The Empowered Grief Journey

Episode 29: Restoring Memories: A Photographer's Mission After The Storm

For over 25 years, Krista Kowalczyk has captured life’s most cherished moments as the owner of Impressions Photography. After Hurricane Ian she used her photography skills and volunteered to salvage thousands of flood damaged photographs. That experience led her on a mission to proactively help people secure pictures. Her upcoming book, Beyond the Storm, and her easy-to-follow photo digitizing courses ensure that everyone has the skills needed to keep their own personal photographs safe. 
 
Website: www.thekristak.com
Instagram: @the.krista.k  
YouTube: @the.krista.k

Episode 28: Six Hours That Changed Everything: A Survivor’s Story of Trauma and Healing

What started out as a normal morning for RJ turned into 6 hours that would change her life forever. The Girl That Got Out is a story about survival to stay alive but what came next was even harder. Trying to survive the waves of intense grief and emotion that came from the experience. Tune in to hear Rebecca's powerful story of surviving being held hostage by her ex boyfriend in her apartment and how she escaped and navigated her healing journey. She has an incredibly powerful story that you don't want to miss.
Website: www.girlthatgotout.com
Instagram and Facebook: @girlthatgotout

Episode 27: Pieces of Me: Adoption, Identity Struggles, and Growing Up with Grief

Andrea Mason serves individuals who have felt abandoned, betrayed, and lost and help them take life's adversities to create their authentic and own identity. People who are ready to walk the path less traveled to take a life transformational journey to live the best life. She shares her powerful story of struggling to find her own identity after going through many losses and funerals growing up. Listen to her powerful story stepping into her authentic self and creating an empowering life through grief.
Social Media Handles: Andrea Mason | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Website: Virtual Personal Accountability Coach
Gift: YOUR FREE GIFT | Andrea M: Press PLAY

Episode 26: Beyond the Craving: Unpacking the Emotional Patterns Behind Binge Eating

🎙️ Episode Title: Grief, Food, and Feeling: Healing Emotional Eating with Jillian Scott
In this enlightening episode of The Empowered Grief Journey, life coach Jillian Scott shares how our relationship with food is often deeply tied to our emotions—and how grief can silently show up through patterns like binge eating.
Jillian opens up about her personal healing journey, including navigating the emotional aftermath of divorce, and how grief led her to uncover the emotional roots behind her eating habits. She explains how many of us use food as a way to numb, soothe, or avoid our pain—and how bringing awareness to the emotions underneath those patterns can lead to powerful breakthroughs in both grief and self-understanding.
Through compassion, honesty, and actionable insights, Jillian invites us to explore the emotional connection between food, loss, and healing—and how we can begin to meet our grief with intention rather than avoidance.
🎧 Tune in to discover how food can become not just a coping mechanism, but a mirror—and a pathway to emotional freedom.

Episode 25: Healing the Invisible Wounds: Adoption, Identity, and Grief

🎙️ Episode Title: Rooted in Two Worlds – Adoption, Identity, and Grief with Julie Matye
In this introspective episode of The Empowered Grief Journey, Julie Matye opens up about the unique and often unspoken grief that comes with being adopted. Though she expresses deep gratitude for the loving family who raised her and the joyful childhood she experienced, Julie shares how a quiet ache remained—a longing to understand where she came from and who her biological parents were.
Julie discusses how this identity grief shaped her younger years and how her personal journey influenced her work as a social worker supporting children in the state system. Her story shines a light on the complexity of adoption—the coexistence of love and loss, gratitude and longing, belonging and wondering.
This episode is a powerful reminder that grief isn’t always tied to death. Sometimes, it’s about the parts of ourselves we’re still searching for.
🎧 Listen in as Julie shares her path to self-understanding and the healing power of compassion—both for ourselves and the children we serve.

Episode 24: After Losing Dad: Grief, Family Struggles, and Finding My Way Forward

🎙️ Episode Title: Carrying Him With Me — Grief, Legacy, and Remembering My Father with Jasmine Bootle
In this touching episode of The Empowered Grief Journey, Jasmine Bootle shares the deeply personal story of losing her father—the man who was her anchor, her guide, and her greatest support. His passing left a profound void in her life, one that reshaped not just her heart, but also her family dynamics.
Jasmine opens up about the emotional weight of that loss and the unexpected toxicity that surfaced in some family relationships afterward. Through it all, she has found powerful and meaningful ways to stay connected to her father—carrying his ashes with her to places he would have loved to visit, and keeping his memory alive in the everyday moments of her life.
This conversation is a beautiful reminder that grief doesn’t end, but evolves—and that honoring someone we love can become a deeply personal act of healing and legacy.
🎧 Tune in to hear how Jasmine turns remembrance into ritual, and grief into love that still lives on.

Episode 23: Grieving Cory: A Caregiver’s Journey Through Love, Loss, and Advocacy

🎙️ Episode Title: Honoring Cory: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Better Care with Tara Kadlec
In this heartfelt episode of The Empowered Grief Journey, I sit down with Tara Kadlec as she shares the story of her beloved brother, Cory—a vibrant soul who lived with Down syndrome and dementia. Tara opens up about the deep bond they shared, the challenges of caregiving, and the heartbreak she experienced watching her brother endure inadequate healthcare support in Canada.
Through raw honesty and deep love, Tara reflects on the emotional toll of caregiving, the grief of losing Cory, and the frustration of navigating a system that didn’t give him the dignity and care he deserved. Yet through the pain, Tara continues to celebrate Cory’s life every day—keeping his spirit alive through advocacy, storytelling, and living in a way that honors his memory.
This conversation is a powerful tribute to unconditional love, sibling connection, and the call for compassionate change in how we care for those who need it most.
🎧 Listen in for a moving story about loss, love, and legacy.

Episode 22: Welcoming My Daughter, Losing My Mother: Navigating New Motherhood and Grieving from a Distance

🎙️ Episode Title: Between Hello and Goodbye: Navigating Birth and Loss with Carla Berbary
In this emotionally rich episode of The Empowered Grief Journey, I sit down with Carla Berbary, who shares the profound story of welcoming her daughter into the world just five days before losing her beloved mother.
While celebrating the joy of becoming a mother, Carla was simultaneously navigating the deep sorrow of saying goodbye to her own. From Australia, she grieved the loss of her mom who was in Lebanon—separated by oceans and overwhelmed by the emotional contrast of birth and death colliding in a single week.
Carla opens up about the tension of holding both joy and grief at the same time, the guilt and beauty of that experience, and how she now carries her mother’s memory forward through the way she’s raising her daughter. This conversation is a moving reminder that healing doesn’t mean choosing one emotion over another—it means making space for all of it.
🎧 Tune in for a powerful exploration of motherhood, memory, and honoring the people we carry with us.
 
Website: www.notalifesentence.com.au
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notalifesentence/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-berbary-08179015/
Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HCClKa76fvZeiBiaoCoe3?si=v0CEEle4SZSb7IZJ9Rkzdw