PODCAST
The Widow Squad Podcast
If you’re a widow, this is where you want to be as we we explore the multifaceted journey of widowhood with heartfelt conversations, inspiring stories, and invaluable insights. Each episode shines a light on the courage, strength, and shared journeys many widows face. Whether you’re a long-time listener or just discovering us, you’ll find a collection of episodes that help widows get a grip on their grief and learn how to thrive.
Listen here or on your favorite podcast platform!
EP 60
Grief, COVID Loss, and New Beginnings: An Interview with Tracy Quinn
Discover the moving story of Tracy Quinn, a Widow Squad community member, who faced the unimaginable grief of COVID loss when her husband died suddenly at the beginning of a global pandemic. Tracy reflects on the unpredictable nature of grief, the enduring love for a lost spouse, and the gradual journey towards healing.
EP 59
Grief in the Workplace: Transforming Bereavement Policies
Jody LaVoie’s life changed drastically when her husband was shot by a disgruntled employee, propelling her from stay-at-home mom to CEO of their $50 million company. Turning her pain into purpose, Jody now advocates for improved bereavement support in the workplace, aiming to create a more empathetic work environment for those dealing with loss.
EP 58
Managing Grief: 5 Essential Healing Strategies for Widows
Melissa gets real about the rollercoaster of healing after losing your partner, sharing five heartfelt tips that cover everything from being kind to yourself to finding light in the dark. It’s like sitting down with a friend who’s been there, offering a helping hand and some wise words to help you find your feet again.
EP 57
Addressing Loneliness After Loss: Insights for Widows on Their Road to Healing
One of the most profound struggles many widows face involves distinguishing between being alone and feeling lonely. Being alone is simply the absence of others. But the feeling of loneliness is a call to action. It’s a nudge to reach out and connect, whether that’s with others who understand, with new hobbies, or even with parts of yourself you’ve neglected.
EP 56
Find Hope in Healing with Susan Hannifin-MacNab’s A to Z Healing Toolbox
It’s difficult to move forward after a profound loss, but following the death of her husband, Susan Hannifin-MacNab transformed her deep pain into a healing toolbox for others going through the rough journey of grief. Her book, A to Z Healing Toolbox: A Practical Guide for Navigating Grief and Trauma with Intention has reached and aided people worldwide.
EP 55
Coping with Grief: Directing Your Life to Spotlight Joy and Healing
Kim explores coping with grief through the metaphor of life as a stage play, positioning you as the director who shifts grief from a leading role to a supporting one. She offers insights on how to keep your life story dynamic and engaging, ensuring that grief, while present, dosn’t consume the storyline or restrict the potential for joy and new adventures.
EP 54
Grief and Self-Compassion: A Widow’s Journey of Rediscovery
When you’re a widow, it’s not often you think of grief and self-compassion in the same sentence. Guest Elizabeth Rose’s candid conversation about her widow journey sheds light on the often overlooked aspect of empathy in the midst of grief, offering a fresh perspective that mixes the pain of loss with the healing power of being kind to yourself.
EP 53
Inspirational Book Recommendations for Widows on Grief, Resilience and Healing (Part 2 of 2)
In the quest for some semblance of understanding in the crazy, confusing, and chaotic world of widowhood, you’ll found some real gems tucked away in the pages of a few special books. These are the books we’ve read, passed on to friends, and flipped back through whenever we needed to remember that we’re not going it alone, and that it’s totally okay, and normal, to feel the way we do.
EP 52
Books for Widows to Navigate Grief and Heavy Emotions (Part 1 of 2)
We’ve curated a list of must-read books for widows that shine a light on the complexities of grief and the power of literature in healing. These aren’t just stories or guides; they’re companions for those of us finding our footing in a world that’s been turned upside down. Whether you’re in the thick of grieving or years down the road, there’s something in these pages for you.
EP 51
A Widowed Father: Reflections on Grief and Creativity
CJ Infantino became a widower after losing his wife to Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. His honest talk about the tought stuff – grief, the struggles of being a young widower, and raising kids as a widowed father really hits home for everyone going through similar experiences.
EP 50
Widowhood Self-Care: Moving Beyond External Judgment
Melissa gets real about how tough it is for widows to take care of themselves without getting judged by others or feeling guilty. She shares stories and personal thoughts to remind us that widowhood self-care is paramount, it’s okay to grieve in your own way, and to find joy and healing, no matter what others might think.
