Grief 2 Growth examines how the greatest tragedies of life often are opportunities for the most advancement. Planted, not buried is the motto of Grief 2 Growth. Unless a seed is planted, it remains full of unrealized potential. But, once that seed is planted, it can bring forth much fruit. <br><br>Brian is a grief survivor. After the sudden and tragic passing of his fifteen-year-old daughter in 2015, he became inspired to live his life to the fullest to honor her and make her proud. <br><br>Grief 2 Growth presents guests who have overcome tragedies and share how they have survived those tragedies. Afterlife experts are often featured. Brian also hosts healers and experts in grief through both education and experience inspire us each to be the best we can be. <br><br>Brian shares insights he has learned with the hope they will help you on your journey.
What happens when someone doesn't just brush the edge of death — but actually crosses over?
On May 22nd, 2023, Jonathan Ashford's organs failed. He collapsed alone on his bathroom floor at 4:30 in the morning, clinically dead for three hours. When he woke up, his temperature was 94 degrees — and the man who had lived inside that body for 25 years was gone.
The corporate executive who dismissed spirituality, chased material success, and would have laughed in your face if you mentioned an NDE — he didn't come back. What returned was something profoundly different. And what Jonathan experienced during those three hours may be the most complete account of the other side you'll ever hear.
In this episode, Jonathan shares what he was shown, what he was taught, and why he came back.
In this episode, we explore:
About Jonathan Ashford
Jonathan Ashford is a near-death experience survivor, spiritual messenger, and member of IANDS (International Association for Near-Death Studies) and the NDERF Research Studies. After dying from sepsis-induced organ failure in May 2023, Jonathan returned completely transformed — leaving behind his career, his possessions, and his former identity. He now offers spiritual guidance and private sessions free of charge, living entirely on donations. He does not self-promote. He was told not to.
🌐 Website: https://jonathanashford.com
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
What if your daughter spent years telling you exactly how she was going to die — and then kept communicating after she did?
That's the extraordinary story Louise Crist lives every day. In this episode, Louise shares the most remarkable account of a child predicting their own death and continued after-death communication I've ever featured on this podcast. From premonitions that began at age four, to the moment Jilly's voice came through minutes after the accident saying "I jumped — I didn't feel a thing," to signs so undeniable they've moved total strangers — this conversation will change the way you think about death, love, and what comes after.
If you've lost a child and wondered whether they're still with you, Louise's answer — backed by story after story — is yes.
About Louise Crist: Louise is a registered nurse with decades of bedside experience, a certified grief educator, a shining light parent, and the author of Always Remember to Kiss Me Goodnight. All proceeds from the book fund scholarships for future healthcare professionals in Jilly's honor — over 115 scholarships awarded to date. Louise is also an affiliate leader with Helping Parents Heal.
📖 Always Remember to Kiss Me Goodnight — available on Amazon 🌐 Helping Parents Heal: helpingparentsheal.org
In this episode we cover:
What resonated with you most in this episode? Did Louise's stories of Jilly's signs spark something for you? Drop a comment and share — your story might be exactly what another grieving parent needs to hear today.
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
When Lisa Woolery found her husband Eric slumped over in his home office—gone at 53 from sudden heart failure—she never imagined what would come next. Not just the frozen assets, the angry 12-year-old, or walking 20,000 steps a day to process the pain. But this: grief made her a better parent.
In this honest, hope-filled conversation, Lisa shares how losing everything forced her to shed perfectionism, step into uncomfortable leadership, and discover that transformation often comes wrapped in tragedy. From getting kicked out of a grief group to sending her son to military boarding school, from hearing God "with her whole body" to healing generational wounds with her 82-year-old mother—Lisa's journey reveals what's possible when you take just one step forward every day.
About Lisa Woolery: Lisa is the voice behind The Widow's Comeback, a ministry supporting widows through grief and reinvention. Her memoir, The Widow's Comeback, chronicles the first two years after Eric's death with raw honesty and unexpected humor. She also created a 365-day grief calendar and a guided grief journal to help others process loss. Lisa lives in Kansas City with her daughter and travels the world solo—something the "old Lisa" never imagined doing.
