parenting four kids, and trying not to lose my mind in a Walmart parking lot. In this episode, I share: • Why “bal...

What happens when you stop believing the things that used to define you but you’re not sure what comes next? In this raw conversation with David Hayward, aka NakedPastor , we unpack the messy middle of faith deconstruction: losing certainty, grieving community, rethinking marriage, and learning to be present in your own body again. Whether you’re deep in the fog of religious doubt or just starting...

What if ADHD isn’t a fixed disorder but a response to a world that just isn’t built for our brains? In this episode, I unpack what happened when I went back on Adderall after two years off and why it didn’t hit the same. I open up about the pressure to “function” post-job loss, and the unexpected emotional spiral that followed. Then I dive into the recent New York Times article, “Have We Been Thin...

I’m 39 today. And instead of pretending to have my life together, I’m celebrating the only way that makes sense: with a chaotic list of lessons, screwups, and random wisdom I’ve collected along the way. From parenting fails to career faceplants to why adulthood is basically one long improv show...it’s all here. Plus, stick around ‘til the end if you want a surprise birthday gift from me. Follow Al...

You used to sneak into dressing rooms together to "try on clothes". Now you’re just hoping no one knocks on the door while you're having sex. This episode is about sex after kids. What intimacy looks like when you’re touched out, exhausted, and parenting tiny chaos goblins who interrupt literally everything. From high-drive spontaneity to calendar-based logistics, dry spells, mismatc...