In this special holiday episode, Jude shares a true story about her first December in New York, a season of struggle, heartbreak, and unexpected magic. What unfolds is a series of unpredictable moments that remind us: life can throw us curveballs, but if we accept what's offered, the surprises can be beautiful.

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What do you do when staying silent protects the relationship, but speaking up protects your truth? In this episode, Jude speaks with Kathy Klotz-Guest of Keeping It Human to explore how improv helps us navigate the tension between authenticity and harmony. They unpack the practice of truth-telling without burning bridges, and how conflict leads to deeper understanding.

*Connect with Kathy - Keeping It Human, LinkedIn, Instagram

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Empathy thrives when we meet each other in our imperfections. In this episode, Jude speaks with Louis Kornfeld of Kornfeld and Andrews, about how improv comedy reveals the flaws in human behavior, which helps us see ourselves more clearly with humor and compassion.

*Connect with Louis - Kornfeld & Andrews Show, Kornfeld & Andrews Podcast, The Truth Podcast, LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What if the best way to prepare kids for an unpredictable future is to teach them how to improvise? In this episode, Jude speaks with Beth Hagenlocker, Executive Director of the Detroit Creativity Project. By bringing improv into schools, their organization helps teens grow more imaginative and emotionally resilient, all while discovering themselves in a space built for creativity and connection.

*Connect with Beth - Detroit Creativity Project, Instagram, YouTube

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• Improv Training as a School-Based Mental Health Intervention
• Improv experience promotes divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

We think we're listening, but are we really? In this episode, Jude speaks with Rick Andrews, Magnet Theater faculty and applied improv facilitator, to explore how listening is an active choice. They unpack how hearing another person's perspective is a powerful act of empathy, and how improv trains us not just to react, but to understand.

*Connect with Rick - Website, LinkedIn, Kornfeld & Andrews show, Kornfeld and Andrews podcast

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

In real life, there's no stage. So how do we learn to play our part with presence? In this episode, Jude speaks with Patricia Ryan Madson, author of Improv Wisdom, about how improvisation teaches us to accept what's given, quiet our inner critic, and appreciate the overlooked gifts of daily life.

*Connect with Patricia - Improv Wisdom, LinkedIn, Facebook. Check out Patricia's book Improv Wisdom.

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Improv has a way of turning strangers into lifelong connections, often in the span of a single scene. In this episode, Jude speaks with Michelle Gilliam about how improv builds community, fosters belonging, and helps us move from anxiety to connection.

*Connect with Michelle - Improv MKE, Instagram, LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Many of us second guess what to do in social situations. In this episode, Jude speaks with Caitlin Steitzer - a fellow improviser, therapist, and social worker - who explains how improv's focus on the group can help people overcome social anxiety, shifting attention away from self-criticism and into the present moment.

*Connect with Caitlin - website, Instagram, LinkedIn

To learn more about these concepts, check out:

• The Brilliant Genius: Using Improv Comedy In Social Work Groups by Caitlin Steitzer
• Comedic Improv Therapy For The Treatment Of Social Anxiety Disorder

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn