RESILIENT A.F. with Blair and Alana

After their most difficult episode, which they last recorded, Blair and Alana return with a hopeful update. Following the end of Blair's marriage and a painful season in Kamloops, Blair shares why she made Winnipeg her permanent home, what three weeks of feeling genuinely loved taught her, and how a solo road trip to a survival gathering in Idaho became part of her healing. This episode is about s...

Memories of Jeremy Roadruck’s childhood abuse came back to his awareness in his late 20s, which helped explain the anger and "survival mode" he had been living in since he was five years old. This is his story and he is RESILIENT A.F. Buy the books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/ About the Guest: Jeremy Roadruck is a men’s mentor and relationship strategist who helps high-performing...

zWhat does it really take to survive an 8-year infertility journey? In this powerful episode of Resilient AF, Alyssa Chavez shares her deeply personal story of navigating infertility, IVF, miscarriage, and the complicated emotions of watching friends and family grow their families while she struggled to grow her own. Alyssa opens up about the heartbreak of pregnancy loss, the resilience it took to...

In this episode, Blair is joined by Mia J. Hanks and they talk about her experience surviving narcissistic abuse and her memoir. Mia shared her 29-year marriage to a covert narcissist, describing early red flags and the psychological abuse she endured, culminating in her decision to leave the marriage after receiving validation from a therapist. Mia discussed the positive impact of leaving the abu...

What happens when your entire life changes overnight and you are left to rebuild from the rubble? In this deeply moving episode of Resilient A.F., Blair sits down with grief coach and widow advocate Emily Tanner, founder of Brave Widow, to talk about loss, resilience, and rebuilding after the death of a spouse. Emily shares her raw and honest story of losing her husband, Nathan, to COVID-19 compli...

In this episode of Resilient A.F., Blair sits down with Jess Prudhomme, host of The Great Detour podcast, for a candid conversation about rebuilding a life from the ground up. At 35, Jess walked away from a 17-year relationship, stepped back from a long corporate career, and gave herself permission to question everything she thought she knew about success and identity. What followed was a year-lon...

In episode 81 of the podcast, Blair and Alana sit down for one of their most personal Resilient A.F. conversations yet. Blair opens up about her unexpected separation from her Wasband after 15 years together, while Alana shares the profound grief of saying goodbye to her beloved cat Molly. Together, they explore pet bereavement, workplace grief policies, and the small comforts that carry us throug...

Stacy Schaffer had a traumatic childhood filled with abuse and neglect, and her mom, her only living relative, died from breast cancer when she was 22. This is her story and she is RESILIENT A.F. Buy the books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/ About the Guest: Stacy Schaffer, MA, LPC, a dedicated children’s therapist in Arvada, Colorado, has more than twenty years of experience. Speci...

What happens when a Thanksgiving road trip becomes a life-altering accident and you have to walk back onto a college campus days later, cane in hand, with no mental health support? TEDx speaker and brand storyteller Jennie Edwards answers that question with honesty, hard-won wisdom, and a daily gratitude practice that changed everything. What you'll learn in this episode What it's really like to b...

What do you do when you have built “the career,” checked all the boxes, and still feel completely empty? In this powerful episode of Resilient A.F., cohost Blair sits down with Tracy Doyle, author of Life Storms: Finding Your Clear Sky and creator of the Aurora Method, for a raw and honest conversation about hitting rock bottom, rewiring your core beliefs, and rebuilding your life from the inside...

What happens when a healthy, vibrant doctor collapses one day and is diagnosed with one of the rarest neurological events medicine knows — a spinal cord stroke? For Erica Bazerkanian, co-founder and CEO of Bold&Zeal, it became the defining moment that would reshape her entire life. In this deeply moving episode, Erica shares the story of her father Jeff Stone — a beloved podiatrist, lifelong f...

Eileen Filliben overcame breast cancer twice by the age of 42; 10 major surgeries in 10 years; debilitating back pain; severe migraines; depression and PTSD. This is her story and she is RESILIENT A.F. Buy the books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/ About the Guest: During her successful career as an attorney, HR consultant, and senior executive, Eileen was sidelined with major health...

