Grief Is My Side Hustle

Today Meghan Talks talk Work Health with Ellen Kelsay.

 

Ellen is president and CEO of Business Group on Health. She is a sought-after speaker and expert on health and well-being issues. Kelsay hosts the Business Group on Health podcast and has authored various industry publications appearing in Harvard Business Review, Modern Healthcare, Pharmaceutical Executive and Employee Benefit News, among others. She frequently contributes on an array of critical topics such as health care affordability, prescription drug pricing, transparency, well-being, mental health, health inclusion and innovation across the U.S. and globally. She has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. She has delivered Congressional testimony and is frequently cited in the press.

Business Group on Health is the longest standing and largest non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing employers' perspectives on critical health, well-being and workforce strategy issues. The Business Group keeps its membership on the leading edge of innovation, thinking and action to address the delivery, financing, affordability and experience with the health care system. Leveraging its network of members and industry thought leaders, the Business Group drives change by sharing best practices, shaping health care policy and crafting innovative solutions to improve employee health and well-being and optimize business performance. Business Group members, many of whom have operations globally, include most Fortune 100 companies and over 450 companies in total who provide health coverage and well-being benefits for more than 60 million employees, retirees and their families in over 200 countries and territories.

In addition to her role leading Business Group on Health, Ellen holds leadership roles across the health care industry including as Chair, National Board of Trustees for March of Dimes and as a Board member of The Leapfrog Group. Additionally, she is a Health Evolution Senior Fellow, a member of Women Business Leaders in Healthcare, Oliver Wyman’s Health Leaders Alliance and the Aspen Group.

Ellen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and business administration from the University of Richmond and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Amanda McCracken dated over 100 men by her late thirties, certain she was doing everything right to find lasting love. She wasn't. At 39, her therapist handed her the word that finally made sense of it all: limerence — an obsessive, addictive longing that feels like love but runs on fantasy instead of reality. Ten years of research (and a lot of hard-won self-honesty) later, Amanda is a journalist and self-described "limerence expert" whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Vogue, National Geographic, and NPR. Her new memoir, When Longing Becomes Your Lover, blends neuroscience, cultural criticism, and raw personal story to unpack why we chase people who can't love us back — and how to stop. She hosts the podcast The Longing Lab, gave a TEDx talk on the subject, and coaches writers and speakers out of Boulder, Colorado, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Social handles

• Website: amandajmccracken.com
• Instagram: @amandajmccracken
• Facebook: Amanda Janae McCracken
• TikTok: @thelonginglab
• Podcast: The Longing Lab

Marisa Renee Lee is the award-winning, bestselling author of Grief is Love: Living with Loss and the newly released Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty. Her work on grief and healing has been featured on Good Morning America, NPR, Fox & Friends, in Vogue, and in The Atlantic, among other outlets. She previously served as a deputy director in the Obama White House and is now CEO of Beacon Advisors, a social-impact consulting firm. She holds a dual degree from Harvard College and lives in New York with her husband, Matt, and son, Bennett.

Marisa cared for her mother, Lisa, who lived with MS and died of breast cancer in 2008 — the loss that shaped her thinking on grief. She's also spoken openly about infertility and pregnancy loss.

Marisa's second book, published by Hachette (April 2026). Where Grief is Love reframed grief as an extension of love, Waiting for Dawn turns to the uncertainty that surrounds loss — chronic illness, systemic instability, the "in-between" that doesn't resolve on schedule. It draws on a two-year stretch in which she lost her mother-in-law and was navigating Long COVID while writing the book. Central idea: self-preservation, not forced positivity, is the way through prolonged uncertainty — offering a "compass," not a roadmap.

Contact & Socials

• Website: marisareneelee.com
• Contact/booking form: marisareneelee.com/contact
• Instagram: @marisareneelee
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marisareneelee
• Facebook: facebook.com/marisareneelee
• Substack ("Holding Both"): marisareneelee.substack.com

 

Grief Is My Side Hustle — Tracee Stanley on Ritual, Rest, and What We Do With What We've Lost

My guest this week is Tracee Stanley — author of Radiant Rest and The Luminous Self, and someone who has spent over twenty years teaching yoga nidra, meditation, and ancestor reverence. Her new book, Living Ritual, comes out this August, and it gave us so much to dig into.

