The Starry-Eyed Podcast®

Twas the night before convention and all through the Buff Not a person was sleeping - they've waited enough! Registration was set in the lobby with care Knowing soon Eighteen hundred fine folks would be there. And so Joel proclaimed as some sleep he did seek: Happy Convention to all and to all a great week! As always, this episode is sponsored by Innersense Organic Beauty. Click on THIS LINK and c...

We are one week out from the WSA Convention and there's no better time to meet one of the newest staff members: Megan Lenihan! She joins Jen and Brendan to discuss her role as Family Resource Liaison and her passion for breaking down barriers for families to get the information and resources they need. She's been on the job for only a couple months, but she is already having a huge impact! As alwa...

This week we channel our inner "theater kid energy" as we are joined by Rachel Flamm. She shares about how her love school led to her getting a degree in Early Childhood Education and Sociology. Then Producer Joel so they can nerd out over their love of acting and singing. Rachel wonderfully describes how her Williams syndrome gives her a leg up on understanding her characters! Big shout out to Om...

Today Jen and Brendan are joined by Bailey Stack, who reminds us that WS Awareness is a year-round endeavour! She shares how she found her voice and learned to trust herself when talking about her own disability and has become a mighty advocate educating families and professionals around the world using social media. Look like Brendan! Convention merch is available in the WSA Store! Go to https://...

We kick off a new century of podcasts with one of the newest additions to the WSA staff: Vice President of Programs Laura Spinney. Laura shares her extensive background working in disability advocacy and as a parent to her adult daughter with WS. She also gets into the details of the WSA's latest program: The Family Network. For more information on the Family Network, go to https://www.williams-sy...

1-0-0!!!! For our 100th episode, we celebrated a milestone live on the Weekend for Williams Broadcast. Jen couldn't join us this time, so Joel sat in to help Brenden lead the conversation. Together they welcomed two wonderful guests: Dr. Mo Helgren of the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine and her student Camilo Zeballos Carvajal, a fellow musician and rare disease advocate. The discussion explore...

Nine-nine!! For the last show before we hit the century mark, we're joined by a guest a refreshing as a tropical breeze. Jules Warren is a Chicago transplant to Hawaii, and uses her people skills working at Depo Market (@depo_market). Joining her is Tiffany Chou, the founder and owner, who, as she says in the interview, "doesn't take no for an answer," so when she told Jules she wanted her to work...

From Emperor Palpatine to the King of Pop, Josh Beaupre is a born entertainer. He joins Jen and Brendan this week to talk about his love of voices, entertaining, and what goes into being an impersonator. Josh also leads a frank discussion about how he has dealt with bullying in his life - most notably from within the WS community. As always, this episode is sponsored by Innersense Organic Beauty....

Awareness Month keeps rolling on this week with two very special guests: Dr. Elizabeth Roof and Dr. Elisabeth Dykens from Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. They are the driving force behind the Academy of Country Music Lifting Lives music camp in Nashville which has been changing the lives of adults with WS as well as some of Country Music's biggest stars for over 20 years.  They join their old friend Br...

Happy Williams Syndrome Awareness Month!! We're kicking off this great month with the wonderful Kara Jackson. She joins Jen and Brendan to discuss her love of acting and her upcoming production of The Sound of Music at Backlight Productions . As someone who traveled around a lot when she was a kid as part of a military family, Kara speaks openly about the different types of anxiety one can experie...

It's a quickie episode this week as Brendan (who is literally tiptoeing through the tulips) and Joel prepare for May - which is, of course, Williams Syndrome Awareness Month. You can find resources to share with others in the WSA Awareness Month Toolkit .  We're also joined from the tulip field by Anne Lemieux to discuss her new book of fiction "See the Music, Hear the Light." Find out more and pu...

This week we're joined by Amy Berg from just outside Philly on the Jersey side. Amy is an OG person with WS (diagnosed before there was genetic testing) and has seen this community grow and change over the years. She spends a lot of time with her friends on The Dream Team, which is a group of our older community members. They frequently get together online, travel together, and hang out together a...

This week is part 2 of our chat with Dr. Beth Kozel and Dr. Jessica Bowman from Nationwide Children's in Ohio. Together with Jen and Brendan (and Producer Joel sneaks in there too), they discuss the research being done to improve elastin in people (which would be a big plus for people with WS), the importance of language and remembering to be diligent, and, of course, the importance of water in th...