In this deeply moving episode of Resilient A.F. , Blair sits down with Jacqueline Jensen , an award-winning speaker and certified Akashic Records practitioner whose life took a sharp, unexpected turn after profound personal loss. Jacqueline’s story is one many listeners will feel in their bones. After leaving a successful legal career, she found herself navigating layered grief: caring for her sis...

Elizabeth Kipp joins Blair Kaplan Venables on the show to discuss chronic pain, addiction and resilience through neuroscience. Elizabeth details her 40-year journey with chronic pain and addiction, including her struggles with opioids and eventual recovery through a treatment program. The conversation explored various healing methods and practices, including ancestral clearing and breathwork, whil...

In this episode, Blair interviewed Rev. Edie Weinstein, a licensed social worker, therapist, and interfaith minister who shared her journey of resilience through multiple life challenges. Edie shares her experiences with an ectopic pregnancy, losing her home in Hurricane Andrew, her husband's diagnosis and death from hepatitis C, and her own heart attack. She described how these events led her to...

What happens when grief doesn’t come in waves—but in avalanches? In this deeply moving episode of RESILIENT A.F. , Blair sits down with Brooke to explore complex compound grief—the kind that unfolds when multiple devastating losses happen within a short period of time, leaving little room to breathe, let alone heal. Brooke shares her unimaginable journey of losing her father, stepmother, mother, a...

What does financial resilience actually look like? In this episode, Blair sits down with entrepreneur and investor Genicca , whose journey from financial hardship to financial independence began earlier than most. As an immigrant growing up in Toronto, Genicca experienced firsthand the stress and instability that can come from money struggles. Instead of letting those experiences define her future...

What happens when you lose both parents to cancer in your 20s while trying to build a business, stay functional, and survive emotionally? In this deeply moving episode of RESILIENT A.F. , Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Leslie Hacker to talk about early loss, end-of-life caregiving, alternative healing, and what it really means to take care of yourself when everything around you is falling ap...

What happens when your annual Grief Week retreat turns into a shelter-in-place situation? In this deeply honest episode, Blair and Alana share what unfolded during their 2026 Grief Week in Puerto Vallarta. What was meant to be a restorative, reflective time honouring their parents’ death anniversaries became unexpectedly intense when cartel activity caused unrest in the area, beach evacuations, bo...

In this deeply human episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with writer and award-winning memoirist Casey Mulligan Walsh for a conversation that does not flinch from life’s hardest chapters. Casey shares her layered journey with grief: being orphaned at 12, losing her brother, navigating a painful divorce, and the devastating death of her son, Eric, in a car accident. Together,...

In this deeply honest episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Dr. Jason Newell, a licensed clinical social worker, researcher, and single father, to explore what resilience really looks like when life hits hard on multiple fronts. Jason shares his personal journey through co-parenting after his wife’s affair, raising his daughter with intention and compassion, and navigatin...

In this deeply moving and unexpectedly warm conversation, Blair and Alana sit down with Emmy-nominated television producer and ghostwriter Samantha Rose to talk about grief, suicide loss, creativity, and the complicated ways we stay connected to the people we love after they die. Samantha opens up about writing her award-winning memoir, Giving Up the Ghost, which chronicles the loss of her mother...

In this deeply human and refreshingly unfiltered episode of RESILIENT A.F. , Blair and Jessica sit down for a conversation that refuses to whisper about grief. They talk openly about miscarriage, mental health, entrepreneurship, and the quiet weight women are expected to carry without complaint. This episode is not about tidy healing arcs or silver linings. It is about naming what hurts, breaking...

In this deeply grounding episode, Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Alexis Hart, a seasoned death care professional with over a decade of experience walking This conversation moves fluidly between the practical and the sacred, touching on death literacy, professional burnout, cultural rituals, and the surprising ways redwoods, coastal air, and honest conversations can regulate the nervous syste...

What happens when grief doesn’t come one loss at a time, but hits you in waves, back-to-back, with no recovery window? In this deeply honest episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair sits down with Amanda McKoy Flanagan to talk about compound grief, sobriety, marriage, and what it really takes to keep going when life keeps taking. Amanda shares her experience of losing five close family members in just thr...