In this spacious, and deeply nourishing conversation, Laura is joined by leadership coach Nancy Larocca Hedley to explore the subtle art of completion, discernment, and listening to the body as a source of truth. Nancy brings wisdom from the world's spiritual traditions to her work with leaders, team facilitation, and leading in her community.

Together they reflect on how endings are not failures, but sacred thresholds, portals into the next chapter of becoming. From leaving long-held roles and relationships, to closing chapters at work, to making space for creativity, rest, and truth, Nancy shares how honorable closure has become one of her most powerful spiritual and leadership practices.

They talk about discomfort as a doorway, the difference between mental resistance and bodily knowing, the courage to have crucial conversations, and why our lives so often unfold through the unexpected rather than the planned.

This episode is a gentle invitation to slow down, notice what is complete, and trust what is quietly asking to be born.

• What You’ll Hear in This EpisodeHow Nancy learned to trust her body as her primary compass
• A powerful story of leaving Yahoo after a series of life signs
• The subtle signals that tell us when something is no longer ours to do
• The Enneagram as a tool for liberation rather than identity
• Laura and Nancy’s reflections on the “helper” archetype and self-care
• Why discomfort is often the doorway to freedom
• Letting go of caffeine, alcohol, and habits that no longer serve the body
• The difference between being busy and being available

Resources & Links

The Yamas (particularly non-stealing / right use of energy)The Enneagram (as a tool for ego awareness and freedom)Yoga philosophy and Kriya Yoga lineage (Yogananda, Roy Eugene Davis, Ellen Grace O’Brien)

Visit www.surrenderingtothesigns.com

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Easy to Love - Instrumental Version _Song by Saggie

Fold _Song by nuer self

Echoes of the Forest _Song by Thomas Ben Tov

Wakening_Song by Shai-li Paldi

Were Looking Up_Song by Chris Mason

Almanac_Song by Seth Parson

Same Side - No Lead Vocals_Song by Lemon J

In this deeply human conversation, Laura sits down with her longtime friend Tim Winters to explore the winding, painful, and ultimately transformative journey of addiction, surrender, and recovery.

Tim shares his story with remarkable openness, from a teenage sense of not quite belonging, to decades of alcohol and drug use that slowly narrowed his world, to the quiet, devastating moment when he realized he could no longer save himself.

He recounts the unforgettable car ride when his daughter-in-law drove him, without telling him where they were going, straight to rehab. A moment of fear, resistance, and finally surrender that would change the trajectory of his life.

What unfolds is not just a story about addiction, but about identity, worthiness, masculinity, grief, spirituality, and what happens when we finally stop running and let ourselves be helped.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• This episode is a powerful reminder that healing rarely arrives the way we expect but often exactly when we are ready.
• How early shame and identity struggles shaped Tim’s inner world
• Why alcohol and drugs became a way to feel connected, confident, and safe
• The slow progression from “social” use to silent dependency
• Why “just don’t drink today” became a life-saving reframe
• How anxiety and depression lifted only after sobriety began
• The power of routine, community, and spiritual practice in recovery
• How meditation and prayer became unexpected anchors
• What Tim wishes people understood about addiction, recovery, and compassion
• How small signs and nudges now guide his life in ways they never could before

Resources & Links

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Father Martin’s Ashleigh House treatment center

Visit: surrenderingtothesigns.com

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

March the Machine - One Day - Creative Cut

James Forest - Emergency

Ben Winwood - Intimacy

Wav Two - Sakura

In this deeply resonant and wide-ranging conversation, Laura is joined by Jana Hendrickson, executive coach, researcher, and global citizen, to explore what it truly means to follow the signs even when fear, uncertainty, and practical logic are present.

Jana shares her extraordinary life journey, from growing up in East Germany with no spiritual framework, to a life shaped by intuition, somatic wisdom, faith, and profound trust in the unseen. Through vivid stories, turning away from Paris at the last moment, leaving a marriage she loved but had outgrown, years of nomadic living, and ultimately finding home. Jana illustrates how the body often knows the truth long before the mind catches up.

Together, Laura and Jana reflect on the discomfort of the “in-between,” the myth of instant clarity, the role of fear as a compass, and the difference between spirituality and religion. They also explore how social media, synchronicity, and shared stories can act as catalysts for courage and how our own brave choices quietly give others permission to make theirs.

This episode is a powerful reminder that surrender is not passive, it’s an active, embodied practice of listening, trusting, and moving forward one honest step at a time.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Jana’s first profound experience of listening to her body’s wisdom
• How “the pull” feels in the body and how to recognize it’
• The difference between clarity and certainty and why clarity often takes time
• Jana’s journey through divorce, grief, and radical self-trust
• Nomadic living, synchronicity, and saying yes without a roadmap
• How social media can act as a modern conduit for signs and connection
• Why our stories matter and how sharing them gives others courage
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Find Jana on Instagram at @iamjanahendrickson or connect with her on LinkedIn. She is currently completing her doctoral research in professional coaching and human development and is passionate about integrating spirituality, philosophy, neuroscience, and somatic intelligence into leadership practice. Jana’s work invites leaders to move beyond performance alone and into alignment, depth, and wholeness.

