Grief Is My Side Hustle

Host of one of the most popular podcasts on death, grief and loss, David Ferrugio comes into the work with a deep personal understanding of loss. His father (also David) died in the world Trade Center on 9/11 when David was only twelve years old. In this episode David shares some of his life philosophies, his appreciation for gallows humor and how critical supports helped him to process his loss. The subject matter may be heavy, but this conversation isn't. David's joy and love of life is infectious.

What a Day in the Life of a Hospital Chaplain who Sits with the Dying Teaches Us About GRIEF J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, author, and online educator. For eight years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a thousand-plus-bed hospital that is designated a Level 1 Trauma Center. His role includes grief counseling, attending every death, every trauma and Code Blue, staff care, and supporting end-of-life care. He also served for three years as a chaplain at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast. J.S. has a MDiv completed in 2010 and a BA in Psychology. He also has a sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. J.S. currently lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and his three-year-old daughter, newborn son, and their adopted dog. https://www.instagram.com/jspark3000/?hl=en X: https://twitter.com/jsparkblog?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNc6TwqBwxM

NPR’s Rhaina Cohen is the The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center, The Other Significant Others invites us into the lives of people who have defied convention by choosing a friend as a life partner—from friends raising a child together to best friends of 50 years who live together in their retiree years. Based on years of original reporting and striking social science research, Cohen argues that we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them while we diminish friendships by expecting too little of them. At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed or divorced, or feeling the effects of the "loneliness epidemic," Cohen insists that we recognize the many forms of profound connection that can anchor our lives. A groundbreaking book, The Other Significant Others challenges us to ask what we want from our relationships—not just what we’re supposed to want—and transforms how we define a fulfilling life The book looks at how friendship is woefully undervalued, and we do ourselves a societal disservice by believing that a lifelong romantic relationship is essential for having a full, meaningful adulthood. Cohen makes this case through the stories of people who've built a life with a friend—raising children together, buying homes together, and taking care of each other in old age. Amid a loneliness epidemic, declining marriage rates and changing family forms, she argues that we'd benefit from recognizing the variety of relationships that ground people's lives “Rhaina Cohen’s moving, intimate portraits of people in unusually devoted friendships upend our cultural narratives about which relationships matter. A perceptive and vivid reporter, she reveals that there are far more pathways to deep connection and fulfillment than we’ve been made to believe. The Other Significant Others is an arresting work of compassion and insight.” —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and co-host of Dear Therapists podcast “In her lovingly written The Other Significant Others, Rhaina Cohen does crucial work by questioning easy social categorization and the hierarchies of recognition and privilege that too often put romantically coupled pairs at the top. The Other Significant Others is energetic, open, considered, and beautifully reported. It thrums with a passion for the subject, and is powered by a historically rich, intellectually serious curiosity about the relationships that provide backbone and ballast to so many of our lives, but which have only recently begun to receive the consideration they are due.” —Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of All the Single Ladies and Good and Mad https://www.rhainacohen.com

Anne Gudger is an autobiographical essayist who writes hard and loves harder. She’s been published in Real Simple, Cutbank, Cutthroat, The Los Angeles Review, The Normal School, The Rumpus, and the Columbia Journal, among others, and has been a Best of the Net nominee twice. She is also the co-founder of Coffee and Grief, a reading series that’s been thriving since March 2020 and hosts five curated readers every month reading on grief. Anne lives in Banks, Oregon with her beloved husband. The Fifth Chamber is her first book.

