Our Story Pt. 2 - Series Finale 3 years ago I started this journey of storytelling. To be honest, story sharing, is probably more accurate. This journey was started on the heels of the most intense thing I have endured as a person and as a parent, and so I decided to share "Our Story" in Episode 1. My daughters diagnosis of Guillain Barre Syndrome …

Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery This week's guest has chosen to remain anonymous, and we will only call him Sam. Sam is a recovering Alcoholic with years of sobriety, still attending his AA classes. He tells us about his small town, religious upbringing. He talks about how that affected his outlook on life, his relationship with his parents …

Looking to Love and Wellness We talk with serial entrepreneur Tal Zlotnitsky about moving past heartache and looking to love and wellness. Tal tells us about moving from Israel with his family at a young age to America. He moved from his home country and experiencing some level of fame on Israeli TV to the UNited States and being an unknown. He tal…

The Plush Lyfe - From Prison to Peace I talk with author and podcaster Anthony Jae Gonzalez about his transformation in life from being a drug dealer who was in and out of prison to man who can accept his shortcomings and what he did that got him into negative situations in life. We talk about how his former street life impacted him, his family and…

Understanding Neurodiversity We welcome author and podcast host Sara Gullihur-Bradford to Focused on Forward this week to talk about her series of children's books and her podcast - The SJ Childs Show, but also to talk about Neurodiversity and how a little bit of education for non-neurodiverse folks can really go a long way. We talk about Sara's hu…

Into the Thriver Zone From Susan Omilian's website - "Susan Omilian is an attorney, author, motivational speaker and nationally recognized expert who has worked to end violence against women for the last forty years. In the 1970s, she founded a rape crisis center and, in the early 1980s, represented battered women in divorce proceedings. She also l…

Becoming Me While Raising You I talk with Kim Muench about her work as a coach, author and podcaster for her show and book entitled - Becoming Me While Raising You. But I also talk to KIm as a Mom and how she helped her oldest son overcome his addiction to Alcohol. We talk about how she realized there was a problem, how they moved forward in life a…

A Gap Between Two Worlds Today we speak with Author, Speaker and podcast host - Kevin McNulty about Transitions. We may not think that transitions in life are something that we need help overcoming, but these times of uncertainty can cause added stress, anxiety and even bouts of depression. We listen to Kevin compare this area to being a gap betwee…

From Rescue to Recovery Tracey Brown is a former Coast Guard Small Boat Swimmer who details her own personal trauma of being burned at a young age and the emotional damages of returning from unsuccessful rescue operations. We talk about the years of repressed trauma with layers of new trauma and how she found her way into therapy and recovery from …

The Financial Worries of Single Parenthood My guest this week is someone who not only talks the talk, but who has walked the walk. She knows what its means to "magic money" when things were tight, and anxiety that followed due to the lack of finances. Catherine Thomas-Humphreys shares with us the challenges she faced in an unhealthy relationship wh…

Oh, The Stories We Tell I have an amazing chat with Chris Templeton this week about growing up with a narcissist for a father and mother who just wanted to be happy. We talk about how those could have created some very unhealthy habits in his life, but how and when he became Focused on Forward in his life. We talk about the work he does now and the…

From Identified Problem to Identified Possibility ft. Dedee Pfeiffer We talk with Dedee Pfeiffer about her dealing with lifelong addictions with alcohol and more. As a high functioning alcoholic, Dedee was able to have a career, children and marriages. She was able to accomplish many things while carrying this problem of addiction on her back and t…

Postpartum Depression and New Mothers Meet Angela Knappenberger. Angela was a new mother with a baby who just decided that she didnt need to sleep. There was issues with sleep, latching on and more. Angela began to experience postpartum depression and was running on emotional and physical fumes. Eventually she began the process of sleep training fo…

Tis But a Scratch Necrotizing Fasciitis. No matter how you say it. It doesn't sound good. Anytime you hear or see the word Necrotizing, nothing good follows. And the story of Chris DT Gordon surviving Necrotizing Fasciitis isn't that much different. We talk with Chris about his journey - how he got it, how he fought it, and how he survived it. We t…

Challenges of the Caregiver This is my friend and fellow podcaster, Lisa Zawrotny. Lisa has been kind enough to have me on her show called - Positively Living. Lisa is a Productivity Coach certified in time and stress management, but that's not why we have her on the show today. Lisa tells us about the challenges she endured helping her husband car…

From Queens to Queens This is Jaimie Sherling. Her family has been fighting and dealing with cancer with many years. Her father had cancer and won. Her brother had cancer and lost.Jaimie has also fought breast cancer once, and won. And now she's fighting it for a second time.But she shares with us how she managed her way through cancer in both her …

Iowa Makes Break Out in Handcuffs Meet Wendy Weiner Runge, a film and television producer who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to 10 years in an Iowa prison. She tells her story of overcoming and learning how to find the light in the darkness. Wendy also tells us that Iowa is an acronym for "I Oughta Went Around" And if you had endured his mistr…

