Podcast
Other People's Shoes
Hosted by Neil Matthews · EN
On my show, I intentionally create space for every voice and every point of view to be heard. Honest, constructive conversations have a way of opening our eyes to stories we might otherwise miss. After all, when you step into Other People’s Shoes, you gain what we’re all searching for… a different perspective on life.
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Pop
5d ago00:55:07Tap to summarize🎙 POP SEASON 23: THE LIST Some names are difficult to forgive because of what someone did. Others are difficult because of everything they failed to do. For Terrence Newby, the hardest person on his list is his own father, a man whose addiction repeatedly came before having a relationship with his son. In this episode of Other People’s Shoes, Terrence opens up about growing up around addiction, watching drugs affect his father and other members of his family, and carrying those experiences with him into adulthood. Forgiveness does not erase what happened. It does not excuse the choices someone made. But it may decide how long those choices continue to shape our lives. Terrence also takes us inside Carolina basketball, shares what he learned from legendary coach Dean Smith, and answers one of the most impossible questions of all time: What exactly is a Tar Heel? 📝 GUEST INTRODUCTION Terrence Newby played four years of basketball at the University of North Carolina under legendary head coach Dean Smith. A talented and versatile guard, Terrence could play both the point guard and shooting guard positions. He was one of two seniors on the team alongside Ed Cota and helped provide depth after an injury to Ronald Curry. Terrence was also a strong perimeter shooter, a solid defensive player, and an exceptional all-around athlete who could have played Division I football or baseball in addition to basketball. During his time at Carolina, Terrence was part of three Final Four teams and shared the court with Tar Heel legends including Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Antawn Jamison, and many others. But behind the Carolina jersey was a son trying to understand why his father continued choosing drugs over having a relationship with him. 📝 EPISODE DETAILS In this episode, Terrence and Neil discuss: Growing up with a father who struggled with drug addiction Watching addiction affect multiple members of his family Why his father became the hardest person on his list to forgive The pain of wanting a relationship with a parent who continued making destructive choices The difference between forgiveness and pretending the damage never happened Playing four years of basketball at the University of North Carolina Being part of three Final Four teams Sharing the court with Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Antawn Jamison, and other Carolina greats Playing for legendary coach Dean Smith What made Coach Smith’s leadership different An unforgettable Dean Smith story The lesson Terrence carried with him long after leaving Chapel Hill How our response to a mistake can matter more than the mistake itself The answer to the nearly impossible question: What is a Tar Heel? 📝 MEMORABLE QUOTE Four things you do with a mistake: Recognize it. Admit it. Learn from it. Forget it. Coach Dean Smith taught his players four things to do with a mistake. The lesson was meant for basketball, but Terrence discovered that it applies far beyond the court. Recognize what happened. Admit your part in it. Learn what it came to teach you. Then stop allowing it to define you. 📝 LISTEN & FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES 👟 Website | 📘 Facebook | 📸 Instagram | 𝕏 X | 🎬 TikTok | 🎧 Apple Podcasts 📝 LEAVE US A REVIEW Your review helps more people discover the show and join us in walking in other people’s shoes. 📝 Leave a Review
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Possible
