Grief Is My Side Hustle

It's the season finale already- and I know how to leave a lasting impression! John Onwuchekwa, (a.k.a. "John O.") is a preacher, a writer, a husband, father, and brother. According to his own website, "Everything in John Onwuchekwa’s life hinges on the power of words, both spoken and written...in one way or another everything John does intersects with the beauty and power of words—both how he has been shaped by them and how he use...

Dr. Jessica Zucker, author of "Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women's Lives" is my guest this week...and man, is she someone who tells the truth. About everything. 

Jessica is a L.A.-based psychologist who specializes in reproductive and maternal mental health. She has written extensively about how the landscape of her marriage changed in the face of profound loss, as well as eventual parenthood....

My guest this week is the incomparable Nichole Sachs. Nichole was diagnosed with a degenrative spinal condition at age 19. Doctors warned her that her entire life would affected; her comfort, growth, ability to have biological children. The news was devastating, of course. According to her own website, "It brought me to the doorstep of Dr. John Sarno, then an attending physician at The Rusk Center for Rehabilitation/NYU Langone Med...

If you've been following me for a while, you know how much I love hospice nurses. This season I am so grateful to sit down with "Hospice Nurse Penny," AKA Penny Smith. 

Nurse Penny entered the world of grief with the death of her dad, who passed about five years into her career. She is a nationally certified hospice and palliative care nurse, and has a large social media presence due to her incredible insights and candor. Penny is ...

My guest this week is the incredibly soulful and inspiring Myra Sack. 

Myra’s life changed when her first daughter, Havi Lev Goldstein, was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs, a terminal neurodegenerative disorder, on December 17, 2019. Havi passed away on January 20, 2021.

In 2021, Myra and her husband Matt began supporting Courageous Parents Network, a Boston-based nonprofit organization and educational platform that “Orients, empowers, an...

My guest this week is the INCREDIBLY witty writer and griever, Jason Roeder.

Jason is a former senior editor and senior writer at The Onion as well as a contributor to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. His books have landed on best-of humor lists twice and have been praised by the likes of Judd Apatow and Jack Handey. 

This week, we are discussing his most recent book, which kept me hysterically laughing for days af...

I'm so honored to host the remarkable Rachel Cargle this week, of all weeks. With Mother's Day approaching- you are absolutely going to want to hear what she has to say. 

As a young girl, Rachel felt isolated in her grief experience after losing her father. Two years ago, in one calendar year, she lost her mother, grandmother, and older sister; catapulting her right back into the tsunami of untenable feelings. 

Currently, Rachel is...

One of my biggest tenets is that "Grief is the energy created in the body on account of loss." 

In this episode, I am so lucky to be sitting with the extraordinary Jaycee Gossett, one of the founding leaders of "The Class." Jaycee talks in an incredibly eloquent manner about this exercise movement, and how it is an effective companion to our grief experience. I've also had the pleasure of meeting Jaycee at The Nantucket Project, an...

This week, I am so thrilled to sit down with the lovely Jessica Turner! You may know Jessica from her incredible platform, The Mom Creative, or one of her many, many media appearances. Jessica is not just A content creator; she is one of THE content creators and a "tastemaker for busy moms looking for hacks to live life with more intention and less stress." Her energy and capability are unparalleled, truly.

I first met Jessica at a...

Welcome back to Grief is My Side Hustle!

In this episode, veteran journalist, writer and advocate Tamsen Fadal and host Meghan Riordan Jarvis explore how grief and menopause are intertwined. They discuss their personal experiences, cultural perspectives, and the importance of education around women's health.

Tamsen shares how her own menopause journey unfolded, the challenges she faced, and how it related to grief and loss, particu...

The grief that results from losing relationships is profound, but it can feel especially isolating due to the guilt and shame often tied to it.

Barri Leiner Grant has experienced the grief of divorce from many perspectives -- as a child whose parents split up, as a spouse whose marriage ended, and as a grief coach who helps others navigate relationship loss.

In this conversation, Barri shares how her parents' divorce influenced her...

After Kelli Holloway's mom died, she heard a very clear message from God: Build, Go, Rest. 

Her trust in this guidance not only shaped the way she grieved but also changed the entire trajectory of her life.

Kelli Holloway is a Raleigh, North Carolina native with a passion for community, connection, and purpose-driven work.

She is the creator and host of the Grief in the Raw Podcast, where she thoughtfully explores the role of grief...

Shelby Forsythia (she/her) is a grief coach, author, and podcast host. In 2020, she founded Life After Loss Academy, an online course and community that has helped dozens of grievers grow and find their way after death, divorce, diagnosis, and other major life transitions.

Following her mother’s death in 2013, Shelby began calling herself a “student of grief” and now devotes her days to reading, writing, and speaking about loss. Th...

Trauma specialist and psychotherapist Edith Shiro sits down with Meghan to discuss loss, traumatic growth and the role of hope in healing.

Focused on healing trauma and facilitating Posttraumatic Growth,  Dr. Edith Shiro holds space for patients, communities, and individuals to achieve greater potential and higher consciousness.
Dr. Shiro's influence extends well beyond her private practice. She frequently engages as a guest expe...

Novelette is 38 year old woman, living with a life limiting illness, called Epidermolysis Bullosa. I have the Recessive Dystrophic form of Epidermolysis Bullosa, RDEB. I live in Canada. I have a specialist in philosophy from the University of Toronto. Since 2018, I have been a trained hospice and peer bereavement Volunteer. I co-facilitate a lot of peer bereavement groups. I do a lot of mindfulness for grieving loss groups. I also ...

At the age of five Jessica Fein’s daughter Dalia was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease that would claim her life at 17. Before that moment came, and inspired by Dalia’s own irrepressible spirit, Fein and her family would discover how to live in the present when the future can’t be fixed. In this heartfelt yet clear-eyed memoir, Fein maps both her journey to becoming an adoptive mom and the roller coaster ride of loving and...