We talk about why our culture is so allergic to grief — how we've turned it into something to hide instead of something to honor — and what changes when we stop avoiding it. Tracee walks me through the role ritual plays in all of this: not as a rulebook, but as a way to slow down and give our grief an actual place to land. We get into small personal practices, the kind of offerings you might build for someone you've lost, and why grieving in community changes the whole experience. I also asked her to break down her Grief Mentor Method — connection, ritual, and community — and how those three pieces work together.

This one left me thinking differently about what it means to tend to my own grief instead of just surviving it. I think you'll feel the same.

Thank you for listening! Please rate, review, and share if this one landed for you — it helps more grieving people find the show.

More about Tracee Stanley:
Website: https://www.traceestanley.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracee_stanley
Her new book, Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and Spirit, is out this August.

More about Grief Is My Side Hustle / Grieftastic:
Website: https://www.meghanriordanjarvis.com
Grieftastic: https://www.grieftastic.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghan.riordan.jarvis
Book, Can Anyone Tell Me?: available wherever books are sold

 

Grief Is My Side Hustle — with Amy Morin, LCSW

Amy Morin knows more about mental strength than almost anyone on the planet — and she'll tell you the hard-won secret behind it: it started with loss. Amy is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and international bestselling author of six books, including 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, which has sold over a million copies and been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx Talk, "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," has racked up over 24 million views, and she's the award-winning host of the Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin podcast. Her work has landed on Good Morning America, Today, Oprah, Tamron Hall, and the BBC.

But before the TED stage and the bestseller lists, Amy was a young woman burying people she loved — grief showed up early and often in her life, and instead of running from it, she built a career studying how humans survive the unsurvivable. In this episode, we talk about what grief actually taught her about strength (hint: it's not what you think), and why "getting over it" was never the goal.

Connect with Amy:

• Website: amymorinlcsw.com
• Instagram: @amymorinauthor
• X/Twitter: @AmyMorinLCSW
• Facebook: @AmyMorinAuthor
• Podcast inquiries: Podcast@AmyMorinLCSW.com
• Media/interview requests: Amy@AmyMorinLCSW.com

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A note on the "personal history dealing with tragedy" line — the sources I found reference this in general terms (multiple outlets mention it) but don't specify what the losses were. If you know the specifics from booking her or from her own words, I can make that section sharper and more accurate rather than leaving it vague.

Can you add something about her most recent book?

 

 

Searched the web

Searched the web

 

Here's the updated description with her latest book worked in:

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Grief Is My Side Hustle — with Amy Morin, LCSW

Amy Morin knows more about mental strength than almost anyone on the planet — and she'll tell you the hard-won secret behind it: it started with loss. Amy is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and international bestselling author of six books, including 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, which has sold over a million copies and been translated into more than 45 languages. Her newest book, The Mental Strength Playbook, hands you 50 science-backed "plays" for handling the moments that test you most at work — the anxiety spiral mid-negotiation, the coworker who wrecks your focus, the setback that knocks you sideways. Her TEDx Talk, "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," has racked up over 24 million views, and she's the award-winning host of the Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin podcast. Her work has landed on Good Morning America, Today, Oprah, Tamron Hall, and the BBC.

But before the TED stage and the bestseller lists, Amy was a young woman burying people she loved — grief showed up early and often in her life, and instead of running from it, she built a career studying how humans survive the unsurvivable. In this episode, we talk about what grief actually taught her about strength (hint: it's not what you think), why "getting over it" was never the goal, and how the same tools she teaches for workplace resilience apply to the hardest losses of all.

Connect with Amy:

• Website: amymorinlcsw.com
• Instagram: @amymorinauthor
• X/Twitter: @AmyMorinLCSW
• Facebook: @AmyMorinAuthor
• Podcast inquiries: Podcast@AmyMorinLCSW.com
• Media/interview requests: Amy@AmyMorinLCSW.com

Join me this week as I FINALLY get to sit down with one of my favorite artists, (and fellow griever) Rob Strati. Together, we explore how art can serve as a powerful healing tool for grief and loss. We also discuss the emotional depth behind his extraordinary plate series and how brokenness can reveal new stories of hope and resilience.

In this episode:

• Rob discusses the story behind his plate series inspired by loss and repair.
• The contrasting philosophies of Kintsugi versus Rob's approach to brokenness.
• How art can transcend traditional therapy and tap into restorative energy.
• The impact of social media on sharing grief and art's universal language.
• Rob’s process of selecting and transforming plates into art pieces.
• The surprising emotional feedback from viewers and collectors.
• The significance of cultural motifs and historical patterns in Rob’s work.
• Navigating grief after recent loss—the process of acceptance and transformation.
• Practical ways art supports emotional resilience in times of trauma.

