Phoenix Lessons
Most of us, in the course of our adult lives, have experienced the need to reinvent ourselves. Something happens, life blows up, and now we've got to rebuild. It's easy to get so mired in the grief of our losses and transitions that we wander too long amidst the rubble of ideas we once had about ourselves and our lives, hoping we can make something of what is left after our structures have
come crashing down.
But the fabled Phoenix offers us some guidance whenever we
find ourselves needing to remake our lives. Periodically she burns herself up and rises again from her own ashes. It would be lovely if THE BURNING wasn’t necessary for THE RISING to happen. But it usually is. Lucky for all of us, there is always someone who has gone before us—blowing up their life and then coming back as a stronger-than-ever badass—that we can learn from.
Phoenix lessons are the stories and teachings of those who can show us how to climb out of the ashes and fly again.
Come and learn from those who know how to rise!
Episodes
34 episodes
Be Brave, Not Perfect with Amanda & Cami
Do you have a goal, resolution, or “focus” guiding your year? Even with the best intentions, what happens when you miss a day or fall off track? Cami and Amanda share an honest, uplifting conversation about staying focused on what matters, find...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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25:37
"You'll never earn more than minimum wage!" with Kristi Lyn Reddy
Kristi Lyn Reddy is one of the strongest women we know—and we know a lot of strong women. She rescued herself and her daughter from domestic violence, built a successful real estate business, won a hard-fought battle with cancer, and r...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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50:23
Setting Goals with Cami & Amanda
Goals? Resolutions? Bucket lists? How do we decide what’s actually worth chasing—and what “success” even looks like for us? In this episode, we explore how to set meaningful goals, define our own finish lines, and create realistic plans ...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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39:22
What We Can Learn From a Wills & Trusts Attorney About Loss and Life with Amelia Heath
Wills and trusts attorneys sit at a rare intersection of law, family, and mortality. They see the practical realities of what happens when someone dies—but also the emotional, often messy human side of it. From that vantage point, someone like ...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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43:33
Aren't You Over It By Now? with Cami & Amanda
It’s incredibly painful when your grief is still raw but the world around you seems to have moved on. That mismatch—between your inner reality and others’ expectations—can make you feel isolated, defective, or misunderstood. But nothing is wron...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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36:46
Beyond Belief: Finding Choice After A Cult with Debbie McNulty
Debbie has spent much of her life untangling the knots of shame and blame—trying to understand what truly belongs to her and what never should have. While the answers might seem obvious to some, they become far more elusive when you’re raised i...
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44:30
Beyond Belief: Homelessness to Holiness to Wholeness with Mindi Rivin
Mindi Rivin spent much of her adolescence searching for herself on the streets, navigating instability and hardship. Eventually, she found safety and a sense of purpose at a local community college, where she began to rebuild her life. As a you...
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48:26
Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions
What happens when women walk away from extreme religion? Beyond Belief, edited by Cami Ostman and Susan Tive, shares powerful, personal stories from women who left rigid faith communities. These narratives reveal not only th...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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27:52
Faith, Fire, and Freedom with Ronna Russell
Ronna Russell is a two-time author (The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher’s Kid, Scold's Bridle) and visual artist. Ronna talks with Cami and Amanda about her multiple times through the pho...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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42:46
Let's Talk About Sex with Cami & Amanda
Why is it so hard to talk about sex? And if it’s such a struggle, why do we keep coming back to it? This universal experience often leaves us questioning ourselves, our desires, and our relationships. What messages did we absorb as children tha...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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26:35
Living Your Best Life On the Road w/ Kyle Firstenberg
Kyle Firstenberg has lived through a series of Phoenix moments—periods of profound transformation where life demanded he rise from the ashes and reinvent himself. Each chapter forged a stronger, more intentional version of who he is. The result...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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37:32
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone w/ Cami & Amanda
Amanda and Cami explore how stepping out of your comfort zone can open your eyes to new possibilities, help you get unstuck, and move through the ashes of what’s no longer serving you. One of their favorite tools for transformation? Travel—not ...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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34:38
Thank God She's Cute: A Mother/Daughter Journey with Special Needs ~ Jenn Drennan
Jennifer Drennan is a 23-year critical care nurse and the mother of a special needs,disabled and autistic teenage child. When Jennifer’s daughter, Caitlyn, was born in 2010 with congenital, stage 4 cancer, Jennifer was unexpectedly thrust i...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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54:19
Bad Bargain We Make with Cami & Amanda
We all make bad bargains. We stay in relationships for security or stay in jobs for fear of change while living with consequences that are just too high. Bad bargains keep us stuck in the ashes and make it almost impossible for us to move forwa...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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34:49
Slow Down! How One Rock Climber Got Her Feet on the Ground ~ Keely Carolan
Keely Carolan, a twenty-three year old rock climber and climbing coach, nearly lost her vocation and avocation when her body started to break down. Instead of giving up her dreams, she learn how to slow down, listen to her body, and embrace lif...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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29:35
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How Music Saved My Life with Cami & Amanda
Cami and Amanda talk about times and ways music helps them tap into their deep joy. When we are sitting in the ashes, we often distract ourselves from the pain and discomfort, which can be health... to a point. Learn the difference between dist...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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28:19
Signs of Life with Shannon Knight
Shannon Knight is a psychotherapist, host of The Tarot Diagnosis podcast, and the creator The Symposium, a community of tarot and psychology. Can you use symbolic tools to help y...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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47:46
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Having the Hard Conversations with Cami & Amanda
How do you talk to your beloved aunt about politics? What do you do when a good friend says something you cannot imagine they believe? We live in polarizing times. But that doesn't mean we have to lose out on relationships which are important t...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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39:10
At The End of My Hope with Cami and Amanda
Cami and Amanda talk about what how even the helpers need help from time to time. Where do you turn when hope that you have held onto (sometimes for ages) in a certain area fades away? How do you know when to let go of hope and look for another...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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45:16
Taking Risks in Life and Business with Brooke Warner
Brooke Warner is passionate champion of authors and co-host of the Write-minded podcast. She started her publishing career in 2000 and worked for traditional publishers for 13 years. In 2012, she lef...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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34:39
Timing in the Ashes with Cami & Amanda
Cami and Amanda riff on how hard it is to be patient in the ashes. How do you handle not knowing what is coming next or when that next phase will begin?
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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28:20
A Leg to Stand On with Colleen Haggerty
Colleen Haggerty, author of A Leg to Stand On: An Amputee's Walk Into ...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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42:08
Words Matter: Forgiveness with Cami & Amanda
Have you ever been in a long conversation with someone only to discover that the words or phrases you are using mean something totally different to the person across the table than they mean to you? We certainly have. So we're doing a series of...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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45:39
Climbing with Love and Light- Bobby McLaughlin & Stacey Solain
One of Bobby McFarland’s Phoenix moments led him to become a living kidney donor, a UNOS Transplant Living ambassador, and the leader of a living donors’ climb up Kilimanjaro. Stacey Solain was working with organizations providing clean water a...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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37:52
Beauty and the Beast with Cami & Amanda
The classic story of Beauty and the Beast (or Phantom of the Opera or Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey) has been popular for centuries. But how does this idea that the female can and needs to be quiet, good, pure enough, love strongly enough to tu...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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54:59