2w ago00:37:19Tap to summarizeLISTENER WARNING Dr. Carron talks openly about being sexually abused. This episode also includes conversation around domestic violence, trauma, police brutality, and political violence. Please listen with care. 🎙 POSSIBLE SEASON 23: THE LIST IS FORGIVENESS POSSIBLE WHEN THE COST IS HIGH? That is the question this episode sits with. Not cheap forgiveness. Not quick forgiveness. Not the kind that asks someone to pretend the pain did not happen. This week on Other People’s Shoes, Neil walks in the shoes of Dr. Carron Silva, whose life began in South Africa in 1966 and was shaped by deep trauma from a very young age. Her story includes sexual abuse, domestic violence, separation from her parents, police brutality, and the harsh reality of political violence under Apartheid. But this conversation does not stay in the pain. It moves toward healing. It moves toward freedom. It moves toward what is possible. GUEST INTRODUCTION Dr. Carron is a forgiveness guide, coach, author, speaker, and retreat leader who helps people navigate emotional and betrayal trauma. Her story is not one of easy answers or overnight healing. Dr. Carron has walked through deep pain, and even today, her brain can still respond to certain situations through trauma responses. But she is no longer bound by anger. She is no longer ruled by bitterness. She is no longer carrying grudges against those who hurt her. That does not mean the trauma disappeared. It means freedom became possible. Today, Dr. Carron helps others through life coaching and half-day forgiveness retreats, both virtual and in-person. She teaches forgiveness as a practical life skill, not as a shallow phrase, spiritual shortcut, or emotional cover-up. Dr. Carron is also the author of With You Always: A Journey with Jesus, a devotional memoir that reflects her journey of faith through scripture, story, poetry, and reflection. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE THE WORD “AS” IN THE LORD’S PRAYER One of the most important moments in this conversation centers around one small word: “As.” “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” That word carries weight. It asks us to look honestly at the connection between the forgiveness we receive and the forgiveness we are called to extend. Not because forgiveness is easy. Not because the offense was small. But because forgiveness is part of the way Jesus teaches us to live free. FORGIVENESS IS HARD WHEN THE COST IS HIGH Forgiveness sounds beautiful until the wound has a name. Until the story is personal. Until the cost is high. Dr. Carron’s story reminds us that forgiveness is not weakness, denial, or saying what happened was okay. Forgiveness is choosing not to let the people who hurt you keep holding the pen over the rest of your story. That kind of forgiveness takes courage, honesty, time, and sometimes walking through the same door of healing more than once. WHY DOES NELSON MANDELA FORGIVE? Because Dr. Carron grew up in South Africa, this conversation also touches the larger pain of Apartheid, political violence, and the long road toward healing. That raises a powerful question: Why does Nelson Mandela forgive? After years of imprisonment and injustice, why not choose revenge? Why not hold onto hate? Mandela’s example reminds us that forgiveness is not only personal. Sometimes forgiveness becomes part of how people, families, and even nations begin to heal. It does not erase what happened. It does not remove the need for truth. But it can break the cycle of bitterness before bitterness becomes another prison. WHAT DOES BEING WHOLE LOOK LIKE? What does being whole actually look like? Maybe being whole does not mean you never remember. Maybe it does not mean you never feel the pain. Maybe it does not mean your body never reacts to trauma again. For Dr. Carron, wholeness looks like freedom. A clear conscience. A heart no longer chained to grudges. A life no longer defined only by what happened to her. Being whole does not mean the wound was never there. It means the wound is no longer the whole story. MEMORABLE QUOTE “My conscience is free, and I no longer carry grudges against those who hurt me.” CONNECT WITH Dr. Carron WebsiteInstagramBook: With You Always: A Journey with Jesus LISTEN & FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES 👟 Website | 📘 Facebook | 📸 Instagram | 𝕏 X | 🎬 TikTok | 🎧 Apple Podcasts LEAVE US A REVIEW If this episode encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see forgiveness from a different perspective, we would be honored if you left a review. Your review helps more people discover Other People’s Shoes and continues the mission of building empathy by walking in other people’s shoes. 📝 Leave a Review Thank you for walking in other people’s shoes.