Recognized as one of today’s foremost experts on grief, Claire Bidwell Smith is a licensed therapist, international speaker, and the author of five books published in 22 countries. Led by her own experience in grief and fueled by her work in hospice and private practice, Claire strives to provide support for all kinds of people experiencing all kinds of loss. Claire has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Scientific American, Goop, Oprah and many more outlets. Her most recent books Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief and Conscious Grieving have provided groundbreaking and transformative approaches to the process of grief. Learn more at clairebidwellsmith.com or by following @clairebidwellsmith on social media

In 2018, Nikki Mark’s healthy twelve-year-old-son Tommy went to sleep one night and never woke up. Nikki went into a state of shock and her body quickly started to deteriorate, but she had to be there for her remaining family. Without a religious or spiritual background, she relied on the one skill she could still access — the ability to figure it out. Along her unconventional journey, Nikki discovered something surprising: that if we’re open to the possibilities, grieving offers a unique opportunity to access life’s magic. From raising over $1,000,000 to build an athletic field in her son’s name, to working with diverse (and sometimes divisive) players in Los Angeles to get it approved, to exploring every kind of healing modality from mediation to mushrooms, Nikki now shares the intimate details of navigating grief with purpose and action – and a little coaching from beyond. Download Nikki Mark's personally-tested resources and invaluable advice for triumphing over grief (for you or someone you would like to support) — available for free at NikkiMark.com. Treat yourself to her memoir, "Tommy’s Field: Love, Loss, and the Goal of a Lifetime," the inside story about Nikki's transformation from deep despair to accessing the magic that life wants for us all.

Don't miss the wonderful episide with the the incredible ane L. Rosen author of On Fire Island as she explains how her personal exprience with grief informed her charachters in the book. Jane L. Rosen is an author, screenwriter and former Huffington Post contributor. Jane often takes inspiration from real-life stories and interviews to craft her novels. Her first novel Nine Women, One Dress was translated into ten languages. Her second novel Eliza Starts a Rumor has been optioned by NBC. A Shoe Story and On Fire Island are out now! She lives in New York City and Fire Island with her husband and three daughters.

Amy's work went viral. Learn the story of how and why in this episode where Amy discusses her how her viral list, was really a reaction to compound grief and loss. In her own words: I’m a psychotherapist turned “accidental” author I started my career as a psychotherapist intending to help others build mental strength. I never imagined how much I was going to need mental muscle in my own life. My mom passed away when I was 23. Then, my husband died when I was 26. Losing the two most important people in my life sent me on a quest to learn as much as I could about how to be mentally strong. As I studied mental strength, I realized that mentally strong people don’t just have good habits. They also avoid any unhealthy habits that could hold them back. In 2013, during one of my lowest points in my life, I wrote a letter to myself about all the things mentally strong people don’t do. When I was done, I had a list of 13 things that could rob me of mental strength if I let them. That letter helped me so I thought maybe it could help someone else. I published it online expecting a few people would read it. But that list went viral and more than 50 million people read! Within a matter of days, a literary agent reached out to suggest I write a book. Nine years later, I’ve written six books that have sold more than 1 million copies around the globe. And my life has never been the same.

What happens when someone whose job is supporting other people’s mental health is rocked by their own traumatic loss? In this episode, Juliet Haas LPC, LMHC, shares her story, including the personal and professional impacts of her loss. Juliet is an embodied trauma-informed counselor, registered dance-movement therapist, and owner of Mindful Counseling and Wellness LLC. Licensed in both Wisconsin and Massachusetts, Juliet supports adults through grief, both death and non-death loss, trauma, and anxiety. Her therapeutic approach is person-centered, mindfulness based, and integrative. Her approach includes a blend of traditional talk therapy, mindfulness tools, expressive movement and art, and humor. She has specialty training in Accelerated Resolution Therapy for Trauma and Mind-Body approaches to assist in nervous system regulation. Juliet is also certified in Laughter Yoga: bringing more laughter and joy to the Milwaukee area! To learn more, visit: https://www.mindfulcounselingandwellnessllc.com/ Instagram: @mindfulcounselingandwellness And to connect with Julianne, please visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com

