Some secrets protect us. Others keep us from healing.

In this profoundly honest episode, I sit down with author, mental health advocate, and suicide loss survivor Lisa Sugarman. Lisa shares how she discovered (35 years later) that her father’s sudden death was actually suicide, a truth her mother kept hidden to protect her 10-year-old heart.

We talk about grief, parenting, secrecy, and how Lisa transformed her personal pain into The Help Hub, a free mental health resource center. We also talk about how sharing our stories, even the hardest ones, can literally save lives.

This episode is open, emotional, and deeply human. It’s about connection, empathy, and why telling the truth, in the right time and way, can be the beginning of real healing.

🧨 In This Episode, We Talk SHIFT About:

00:00 – Lisa’s mission: “What’s more powerful than knowing you kept someone here?”

01:27 – Her background in writing, parenting content, and mental health advocacy

02:52 – Losing her father suddenly at 10… and learning the truth decades later

06:06 – Why her mother kept the suicide a secret, and how she found out

10:17 – Rebuilding trust and deepening their mother-daughter relationship

14:48 – Featuring her 86-year-old mom in her next book

16:57 – Advice for anyone feeling betrayed by a family secret

18:23 – Davina shares her own story: her husband's suicide plan and sobriety journey

21:21 – What makes a suicide attempt not about wanting to leave loved ones

25:49 – Challenging shame and silence around suicide and mental illness

30:44 – The dangerous myth that suicide is a “selfish” act

33:48 – Launching The Survivors podcast with an attempt survivor co-host

43:30 – Building The Help Hub as a free, searchable mental health resource

55:25 – How Lisa manages the emotional weight of helping others

1:24:16 – The moment Lisa realized she had truly saved a life

1:28:03 – Her upcoming book on surviving her father’s death… twice

👋 Connect with Lisa Sugarman:

🌐 Website + Help Hub: https://www.thehelphub.co/

🎧 Podcast: The Survivors

🔗 Ready to SHIFT with Me?

✨ Join SHIFT Live

📞 Book a Clarity Call

Most parenting books tell you what to fix. This one tells you why it’s broken.

In this deeply grounded episode, I sit down with Richard O’Keefe: father of six, grandfather of 23 (!), great-grandfather of four (!!), and author of 9-1-1: What Is Your Parenting Emergency?. Richard teaches parenting skills to incarcerated fathers through Utah State University and has created a simple, powerful framework based on four core emotional needs every child has.

We talk about how unmet emotional needs in childhood often lead to incarceration, addiction, and relational breakdowns in adulthood and what every parent can do now to stop that cycle.

This episode is calm, clear, and rich with lived experience. It’s not about shaming or strategy overload, it’s about understanding what makes a child feel whole, and what happens when they don’t.

🧨 In This Episode, We Talk SHIFT About:

00:00 – The four core emotional needs all children share

03:10 – 15 parenting skills that meet those emotional needs

05:50 – Richard’s breaking point (and the mashed potatoes incident)

08:20 – Why most parenting books overwhelm and overcomplicate

10:40 – Teaching incarcerated fathers how to reconnect with their kids

13:35 – Why most people in prison didn’t have their emotional needs met

16:15 – The power of teaching values (and how it starts at dinner)

20:42 – How traditional masculinity shuts down emotional connection

23:00 – The "fixer" instinct vs. emotional attunement in relationships

27:15 – Parenting as a team (even when co-parenting is complicated)

31:20 – Why his students should be motivational speakers

33:05 – What led Richard to write 9-1-1: What Is Your Parenting Emergency?

35:20 – The iceberg metaphor of behavior and emotional needs

38:00 – What it means to make “positive deposits” with your kids

42:20 – Raising boys into men as a single mother

45:00 – The values his students wish they’d been taught

47:00 – Anger management and the “upstairs/downstairs brain”

50:00 – How Davina’s own parenting moments led to repair and growth

54:00 – Helping dads raise children from behind bars

57:10 – What to do when only one partner wants to do the work

59:30 – Why we weaponize emotional growth in relationships and how to stop

01:02:00 – Unconditional love, earned trust, and realistic expectations

👋 Connect with Richard O’Keefe:

📘 Book: 9-1-1: What Is Your Parenting Emergency? (Available on Amazon)

🔗 Ready to SHIFT with Me?

✨ Join SHIFT Live

📞 Book a Clarity Call

You’re not selfish. You’re not broken. And you’re damn sure not failing. You’re just a single mom living in a world that applauds your exhaustion and punishes your boundaries.

In this powerful and validating episode, I’m joined by licensed therapist and Solo Shift podcast host Wedeh Guar, a woman who's not only raising kids solo but raising the standard for what thriving can look like after heartbreak, depletion, and identity loss.

We talk about co-parenting with inconsistent partners, letting go of who people want you to be, and how to rebuild your sense of self when you're done performing but still showing up for your kids. Wedeh brings the grounded truth, gentle humor, and the kind of "seen and soothed" energy every overwhelmed mom deserves.

🧨 In This Episode, We Talk SHIFT About:

00:00 – Parenting through emotional fatigue

04:23 – Redefining what “good mom” even means

08:15 – Letting go of external validation + role performance

12:40 – What happens when the co-parent is inconsistent, absent, or unavailable

19:01 – The grief and guilt of needing space from your child

22:18 – Co-parenting with a ghost (or a situationship)

26:07 – How healing often triggers the people who benefit from your burnout

31:55 – “You get to be petty and peaceful.”

36:14 – How delulu phases sometimes save single moms

40:29 – Owning your parenting wins without needing applause

45:02 – Parenting through loneliness and longing

49:35 – What to do when your kids reflect the pain you’re still holding

54:50 – Reclaiming identity beyond “Mom”

58:10 – Wedeh’s message for moms who feel like they’re drowning

👋 Connect with Wedeh:

• Instagram: @thesoloshiftpodcast
• Podcast: The Solo Shift Podcast
• Email: thesoloshiftpodcast@gmail.com

🔗 Ready to SHIFT with Me?

🔥 Join SHIFT Live

📞 Book a Clarity Call