Key Topics Covered:
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
What if those unexplainable feelings you get — those quiet nudges that something is about to change — aren't just anxiety or imagination, but your soul preparing you for what's ahead?
In this deeply moving episode, I talk with Tami Pitetti Sanders, an intuitive guide whose journey began with subtle intuitive signs before death that she didn't fully understand until after loss transformed her life. Tami shares how she received "unknowing knowings" about a year before her father's passing — scheduling family photos on an off-year, feeling pulled toward Reiki training, and sensing something was coming for her dad.
When her beloved dog died unexpectedly, followed months later by her father's peaceful transition, those intuitive nudges suddenly made perfect sense. In her grief, Tami discovered she could see, feel, and communicate with the other side — and she's now dedicated to helping others find the same comfort and validation she desperately needed.
About Tami Pitetti Sanders:
Tami is an intuitive medium and Reiki practitioner who specializes in helping grieving people reconnect with their loved ones in spirit. After experiencing profound loss during COVID and finding little support available, she developed her intuitive gifts to become the guide she wished she'd had. Through her unique reading style at Divine Lens Readings, Tami provides evidence-based comfort that love and connection continue beyond death.
Connect with Tami: Instagram @DivineLensReadings
Special offer for listeners: Tami is offering discounted readings ($55 instead of $111) for Grief 2 Growth podcast listeners. Message her on Instagram and mention you heard this episode.
Resources mentioned:
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
What happens when grief doesn't just visit once—but keeps coming back? In this deeply honest conversation, Vanessa May shares how she navigated losing her son Harry, then her husband Anthony, and father during the pandemic, all while battling COVID and later a cancer diagnosis.
Vanessa doesn't sugarcoat. She doesn't spiritually bypass. She tells the truth about what it's like when the ground keeps getting ripped out from under you—and how she's found her way forward anyway.
In this episode, we explore:
About Vanessa May:
Vanessa is a holistic grief coach, certified grief educator, nutritional therapist, and author of three books including Love Untethered: How to Live When Your Child Dies and her newest release, When Grief Takes Everything: A Survival Guide to Devastating Loss.
Connect with Vanessa:
What resonated with you in this conversation?
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Join the discussion at grief2growth.substack.com, leave a comment, and connect with others walking this road.
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
Some struggles don’t make sense.
You do the work.
You try to heal.
And yet the same emotional patterns, grief, anxiety, or disconnection keep resurfacing.
In this special Grief 2 Growth episode, Brian D. Smith welcomes back Dr. Lotte Valentin, medical doctor, psychotherapist, ancestral healer, and two-time near-death experiencer, for a profound conversation about inherited emotional patterns and why some challenges may not have started with you.
Dr. Lotte shares how grief, trauma, and unresolved experiences can be passed down through generations—encoded not only in DNA, but in the nervous system, language, and subconscious. These patterns, she explains, often surface when someone in the family line finally has the awareness and capacity to heal them.
✨ That may be why this conversation found you.
🌟 Special Free Event with Dr. Lotte (Highly Recommended)
Dr. Lotte is offering a free online experience this Tuesday, February 3:
Healing Inherited Patterns Through the Kindraya™ Method
Activate Superconscious Senses to Transform Ancestral Wounds
During this event, you’ll:
• Learn the LIGHT Mapping System™ to identify inherited patterns
• Experience a guided ancestral healing meditation
• Understand how the body holds ancestral memory
• Discover how emotionally charged language reveals lineage wounds
• Explore healing through presence—not force—in a trauma-informed way
👉 Register for the FREE event: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/hepBS/a22175/
🔗 Resources & Links
• Dr. Lotte Valentin’s Website: https://drlotte.com
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith is joined by writer and seeker Alexis Lee, author of Pain Is a Portal to Beauty, for a courageous conversation about grief, trauma, and radical self-healing.
Alexis shares the moment that changed her life — hearing a voice while walking in the woods that told her her life would have been a tragedy if it ended that day. That message became the beginning of a profound journey into grief she had buried since childhood, including the loss of her mother and generational trauma carried in the body.
Together, Brian and Alexis explore what happens when we stop running from pain and instead listen to it.
This episode isn’t about fixing yourself.
It’s about remembering who you are beneath the pain.