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Unfriend
3w ago00:57:34Tap to summarize🎙 UNFRIEND Season 23: The List What does it really mean to unfriend someone? Most people think it's about clicking a button on social media. But sometimes the hardest person to unfriend isn't another person... It's the version of yourself you've believed for years. For Willie Blake, dyslexia wasn't just a diagnosis. It became an identity. One that whispered he wasn't smart enough, capable enough, or enough. In this episode of Other People's Shoes, Neil walks in Willie's shoes as they unpack the labels we carry, the lies we believe, and the freedom that comes when we finally decide to unfriend the story that's been holding us back. 📝 GUEST INTRODUCTION Growing up with dyslexia, Willie Blake spent years believing he was broken. He spent much of his life trying to catch up, trying to hide, and trying to become someone he wasn't. Perfectionism, people-pleasing, and self-doubt became constant companions. Then something changed. Instead of allowing dyslexia to define him, Willie made the decision to lead with it. Today, he's a high-performance coach helping dyslexic professionals and entrepreneurs turn self-doubt into confidence, overthinking into clarity, and hesitation into momentum. Every lesson he teaches comes from lived experience, making this conversation authentic, practical, and full of hope. If you've ever struggled with the labels you've placed on yourself—or the ones others have placed on you—this episode will challenge you to ask one simple question: Who do I really need to unfriend? 📝 EPISODE DETAILS 📝 What it was like growing up with dyslexia. 📝 The hidden cost of perfectionism and people-pleasing. 📝 How labels quietly become the stories we believe about ourselves. 📝 Why the hardest person to unfriend is often the version of ourselves we've accepted. 📝 Practical tools to replace self-doubt with confidence and clarity. 📝 How embracing your greatest struggle can become your greatest strength. 📝 MEMORABLE QUOTE "Sometimes the person you need to unfriend isn't someone on your friends list... it's the version of yourself you've believed for far too long." 📝 CONNECT WITH GUEST 👤 Website 📺 YouTube 📝 LISTEN & FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES 👟 Website | 📘 Facebook | 📸 Instagram | 𝕏 X | 🎬 TikTok | 🎧 Apple Podcasts 📝 LEAVE US A REVIEW If this episode encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see life from a different perspective, we'd be honored if you'd leave a review. Your review helps more people discover Other People's Shoes and continues our mission of building empathy by walking in other people's shoes. 📝 Leave a Review Thank you for walking in other people's shoes. 👟🩵
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Speechless
4w ago00:40:29Tap to summarize🎙 SPEECHLESS Season 23: The List Have you ever been speechless? I know I have. I remember getting cut from the basketball team in high school. Speechless! I remember standing at the front of the church and watching Elizabeth walk down the aisle on our wedding day. Her beauty took my breath away. Speechless! I remember hearing my daughter Adia's heartbeat for the very first time. Speechless! I still remember meeting Roy Williams, the legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach. Standing there asking for his autograph, I didn't know what to say. Speechless! Those are the kinds of moments that leave me searching for words. But there's another kind of speechlessness I've wrestled with over the years. As someone who has followed Jesus for a long time, I've realized there are seasons when I lose that sense of wonder. That fresh amazement at the Gospel. The reality that God would love me, save me, and give my life purpose. And then there are moments when God reminds me all over again. Moments that leave me speechless. What if you came face-to-face with a love so profound that it changed everything? In this episode, Cristina Simmons shares a moment that left her speechless and how that experience shaped the course of her life. Together, we explore faith, healing, restoration, and what can happen when grace shows up in ways we never expected. GUEST INTRODUCTION Today, we're joined by Cristina P. Simmons. Cristina is an author, TEDx speaker, occupational therapist, wife, mom, and advocate for healing and restoration. Her work is rooted in lived experience, faith, and nervous-system awareness, creating safe spaces where people can heal without pressure, shame, or guilt. Cristina believes that when our stories are honored instead of silenced, healing becomes possible. As she says: "Pain doesn't have to be your prison—it can become your platform." And: "Freedom is not the absence of responsibility, but the conscious choice to live in alignment with who you are becoming." 