Resources & Links

World Domination Summit (Chris Guillebeau)

Brené Brown (early speaking work)

Nancy Duarte – The Arc of Storytelling

Marie Forleo’s B-School

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

Tony Robbins coaching methodology

David Deida’s work on polarity

Visit: surrenderingtothesigns.com

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Maya Pacziga - Winter in Paris

ANBR - Mon Amour

Nuer Self - Indigo

Kyle Preston - Cafe de Philosophie

Jozeque - Seal

Saggie - Easy to Love - Instrumental Version

Welcome to Season Two of Surrendering to the Signs. In this opening episode, host Laura Gates reflects on the deeper meaning behind signs, synchronicities, and, most powerfully, the people who show up on our path at exactly the right moment.

Laura explores how encounters often carry lessons, invitations, and turning points we can only understand in hindsight. From unexpected reunions and uncomfortable interactions to chance meetings on trains and long-term relationships born from unlikely moments, this episode invites listeners to look beyond first impressions and trust that the universe is constantly conspiring on our behalf.

As we step into a new season, Laura offers a gentle reminder that growth doesn’t always come through dramatic awakenings. Sometimes it comes through coffee meetings, missed deadlines, difficult conversations, quiet inner nudges, and moments where listening to the body becomes the most profound act of self-trust.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Why making it to Season Two is a meaningful milestone
• The many forms signs can take, goosebumps, intuition, inner voices, and people
• How first impressions can block meaningful connection if we let them
• A powerful story of a chance meeting on a train to Glastonbury
• Reflections on meeting soul-aligned collaborators, clients, and lifelong partners
• How surrendering control opens space for guidance and support
• Honoring winter, rest, and seasonal cycles as part of the soul’s rhythm

Resources & Links

Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith

Visit: surrenderingtothesigns.com

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Beauregard feat Ryvr - 101

Saggie - Easy to Love

Risian - Undertow

Roie Shpigler- Clarity

Wav Two - Sakura

Family Kush- Heavy Summer

In this reflective season finale, Laura looks back on the conversations and transformations that shaped Season One of Surrendering to the Signs.

She shares what she has learned from her guests, from her own life, and from the unexpected signs that have continued to appear along the way, including the story of a small alleyway in Glastonbury that offered a message from her sister, three years after her passing.

This episode speaks to the journey we are all on: learning to trust our intuition, listening for the messages that guide us, and finding the courage to walk the path, even when we can’t yet see the ending.

If you’ve ever wondered: Why am I here? What is my purpose? How do I follow the signs in my life?

This closing reflection offers comfort, clarity, and companionship for that journey.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Laura’s gratitude for the people who helped bring Season One to life

• Honoring the guests whose stories opened the season’s conversation

• The evolving identity of the podcast and why naming the “mystery” matters

• Why so many of us hesitate to talk about spirituality or intuition openly

• How signs, synchronicities, and subtle nudges guide us toward alignment

• A moving story of Laura’s sister Janice and a message that arrived in Glastonbury

• Dreams, symbols, and the quiet language of the unconscious

• Seeing relationships through the lens of soul contracts and karmic lessons

• Reflections on not having children and the unexpected ways motherhood showed up

• What Season Two will explore: deeper conversations, more seekers, practical guidance, and spacious truth-telling

Resources & Links

Spirit Babies, Walter Makichen

The Surrender Experiment, Michael Singer

The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

The Awakened Mind, Dr. Lisa Miller

Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav

 The Art of Infinity, The spiritual journey of Albert Einstein by Kieran Fox.

Mind Magic, Dr. James Doty

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Saggie, Steven Beddall & Jenny Penkin - Easy to Love

101 feat Ryvr - Beauregard

Risian - Undertow

Roie Shpigler - Sakura

Family Kush - Heavy Summer

In this profoundly moving and life-affirming conversation, Laura sits down with Ruud Hopstaken, former healthcare executive, cancer survivor, and now coach, to explore what it truly means to wake up to life.

Ruud shares his extraordinary story: from a high-powered career as vice chair of a major Dutch medical university, to a sudden cancer diagnosis that brought everything to a halt. What followed was not just a physical healing journey, but a spiritual awakening invited him to redefine success, surrender control, and listen deeply to his body and soul.

Together, Laura and Ruud unpack themes of identity, loss, courage, and freedom. This episode is a powerful testament to how even the darkest moments can hold sacred invitations and how surrender can lead to the most profound kind of healing.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• The pivotal moment when Ruud’s life changed overnight
• How illness became a messenger and teacher, not an enemy
• The experience of losing his stomach and finding wholeness instead
• Why he cried tears of loss, not just joy, after being declared cancer-free
• How the need for identity and achievement can keep us from truly feeling
• The long process of learning to listen to his body’s voice
• Stories of transformation: marathons, illness, healing, swimming with the dolphins,and walking with the Maasai
• Why he believes cancer was his greatest gift and how it led him to guide others

Bio

Ruud Hopstaken is a coach, mentor, and former senior healthcare executive based in the Netherlands. After decades of high-intensity work in leadership and academia, his life took an unexpected turn with a diagnosis of stomach cancer, a journey that transformed how he saw himself, his work, and the world.