EP 49
Enneagram for Widows: A Unique Self-Awareness Tool
When we think of the Enneagram for widows, we think about how it’s more than just about personality types; it’s like a roadmap to your deepest fears and motivations. Guest Tami Imlay discusses the Enneagram and how widows can find new ways to approach life challenges and understand their needs better using this ancient, yet ever-relevant self-awareness tool.
EP 48
More Holistic Approaches to Healing for Widows
In the second part of our healing options for widows, we explore meditation, creative art therapy, EMDR, and spirituality as guiding lights on your grief journey. We encourage you to embrace these holistic modalities with an open heart and an open mind, as they offer valuable tools for self-discovery and self-care, free from judgment or external influence.
EP 47
Holistic Healing for Widows: Reiki, Acupuncture, and Emotional Freedom Technique
Discover various holistic approaches to healing for widows and alternative paths beyond traditional methods like talk therapy and support groups. We explore options like Reiki, acupuncture, and EFT tapping, emphasizing the importance of finding what resonates with you and prioritizing self-care without judgment.
EP 46
The Power of Pivoting: Adjusting to New Challenges as a Widow
Embracing new challenges as a widow can be daunting, but it’s also an opportunity for growth and rediscovery. In this episode we explore the theme of pivotal widowhood moments and finding your way through the emotional complexities and practical challenges of handling change.
EP 43
How Grief Affects the Body and Mind
Sabine Horner is a widow, grief nutritionist, Ayurvedic health coach, and yoga therapist, who shares her deeply personal story of coping with the loss of her husband to leukemia. She discusses the emotional and physical challenges she faced during her husband’s illness, her transformation through Ayurvedic practices, and valuable insights into how grief affects our bodies, digestion, and sleep patterns.
EP 41
Holidays and Grief: Strategies to Get Through the Holidays After Your Spouse Dies
We know that the holidays and grief can be particularly challenging and in this episode, we share our personal journeys through the holiday season as widows. Whether it was seeking solitude, going on a cruise, or simplifying holiday decor, we all found our own ways to navigate the emotions that come with grieving during a time that’s traditionally filled with joy. Self-compassion is particularly important during these challenging moments.
EP 40
Happy Anniversary Widow Squad! Insights from our first year
Can you believe it? The Widow Squad is celebrating its 1-year anniversary! It’s been an incredible journey filled with growth, support, and deep connections, and we are so grateful to have you all on this path with us. As we reflect on the past year, we wanted to take a moment to share some of the highlights and lessons we’ve learned along the way.
EP 39
Parenting through Grief: Insights from Widowed Solo Moms
We can all agree that parenting brings with it emotional struggles, self-doubt, and overwhelming responsibilities. But parenting through grief is on a whole other level. In this episode, we go straight to the intersection of grief and parenthood after your spouse and your child’s parent dies, shedding light on the challenges and triumphs that come with such a profound life-altering experience.
EP 38
Financial Tips for Widows: Estate Planning, Prenups, and Managing Money
In this episode, Donna Kendrick, a fellow widow and Certified Financial Planner, shares her go-to financial tips for widows as she explains what the post loss financial landscape looked like for her. She talks about finding a new community, embarking on a new career path, and the importance of financial planning when you’re a widow.
EP 37
Heartfelt Connections: Meeting New Friends as a Grieving Widow
We’ve lived through all the complexities of friendship dynamics after losing a spouse. We know firsthand how during times of immense grief it may not feel natural or easy to reach out to others. However, keeping the opportunity for connection open is crucial because you never know who might become a lifeline of support.
EP 36
Using Art to Heal: A Conversation with Linda Shanti McCabe
Linda Shanti McCabe, a fellow widow, author, and expressive art therapist shares her experience of using art to heal her grief. Linda shares how art can provide comfort, belonging, and creative expression during the arduous grieving process. Art became a crucial part of her healing process by offering a means of expressing emotions that words often fall short of capturing.
EP 35
From Grief to Adventure: Bucket List Ideas for Widows
Tune in to this podcast episode where we discuss the transformative power of opening yourself up to new experiences and how it can build confidence and self-esteem. Crafting a bucket list post loss can be a transformative and healing process because it opens up your brain to the possibility of rediscovering joy, hope, and purpose.
EP 34
A Comprehensive Checklist for the Newly Widowed
Navigating the business side of death after your spouse dies is no joke. From handling the post-death paperwork and contacting credit card companies to dealing with health insurance and organizing belongings, the list of to-dos seems never ending. This comprehensive guide provides a solid action plan to help widows prioritize and tackle post-death tasks with ease.