Is there room for humor in the world of grief and loss? According to Kathleen Wallace, creator of Grief: A Comedy, laughter can serve as a tool for connection as we navigate the losses in our lives. Kathleen is an actress, writer, producer, and facilitator whose work spans both the entertainment and corporate worlds. Her short film GRIEF: A COMEDY was recently selected for the Stowe Story Labs - Sidewalk Narrative Lab and the Stowe Story Labs TV Writers Room with Derek Simonds (showrunner, THE SINNER) and David Pope (co-founder, Stowe Story Labs). Notable work includes her series SETTLING UP, which is available on Amazon, and her feminist comedy series THE EVAGELISTS, about evangelists for feminism, which was a finalist in the Raindance Pilot Competition and won a Made In NY Women’s Fund grant. She has facilitated classes and conversations for organizations including the Yale Alumni Association, World50, and Google. To learn more about Kathleen and Grief: A Comedy, visit KathleenWallace.com and linktr.ee/griefacomedy And you can follow the project on Instagram @griefacomedy To connect with Julianne, please visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com

What is the cost of framing motherhood only in terms of its potential gains, without acknowledging its inevitable losses? That’s one of the questions that Molly Milllwood addresses in her brilliant book, To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma. A mix of research, client stories, and Molly’s personal experience, the book tells the truth about the realities of motherhood in an effort to normalize and validate the experience for women everywhere. In this conversation, Molly discusses the current state of parenthood, its impact on mothers and their marriages, the role that social media and shame play in its difficulties, and its capacity to expand our emotional experience. Molly Millwood is a licensed psychologist, author, speaker, singer-songwriter, mother, wife, and devoted advocate for women’s mental health and wellbeing. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Montana and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. After juggling an academic career with a part-time psychotherapy practice for over 15 years, Molly now practices therapy full time. She works with adult individuals and couples, helping women rediscover themselves within the metamorphosis of motherhood and helping couples of all sorts improve their relational health. Her 2019 book, To Have and To Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma explores the emotional landscape of early motherhood and the inextricable link during this phase of life between women’s wellbeing and the wellbeing of their marriage or intimate partnership. Her work has been highlighted by The Washington Post, Mother Untitled, WNYC Radio, and numerous other media outlets, along with dozens of podcasts. She lives with her husband and two sons in the mountains of Vermont, where in her free time she can be found with a guitar in her hands, her nose in a book, or her feet on a steep dirt road. To learn more about Molly, visit www.mollymillwood.com To purchase her book, visit https://bit.ly/mollymillwood Follow Julianne on Instagram at @juliannerollefson And to learn more about Julianne or to get in touch, visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com

Laurel Braitman PhD, is a writer, teacher and secular, clinical chaplain-in-training. She is the author of the memoir What Looks Like Bravery: An epic journey through loss to love (March 13th, Simon & Schuster) and the NYT bestselling book Animal Madness: Inside Their Minds. She received her doctorate in History and Anthropology of Science from MIT and is the director of Writing and Storytelling at the Stanford School of Medicine’s Medical Humanities and the Arts Program. Laurel is also the founder of Writing Medicine, the global community of writing healthcare professionals. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, Wired, California Sunday, National Geographic, Radiolab, National Public Radio and many other places. She splits her time between rural Alaska and her family’s ranch in Southern California. In addition to Writing Medicine, she leads a variety of public writing workshops. To learn more and sign up, visit www.laurelbraitman.com IG: @laurel_braitman Substack: https://laurelbraitman.substack.com/

Julianne Manske Rollefson is a therapist, grief educator, and host of the new podcast, The Art of Losing. After the deaths of her parents, she left her career in corporate coaching and leadership development to pursue a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, with the goal of becoming a therapist specializing in grief and loss. She quickly realized that counseling graduate programs don't include grief-specific training and set out to learn as much as she could on her own, which is how she discovered my work and the Grief is My Side Hustle podcast. For the past year and a half, Julianne and I have partnered to form MRJ Consulting, designed to help individuals, companies, and mental health professionals establish a grief-informed approach to addressing all manner of loss. She provides individual and group therapy virtually and in-person in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To work with Julianne or learn more about her services, please visit www.juliannemanskerollefson.com IG: @juliannerollefson