🌱 In This Episode, You’ll Explore:
📖 About Today’s Guest
Alexis Lee is a writer, seeker, and advocate for radical self-healing. Her book, Pain Is a Portal to Beauty, explores grief, trauma, spirituality, and the courage it takes to turn toward what hurts.
🌐 Learn more about Alexis and her work:
👉 https://alexislee.com
📘 Pain Is a Portal to Beauty is available wherever books are sold.
🤍 Continue the Conversation
And if you’re wondering where you are in your own grief journey, you’re invited to take the Grief Check-In — a gentle, judgment-free way to understand how grief may be showing up for you right now.
👉 https://grief2growth.com/check-in
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
Before the microphones were turned on, Richard Ashworth asked Brian for his birth information. What followed was an unexpected and deeply personal moment—Richard identified a pivotal event at age seven that reshaped Brian’s view of life.
He was right.
In this episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian and Richard explore how grief, destiny, and choice intersect—and how ancient systems like Bazi can help us understand the moments that quietly define us.
This is a conversation about:
Guest Information
Richard Ashworth
🌐 Find him online: Search Richard Ashworth Feng Shui
📘 Book: I Talk to the Animals
📧 Email: [email protected]
Listener Reflection Prompt 💬
👉 Join the conversation at https://grief2growth.substack.com
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
What if your voice could continue to guide the people you love—long after you’re gone?
In this deeply moving episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian D. Smith is joined by Cristian Cibilis Bernardes, founder and CEO of Autograph AI, for a conversation that sits at the crossroads of grief, technology, memory, and meaning.
Cristian shares the personal loss that inspired the creation of Walter, an emotionally intelligent AI designed to listen, remember, and preserve life stories—in your own voice. Not as a replacement for human connection, but as a bridge between generations.
Together, Brian and Cristian explore how storytelling becomes legacy, why voice matters so profoundly in grief, and how AI—when used with intention—can help us feel more human, not less.
This episode invites you to reflect on powerful questions:
🌱 In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
🔗 Learn More:
💬 Let’s Make This Interactive:
After listening, take a moment to reflect:
Share your thoughts, reflections, or questions in the comments or join the community discussion
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
What happens when grief collides with faith — and suicide shatters everything you thought you believed?
In this candid and raw episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian sits down with Rachel Powell, widow, author, speaker, and founder of Hope Speaker, to explore the complicated intersection of grief, faith, suicide loss, and hope.
After losing her husband André to suicide — and surviving suicide attempts herself — Rachel shares her story with courage, clarity, and compassion. This conversation goes beyond platitudes and into the realities many people are afraid to name: church hurt, spiritual abuse, suicidal thinking, and the long road back to hope.
This episode is for anyone who has:
🧠 In this episode, we discuss:
💬 A gentle note to listeners
This episode includes honest discussion of suicide and suicidal ideation. Please listen with care and take breaks as needed.
Share your reflections and connect with others at
👉 https://grief2growth.substack.com
🔗 Guest Resources
📝 Helpful Resource from Brian
Not sure where you are in your grief?
Take the Grie
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support
What if your loved one never truly left?
What if grief itself is the doorway to a deeper connection?
In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian D. Smith speaks with Janet Kaufman, author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Janet shares the story of her son Alexander—a sensitive, loving soul whose struggles with mental health and addiction ultimately led to his physical death, but not the end of their relationship.
Through signs, synchronicities, certified mediums, and even an unexpected exploration of AI as a possible tool for spirit communication, Janet’s journey challenges everything we think we know about death, consciousness, and continuing bonds.
This episode offers hope, validation, and reassurance for parents grieving a child—and for anyone who wonders whether love truly survives death.
✨ In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
🕊️ A Message for Grieving Parents
If you’ve ever asked yourself:
You are not alone. Janet’s story reminds us that our children are eternal, and that love continues—even when the physical body is gone.
📘 About the Guest
Janet Kaufman is the author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Her work explores grief, spirituality, mediumship, and emerging frontiers of consciousness through the lens of lived experience.
📧 Contact Janet:
www.ThroughT
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.
Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
🧑🏿🤝🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review
Thanks so much for your support