EP 33
Life Changes for Widows: Choosing Where to Live After Losing Your Spouse
Widows face difficult decisions when it comes to your living situation after your spouse or life partner dies. These big life changes for widows can start an endless loop of self-doubt about what to do, when to do it, and how to manage it all. In this podcast episode, we’re sharing our personal stories regarding our living situations and the challenges we encountered along the way.
EP 32
Resilience and Entrepreneurship with Astarie Dennis
When your spouse dies and grief hits hard it’s tempting to let it take over completely. But that wasn’t how Astarie Dennis thought her life was supposed to look after her husband Steven died. Jen talks to Astarie about her powerful journey through loss, grief, and discovering unexpected new beginnings. They explore Astarie’s path, marked by the profound loss of her husband, her determination to rebuild amidst adversity, and the transformative power of entrepreneurship.
EP 31
Widows Returning to Work: Exploring the Challenges and Benefits
The choice of returning to work or not after the loss of a spouse or life partner is a difficult one. From the emotional struggles to the practical considerations, this podcast episode sheds light on the complexities of this decision and the variety of ways widows can find flexibility, support, and empowerment navigating the professional world while grieving.
EP 30
How to Journal: A Widow’s Therapeutic Path to Process Grief
Whether you’re looking for a creative outlet to navigate your emotions, learning how to discover new insights about yourself, or interested in creating a lasting legacy for your loved ones, writing is a powerful tool for self-reflection, healing, and personal growth.
EP 29
The Power of Routines for Widows: Encouraging Healing and Growth
Life often throws unexpected challenges our way and establishing a sense of stability can feel like an insurmountable task. This is where the power of routines for widows comes into play – those daily rituals that provide structure, comfort, and a semblance of control.
EP 28
Mental Health Through Movement: Mindy Lawhorne’s Fitness Journey
Kim had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Mindy Lawhorne and uncovering how she’s maintained her mental health using movement throughout her fitness journey. Mindy talks about her widowhood experience and emphasizes the transformative power of physical activity for the mind, body, and soul.
EP 27
Coping with Grief to Widow Coach: Petra Gordon’s Inspirational Journey
In this episode, Jen is joined by widow coach Petra Gordon, a motivational speaker, author, and fellow widow. Petra shares her inspiring journey of coping with sudden loss, finding strength in her faith, and discovering her purpose after becoming a widow.
EP 26
Exploring Effective Grief Therapy Options for Widows
When you’re searching for a therapist to help you with your grief, it can be challenging to find effective grief therapy options for widows. In this episode, we talk all about the different education and certification levels of therapists and counselors, how to ask the right questions during the selection process, and our advice on persevering through the process.
EP 25
From Grief to Growth with Widow Squad Host, Melissa Pierce
Melissa’s inspiring story and her valuable insights on widowhood and resilience are something every widow can relate to. Melissa discusses how importatnt it is to surround yourself with people who truly understand what you’re going through and can speak the language of grief and loneliness. Meliss speaks this language beautifully.
EP 24
Rediscovering Joy: The Importance of Hobbies for Widows
Hobbies can play a vital role in healing and finding joy after widowhood. Rebuilding your life after loss can be filled with unexpected discoveries, and it all begins by taking that first step towards finding a hobby that resonates with you.
EP 23
Love, Loss, and Making the Most of Life with Widow Squad Host, Kim Murray
Melissa engages in a candid conversation with fellow widow squad host, Kim Murray. Kim supported her husband through his battle with terminal brain cancer and her story is an emotional journey that touches on the challenges of balancing caregiving, parenting responsibilities, and managing her husband’s business.
EP 22
Cooking for One: A Widow’s Take on Health and Healing
Melissa delves into the inspiring story of Marie Scott, a widow who turned her grief into a catalyst for positive change. Marie discusses cooking for one and the power of food as medicine as well as learning to take care of yourself as a widow
EP 21
Cultivating Self-Compassion as a Widow
It’s not easy to show yourself compassion when you’re knee-deep in grief. Learn all about the importance of positive self-talk and how to break the cycle of negative thoughts – aka “stop being so mean to yourself!” We talk about the power of recording your own voice, the benefits of self-awareness, and how mindfulness can help you acknowledge your suffering without judgment and support you in being kinder to yourself.