📝 EPISODE DETAILS In this conversation, Neil and Cristina discuss: ✔️ A moment that left Cristina speechless ✔️ The power of honoring your story ✔️ Faith during life's most difficult seasons ✔️ Healing without shame or guilt ✔️ Why pain doesn't have to define your future ✔️ Finding purpose through adversity ✔️ God's faithfulness in the middle of uncertainty ✔️ Staying amazed by grace Cristina also shares insights from her bestselling book, Eat Your Feelings. Over two decades, the Simmons family faced challenge after challenge, yet through unwavering faith and a marriage that refused to be broken, they discovered restoration on the other side of hardship. This episode asks some powerful questions: What leaves us speechless? Can pain become a platform for helping others? How do we hold onto faith when life doesn't make sense? What happens when we allow our stories to be honored instead of hidden? Sometimes the moments that leave us speechless become the moments that change everything. 📝 CONNECT WITH GUEST 📝 CONNECT WITH GUEST 📚 Eat Your Feelings 👤 Cristina P. Simmons Website 🎤 TEDx Talk – The Missing Piece in Trauma Recovery 📸 Instagram @cristinapsimmons 📝 FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES 👟 Website | 📘 Facebook | 📸 Instagram | 𝕏 X | 🎬 TikTok | 🎧 Apple Podcasts Listen, grow, and gain a different perspective on life by walking in other people's shoes. 📝 LEAVE US A REVIEW 🩵 Enjoying the show? Your review helps more people discover stories that inspire empathy, growth, and understanding. ⭐️ Review the show here: Leave a Review Thank you for walking in Other People's Shoes. 👟🩵
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Ghosted
Jun 1700:44:30Tap to summarize🎙 GHOSTED Season 23: The List What does it mean to be ghosted? Ghosting is when someone suddenly cuts off communication without explanation. No phone call. No text. No goodbye. One day they're there... the next day they're gone. Most of us have a name on our list connected to that kind of silence. A relationship that ended without closure. A friendship that disappeared. A conversation that never happened. But what if being ghosted isn't the end of the story? What if there is something to learn from the silence? In this episode, we explore heartbreak, healing, self-awareness, and whether some of life's most painful endings can become opportunities for growth. 📝 GUEST INTRODUCTION Today, we're joined by Gareth Pickering from South Africa. Gareth imagines a world where relationships and sexuality are remembered as sacred pathways to healing and awakening. For more than a decade, he has explored and taught frameworks that help men deepen their relationships, connect with their emotions, and live more authentic lives. Through meditation, emotional awareness, authentic relating, men's work, and sacred sexuality, Gareth helps men return to themselves, lead with presence, and embrace radical self-acceptance. His mission is ambitious and inspiring: to guide one billion men back to the understanding that who they are right now is enough. 📝 In this conversation, Neil and Gareth discuss: ✔️ What it feels like to be ghosted ✔️ Why unanswered questions can be so difficult to carry ✔️ Trusting your intuition in relationships ✔️ The lessons hidden inside breakups ✔️ How every relationship can teach us something about ourselves ✔️ Gratitude, growth, and healing after loss ✔️ Self-acceptance and emotional awareness ✔️ Learning how to move forward without closure This episode asks some powerful questions: Do we trust our intuition? Is there really a lesson to be learned in a breakup? When someone comes into our life, can we grow from that experience? Is it possible to be grateful for being ghosted? Sometimes the people who leave us behind also leave us with lessons we never expected to learn. 📝 CONNECT WITH GUEST 👤 Website 📸 Instagram 📝 OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES 👟 Website | 📘 Facebook | 📸 Instagram | 𝕏 X | 🎬 TikTok | 🎧 Apple Podcasts Listen, grow, and gain a different perspective on life by walking in Other People's shoes. 📝 🩵 Enjoying the show? Your review helps more people discover stories that inspire empathy, growth, and understanding. ⭐️ Leave a Review Thank you for walking in Other People's Shoes. 👟🩵
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Password