A - B - H. A - Always, B - Be, H - Hydrated. Always be hydrated! Always be hydrated!! If you thought water was just this thing that happens to make up around 60% of your body and 70% of the Earth's surface, well you'd be wrong. And if you got it wrong: drink some water! This week is part 1 of our chat with Dr. Beth Kozel and Dr. Jessica Bowman from Nationwide Children's in Ohio. Together with Jen...

Sláinte! (pronounced "slawn-cha") is Gaelic for "health," which is a great way to greet our guest this week! Erin Oneill joins us from Edinburgh, Scotland, to talk about her journey to discover her people. Although she is an ocean away, she has made strong friendships here in the States. This support has kept her going when dealing with some serious GI issues leading to living with a stoma. Her fo...

Sometimes the stars align and a person comes along and you didn't know you were supposed to connect, but once you did you instantly knew that something big was going to happen. This is the case with our new friend and guest this week: Dr. Carolyn Shivers. Not only is Dr. Carolyn a brilliant psychologist working on how to bridge the gap between people with I/DD and the others who don't, she is on t...

With 112 days before the start of the 2026 WSA Convention, Sarah Schaefer joins the pod to update everyone on how preparation is going. From Early Bird Registration to Scholarship cutoff, there's a lot to share and the excitement is building! Expect Niagara Falls, an opening party at Canalside, Buffalo Bisons block‑party + fireworks, nightly karaoke and dances, teen/youth excursions, and a packed...

As we launch our 3rd year of podcasting stories from the WS community, we're joined by Pod-teens Bennett and Stella. Together they share stories from their time at Camp – which, if you're a kid or teen with WS, you should go! There's more teen-tastic programming coming up with the WSA's first ever Teen Social Club Hangout on Wednesday, March 18th! Teens from all over can meet up over zoom and beco...

Spring is beginning to...well...spring, so now our thoughts turn to Camp WSA! In this episode, we're joined by our fabulous leadership team for Camp WSA: Emma Thomas, Nick Conley, and Nirakar Thakur. Together they become a three headed camp monster of wonderfulness programming an unforgettable week for kids and teens with WS! This year Camp WSA returns to Camp Twin Lakes - West in Rutledge, GA, fr...

Consider this episode a palate cleanser from recent heavy subjects as we are joined by Brett Menna! He joins Brendan and Producer Joel (Jen was otherwise engaged) about figuring out what's next after high school, music, tornados, cologne, tornado cologne, and a bunch of other subjects. Just 3 dudes chattin' 'bout life...as bros do. As always, this episode is sponsored by Innersense Organic Beauty....

In this episode, we’re joined by Jess Iverson, a parent, former attorney, and soon-to-be licensed therapist. Jess walks us through practical ways to navigate loss and grief, especially in moments when life feels chaotic or out of control. She shares her PEACE framework, which stands for Proactive, Emotions, Advocate, Connect, and Embrace. It offers a simple and steady guide for moving through hard...

There’s no easy way to begin this episode. Over the past few weeks, the Williams syndrome community has experienced several losses, and regardless of the circumstances, it has left many of us feeling shaken. This episode is the first in a small series focused on death and grief. We welcome back Martha Maier and Jeff Isensee. Martha reached out to the WSA to share some of the tools she’s using to h...

This week Paola Martinez joins the Two-Timers Club! She recently became the WSA’s new Development Manager, and she joins Brendan and Jen to talk about turning personal connection into powerful fundraising. From the Walk for Williams Syndrome to creative DIY fundraisers, Paola shares how volunteers can make a real impact and have fun doing it. As always, this episode is sponsored by Innersense Orga...

This episode's guest did not just jog into the Williams syndrome community. He kept going. And going. And going. Holden Cammarata is a Georgia Tech student studying rocket science, because apparently running 100 miles in just over 24 hours was not ambitious enough. Fueled by friendship with the Cloer family, Holden turned one very long run into awareness for Williams syndrome. Get ready for some g...

This week the fabulous Birch Sisters (Victoria and Alexandra) return to join the "2-timers Club!" Amongst the silly chaos of friends catching up, Brendan and Joel flip on Jen and interview her and the Birch's about their collaboration on a fundraising fashion show for the Arc of Colorado! It's pretty evident that putting the 5 of us together (even virtually) is a recipe for laughter. This episode...