Resources & Links

The Work by Byron Katie

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Teachings on somatic wisdom and Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Ruuds website https://www.ruudhopstaken.com/

Or follow his journey across Europe https://www.berlin-to-brussels.com/

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Saggie, Steven Beddall & Jenny Penkin - Easy to Love

Tamuz Dekel - Evanescent

Sig Howler - A Trip

Oliver Michael - Runaway

Kyle Preston - Cafe de Philosophie

Jozeque - Seal

Adi Goldstein - Ocean Voyage

In this deeply inspiring episode, Laura speaks with Allison Sagraves, data and AI strategist, educator, and lifelong learner whose unconventional journey led her from corporate burnout to a cabin in the woods and to an entirely new way of living.

What began as a quiet yearning for space became a full transformation: from feeling claustrophobic in her career to creating a wild sanctuary rooted in nature, community, and creative purpose. Allison shares how buying a tiny cabin led her into beekeeping, rewilding her land, and reconnecting with the rhythms of the natural world, all while continuing to teach and consult at the highest levels of data and AI leadership.

This conversation beautifully bridges the practical and the spiritual, the technological and the natural. It’s a story of listening deeply, following intuition, and allowing life to unfold in its own time, an act of applied serendipity in every sense.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• How Allison’s yearning for space sparked a life-changing journey

• The healing connection between grief, land, and freedom

• From corporate claustrophobia to cabin life: what happens when you listen to intuition

• How one small cabin turned into a compound of creativity, connection, and care

• The surprising intersections between AI, data science, and citizen science

• What nature can teach us about systems, resilience, and balance

• The future of community: family, tribe, and shared spaces of belonging

• Healing through simplicity, rest, and reconnection

• Allison’s reflections on risk, resilience, and reclaiming her own narrative

Bio

Allison Sagraves is a data strategist, AI advisor, and educator who helps organizations around the world design intelligent data systems with integrity and insight. She serves on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University in the Chief Data and AI Officer Program and is the founder of Applied Serendipity, where she blends technology, strategy, and soulful leadership.

Resources & Links

Connect with Alison on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsagraves/ or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/appliedserenity

Or visit her website https://www.allisonsagraves.com/

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Pete Oudolf and native plant design

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Saggie, Steven Beddall & Jenny Penkin - Easy to Love

Ben Winwood - Intimacy

Louis Island - Forest Fire - Instrumental

Michael Drake - Milk Honey

Lior Soltz - Glistening Ripples Lullaby

Elad Perez - Only This

Southern Call - Cactus Flower

In this expansive and heartfelt conversation, Laura reconnects with her dear friend and fellow guide, Tesse Akpeki, to explore how we cultivate resilience in times of chaos, grief, and transformation. Tesse shares her deeply personal journey, shaped by global roots, professional pivots, and profound loss and how a serendipitous solo trip to Ghana became a turning point in her healing.

Together, Laura and Tesse reflect on how disruption can become a doorway to presence, purpose, and inner strength. They talk about the power of self-compassion, the need to honor our own timeline for grieving, and how unexpected change can become the very ground of growth.

This episode offers a powerful reminder: we can navigate even the most unpredictable storms with courage, curiosity, and care for ourselves and for one another.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Tesse’s multicultural background and journey from Nigeria to the UK
• The impact of sudden loss and the complexity of traumatic grief
• How a leadership retreat that didn’t happen became a soul pilgrimage
• What it means to be a “global citizen” shaped by many cultures
• Tesse’s evolving work in resilience, wellbeing, and leadership in academia
• The story behind her Future Focused Wellbeing & Resilience initiative
• The culture shock of returning home to find peace in Ghana’s pace and presence
• A powerful hospital story that demonstrates how loving culture can transform care
• The difference between anticipatory grief and traumatic grief
• The practice of intentional noticing and writing down daily moments of gratitude

Bio

Tesse Akpeki is a governance professional, lawyer, coach, and podcast host who has dedicated her life to helping individuals and organizations thrive in complex times. A true global citizen, Tesse blends legal expertise, leadership training, and deep spiritual insight to guide others through transformation. She is the host of Tesse Talks and Tesse Leads.

Resources & Links

Tesse’s podcasts: Tesse Talks and Tesse Leads

Man’s Search for Meaning and Hope by Viktor Franklin

Music Featured

The music in each episode of Surrendering to the Signs has been carefully curated to enhance the episode, below is a list of all tracks featured.

List of Music

Saggie, Steven Beddall & Jenny Penkin - Easy to Love

Jimit - Forever Instrumental Version

Hans Johnson - Maasai

Ran Raiten - Pain Management

Seth Parson - Lekki

CTRL S - Colours of Your Heart Instrumental Version

Soft Sand - MEOD

The Ladyproducer - Born Chic

LUMINAR - As We Go