EP 20
Asking for Help as a Widow
On this episode of the podcast, Jen talks to Alissa Butterfass. Alissa shares her experiences of raising her children who are coping with their father’s death and creating a safe space for them to express their emotions. They discuss the lack of support after a spouse’s death, and the importance of being comfortable with asking for help as a widow.
EP 19
Finding Gratitude in Your Widowhood Grief
We share our personal stories about finding the good in our lives, even though it took time and effort. We talk about our journey from anger and pain to gratitude and share some practical strategies that helped us along the way. By opening our hearts and minds to gratitude, we’ve learned to find resilience and healing during the most difficult times as widows, and you can too.
EP 18
Making Self-Care a Priority in Widowhood
We often feel guilty taking time for ourselves or feel selfish for making self-care a priority in widowhood, but it’s essential to remember that self-care is not a luxury; it is a necessity. By investing in your own well-being, you can show up as a better parent, friend, and advocate for yourself.
EP 17
Embrace Your Widow DIY Skills with Rob Kenney
Widows must learn how to do lots of new things on their own after their partner dies and most of us turn to YouTube to figure out how to do it. If you’re ready to embrace your widow DIY skills, you need to know about Rob Kenney, the creator behind the immensely popular, Dad, How Do I? YouTube channel.
EP 15
Trusting Your Widow Intution to Make Better Decisions
Jen explores how to trust yourself using your intuition and discovering how it speaks to you. She also shares five practical methods to tap into your intuition and find the answers you seek when faced with life’s crossroads.
EP 14
How to HandleThird Wheel Thoughts
You know that third-wheel feeling you get when you’re in a group of couples or friends, and you’re the only one flying solo? It’s awkward and uncomfortable and share how we’ve moved through with a few thoughts to help you get through it too!
EP 13
What to do with their belongings – keepsakes or donate?
Deciding what to do with your partner’s belongings can be super challenging! We share with you some unique ways that made this process a little bit easier and what we did with the buckets of rocks, sweatshirts, cell phones, shoes, baseball cards and more.
EP 12
What to do when people say stupid things when you’re grieving with John Polo
We live in a society that doesn’t understand grief and we’re talking all about it with our guest, John Polo, a widower, an international coach, best-selling author and keynote speaker. From grief to dating, self-growth and everything in between, John offers a style that is powerful, authentic and also – very unique.
EP 11
How does grief affect your body?
We’re talking about the physical effects of grief we experienced in those early days of widowhood and how it affects us in the present. We cover not sleeping, bad tasting food, adrenal fatigue, where trauma is stored in our bodies, irregular heartbeats, anxiety – all the “fun stuff”!
EP 10
Breaking and bending all the widow “rules!“
In this episode we talk all about breaking the widow “rules” like not making any big changes in the first year of widowhood. Did we mke big changes, little changes, or no changes? Tune in to find out!
EP 09
Supporting grieving children and navigating solo parenting with Jenny Lisk
Jenny Lisk is an award-winning author and widowed mom who is dedicated to helping widowed parents increase their family’s well-being. Her book, Future Widow, and her show, The Widowed Parent Podcast, bring much-needed resources to widowed parents, helping them feel less lost and alone.
EP 08
How did we meet our husbands-in-this-life?
Get the inside scoop on our dating experiences as widows which led to meeting our husbands in this new life! We share our advice, crazy synchronicities, and coincidences.
EP 07
When is it OK to start dating after the death of your spouse?
We share their thoughts, wisdom and personal stories on dating and widowhood. Specifically that there are no “rules” or timelines widows need to follow.
EP 06
Sharing her experience as a suicide loss survivor
Listen to best selling author & widow, Michelle Collins, discuss the challenges faced by suicide loss survivors, specifically those who have lost a spouse or life partner to suicide.
EP 05
Coping Lessons learned from early widowhood
We share the things that helped us cope and supported us through the confusion and chaos of early widowhood.
EP 04
Are you a widow who is coming up on a death anniversary?
If you’re wondering what, if anything, to do on the anniversary of your partner’s death, listen in as we share our experiences handling one of the haqrder days.
EP 03
Don’t know how to tackle home repairs as a widow?
Fellow widow Ryane Moates of the popular YouTube channel Ryane to the Rescue shares her expertise and inspiration on mastering new skills as a widow.
EP 02
What do I do with my wedding ring as a widow?
Wedding rings are a symbol of love and commitment, but what happens when you’re a widow? We explore and answer “all the questions.”
EP 01
Welcome to the Widow Squad Podcast!
On the Widow Squad podcast, we’ll be talking about navigating the ups and downs of widowhood.