Episodes

What if grief isn't something to get over — but something to grow through? In this powerful episode, Brian sits down with intuitive healer, ThetaHealing practitioner, and bestselling author Amanda Beth Johnson, who was widowed at just 27 years old when her husband Jeff was killed suddenly in a car accident. Nearly 30 years later, Amanda has transformed that devastating loss into a life of service — helping others navigate the emotional, physical, and spiritual terrain of grief with wisdom tha...

What if the most painful moments of your life were actually part of a plan? And what if the people you've lost are closer than you ever imagined — just three feet away? In this beautiful, wide-ranging conversation, Brian welcomes spiritual messenger and author Fara Gibson for a long-overdue first interview. Fara has been sharing messages from heaven her entire life — without training, without a roadmap, and for years, without telling a single soul. Today she opens up about all of it: how her ...

The materialist argument that consciousness ends with the brain has a serious problem: the evidence. In this episode, I sit down with Simon Brown — clinical hypnotherapist, past life regression guide, and author of Verified Near-Death Experiences: Proof of an Afterlife — to examine the cases that no materialist theory can explain. Simon has interviewed hundreds of NDE experiencers across more than 900 podcast episodes. His book focuses on 30 verified cases — people who witnessed real, conf...

What happens when someone doesn't just brush the edge of death — but actually crosses over? On May 22nd, 2023, Jonathan Ashford's organs failed. He collapsed alone on his bathroom floor at 4:30 in the morning, clinically dead for three hours. When he woke up, his temperature was 94 degrees — and the man who had lived inside that body for 25 years was gone. The corporate executive who dismissed spirituality, chased material success, and would have laughed in your face if you mentioned an NDE...

What if your daughter spent years telling you exactly how she was going to die — and then kept communicating after she did? That's the extraordinary story Louise Crist lives every day. In this episode, Louise shares the most remarkable account of a child predicting their own death and continued after-death communication I've ever featured on this podcast. From premonitions that began at age four, to the moment Jilly's voice came through minutes after the accident saying "I jumped — I didn't fee...

When Lisa Woolery found her husband Eric slumped over in his home office—gone at 53 from sudden heart failure—she never imagined what would come next. Not just the frozen assets, the angry 12-year-old, or walking 20,000 steps a day to process the pain. But this: grief made her a better parent. In this honest, hope-filled conversation, Lisa shares how losing everything forced her to shed perfectionism, step into uncomfortable leadership, and discover that transformation often comes wrapped in ...

What if those unexplainable feelings you get — those quiet nudges that something is about to change — aren't just anxiety or imagination, but your soul preparing you for what's ahead? In this deeply moving episode, I talk with Tami Pitetti Sanders, an intuitive guide whose journey began with subtle intuitive signs before death that she didn't fully understand until after loss transformed her life. Tami shares how she received "unknowing knowings" about a year before her father's passing — sch...

What happens when grief doesn't just visit once—but keeps coming back? In this deeply honest conversation, Vanessa May shares how she navigated losing her son Harry, then her husband Anthony, and father during the pandemic, all while battling COVID and later a cancer diagnosis. Vanessa doesn't sugarcoat. She doesn't spiritually bypass. She tells the truth about what it's like when the ground keeps getting ripped out from under you—and how she's found her way forward anyway. In this episode, w...

Some struggles don’t make sense. You do the work. You try to heal. And yet the same emotional patterns, grief, anxiety, or disconnection keep resurfacing. In this special Grief 2 Growth episode, Brian D. Smith welcomes back Dr. Lotte Valentin, medical doctor, psychotherapist, ancestral healer, and two-time near-death experiencer, for a profound conversation about inherited emotional patterns and why some challenges may not have started with you. Dr. Lotte shares how grief, trauma, and unresol...

In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith is joined by writer and seeker Alexis Lee, author of Pain Is a Portal to Beauty, for a courageous conversation about grief, trauma, and radical self-healing. Alexis shares the moment that changed her life — hearing a voice while walking in the woods that told her her life would have been a tragedy if it ended that day. That message became the beginning of a profound journey into grief she had buried since childhood, including the l...

Before the microphones were turned on, Richard Ashworth asked Brian for his birth information. What followed was an unexpected and deeply personal moment—Richard identified a pivotal event at age seven that reshaped Brian’s view of life. He was right. In this episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian and Richard explore how grief, destiny, and choice intersect—and how ancient systems like Bazi can help us understand the moments that quietly define us. This is a conversation about: Childhood ...

What if your voice could continue to guide the people you love—long after you’re gone? In this deeply moving episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian D. Smith is joined by Cristian Cibilis Bernardes, founder and CEO of Autograph AI, for a conversation that sits at the crossroads of grief, technology, memory, and meaning. Cristian shares the personal loss that inspired the creation of Walter, an emotionally intelligent AI designed to listen, remember, and preserve life stories—in your own voice. Not a...

