Mandy on the Mountain

In this episode, Mandy on the Mountain dives into all the things school never taught us — from quicksand fears and TV-cart trauma to Capri Sun battles, feral childhood survival, and the one skill that actually prepared us for adulthood. (Hint: it was red, it bounced, and it stung.) This is a hilarious, relatable Gen-X walk down memory lane blended with Appalachian truth, real-life lessons, and a r...

In this episode I share the story of the professor who changed the direction of my life — Dr. Patrick Kariuki. From saying “minnors” in biology class to feeling too poor, too country, and too anxious to belong in college, I talk about how his belief in me helped shape my confidence, my calling, and the way I teach today. I share the lessons he taught about excellence, dignity, psychology, faith, a...

In this episode, I open a story I have carried quietly for years. It is the story of The Velveteen Rabbit, my brother, and the long road toward becoming real. I talk about how a man who could not read gave me the one book that explained my whole life. How he raised me with love and grit. How he kept me safe in a world that did not always feel safe. And how I have been searching for that feeling ev...

Mandy on the Mountain — Funny Childhood Story In this episode, Mandy takes y’all back to Hampton Creek where childhood was wild, water came from a bucket in a shed, and the neighborhood geese acted like they owned the whole holler. At just four years old, Mandy convinced her cousin Josh that the geese “weren’t gonna hurt him.” Well… they hurt him. And later, one of those geese came back for Mandy,...

This episode is pure Appalachian gold, the survival skills our people lived by and nobody teaches anymore. Mandy takes you deep into the mountain knowledge that raised her, reading weather signs, counting August fogs, waiting for the first frost, canning food like security, peppermint and white lightning remedies, hog killin time in Morganton, canning sausage with Danny Man, hand milled cornmeal u...

In Episode 2, I’m not starting at the beginning — I’m taking you straight into the messy middle. This is the night everything cracked open. The night I found myself on my knees on the floor, carrying a weight no one could see. Addiction, betrayal, grief, silence, and the moment I realized no one was coming to save me. I talk about the mountain women I come from, the prayers my mama left behind, an...

this very first episode of Mandy on the Mountain, I’m simply introducing myself and the heart behind this podcast. I share why I finally decided to start telling my story out loud and what you can expect from the journey ahead , Appalachian roots, mountain-made resilience, dandelion strength, faith, humor, healing, and a whole lot of truth-tellin’. This is just an introduction, but it’s the beginn...