Host Angela welcomes international writer, actor, and producer Nikki Borger, who moved to the U.S. in 2018 to pursue film acting but soon faced cascading losses: her mother’s sudden death, her stepdad’s pancreatic cancer and passing, both grandfathers’ deaths, her mother-in-law’s cancer returning, and caring for her biological father until he died earlier this year amid the pandemic, housing instability, visa pressure, and Hollywood strikes. Nikki shares how repeated grief affected her sense of safety, health, and relationships, and how stabilizing daily life while sitting with emotions led her to reframe her story through creativity. She discusses her book, “In Between: Eight Gender-Neutral One Act Plays Between Life and Death,” its inclusive casting, themes of death, purpose, disability, and humor, and offers hope that healing and meaning can return.

https://nikijborger.com/

https://www.facebook.com/NikiJBorger/

Angela welcomes guest Hakeem Bourne‑McFarlane, who shares how a childhood marked by addiction, instability, and the death of his younger brother, shaped his anger, identity, and later self-sabotage. Sports became his mask as he moved through Division I to Division III football, but injuries, five knee surgeries, substance use, and incarceration ultimately forced him into sobriety, honesty, and accountability. In jail, he began therapy, read personal development books and the Bible, and started writing his book, concluding that while trauma may not be one’s fault, healing is one’s responsibility. Hakeem explains the “Choose Yourself” process and Foundation Framework, emphasizing systems, boundaries, filtering sensory inputs, community accountability, and a sacred nighttime and morning routine to build integrity, resilience, and sustainable change.

https://chooseyourself.info/

https://www.facebook.com/keem.dreeam/

https://www.youtube.com/@ChooseYourselfChannel

https://www.instagram.com/bigdreamhakeem/

https://www.tiktok.com/@bigdreamhakeem

Podcast host Angela welcomes Steve Ferrara, author of From Grief to Gratitude: A New Paradigm on Death, who shares how the death of his 23-year-old son in a car accident led him to journal daily for 20 years, later turning those journals into a book with an editor over several years. Steve describes key shifts in healing, including moving from anger and “why” questions toward acceptance, viewing the loss from his son’s perspective, and developing an ongoing inner relationship through journaling and meditation. He discusses seeking deeper understanding through spiritual teachers, books, retreats, and near-death experience research, rather than focusing on sympathy or grief groups. Steve also reflects on later losses, including his wife’s death, selling his business, and building a life centered on gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, and conscious choice.

https://www.stevenferrara.com/