What happens when grief collides with faith — and suicide shatters everything you thought you believed? In this candid and raw episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian sits down with Rachel Powell, widow, author, speaker, and founder of Hope Speaker, to explore the complicated intersection of grief, faith, suicide loss, and hope. After losing her husband André to suicide — and surviving suicide attempts herself — Rachel shares her story with courage, clarity, and compassion. This conversation goes...

What if your loved one never truly left? What if grief itself is the doorway to a deeper connection? In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian D. Smith speaks with Janet Kaufman, author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Janet shares the story of her son Alexander—a sensitive, loving soul whose struggles with mental health and addiction ultimately led to his physical death, but not the end of their relationship. Through signs, synchronicities, certified me...

Nervous System Healing After Trauma: From Survival to Sovereignty with Angela Jean What if healing isn’t about fixing your thoughts—but about retraining your body? In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith sits down with Angela Jean, a mindset and nervous system strategist whose life was shaped by profound trauma—and radical transformation. After surviving childhood abuse, homelessness, and the devastating loss of her father and sister to suicide, Angela discovered somethi...

What if a single moment in your grief revealed a truth that rewrote your entire identity? That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest, Rich Boerner, whose life changed forever after his mother’s passing. While cleaning out her apartment, Rich uncovered a long-hidden secret about his father—one that forced him to confront love, betrayal, forgiveness, and ultimately, healing. This episode dives deep into the emotional terrain of family secrets, identity, and the surprising ways grief can open...

In this deeply moving conversation, Brian sits down with Michael Reed, author of The Million Stages of Grief, whose life changed forever on the night of the 2016 Gatlinburg fires. Michael lost his wife Constance and daughters Chloe and Lily in the tragedy—and today, he shares not only his story, but the wisdom, compassion, and hard-earned insight that grew from unimaginable loss. This episode explores what grief really looks like—messy, nonlinear, human—and why comparing grief (“less than,” “...

In today’s powerful episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian sits down with Samina Bari — author of Don’t Call Me Widow and host of the Afterlife podcast — for a raw and insightful look at spousal loss, solo parenting, grief brain, and the quiet ways we can show up for those who are hurting most. Samina lost her husband suddenly in 2023. What followed was a journey through shock, trauma, identity loss, and rebuilding life as a solo parent of twins. Her honesty brings comfort, clarity, and guidance to an...

In this powerful episode of Grief 2 Growth, internationally bestselling author and dream expert Theresa Cheung joins me to explore the deeper meaning of dreams — including the ones that frighten us, comfort us, and stay with us long after we wake up. Theresa shares why she believes we sleep to dream, how dreams reflect our soul's growth, and how they can become gateways to healing—especially after profound loss. Whether you're longing for an afterlife dream visit, navigating recurring nightma...

🎧 Episode Title: My Grief Is Not Like Yours: Theo Boyd on Layered Loss, Divine Signs & Radical Hope Guest: Theo Boyd – Author, Grief Educator, and Speaker Books: 📘 My Grief Is Not Like Yours 📗 Hope All The Way Grief Study Resource: Download the National Grief Study 💡 Episode Summary: What if grief didn’t just break you—it rebuilt you? In this deeply moving conversation, Theo Boyd shares how her life was upended by a string of heartbreaking losses: her mother in a tragic farm accide...

How do we hold love in one hand and suffering in the other — without breaking? In this beautiful and soul-stretching conversation, Brian sits down with Zach Beach to explore the deep connection between our capacity to love and our capacity to hurt. Zach brings wisdom from spiritual traditions, psychology, and lived experience to illuminate why grief is not something to “fix,” but something to honor. This episode is rich with insights on compassion, presence, mindfulness, and the human journey...

Send me a Text Message- please include your contact information so I can respond Have you ever felt like your emotions are running your life—despite your best efforts to control them? In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with Cedric Bertelli, founder of the Emotional Health Institute and co-developer of MRAS (Emotional Resolution). Together, we explore the groundbreaking difference between regulating emotions and truly resolving them. Cedric shares how emotional pain is not a life sentence...

Send me a Text Message- please include your contact information so I can respond When we think of grief, we often picture death. But what about the silent grief that comes from illness — the kind that alters your identity, steals your energy, and isolates you from the world? In this powerful episode, I speak with Brenda Snow, a woman who turned a life-changing diagnosis into a movement that’s touched millions. After being dismissed by doctors and told her symptoms were “all in her head,” Bren...

Send me a Text Message- please include your contact information so I can respond Have you ever wondered why we suffer, where we go after we die, or what grief really means for the soul’s evolution? In this eye-opening and deeply healing episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian Smith welcomes spiritual teacher and mystic Hans Wilhelm, the creator of the wildly popular Life Explained video series and author of over 200 books with 40+ million copies sold. Hans uses simple visuals and timeless spiritual ...