From Lemons to Limoncello

Some of the greatest gifts we get in this life are the friends we meet along our journey. They cheer us on, help us through rough times, and celebrate our joys and accomplishments. They're the people we can laugh with, be ourselves with, and even break down in front of, without fear of any judgement. And best friends? Well, they just become a part of our family – and we have every expectation that...

Parents are human, which means they have their own struggles and flaws. If they're emotionally mature, they make us feel loved and safe, even when they're working through their own internal conflicts. When they're emotionally immature, the resulting dysfunction can be devastating: As children, we can grow up feeling invisible, unsafe, like a burden, like everything about us is "wrong" and/or unwor...

Divorce can be devastating, but if we approach what happens next with some introspection  and creativity, it can take us on journeys — physical and emotional — that bring us back home to ourselves.   In this episode, I chat with David Shakiban, a modern-day renaissance man who’s as innovative and mindful about his approach to life as he is about his creative pursuits. A website designer, acoustic...

Happiness isn't something that just happens to us — we have to work for it. But it's attainable, even during the hardest times of our lives. But I also think we may have to change our definition of what happiness really is. After a lifetime of tragedy and challenges, I've learned 7 truths about happiness that have made all the difference in my life. In this episode, I share each of them with you....

We’ve all heard stories about ancestry tests revealing surprise relatives: adults who find out they have long lost siblings, mothers finding our their children were switched at birth, children learning that the fathers who raised them aren’t their biological fathers after all.  I never expected to have a story of my own - but that’s just what happened when I received a message from a woman claimin...

It doesn’t seem to matter who we are or where we’re from: we all have a tendency to be hard on ourselves.  In this episode, we talk about why we’re so much more patient, encouraging, and kind when it comes to supporting other people — why we lift other people up but have a habit of putting ourselves down.  I also share six ways we can be nicer to ourselves so we can build up our self-esteem, meet...

Setting boundaries in our personal and professional lives is the key to self-respect, self-empowerment, living authentically, and our safety and well-being. But so many of us are either afraid to be confrontational or confused about what a healthy boundary would even look like if we tried establishing one. In this episode, I chat with Mint Miller — a divorced, single mom of two and boundary-settin...

Are there people in your life that would love it if you just kept quiet? Who tell you not to make waves? Who make you feel like you need to ignore your own feelings to protect theirs or show them “respect?” When we keep quiet to keep the peace with someone, it’s a lot like swallowing poison on a regular basis. After a while, all that toxicity starts to build up and eat away at you, causing real em...

In episode 13, we started our conversation with Sarah Bracey White, an amazing woman whose creative life expanded exponentially at the age of 75 years old. Over the last three years, Sarah has become a celebrated author of books, poems, and recorded stories. She's written and produced plays. She's acted on stage in an immersive theater production based on her memoir — a show that was produced and...

What happens when the woman that raised you isn't the mother you had in mind — when what you need or deserve isn't what she's able to give you? Sarah Bracey White is no stranger to adversity. In fact, she's endured and transcended what would break most of us. At the tender age of 5 years old (in the 1940s) Sarah was uprooted from the only home she ever knew and loved — a nurturing, supportive home...

Balancing life's demands seems to be getting tougher and tougher: We're being asked to do more at work with fewer resources. We're caring for our homes and children, often while caring for aging parents. Layoffs have meant higher stress and lower energy, but our friends and loved ones need our emotional support for all the stress they're dealing with, too. Our high school students are facing chall...

Kristina Italic ignored her passions to pursue a traditional career in healthcare — and ended up sick herself in the process. In this episode, Kristina talks about her journey from burnout to following her bliss, why we should all be fearless when it comes to reinventing ourselves, and how listening to her own body and inner voice ended up being the secret to regaining her health and happiness. Mo...

Are you someone who always needs to know where your life is headed? Who plans every step and tries to be prepared for any possible future outcome? Are you so caught up in overthinking and working for future stability that you don’t feel fulfilled right now?  Where does a need to control our lives come from, and what does it cost us when we focus more on “being ok” than actually living? In this epi...

We’re all so busy these days that it’s hard to keep up. And with all of the running around, responsibilities have a way of piling up — along with clutter: clutter in our thoughts, in our day-to-day schedules, and in our homes.  According to Neuroscience News , disorganization in our homes can often lead to feelings of stress and anxiety, since all of the clutter ends up competing for our attention...

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a “joke” that felt more like a masked insult? Is there someone in your life that says things that are hurtful or embarrassing on a regular basis — and then tells you you’re too sensitive if you speak up about it?  It isn’t funny when someone’s teasing or sarcasm makes you feel bad. And if someone makes a habit out of hiding behind humor to humiliate you i...

Erin Zhurkin spent years climbing the corporate ladder and lived in several countries before an unexpected encounter set her on the path to becoming a writer. Because of her new book, Plus-Size in Paris, she’s also become an advocate for plus-sized women and realistic body types everywhere.  In this episode of From Lemons to Limoncello, Erin talks about her book and shares funny and touching stori...

As someone who’s always been a high achiever and dedicated employee, I had a lot to think about when I was recently laid off from a company where the appreciation for each other had been so mutual. My story isn't unique: so many employees prioritize their jobs, over working themselves into exhaustion - only to find that volume losses, automation, or other disruptive forces are forcing them into un...

Ydaiber Orozco is no stranger to pain. After losing her sister, brother, AND father, each in separate, tragic circumstances, she also lost herself to emotional avoidance and overwork. In this episode, we talk about how losing her family ultimately drove Ydaiber to find and follow her purpose. We also discuss the importance of re-evaluating our direction on a regular basis, that spiritual awakening...

We’ve all had to make difficult choices in life, but what do we do when we’re paralyzed by those choices — when we’re so worried about making the ‘right’ decision that we overthink our way into anxiety and end up not feeling able to make a decision at all? In this ‘Sunday Shot’ episode, we talk about some of the reasons we get stuck in overthinking mode, why there are no wrong choices in life, and...

People everywhere are questioning who we are, what we want out of life, and how we can create a work/life balance that actually leaves room for living. If you’re tired of the rat race — if you feel disillusioned or like you’re on a hamster wheel that you can’t get off of — this episode is for you.  Kendall Lamb and her husband had just bought a home, filled it with possessions, and settled in to t...

When someone isn’t treating you right — when they're not giving you or your relationship the same level of respect and care that you are — should you try to get them to behave differently? In this episode, we talk about what happens when we keep giving someone a free pass to act badly, why it’s a mistake to keep trying to teach someone how to treat you, and why observing someone's behavior — and b...

What does it mean to be authentically yourself? And what happens when you dare to step into that authenticity? In this first episode of From Lemons to Limoncello, Broadway actor, internationally known male opera soprano, and all-around inspiring human, David Sabella, shares: What it was like to grow up gay at a time when being gay wasn’t safe How he found his groundbreaking, unique voice (literall...

They say we should make lemonade when life gives us lemons, but I think we can do so much more than that. Adding a little sugar just masks the sour of life, but if we take the time to distill all of the flavors of our experiences—with honesty and empathy—we can completely transform our lives into something as bold and exquisite as a glass of limoncello. On this podcast, we savor the complexity of...