Overcomers Approach

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! You can be invited into the room for a reason and still feel your voice disappear the moment you walk through the door. Nichol Ellis-McGregor sits down with leadership and workforce development expert Paula Matthias to get honest about what happens when women shrink in high-stakes spaces, especially in male-dominated industries, and how to reclaim career...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Disclaimer: This episode is intended for educational and informational purposes only and reflects the personal experiences and opinions of the guest. The discussion of psychedelic-assisted therapy, including MDMA-assisted therapy, is not an endorsement or recommendation to use these substances. The legal status and availability of psychedelic-assisted th...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Your life can look successful on paper and still feel like you are running on fumes. We sit down with Angie Hawkins, inner glow coach and author of Running in Slippers, to unpack how people pleasing and perfectionism often trace back to one painful root belief: “I don’t deserve to be loved.” Angie shares her origin story, the grief that cracked everythin...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Long-term care planning often stays invisible until a fall, stroke, surgery, or cognitive decline forces a family into instant decisions. On the Overcomers Approach podcast, Nichol Ellis McGregor talks with long-term care planning specialist Raymond Levine about replacing panic-based caregiving with purpose-based planning. The core idea is simple: most p...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Foster care outcomes in the United States can be brutal, and Adriene Caldwell’s story shows why trauma recovery has to be both personal and systemic. After becoming a ward of the state at 12 and aging out at 18, she describes how psychological abuse and chronic rejection shaped her identity and mental health, including major depressive disorder and an on...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! A single moment can rewrite your identity, and sometimes it starts with a secret you never asked to carry. Nichol Ellis-McGregor sits down with intuitive healer and transformational speaker Tara Wiskow, whose story runs from childhood abandonment wounds and people pleasing to emotional eating, major weight gain, and a relentless drive to feel safe in rel...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! At some point, many of us realize the life we were told to build doesn’t quite fit anymore. The career path, the definition of success, the constant push for “more”—it can all start to feel disconnected. In this conversation with Siena Dean, we slow things down and get honest about what it really means to build a life and career that align with who you a...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Your life can look “fine” on the outside while your body quietly waves red flags and then one day, it can’t hold the line anymore. I’m joined by Heidi Blackie, an occupational therapist, speaker, and creator of Unshakable Me, to share the real story behind her chronic illness, the grief that intensified everything, and the moment she stopped hunting for...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! A wall of fire doesn’t just burn trees, it burns through every assumption you had about safety, preparation, and what the human body can endure. I’m joined by 2023 Library of Congress award-winning author A.J. Otten to talk about Burned Over, her narrative nonfiction book about Montana firefighter Dan Stephenson and the Red Lodge community that refuses t...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Grief doesn’t just hurt emotionally. Sometimes it moves into the body, changes your appetite, steals your breath, and makes ordinary errands feel impossible. I’m joined by Katie Rizzo, who shares the story of losing her firstborn son, Nicholas, to opioid addiction and the metaphor that helped her survive: grief unfolding like the trimesters of pregnancy....

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Success can look flawless on the outside while life feels tight and fragile on the inside. Nichol Ellis-McGregor and transformation facilitator Heather Stewart unpack what “alignment” really means for high-functioning women who carry big roles, big expectations, and quiet burnout. Heather’s turning point is startling: after years in corporate leadership,...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! That quiet thought, “Is this really it?” isn’t a character flaw. It’s often the first sign your life is ready for a more honest kind of alignment. Midlife “crisis” or midlife calling? If you feel guilty for wanting more, this conversation will hit home. Learn how to spot your unique gifts  I sit down with Anna Quigley, transformational speaker and founde...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Getting fired can feel like the moment your life splits in two and you don’t recognize either side. We sit down with Merry Korn, author of Fired to Inspired, to unpack what happens after a sudden job loss when you’re scared, responsible for a family, and tempted to shut down. Mary shares the exact crossroads she faced at 46 as a single mom and the “get m...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if your biggest challenges are the raw material for a truer life? We sit down with coach and spiritual leader Kristan Swan to explore how aligning who you are with what you build can turn pressure into purpose and bring real ease back into your days. Kristan traces her path from business strategist to whole‑person mentor, revealing why separating “w...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if the tools that mend a fractured family could also help heal a divided nation? That question drives our powerful conversation with psychotherapist and author Phyllis Leavitt, whose new book America in Therapy reframes politics through a mental health lens. We trace her journey from buried childhood trauma to profound spiritual moments and the stea...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Pain can teach you the wrong lesson: that you’re alone, unlovable, and stuck with what broke you. Jessica L. Morris grew up in a small town where her father’s charisma in the pulpit masked the chaos of alcoholism at home, and the word “mistake” lodged deep in her heart. She found early comfort in food and alcohol, carrying the family’s secrets while tryi...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! A pink slip at 63 could have been the end of the story. For David Nassief, it became the start of a comeback: from stalled interviews and age bias to a commission-only sales role, a flood of rejection, and then a breakthrough that paid more than his old salary. The real turning point wasn’t a hot stock or a risky bet. It was a one-page wealth compass—nin...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! The story we tell about safety shapes how safe we actually are. With Rob Mahoney of TVTP Solutions, we explore why targeted violence is rarely random and how communities get trapped in a cycle of visible defenses—cameras, detectors, drills, that protect during an incident but do little to keep one from forming. Rob traces a common arc across cases: peopl...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Imagine rebuilding your life from the ground up, starting with the belief that once convinced you that you were unlovable. That’s the turning point Angie Hawkins shares as we unpack how grief, a cross-country move, and a hard look in the mirror led her from people pleasing and perfectionism to a life powered by self-trust and clear boundaries. It’s a can...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if the fastest way to lead better is to stop striving and start listening? I sit down with bestselling author and strategist Cortney McDermott to explore intuition as a practical, reliable guide, one you can access in minutes with simple, science-backed resets like lying down, yawning, and shaking off stuck energy. Cortney shares how chasing gold st...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if calm could be something you can see on paper? I sit down with mindful art educator and creator Cynthia Hawk to explore how drawing, doodling, and watercolor, paired with simple breathwork, become practical tools for stress relief, better sleep, and emotional regulation you can feel within minutes. No perfect sketchbooks, no pressure, just process...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if surrender is the catalyst your strategy has been missing? I sit down with transformational leader and serial founder Holly Porter to trace the arc from a 70‑day near‑death experience to a purpose-first life defined by service, intuition, and bold execution. Holly unpacks SHIFT—Surrender, Hope, Intuition, Faith, Transformation—and shows how each e...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if the loudest voice in your head isn’t truth, but a hurt mind replaying an old script? Nichol from Overcomers Approach Podcast sits down with Hilary Momberger Powers, voice of Sally from the Peanuts specials and a mentor with 40 years in recovery, to trace how trauma, family dynamics, and early fame shaped a life she later rebuilt from the inside o...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! I had an insightful conversation with Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist Kayla Crane. She specializes in relationships and trauma. She works with couples to help them improve communication, heal from infidelity, and develop conflict resolution skills. She practices relational life therapy, EMDR therapy, solution focused therapy, systematic affair rec...

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! What if rebuilding your life starts with a single, present moment?  I have great conversation with author Shannon Michelle to trace an extraordinary path from a catastrophic motorcycle accident and months in a coma to living with severe short‑term memory loss and then confronting a breast cancer diagnosis. Shannon’s story isn’t framed by grand gestures;...