The Uplifters

To not be of service and live my life to the fullest after receiving so much support would be spitting in the face of anyone who ever believed in me. Sean Wachter Sean Wachter is a business guy, a husband, and a father of two young girls. He also happens to be a former two-sport collegiate athlete and a former pro football player, and after battling and surviving a rare form of melanoma, he is usi...

Sean Wachter is a business guy, a husband, and a father of two young girls. He also happens to be a former two-sport collegiate athlete and a former pro football player, and after battling and surviving a rare form of melanoma, he is using wrestling – of all things – to raise awareness and raise funding for cancer research (all while finishing his MBA and working with several major cancer organiza...

We all have cringey moments when we say or do something that not only shows our humanity and our imperfectness, but it shows a little bit more of our authentic selves than we want to show. We don't like to put ourselves out there in a way that is different than the status quo because that might lead to rejection. When you embrace the cringe with art, it's giving you practice that will reflect in y...

Uplifters , we are going on a magical musical adventure with this week's guest - world traveler, songwriter, and creativity coach Caroline Scruggs! Caroline invites us into her radically courageous creative journey and shows us how embracing imperfection helped her find her authentic voice (and resulted in a song about roadkill). Caroline shares the power of building safe spaces for creative growt...

“Not only does it feel good to laugh, but when you find yourself laughing, whether you realize it or not, you're reminding yourself that you're still in there. It's like, ’ Oh wait, I'm still me.’” Rebecca Soffer of Modern Loss , on grief In the final episode of our Uplifting series on grief and loss, you’ll meet Rebecca Soffer, co-founder of Modern Loss , author of the bestselling “ The Modern Lo...

“Not only does it feel good to laugh, but when you find yourself laughing, whether you realize it or not, you're reminding yourself that you're still in there. It's like, ’ Oh wait, I'm still me.’” In the final episode of our Uplifting series on grief and loss, you’ll meet Rebecca Soffer, co-founder of Modern Loss, author of the bestselling “ The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Movin...

My grandfather, Philip Dwight Baker, was born on February 7, 1929. He would’ve been 95 this week. Just as he thought he was done rearing children, he and my grandmother stepped in to raise me when my parents couldn’t. He couldn’t always live on his own terms, but he got to leave on them. Alongside my grandmother, mother, and aunt, I had the privilege of sitting with him in hospice during his last...

My grandfather, Philip Dwight Baker, was born on February 7, 1929. He would’ve been 95 this week. Just as he thought he was done rearing children, he and my grandmother stepped in to raise me when my parents couldn’t. He couldn’t always live on his own terms, but he got to leave on them. Alongside my grandmother, mother, and aunt, I had the privilege of sitting with him in hospice during his last...

At the end, almost everyone says, “I wish I had listened to other people less. I wish I had lived larger.” It makes me cry to think about it, to imagine myself at the end of my life, and to think I had the chance, but I didn't out of fear or out of self-imposed limitations. I want to go out knowing I tried everything and I did everything. Today, as part of our month-long series on grief, we are jo...

At the end, almost everyone says, “I wish I had listened to other people less. I wish I had lived larger.” It makes me cry to think about it, to imagine myself at the end of my life, and to think I had the chance, but I didn't out of fear or out of self-imposed limitations. I want to go out knowing I tried everything and I did everything. Today, as part of our month-long series on grief, we are jo...

Welcome to our first-ever bonus episode of The Uplifters Podcast! In last week’s heartbreaking and hope-rich episode featuring Lia De Feo , she shared about the impact of a wonderful organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep which helped her and her family heal from the loss of their first two children. In this week’s special bonus episode, you’ll hear from Ali Furtwangler a photographer from...

I hope that my story will provide hope to people out there who need it, and peace to those who are accepting a life that isn’t what they envisioned. Lia : I always wanted to be a mother. I always had a maternal instinct. I always wanted to raise a child. Aransas : What did you imagine the journey to motherhood would be? Lia : The journey to motherhood would begin with falling madly in love with a...