Jun 1000:45:45Tap to summarize🎙 Password Season 23: The List We all have a list. Names we'd rather not hear. People we'd rather avoid. Conversations we'd rather never have again. Some people earn a place on that list through betrayal. Others through disappointment, abandonment, or broken trust. But what if forgiveness doesn't mean giving everyone unlimited access to your life? What if grace and boundaries can exist at the same time? In this episode, Coach Nrgy Abrams introduces a powerful idea: not everyone gets the password. Not everyone should have unrestricted access to your heart, your time, your energy, or your future. As we continue our journey through The List, this conversation challenges us to think differently about forgiveness, trust, healing, and the wisdom required to know the difference between letting go and letting someone back in. We also explore a simple phrase that has helped countless people through life's hardest seasons: "Be patient. Have faith." Because healing takes time. Forgiveness takes work. And sometimes growth requires trusting the process long before you can see the outcome. GUEST INTRODUCTION Coach Nrgy Abrams is a Transformational Keynote Speaker, Certified Breakthrough Life & Relationship Coach, Court Registered Civil Mediator, Family & Divorce Mediator and Arbitrator, Ordained Minister, and passionate advocate for personal transformation. Known as "The Self-Mastery Coach," Nrgy teaches that when we learn to master our minds, emotions, and assignments, we begin to master our lives. She helps high achievers unlock their potential, navigate life's challenges, strengthen relationships, improve communication, and create lasting change. Whether working with individuals, families, couples, or single parents, her mission remains the same: helping people become the best version of themselves. EPISODE DETAILS 🗝️ Why forgiveness doesn't automatically restore access 🗝️ The difference between grace and unhealthy boundaries 🗝️ Why some people should not have the password to your life 🗝️ The power behind the phrase "Be patient. Have faith." 🗝️ How self-mastery impacts every relationship you have Three Key Takeaways ✅ Self-identity must change before life can change ✅ Want the change ✅ Commit to the change CONNECT WITH NRGY 🌐 Website: https://www.coachnrgy.com/ 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CoachNrgy FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES 👟 | 📘 | 📸 | 𝕏 | 🎬 | 🎧 LEAVE US A REVIEW If this episode challenged the way you think about forgiveness, boundaries, and healing, please consider leaving a Review. 📝 Reviews help more people discover Other People's Shoes and join us as we continue exploring The List—one story, one step, and one conversation at a time.
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Save The Tiger
Jun 300:45:00Tap to summarize🎙 SAVE THE TIGER THE LIST We all have one. A list we don't write down. A list we don't talk about. A list of people we just can't seem to forgive. Sometimes the names on that list belong to people who betrayed us. Sometimes they belong to people who manipulated us. And sometimes... They belong to people who convinced us they were speaking for God. 👣 GUEST INTRODUCTION In the summer of 1997, Peter Young was living the dream. A former college basketball player and coach, Peter had landed his dream job as a sports broadcaster. He married the woman he loved, started a family, and watched his television career flourish. Life was good. There was only one problem. A mysterious spiritual leader known simply as "Uncle Robert." What began as an uncomfortable family dynamic slowly became something much more dangerous. Over the years, Uncle Robert's influence grew beyond spiritual advice and into nearly every aspect of family life. Marriages, parenting decisions, relationships, and personal beliefs all seemed to orbit around one man. Peter shares that journey in his powerful memoir, Stop the Tall Man, Save the Tiger. 📝 EPISODE DETAILS In this episode, Peter takes us inside the strange and unsettling world of Uncle Robert Booty, a self-appointed spiritual authority whose influence slowly took control of Peter's marriage, family, and sense of reality. What started as a love story became a decades-long struggle with manipulation, spiritual abuse, coercive control, and the pressure to surrender his own judgment. Peter discusses how religious language was used to demand obedience, why questioning the group came with consequences, and how he ultimately found the courage to reclaim his identity and freedom. We also explore forgiveness. Is forgiveness possible when someone never apologizes? Can you move forward without forgetting? And what happens when the person who hurt you still believes they did nothing wrong? It's a conversation about faith, family, influence, freedom, and what it takes to break free when control disguises itself as truth. 🔗 CONNECT WITH PETER YOUNG 🌐 Website 📸 Instagram 📖 Book 👟 OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES 📸 Instagram 📘 Facebook 𝕏 X ▶️ YouTube 🌐 Website ⭐ LEAVE US A REVIEW If this episode moved you, challenged you, or gave you something to think about—don't keep it to yourself! ⭐ Leave a Review and let us know how stepping into Peter's shoes impacted you.