In 2018, along with his friend Jack, Ben founded The New Normal Charity, after the death of their dads. A simple, free to access, group space where adults could speak openly about their grief, and about the people they’d lost. Having spent over two decades working in the hair industry, Ben finds connection where he is most comfortable, and as TNN developed, so has their work. Ben is spending more and more time focused on creating community through empathetic understanding, working with some of the hardest to reach communities in London, coproducing spaces for their community. Since launching in 2018, TNN has gone on to host over 1000 meetings to attendees from around the world, including in person and virtual meetings across Europe, Hong Kong and North America. To join The New Normal Charity peer support meetings, head to our website www.thenewnormalcharity.com and register to any meeting that is relevant to you. The meetings are free to access and available to anyone who needs space to speak. Instagram - @tnncharity @tnnamericas @tnn_ben LinkedIn - TNN - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-new-normal-charity/ Ben - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-may-578381131?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

In 2018, along with his friend Jack, Ben founded The New Normal Charity, after the death of their dads. A simple, free to access, group space where adults could speak openly about their grief, and about the people they’d lost. Having spent over two decades working in the hair industry, Ben finds connection where he is most comfortable, and as TNN developed, so has their work. Ben is spending more and more time focused on creating community through empathetic understanding, working with some of the hardest to reach communities in London, coproducing spaces for their community. Since launching in 2018, TNN has gone on to host over 1000 meetings to attendees from around the world, including in person and virtual meetings across Europe, Hong Kong and North America. To join The New Normal Charity peer support meetings, head to our website www.thenewnormalcharity.com and register to any meeting that is relevant to you. The meetings are free to access and available to anyone who needs space to speak. Instagram - @tnncharity @tnnamericas @tnn_ben LinkedIn - TNN - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-new-normal-charity/ Ben - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-may-578381131?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

In 2018, along with his friend Jack, Ben founded The New Normal Charity, after the death of their dads. A simple, free to access, group space where adults could speak openly about their grief, and about the people they’d lost. Having spent over two decades working in the hair industry, Ben finds connection where he is most comfortable, and as TNN developed, so has their work. Ben is spending more and more time focused on creating community through empathetic understanding, working with some of the hardest to reach communities in London, coproducing spaces for their community. Since launching in 2018, TNN has gone on to host over 1000 meetings to attendees from around the world, including in person and virtual meetings across Europe, Hong Kong and North America. To join The New Normal Charity peer support meetings, head to our website www.thenewnormalcharity.com and register to any meeting that is relevant to you. The meetings are free to access and available to anyone who needs space to speak. Instagram - @tnncharity @tnnamericas @tnn_ben LinkedIn - TNN - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-new-normal-charity/ Ben - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-may-578381131?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Rightsizing expert Jeannine Bryant is the owner and CEO of Changing Spaces SRS, a senior move management company in Lincoln, NE. She has helped provide rightsizing and relocation services to seniors since 2010. During that time, she has been actively involved in the downsizing and moving processes of thousands of older adults. Learn more about their services (and shop their online auctions!) at www.ChangingSpacesSRS.com. In 2019, Jeannine created a sister brand to Changing Spaces SRS called Easy Rightsizing. This platform allows Jeannine to educate anyone and everyone about the rightsizing process, no matter their location. At her website www.EasyRightsizing.comshe provides blog articles, video tutorials, links to podcasts she has been featured on, downloadable resources, and links to purchase the books she has written on the downsizing process. Ready to Rightsize? A step-by-step guide to your rightsizing journey: For older adults and their loved ones was Jeannine’s first book, published in 2019. It is the essential guidebook to anyone undergoing a transition and moving to a smaller space. Jeannine prides herself on offering the kinds of practical tips and inspiration to get people motivated to start sorting through their belongings and undergoing their own rightsizing journey. In 2021, she published her second took titled Keep the Memories, Not the Stuff to serve as a helpful guide for anyone who has trouble letting go of keepsakes (that’s most of us!). This practical how-to book will help readers gain a new perspective on life, love, memories, and our stuff. The book offers thoughtful insights into the grieving process, as well as practical tips and hands-on advice for letting go without the guilt. In 2022, Jeannine released her first online downsizing course, which people can take on-demand from the comfort of their own home. The course features a downloadable workbook and over three hours of video content featuring Jeannine as she coaches participants through the process of downsizing and moving. In 2023, Jeannine published A Year of Letting Go, a rightsizing planner to help readers declutter throughout 2024. Learn more about these books and her online course at www.EasyRightsizing.com

Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D., (pamblairbooks.com) was a psychotherapist for thirty years. She is the co-author of I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye now considered a classic in bereavement literature. She is also the author of The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Midlife and Beyond and Getting Older, Better. She has appeared on national television, been a guest on dozens of radio shows, and has spoken at the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Vermont Women’s Expo, Women’s Images Conferences, and was filmed for a television special entitled “Widowsville." She lives in Shelburne, Vermont with her husband and two mischievous cats. Bradie McCabe Hansen, M.A. is a clinical psychologist-master in private practice who has been working in the field for over twenty years. Bradie is also a fiber artist and crafter and teaches children and adults about the wonderful world of handcrafting, both for its creative and healing possibilities. Fiber art has become an integral way that she works with people who are interested in visually expressing their lived experience. She lives in Shelburne, Vermont with her husband, two children, one dog and two cats. ABOUT THE BOOK An essential grief guide and recovery workbook for those who have said, “I thought I’d feel better by now.” Grief does not follow a timeline or a set path. It is nonlinear and messy, doubling back on itself just when you thought you were out of the woods. Those who have experienced the loss of a loved one know this unequivocally, but Western society still seems to think that grief should only last six months to a year—tops—when in fact, grief can last throughout a person’s entire life and manifest as serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, anger, and despair. The Long Grief Journey, co-written by a psychotherapist and a clinical psychologist who have both worked with grieving individuals for decades, is for the people who are past the acute pain and effects of a sudden loss and are now learning to live beyond that. It is for those who by all appearances seem to have “moved on.” They’re working, carrying out their responsibilities, showing up for important life events, yet they quietly bear the weight of their sadness and longing for their loved one. There’s a name for this type of long-term, unresolved grief. In fact, there are several: complicated grief, traumatic grief, complex bereavement, prolonged grief, extended grief, abnormal grief, exaggerated grief, and pervasive grief disorder. If you feel "stuck" after experiencing the death of a loved one, even if much time has passed, this book is for you. With exercises, journal prompts, and rituals that will further help readers along their grief path, The Long Grief Journey, co-written by one of the authors of the classic grief book, I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye, is designed to educate, support, and coach you to rekindle a desire to live life fully, all while still cherishing and embracing the memories of your loved one.

Kelly Cervantes is an award-winning writer, speaker, and advocate best known for her blog Inchstones, where she shared the stress, love, and joy that came with parenting her medically complex daughter, Adelaide. Since Adelaide’s passing, Kelly has continued to write candidly about her arduous and, at times, contradictory grief journey. She has been published in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Cosmopolitan, as well as quoted in the New York Times, CNN, and People. She is the current board chair for the nonprofit CURE Epilepsy and also hosts their biweekly podcast, Seizing Life, where she interviews scientists, doctors, and individuals affected by epilepsy. Kelly currently resides in Maplewood, NJ, with her husband, four children (two physically, two spiritually), and their two dogs, Tabasco and Sriracha.

Alexandra Wyman is an advocate and public speaker for resources in the aftermath of suicide. After she lost her husband to suicide in August of 2020, Alexandra found a need to change the language around suicide, and decided to write about it. Her memoir, The Suicide Club: What To Do When Someone You Love Chooses Death is an Amazon best seller. She has spoken at a variety of conferences including Bridging the Divide Suicide Prevention and Awareness Summit 2022, 2023 Northwest Conference on Childhood Grief, and has been accepted to present at the 2023 Military Social Work & Behavioral Health Conference and the International Association of Suicide Prevention Conference 2023 in Piran, Slovenia. Alexandra has also been a guest on a variety of podcasts including The Unlock Moment, Author Hour, Resilience Unravelled, She Persisted, and My Wake Up Call with Dr. Mark Goulston. Alexandra has her own podcast called The Widow’s Club, as well. She practices pediatric occupational therapy and lives in Colorado with her son. To learn more about Alexandra and her work, visit her website at www.forwardtojoy.com.