"I hope that my story will provide hope and peace to those who are accepting a life that isn’t what they envisioned." Lia : I always wanted to be a mother. I always had a maternal instinct. I always wanted to raise a child. Aransas : What did you imagine the journey to motherhood would be? Lia : The journey to motherhood would begin with falling madly in love with a man who would be an amazing par...

It’s that time of year when we reassess what’s working, ask ourselves what we want more and less of, set intentions for the year ahead, and wonder if this year will actually be different than last, all while quietly hoping that this is the year that will be . Some of the things we do at this time of year can be really helpful. Many of them are counterproductive and defeating. After 20 years in the...

It’s that time of year when we reassess what’s working, ask ourselves what we want more and less of, set intentions for the year ahead, and wonder if this year will actually be different than last, all while quietly hoping that this is the year that will be . Some of the things we do at this time of year can be really helpful. Many of them are counterproductive and defeating. After 20 years in the...

“I love service and time with people. So you add service to time with people and I'm there for it. But, with a person who's not gonna honor those as my love languages, it can bleed into this idea of becoming a friend’s accidental personal assistant.” When Rachel Everson Fink was in her 20s healing from anorexia and an abusive relationship, she discovered the power to change her health through medi...

When Rachel Everson Fink was in her 20s healing from anorexia and an abusive relationship, she discovered the power to change her health through meditation, yoga, quality food, qi gong, and Intention Based Field Resonance Testing. Like so many Uplifters, Rachel Everson Fink loves to give and serve, and she feels things deeply. And like so many of us, she’s learned the hard way that without consist...

Happy New Year, Uplifters! This big, beautiful, interconnected world of ours can sometimes feel irrevocably broken. If things are going to get better, it will be because Uplifters started tiny fires of change that spread throughout their communities and moved throughout the world. It’s why Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde’s father told her as a little girl, “You can't fix the world, but you can fix th...

What's limiting us is that we're not thinking big enough. We're not being creative in how we design our time. Once we do that on a deeper level, we can create what we want. Financial freedom is emotional freedom, time freedom, and location freedom: The ability to be who you were meant to be. In today’s episode of The Uplifters Podcast, you'll meet Tai Abrams, nominated by episode 25's Kymme Willia...

“One of the things that I strongly believe will lead you to succeed, is undeterred resilience: Fall, but get up. Be rejected, but try again. Don’t take no for an answer for something you really want. If you’re tired don’t quit, but rather rest, and come back with a plan. The best way to develop resilience is to nurture that inner conviction that you will succeed, eventually. Do a victory dance and...

Hey, Uplifters. Even if you’ve never listened to a single episode of our show before, please go put your headphones on, take a walk, and listen to this episode. I am so much richer for these moments with Katie. I believe you will be too. You can always listen right here in your email, where you’ll also receive full transcripts (edited and condensed for clarity). But please also subscribe directly...

When Meera Hardin, host of the Brown Girl Trending and Woke & Pretty podcasts, immigrated to the US as a child, she and her parents were separated. She understood, even then, that huge sacrifices had been made to give her the best life possible. So, she vowed to make it all worthwhile. She made good grades, got scholarships, and after finishing school found a job that would make her community prou...

Are you struggling to take the first steps toward your dreams or keep them moving forward? Author Kara Cutruzzula and I have become experts at this. But we don’t do it alone, thanks to a superpowered weekly phone call + run that we call VFTR (Virtual Friday Therapy Run). In celebration of Kara’s awesome new book Do It (or Don’t) , the third in her bestselling series which includes Do It For Yourse...

Ever wondered what it takes to break through barriers and pursue your dreams relentlessly? In our latest episode, we talk to Shannon Eastin, the first woman to officiate in the NFL, and the author of Lady Ref: Making Calls in a Man's World . Tune in to the full episode to gain valuable insights, practical lessons, and a dose of motivation to pursue your dreams despite the challenges. A few highlig...

🌍 Do you dream of a life where you can break free from the monotony, explore the world, and live on your terms? In our latest episode, I talk to Heather Markel , a coach to people who want to become full-time travelers.  Heather worked in a corporate 9-5 but dreamed of traveling full-time. Every year, she’d talk herself out of it, though. She finally realized that if she didn’t do it, she’d spend...