Journey with Rita Podcast: Building Resilience Together

Today’s episode is about something we all hope we never face—but so many women unfortunately do: breast cancer- Cancer is a word that can feel heavy, but my goal today is to arm you with the knowledge and information you need to have. Because the truth is  the number one risk factor for breast cancer is simply being a woman. And whether you want to talk about it or not, this disease impacts 1 in 8...

How does a person endure the unimaginable — and still choose joy? That is the question at the heart of this profoundly moving episode, and Ella Mandel's answer will stay with you long after you finish listening. Ella Mandel is a Holocaust survivor, educator, and living witness to one of the darkest chapters in human history. Born in Poland in 1926, Ella was thirteen years old when the Germans arri...

Some doors to freedom are forced open — through sheer will, quiet defiance, and an unshakeable belief that a better life is possible. For Somaya Etemad, that belief was planted by a father who showed her the world, and it carried her through some of the most harrowing chapters a person can endure. Somaya is an Iranian-American artist and architect whose life story unfolds like a film — one in whic...

As we welcome spring, let's also welcome fresh energy into our homes through what we choose to surround ourselves with. I truly believe our homes have the power to inspire us to live better lives—they can either hinder us or empower us. A well-designed space doesn't just look beautiful—it invites us to feel better and in turn, do better. Whether we realize it or not, the spaces we spend time in ar...

Welcome to Episode 10—a milestone moment! Today I'm celebrating 10 episodes of Journey with Rita Podcast and reflecting on the incredible wisdom, courage, and resilience we've witnessed together. Journey with Rita was established in 2020 as an online platform after I came across a quote by Brené Brown that truly resonated with me: "One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went...

What happens when the very thing that defines you—your ability to move—is threatened by a disease you can't control? How do you keep performing ten dances a night on tour when your legs go numb? How do you keep showing up when your body won't cooperate? Meet Courtney Platt: world-class dancer, actress, choreographer, and powerful voice for living fully with multiple sclerosis. Courtney started her...

Some careers unfold quietly—and then there are careers built in rooms where the stakes are high, the conversations are charged, and the pressure is relentless. Today's episode is about what it takes to earn a seat at those tables and keep it. Meet Lisa Daftari: award-winning investigative journalist, foreign policy analyst, and founder and editor-in-chief of the Foreign Desk, an independent global...

What does it really take to rise after life knocks you down? Not once, but twice? I’ve spent the last few months inviting remarkable women to sit on this couch with me, to be raw, vulnerable, and honest about the challenges that shaped them.  And I knew—if I’m asking my guests to go there, then I have to go there too.  In this deeply personal episode, I'm flipping the script and sitting down with...

New Year's resolutions often set us up for disappointment: long lists of goals, mounting pressure, and the weight of unmet expectations. But what if there was a better way? What if instead of waiting for January 1st to give us permission to change, we embraced a process that honors our growth every single day?   In this episode, I share the three powerful practices that have carried me through 15...

As women, we're encouraged to be emotionally resilient, spiritually resilient—but financially resilient? We don't talk about that enough. That part of the conversation can feel intimidating or even off-limits. But not here, not today. Meet Roxana Maddahi: financial advisor, president of Maddahi Wealth, and contributor for Forbes and HuffPost. Roxana's journey isn't just about spreadsheets or portf...

Gratitude isn't meant to be a once-a-year tradition reserved for the Thanksgiving table. It's something we can weave into our daily lives—a practice that shapes how we see the world, respond to challenges, and move through each day.   In this solo episode, I share my personal journey with gratitude, from hearing Oprah talk about gratitude journals as a teenager to how this simple practice carried...

What happens when the woman who appears to “have it all” pulls back the curtain and shares her failures, talks openly about mental health, and dispels the myth that women can have it all?   Meet Roxana Eli: accomplished litigation attorney, devoted mother of two, and the first female elected president in Sephardic Temple's 100-year history. In this raw conversation, Roxana pulls back the curtain o...

When successful litigation attorney Melody Godfred started hallucinating spiders crawling on her walls every night, she knew her body was sending an urgent message: this perfect job with the ocean-view office wasn't her path. In this transformative conversation, Melody shares how she left law to become a poet, author of five books, including "Moon Garden: Poetry for Manifestation," and a voice for...

What happens when a spiritual leader's own faith is shattered by unimaginable loss? And how does community become the thread that holds us together when everything falls apart?   Meet Rabbi Nicole Guzik: Co-Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, the first woman to hold that role in the congregation's 100+ year history, licensed therapist, mother of three, and my dear friend. In this deeply p...

Welcome to Journey with Rita: Building Resilience Together! I am Rita Naffas sharing the deeply personal story behind why I created this podcast and what it means to me to build resilience together with you. I share: My journey as a breast cancer survivor and young mother How a Brené Brown quote changed everything and sparked Journey with Rita The moment my world flipped upside down was when I los...