Only One In The Room

No matter where one lives, what one does for a living often defines how they’re perceived, for better or for worse. When a person with multiple sclerosis or other chronic conditions desires to work, that person and their employer face numerous issues - some legal, some moral, and some practical. During the first decades of the MS movement, people with MS had little or no protection against employm...

Today’s On My Nightstand reading is titled, “Hi, My Name Is Laura…” and is a favorite from my blog archives. Although it’s a few years old, I feel the message is more relevant now than ever. Especially with the spike in alcohol consumption and overdose-deaths during the pandemic. Along with the whole “sober curious” movement that’s currently sweeping the nation. You can find this post and more of...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Kim Strobel right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonly...

Imagine feeling like you were the only one in the room dealing with crippling fear? Podcaster, happiness, educational, and empowerment coach, Kim Strobel dealt with panic attacks as a teen and young adult. She struggled to do simple things, like drive to work or even walk to the mailbox. But what would you do if it got so bad that you pleaded with God to take your life, and you received a message...

Asian Americans have fought in every American war since the civil war (on both sides) and yet they make up only about 4% of today’s US armed forces. The fact that today’s guest has toured on the USNS Mercy three times definitely piqued my interest. But the fact that hate incidents and violence against Asian-Americans have increased sharply during the COVID 19 pandemic, inspired me to contact him....

Today’s On My Nightstand reading is from the essay titled, The Reveal, from the critically acclaimed, bestselling essay collection, Greyboy: Finding Blackness In A White World by Cole Brown. Cole Brown is a Philly kid; he matured in the city's predominately white private schools and neighborhoods. During his undergraduate years at Georgetown University, Cole began writing his first book, Greyboy:...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Irina Gonzalez right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theo...

What if while growing up, the messaging you got as a girl was that either you were “normal” and were attracted to boys, or you were a lesbian and were attracted to girls? Nothing in between. Editor, freelance writer, and podcaster, Irina Gonzalez, knew from an early age that either the messaging was wrong or there was something wrong with her because she was just attracted to people, regardless of...

“Here’s the thing, I’m not hating on anyone who decides that homeschooling, Catholicism, or being a stay-at-home-mom is their path. What I’m hating on is how so many people, women included, impose on other women how they’re supposed to live. It’s like there’s only one good way to mother and everything else falls in the “not good enough” category.”  -Mia Hemstad Mia Hemstad is a mom of two little k...

Today’s On My Nightstand-read is from the chapter titled, Terrors from the New York Times best-selling memoir, Heavy, by Keise Laymon.  Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon’s bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the 2019, Andrew Carnegie Medal, for Excellence in Nonfiction, the 2018 Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, the Auste...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Kiese Laymon right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonl...

Picture this: You have a book to write, a memoir which contains so much raw truth that you'd rather write a lie instead. Writer, author, and professor, Kiese Laymon, wrote about the weight: The weight of racism, the weight of obesity, and the weight of sex, gambling, and familial love. And addressed the whole thing to his mother. But what would you do if publishing your book would mean naming all...

How many people can say that they grew up on studio lots and learned one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets from their mother? We’re truly excited to bring this conversation with Hollywood/literary legend, Jill Schary Robinson. Jill Schary Robinson was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of two artists. Her father was Oscar and Tony winner Dore Schary, head of MGM during the ‘40s and ‘50s, the only wr...

Today’s On My Night Stand-read, Enter-Racial, was written by Laura Cathcart Robbins. It is the story of when she flew to Richmond, Virginia to meet her boyfriend Scott’s father for the first time, while he lay dying in the ICU. You’ll hear her talk about the fear of being a Black woman walking into the seat of the confederacy and meeting a man on his deathbed, who up until that moment, had no idea...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Rebecca Metz right after the show. Don't miss our new On My Nightstand series releasing every Friday. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the websi...

What if, while growing up, you found that you preferred sneakers to heels and jeans to dresses? And because you didn’t really fit in with your peers, you thought maybe if things were different, if you were different, life might be easier. Actress, Rebecca Metz, chimed in once on set and joined the chorus of women talking about going on a diet. But what would you do if your co-worker wondered aloud...

In December of 2010, the House and Senate voted in favor of repealing and over-turning the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." President Obama then signed it into law in December of 2010 and then the following year, the nation decided that homosexuals would no longer fear discharge from the military by admitting to their sexual preference. Over 13,000 servicemen and women were discharged for...

I was one of those bookish kids who grew up to be a bookish adult.  I love to read almost as much as I love to write - and writing is like oxygen for me - it’s that essential.  But reading fills me up and makes me whole in a way that little else does. So as a result, I always have a pile of articles, blog posts, dog-eared chapters, memoirs and essays, stacked on my nightstand. Every one of them is...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Cara Jones right after the show. Don't miss our Now Normal series releasing every Thursday. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www....

Imagine being born into a cult, and being told that you were a rarity, a Blessed Child, born without original sin. Cara Jones, story coach, writer, former Emmy Award-Winning journalist, and documentary filmmaker was raised in the Unification Church, and at nineteen years old, got married in a stadium along with 10,000 other couples to a man chosen for her by its leader, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon...

When I was a kid, everyone in our neighborhood knew about sickle cell disease. That is...we all knew that it made Black kids sick, sick enough to go to the hospital sometimes. We knew that it was painful and that the bouts came on suddenly, and caused kids to miss school, families to miss work. The parents of kids with Sickle Cell Disease made a big deal out of every single sneeze and canceled lon...

For salon owners, the margins are usually tight. “A good salon makes only 5 to 6 percent on the bottom line and has to have the owner working with a full book of clients,” according to Allure Magazine. Monthly business expenses can include everything from payroll, products, cleaning services, utilities, marketing, and of course rent. Unfortunately, all of these costs don’t disappear just because a...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Dani Shapiro right after the show. Don't miss our Now Normal series releasing every Thursday. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at ww...

Imagine growing up not looking like the rest of your family, and having people make jokes like, “Where’d she come from?! She must be the milkman’s daughter.” Dani Shapiro, best-selling author, and podcast host took an Ancestry DNA test at 54-years old and discovered that her family had been hiding a secret from her for her entire life. But what would you do if you found out that your father, the f...

What makes a man a man? Chris Hunter tells us about the experience that changed his mind regarding America’s hypermasculine culture. Chris Hunter is the Co-Founder and CEO of Koia, the 100 percent plant protein drink that is naturally craveable and uses simple ingredients to deliver unparalleled nutrition. His stamp on the beverage industry first began in 2005 with Phusion Projects. After seeing t...