Wounds ft. Razel Jones & Daniel Abbott Season 3 starts next week with a story of learning to overcome racism, but dealing with the wounds that have resulted.Its an insightful conversation with two men - Razel Jones and Daniel Abbott, who grew up together in northwest Michigan. They tell the stories that lead them to writing their book and sharing t…

Surviving the Holocaust In our season 2 finale we present the story of Dr. Alex Hershaft. We talk about living in the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw, Poland. We talk about what life was like inside the walls the Nazi party put up to limit the movement of the Jews inside the walls and why it was essentially just a large concentration camp. He talks about l…

Chasing the Vice This week on Focused on Forward I talk with Brock Bevell from the podcasts Chase the Vase and Agents of Recovery. Brock is a former Police Officer who was on Anti-Drug Task Forces, and working to get drugs off the streets. Unfortunately, due to injuries received over the years in the field, he was medically retired. And thats when …

Facing Fears and Moving Forward ft. Janice Burt This week on Focused on Forward, we welcome Janice Burt. Janice talks about something we all have to deal with in our everyday lives - Fear. We all deal with fear and it can be detrimental to our mental and emotional health. Janice talks about how fear held her back, how from a young age fear prevente…

Episode Notes From issues to being diagnosed with EDS ( Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) to having issues with pregnancy and childbirth, not once but twice, Carrie Creed has seemingly been through it all. But what you wont hear from her when you listen to her speak is a feeling of being lost of hopelessness. Carrie is a very driven person with goals and sta…

The Long and Winding Road to The Tick Joshua Schubart grew up in the Long Island New York area. His childhood wasn't easy or a storybook, and it's easy to say that Joshua had a rough childhood. Joshua has struggled with a stutter, he's been homeless and he got bounced around in the foster care system.Joshua tells us about how he discovered acting a…

The Good Divorce I have never thought of divorce of a good thing, its gone against how I was raised and my own personal beliefs. Plus I cant think of a good example of what could be considered a "good divorce". Now although Tom is not advocating divorce as a fix all for marriage ills, and Tom is still very pro marriage. What Tom does advocate is a …

Episode Notes After experiencing betrayal in many forms in life, and perhaps most devastatingly in her marriage, Debi Silber found herself wondering why? Why was she her and what could she do? Instead of sitting back, Debi took charge and put herself back into school and worked for her doctorate at an age when many would look past that as an option…

Episode Notes Ascend and Conquer. What a fitting title for tonights Focused on Forward LIVE show! Our guest Tina Marie has had to learn how to ascend and conquer multiple issues in life, some recent and some in her past. Learning to navigate those troubled waters can be difficult, but as Tina Marie will tell you tonight, its worth it to find out wh…

Episode Notes Rhiannon Baker was kidnapped and she was assaulted by a very bad man. By some luck she was able to escape and get to safety. What was to follow was years of learning how to manage and cope with what happened to her at a young age. How to take the PTSD she understandably had from those events and not allow it to control her. Rhiannon t…

Episode Notes You may best know Swampy as the Co-Creator of Phineas and Ferb, Milo Murphys Law and many other animated classics. But tonight, we are going to talk with Jeff and his son, Django, about a project that is near and dear to both of their hearts. We welcome Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and his son Django to talk with us about the charity "A Walk o…

Episode Notes Kara Fernstrom is an amazing podcast host who cut a little time out of her schedule to have a fantastically open discussion about her backstory. What lead her here and how she got started in podcasting.Kara was an open book about her life growing up, between abuses, addictions and other issues, how it lead to the need for therapy, cou…

Episode Notes Incarcerated for 16 years on a wrongful conviction. Our guest Jeffrey Deskovic talks about the mental and emotional strain placed upon him with this, how hes moved forward in life, and how he is helping others as a lawyer. We do experience some technical issues, but we do our best to power through. Help the Milbys here - https://gofun…

Episode Notes Hey everyone! Say hello to Reena Friedman Watts! Reena has an amazing back story of being a news junkie, someone who loved to chase down a story. This love for news and a good story led her to work on the Jerry Springer show as a story chaser and eventually being a producer on the Jerry Springer show. But eventually she felt burnt out…

Episode Notes We will be talking with the author of "Ordinarily Extraordinary". A story told from personal experiences of loss and overcoming by Patrick P. Long. Patricks lost wife Melanie to breast cancer 2 years ago and had to learn how to raise their 4 children alone. He talks very openly about his marriage, his wife, her death and how he worked…

Episode Notes A Positive mental attitude. Our guest this week, Ann CK Nickell can tell you all about why its important. She can tell how she was able to move around and navigate through a harrowing story of surprise illness, hospitalization and learning to walk again despite the negative forecasts from the doctors and their staff. Ann tells about h…