Resources & Links:

• Rob Strati Instagram
• https://porcelainprojects.com/ 

Note:

To see Rob’s art in person, visit his upcoming exhibitions in Greenwich and Columbus, or browse his online portfolio for exclusive pieces and commissions.

I cannot thank you enough for listening to this latest season of Grief is My Side Hustle. Please consider a five-star rating and review where possible; it truly helps the show reach more grievers! 

Marty Ross-Dolen is truly magnificent, and I am so grateful to have had an hour of her time this week.

Not only does she hold degrees from Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she is a gorgeous, incredibly insightful author. Marty's writing delves into grief, memory, and the ripple effects of generational trauma.

We discuss her maternal grandparents' legacy as the founders of the groundbreaking magazine, "Highlights for Children," and her memoir Always There, Always Gone, in which she weaves a lyrical, hybrid narrative reflecting on the devastating 1960 plane crash that claimed their lives. Her story explores how that loss deeply influenced her mother’s life—and, subsequently, her own.

There is something for everyone, at every stage of grief, in this conversation. For more information on Marty, and to get your copy of "Always There, Always Gone," check out: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Marty-Ross-Dolen/234962242 and find her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martyrossdolen/

Thank you so much for listening! We would be so grateful if you would leave us a five-star rate and review wherever possible. Your support means the world. 

In the latest episode of "Grief Is My Side Hustle," I'm joined by author and death doula Darnell Lamont Walker to explore the intricacies of grief, loss, and the importance of open conversations about death. Our heartfelt discussion delves into personal experiences and cultural perspectives, shedding light on how we can better navigate the often-taboo subject of mortality.

Darnell's journey into the world of grief began in his childhood, surrounded by the loving presence of his grandmother. This foundation of compassion laid the groundwork for his own understanding of grief, where discussions about death were not shunned but embraced. You are GOING to want to listen to every word Darnell speaks- he's incredibly eloquent, charming, knowledgeable and soothing. I'm so grateful to have gotten this hour of his time! 

 

More about Darnell:

https://www.instagram.com/hello.darnell/
https://darnellwalker.com/never-can-say-goodbye/

 

 

Dave Manheim (host of the Dopey Podcast) is the kind of interview where you totally forget to stick to any sort of parameters and just jump right in...because once he starts a story, you just strap in and go along for the (often hilarious) ride.  

 

Beyond Dave's warm demeanor and mischevious half-smile is a man who has faced an incredible amount of grief, heartbreak and turmoil. Just over 10 years ago, Dave and his late co-host, Chris, launched Dopey together- a space where they could tell stories about their experiences in active addiction. Sadly, Chris relapsed and died shortly after the podcast started gaining a substantial following. To honor his friend, Dave just kept going. And a decade later, he has never missed a week of his now beloved (and highly regarded) show. 

 

Dave has now interviewed everyone from Real Housewives cast members to Marc Maron and Jamie Lee Curtis. Despite the accolades, however, he remains humble, kind, and speaks about his grief and addiction with an openness that is wonderfully disarming. 

 

You won't want to miss this unique, vibrant, and incredibly touching episode.

 

Thanks for listening! Please don't forget to rate and review us wherever possible! 

 

More about Dave:
https://dopeypodcast.com/

https://www.instagram.com/dopeypodcast/

 

My guest this week is recent Grieftastic Book Club author Barry Hoffner. 

 

In 2017, Barry faced unimaginable loss when his wife, Jackie, tragically passed away in an accident in Botswana. 

 

After a deep period of soul-searching,Barry turned to travel—not just for exploration, but for healing. His recently released memoir, "Belonging to the World," chronicles his journey to every country on Earth and the profound ways in which the people he met helped him rediscover purpose and a sense of belonging.

I loved continuing our conversation here on the show so that EVERYONE can have a chance to learn about Barry's quite remarkable take on turning his grief from a noun to a verb by literally traversing the globe with it. 

 

Thank you for listening! Please feel free to rate and review; we LOVE hearing from you! 

 

More about Barry Hoffner:

https://belongingtotheworld.com/about

https://www.instagram.com/barryh99/