When Kimberli, Owner and CEO of So Salsa, LLC, lost her husband to a heart attack at 34, she had a 2 -year-old, a 7-month-old, and a life that no longer looked like the one they had planned together. He was her first love, a devoted father, and in a single day, he was gone.

That was eleven years ago.

Today, she is a single mother of two thriving kids — smart, athletic, kind — raised on the memory of a father they barely got to know, kept alive through pictures, videos, and the stories she refuses to stop telling. She has forged a life with her mother beside her, juggling work, an attempt at going back to school, and a small salsa business that has blossomed.

This is a story about what it means to be the provider AND the safety. To carry grief while carrying a household. To feel anxious about raising good kids in a world that often feels like chaos — and to do it anyway, with a home that is the opposite of that chaos.

This is a story about what happens when you have one good parent.

So Salsa, LLC www.SoSalsa21@gmail.com

Because the answer, it turns out, is quite a lot.

• The grief cycle specific to academic loss — and why it often goes unrecognized
• Identity disruption: who are you when the credential disappears?
• The anxiety of professional limbo and credential gaps on a résumé
• How the closure affected relationships, family, and personal life
• The silence and stigma — why survivors often don't talk about it
• Mental health resources guests found helpful (and ones that fell short)
• Reclaiming agency: what recovery and reinvention have looked like
• A message to anyone still in the thick of it

• The moment guests learned their school was closing — how they found out, and what the first hours felt like
• The institutional silence: what administration did (and didn't) communicate
• Navigating credits, transcripts, and academic records mid-program
• The financial reality: tuition, loans, and a degree that stalled
• Explaining the unexplainable to employers, family, and peers
• The patchwork of attempting to transfer programs — what worked and what didn't
• What they wish someone had told them from day one

• U.S. Department of Education Closed School Discharge program (for federal loan holders)
• State authorization contacts for transcript recovery assistance
• Academic record preservation rights under FERPA

What does it look like to reinvent your life after heartbreak — boldly, honestly, and on your own terms? To publish a memoir in your 70s that makes people laugh and weep? To tell the truth about love, loss, aging, and identity without flinching?

In this episode of Emerging with Grace!, we sit down with the remarkable Virginia DeLuca — award-winning author and psychotherapist— for a conversation that is equal parts wisdom, warmth, and unapologetic fire. Brilliant, Beautiful, and Bad Ass

Virginia's writing has graced the pages of The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Modern Love, and The Huffington Post. Her memoir, If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets, is a sharp, funny, and deeply human portrait of marriage, divorce, aging, and the unexpected power of starting over — proving that reinvention has no expiration date.

This is a conversation about courage as a creative act. About how grief can become the soil for your most luminous work. About women across every culture and generation who carry the spark of life and refuse to let circumstances extinguish it.

This episode is for every woman navigating a life transition — whether you're 30, 60, or somewhere beautifully in between for anyone who needs proof that your most powerful chapter may still be ahead of you.

Virginia DeLuca embodies what it means to be brilliant in mind, beautiful in spirit, and unapologetically badass in courage. Tune in.

IG @virginia.deluca.author FB- virginia deluca author

IN THIS EPISODE:

→ Reinvention after divorce

→ Writing as healing & self-discovery

→ Publishing boldly later in life

→ Women, identity & aging on your own terms

→ The power of humor in grief

→ Memoir craft & storytelling

→ Emotional resilience & personal growth

→ Living truthfully at any age

Guest: Carrie Willis

Some lessons arrive gently. Others arrive in moments that change the direction of your life.

For Carrie Willis, that moment came when her mother passed away at just 39 years old. In the midst of grief, another reality surfaced—her mother had left behind a life insurance policy worth less than $300. It wasn't just a financial gap. It was a wake-up call.

That experience planted a seed that would eventually grow into Carrie's life mission: helping families avoid the financial blind spots that so many don't discover until it's too late.

But the financial lesson wasn't the only one.

Years later, Carrie realized something even more heartbreaking—her family had almost no recordings of her mother's voice. No preserved stories. No captured wisdom. The memories were there, but the living sound of her mother was gone.

From that realization came a second calling: helping people show up and share their voice now, while the people who love them most can still hear it.

Today, Carrie works with school district employees through her Retirement Clarity™ programs, helping them prepare financially for their future so their families won't be left navigating uncertainty. She also coaches entrepreneurs to build authentic visibility, encouraging them to speak, record, and share their message so their voice and wisdom can live beyond the moment.

In just a few weeks, Carrie has appeared on nearly 20 livestreams, building not only a platform—but an archive her son will one day be able to return to.

Because for Carrie, every recording is more than content.

It's legacy.

