This week on The Truth Is, Kathryn sits down with her sister, Alyssa Flaschner, for a conversation about paying attention to what makes us feel alive, and how change really happens: not all at once, but through tiny degree shifts that slowly realign our lives toward what feels true.

In the stillness of COVID, Alyssa began to notice a quiet pull toward something else. What started as weeknights with her cookbook collection soon turned into a decision to take herself—and her curiosity—seriously. That choice led to nine months of commuting to New York City for culinary school—twenty-seven weekends in a row—couch surfing with friends and family and rolling a little suitcase full of knives through the city. Nine months later, that curiosity had become a craft—and eventually, a full-time role on the team at Philadelphia’s acclaimed restaurant My Loup.

Together, we talk about what it means to find the thing that makes you come alive—and to keep following it, even when it asks you to rewrite the life you thought you were building.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How perfectionism shaped Alyssa as a competitive dancer—and the ways it still shows up in the kitchen
• The difference between chasing achievement and feeling alive
• How small degree shifts add up over time—where slowly, you start to take yourself seriously, and the things that once felt impossible begin to feel real
• The awkward, necessary process of being a beginner again
• What it’s like to work in an environment where you can’t fake it—and how that kind of honesty builds confidence
• The people who remind us of our own strength, and why support systems matter more than we think

It’s an intimate, sister-to-sister conversation about curiosity, courage, and learning to trust the pull toward what makes you come alive.

Visit My Loup, where Alyssa is part of the culinary team
Read Alyssa’s essays on Substack
Follow Alyssa on Instagram → @alyssaflash

Instagram → @thetruthis_podcast
YouTube → @thetruthis_pod
TikTok → @thetruthispod

Hosted by Kathryn Flaschner
Edited by Dan Croll
Music by Will Savino → wsavino.com
Visual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan Bush
Advised by Natalie Tulloch