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Unlovable Flower
May 2700:41:07Tap to summarize🎙 UNLOVEABLE FLOWER 📝 "THE LIST" We all carry names we struggle to say out loud. Some names still sting.Some names still echo.Some names still have the power to change our mood the second we hear them. And sometimes…the hardest part isn’t what they did. It’s what their actions made us believe about ourselves. 📝 Do me a favor… Close your eyes right now.(Only if you’re somewhere safe.) Think of a name. A person whose name still brings anger…hurt…frustration…sadness. Maybe hearing their name still makes your stomach turn.Maybe seeing it written on paper would bring all those feelings rushing back.Maybe there’s even a celebrity who shares that same name…and you can’t stand them either. Now open your eyes. That person isn’t standing in front of you.They aren’t texting you.They aren’t calling you. But they still live somewhere inside your story. And this week’s guest knows exactly what that feels like. 👣 GUEST INTRODUCTION Brooke Van Doren knows what it feels like when betrayal detonates your world overnight. After discovering her husband’s affair, Brooke found herself spiraling through heartbreak, confusion, anger, and childhood wounds she didn’t even realize were still shaping her life. Therapy became more than survival. It became a mirror. A place where she was forced to confront trauma, grief, behavioral patterns, accountability, and the parts of herself she had spent years trying to outrun. Now a therapist-in-training, speaker, author, and founder of Messy Healing, Brooke helps others navigate betrayal, anxiety, emotional overwhelm, and healing without shame or judgment. Because healing isn’t neat.It isn’t polished.And it definitely isn’t linear. Sometimes the mess is exactly where the truth begins. ✏️ IN THIS EPISODE 💔 Can a marriage survive infidelity? 🧠 How imagination can become its own form of torture 🪞 The painful connection between betrayal and childhood wounds 🌱 Why healing starts with radical honesty 📓 How journaling became part of Brooke’s recovery process 😔 The emotional weight of feeling “unloveable” ❤️ What forgiveness actually looks like in real life 👣 Learning how to sit with pain instead of running from it ❓TAKE AWAY... Could you heal after discovering your spouse was unfaithful? What would you do if you found photos of your spouse with someone else? How often does your imagination make the pain worse? Is there something you could never forgive in a marriage? 🌿 MESSY HEALING Through her platform “Messy Healing,” Brooke creates tools and conversations centered around emotional healing, therapy, accountability, nervous system regulation, and self-awareness. Her Therapy Companion Journals were created from her own personal need to process emotions between therapy sessions — helping people identify triggers, emotional patterns, anxiety responses, and ways to better communicate and care for themselves. Brooke believes healing continues outside the therapist’s office…and sometimes writing things down helps us finally connect the dots. 🔗 CONNECT WITH BROOKE 🌐 Website: Messy Healing📸 Instagram: @messyhealing 👟 OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES 📸 Instagram 👍 Facebook 🐦 X (Twitter) ▶️ YouTube 🌐 Website ⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW If this episode challenged you, made you uncomfortable, or helped you feel a little less alone… Please share it. And if Other People’s Shoes has impacted you in some way, consider leaving a review. Your words help more people step into stories that might change the way they see others… and themselves.
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Outside
May 2000:38:26Tap to summarize🎙 OUTSIDE THE LIST We all carry one. A list of moments.A list of people.A list of choices we wish we could undo. Sometimes forgiveness isn’t just about what was done to us…sometimes it’s about facing the damage we caused ourselves. 👣 GUEST INTRODUCTION Matthew Sisneros shares a story marked by consequences, regret, and the long road toward accountability. In this episode of Other People’s Shoes, we step outside the headlines and into the human story behind a life-altering decision connected to an armed robbery in Buffalo, Minnesota. What happens after the headlines fade? What does remorse really look like when the dust settles and you’re left alone with your choices? And can someone ever truly find redemption after becoming known for the worst thing they’ve ever done? This conversation is raw, honest, and deeply reflective as we talk about guilt, shame, accountability, forgiveness, and the difficult process of rebuilding a life from the outside looking in. 📝 FACTS ABOUT THE CASE During this episode, we discuss the events surrounding an armed robbery that took place on April 24, 2013, at McDonald’s in Buffalo, Minnesota. According to federal court records: Matthew Sisneros later pleaded guilty in federal court connected to the robbery. Approximately $3,466 was taken from the restaurant. Employees were threatened with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun during the incident. 🎧 EPISODE TAKEAWAYS One decision can change everything. Shame grows in isolation. Accountability is painful… but necessary. Forgiveness does not erase consequences. Redemption starts when honesty replaces hiding. 👟 OPS Links Instagram Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube Website ⭐ LEAVE US A REVIEW If this episode challenged you, moved you, or made you think differently about forgiveness and redemption, please consider leaving a review. Your support helps more people step into the stories of others… one pair of shoes at a time.
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Staircase
May 1300:43:31Tap to summarize⚠️ CONTENT WARNING This episode contains discussions surrounding suicide, trauma, grief, and emotional loss that may be difficult for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is struggling, please know you are not alone. In the United States and Canada, help is available by calling or texting 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. There is hope. There is help. And your story is not over. 🎙 STAIRCASE THE LIST We all wish forgiveness happened in a moment. One apology. One prayer. One decision… and suddenly the pain disappears. But forgiveness usually doesn’t work like that. It’s more like climbing a staircase. One step forward. One hard conversation. One choice to let go… even when part of you still wants to hold on. Some days you feel like you’re making progress. Other days you feel stuck on the same step you’ve been standing on for years. Because forgiveness isn’t easy. Especially when the wounds run deep. Sometimes the wounds come from betrayal. Sometimes from loss. Sometimes from tragedy so heavy it changes everything that comes after it. This season, we’re stepping into stories about the list the people, the moments, and the pain we carry and what it really looks like to begin crossing names off one step at a time. 👣 GUEST INTRODUCTION Heather Mylan-Mains knows forgiveness is not a straight line. It’s a climb. A process built one painful, intentional step at a time. Heather often says she has a “PhD in life,” because she’s survived more hard days than she can count. Through family fractures, heartbreak, loss, and unimaginable tragedy, she discovered something life-changing: We are not defined by what happens to us… but by how we choose to respond. In this deeply honest conversation, Heather shares about surviving the trauma of her husband taking his own life by shooting himself in the head a moment that forever altered the course of her story and forced her to wrestle with grief, pain, anger, questions, and ultimately forgiveness. Rather than allowing bitterness to define her, Heather chose to begin the difficult climb toward healing. Her journey eventually led her to create a seven-step forgiveness framework rooted in faith, healing, mercy, and grace through Jesus Christ’s atonement. In this episode, Heather shares how forgiveness transformed her relationships, her outlook, and even the way she sees suffering itself. She’s the author of Unwrapping Forgiveness: The Gift of Mercy and Grace, where she openly shares her story and the lessons she learned while learning to forgive. Professionally, Heather helps organizations and teams solve complex problems with a background in accounting and an MBA but her deepest work may be helping people untangle the weight unforgiveness leaves behind. From Des Moines, Heather lives with contagious gratitude, unwavering optimism, and a belief that even the hardest moments can still become opportunities for healing. 💭 INSIGHT TO TAKE AWAY How tightly are you still holding onto unforgiveness? Is there someone whose name still lives on your list? What if forgiveness isn’t about giving control back to the person who hurt you… but finally releasing their control over you? Are you willing to make amends if the opportunity came? And what role does grace play in learning to let go? Sometimes healing doesn’t happen all at once. Sometimes it looks like a staircase. One step at a time. 🌐 CONNECT Website: Heather Mylan-Mains Official Website Instagram: @mylanmains Book: Unwrapping Forgiveness: The Gift of Mercy and Grace 👟 OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES Instagram 👟 Facebook 👟 X (Twitter) 👟 YouTube 👟 Website 👟 ⭐ LEAVE US A REVIEW If this episode challenged you, encouraged you, or helped you rethink forgiveness… don’t keep it to yourself. Leave a Review 👟
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