• The financial mistake many families discover too late

• Why striving financially doesn't always mean you're thriving

• Retirement planning and financial clarity for educators

• The emotional side of financial preparedness

• Why capturing your voice and story matters for future generations

• Building visibility with purpose and authenticity

• Turning painful lessons into meaningful impact

Financial preparation is an act of love—and so is leaving your voice behind for the people who will one day wish they could hear it again.

"Striving keeps you busy. Thriving requires clarity, preparation, and the courage to think beyond today."

Learn more about Carrie's work in Retirement Clarity™ and her coaching for entrepreneurs by visiting her platforms and livestream appearances.

They had already survived 1,260 days in the wilderness.

They had already walked through homelessness, uncertainty, and rebuilding from nothing.

They thought they knew what endurance meant.

Then came the day that changed everything.

Despite living an active, disciplined life—despite exercising and eating well—Adrian was diagnosed with a genetic heart condition. A condition that does not ask permission. A condition that does not negotiate with lifestyle.

And in one day, he experienced three cardiac events.

Krys faced the unthinkable.
Doctors warned her that if he survived, he would never be the same.
Research showed that only 2% live through this type of cardiac crisis—and even then, many are told they may only have a few years left.

She wasn't just grieving the possibility of losing her husband.
She was grieving the life they once had.
The future they thought was certain.
The version of him she feared might never return.

But this is not a story that ends in statistics.

Seven years later, Adrian is still here.

Still fighting.
Still loving.
Still leading.
Still serving through T.R.I.N.I.T.Y.

This episode is about:

• Surviving a life-threatening genetic heart condition
• Navigating marriage through medical trauma
• Grieving the "old normal" while building a new one
• Faith when outcomes are uncertain
• Redefining comeback
• Celebrating life after the prognosis

Adrian's survival is rare.
But their resilience is intentional.

Together, they share what it means to face mortality and still choose hope.
To face fear and still choose faith.
To face loss and still choose love.

Seven years later, this isn't just survival.
It's testimony.

🎧 Listen to Part 2 and hear how the Murrays turned a medical crisis into a comeback story—one sustained by faith, partnership, and purpose.

Some seasons are meant to be endured, not escaped.

For 1,260 days, Adrian and Krys Murray walked through what they call a wilderness season—a time marked by homelessness, uncertainty, and daily dependence on God. The number itself was not something they chose, but one they later recognized as biblically significant, named in the Book of Revelation as a defined period of endurance and divine sustaining.

What they didn't know at the time was that this wilderness would become the soil where purpose took root.

During that season, God placed a vision in their hearts—T.R.I.N.I.T.Y., an acronym for Teaching, Reaching, Inspiring, Nurturing, Igniting Today's Youth. They had no resources, no stability, and no clear plan. What they did have was obedience.

When they eventually found their footing again, they refused to let the vision fade. In 2017, they stepped forward in faith and incorporated T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. as a nonprofit—transforming survival into service.

Today, T.R.I.N.I.T.Y. is a faith-based organization committed to uplifting youth and strengthening communities by nurturing the whole person: spiritually, mentally, and physically. Through mentoring, coaching, and wellness-centered tennis programs, Adrian and Krys walk alongside young people as they discover both who they are and whose they are.

Tennis is one of the tools, but faith, relationship, and presence are the foundation.

This episode is a testimony of perseverance, humility, and trust. It's a reminder that even the most difficult seasons are not wasted—and that God often does His deepest work in the wilderness.

🎧 Tune in to hear how faith sustained them, how purpose was born from hardship, and how they now show up for others with compassion shaped by lived experience.

Some innovations begin in a lab.
Others begin with a question no one else is asking.

For Dr. Bobbi Peterson, that question was simple but revolutionary: Why hasn't oral health technology kept up with what we now know about wellness, equity, and prevention?

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Bobbi Peterson—renowned orthodontist, inventor, and founder of Big Mouth Toothbrush—to explore the journey behind designing and patenting her own electronic toothbrush, a feat achieved by only a handful of Black women in the medical and dental innovation space.

From her Brooklyn-based practice to national recognition on Shark Tank, Dr. Bobbi shares how expertise, courage, and vision intersected to create a product that blends holistic wellness, advanced dental technology, and community empowerment. Her story isn't just about entrepreneurship—it's about refusing to accept "that's how it's always been done."

Listeners will hear how Dr. Bobbi navigated barriers in healthcare innovation, what it took to move from clinician to inventor, and why representation in medical devices matters—not just for visibility, but for better health outcomes.

This episode is for anyone interested in:

• Dental innovation and oral health technology

• Black women inventors and founders

• Healthcare entrepreneurship

• Patents, product development, and Shark Tank stories

• Holistic wellness and preventative care

Dr. Bobbi Peterson's journey reminds us that sometimes the boldest ideas come from professionals who know the system well enough to challenge it—and brave enough to build something better.

🎧 Tune in to hear how one orthodontist used her expertise to create healthier smiles and a lasting impact.