Episode Notes Tonight we talk with author Anne Feustel about her own journey through Mental Health and how movies and cinematherapy helped her navigate depression and anxiety issues that she has dealt with since the age of 10. Her book is called "Our Favorite Movies : How Films Affect Our Mental Health"We talk about her go to movies and the positiv…

This week on Focused on Forward we talk with Lois Hollis. And there really is no better description for Lois's story than from her own website - "Once upon a time… Shame and guilt came to stay with Lois and became her uninvited guests. However, they overstayed and refused to leave. They told her many lies. Shame and guilt said to her that she was s…

For our 7/9/21 LIVE show, we welcome Lydia Knorr. Lydia is going to tell us her story of surviving cancer, dealing with being widowed and becoming a single mom to three daughters, and how she took all of that and moved forward with her life. She is a co-author of the book - "Ignite Your Inner Spirit" Join us for Lydia's story and be inspired by her…

Author Belle Lockerby stops by to share her new book and talk about how she overcame loss, both to cancer and suicide, and how she learned to reach out with her own feelings and emotions. How she learned to transform her life so she could be happy. Belle shares some great tips, gives practical advice, with a side of humor. For more on Bell Lockerby…

We talk with new author Brittany McEnteggart about overcoming a young life of Physical, Emotional and Sexual Abuses. But we will also be Focused on Forward, so that we can see how she overcame her past to live her life to the fullest now and how her book can help others who are going through similar traumas to know that there is a way out and a hap…

This week we chat with the amazing Lisa David Olson and find out how she went from a traumatic childhood to being a public speaker at a Ted Talk. Along the way she has found power in the humor and comedy and is even a fellow podcaster! Join us to see how Lisa David Olson is living a life that is Focused on Forward! For more on Lisa David Olson - Pl…

Paul Forchione is a fellow podcaster and a motivation coach. But what makes Paul’s story unique is that Paul was born with Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy is a congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone, or posture. And it can affect muscle movement and coordination. Paul discusses how he learned to deal with this life long disability, and he beca…

SHOW LESSJoin us tonight at 8pm EDT #addiction#recovery#sobriety#abuse#drugs are just some of the topics we will cover with our special guest Eric Harazi, the CEO of Coherently Aware Now. Be inspired by his story of overcoming and what he’s doing now to help others For more on Eric and his company - please visit https://www.thesafecircle.org/ Suppo…

We talk with Susan Hannifin MacNab about the sudden loss of her husband, and raising her young son on her own. In her journey to deal with grief and mourning, she fell back into her training as a social worker and began to work through her loss. In her work she came to began to work up the multi-award winning book called the A to Z Toolbox. You can…

Tonight we talk with Joy Gandell of the podcast - "Being with Joy". We will talk about her daughters cancer diagnosis, and how it affected the family mentally and emotionally. We will talk about the remission process, and how shes doing with her health now, but also how the family worked to become Focused on Forward through this process. We will fo…

This week we have a great conversation with the amazing Mel Butcher. Mels story starts in her youth, but didnt really bloom until the year 2009 when she made some major decisions in life - leaving her steady job, leaving an unhealthy relationship, and trying to figure out her next step. At the same time as this was going on, she lost both of her gr…

This is a replay of a discussion we had with Nancy Sovran. Nancy is the executive director of a very important charity called Wish Upon A Teen. She not only has a personal interest in the success of the charity, but she has a personal experience with her daughter Hope and how Wish Upon a Teen helped hope during an extended hospital stay. PLEASE go …

In this episode we have an open conversation with Jenny Marie about her relationship with her mother as she was growing up. The verbal, physical and mental abuse she endured were very trying and caused some issues along the way. But shes also very clear about how and why she chose to forgive her mother and how she is moving forward in life. Jenny i…

5/28/21 Live Show Fellow podcaster and host of the Nowhere To Go But Up Podcast, Sean Dustin, joins us to talk about his journey through life dealing with abuse, addiction and prison, how he made changes to that story, and what hes doing now. Be sure to check out his show as well - Nowhere to Go But Up. You can find him on all your favorite podcast…

Larry Sprung lost his brother in law Keith Milano to suicide years ago, and since then, he and his wife have been working hard to raise suicide prevention awareness. In fact - Larry now sits on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Board as a very active member. He champions mental health and advocates for those who do not yet know how to …

This week on our live show we sit down with the amazing voice actress Anna Graves ( Duchess Satine Kryze on Star Wars Clone Wars) to talk about being the parent of an autoimmune child, what that means in a COVID world, and how they have adapted their life to be "Focused on Forward" If you have questions for Anna about her experiences with this topi…

Tracy Lowry is the host of the Mulitform PTSD podcast. I had the pleasure of being interviewed on her show (also released today - go check it out!) and talking about why I started this podcast. But here we talk with Tracy about being a survivor of sexual assaults and how that weighed upon her mind and spirit. We talk about her breakdown and the rea…