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Real Talk with Tina and Ann
Tina and Ann met as journalists covering a capital murder trial, 15 years ago. Tina has been a tv and radio personality and has three children. Ann has a master's in counseling and has worked in the jail system, was a director of a battered woman's shelter/rape crisis center, worked as an assistant director at a school for children with autism, worked with abused kids and is currently raising her three children who have autism. She also is autistic and was told would not graduate high school, but as you can see, she has accomplished so much more. The duo share their stories of overcoming and interview people who are making it, despite what has happened. This is more than just two moms sharing their lives. This is two women who have overcome some of life's hardest obstacles. Join us every Wednesday as we go through life's journey together. There is purpose in the pain and hope in the journey.
Episodes
186 episodes
Beside Every Struggle is a Gift: The Art of Neurodivergence
What if the very things we've been taught to hide are actually our greatest strengths?For so long, neurodivergence has been viewed through the lens of deficits, delays, and difficulties. But what if we looked at it differently? What if, ...
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The Sound of Freedom: A Family's Escape
A single sound can carry a whole country inside it. When author Anna Hebra Flaster talks about hearing a motorcycle, she’s not being poetic, she’s describing a trauma stamp from childhood, the moment her family learned they had permission to le...
One of the Greatest Tragedies in Life Is Not Failure. It's Quitting Before We Get to the Other Side.
What if the hard isn't a sign to quit?What if the resistance, the setbacks, the waiting, and the closed doors are actually preparing you for the very thing you've been praying for?After reading Adassa's memoir, Love Keeps Showing ...
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Adassa the Voice of Encanto: What if the Detour is the Path
Disney magic rarely shows you the part where the dream takes an unplanned detour. Our guest, Adassa, the Golden Globe, Oscar, and Grammy-winning artist who voiced Dolores in Disney’s Encanto, tells the full behind-the-scenes story: the 20-plus ...
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When Systems Fail
A Mother’s Day drive turns into a hit-and-run with a drunk driver, and we walk through the shock of trying to keep our kids calm while the help we expect never arrives. We connect that crash to a separate crisis where mental health funding coll...
The Strong Still Need Holding
Love that Stays: A Light That Remains.Not walking through the hardest of times alone.Listen to Tina share how her friend’s calling hours changed her.Listen to Ann share how a stranger at a Neurodivergent Conference reach...
Stop Shrinking Before Growth: it is Ok to be Seen
We talk honestly about why success can feel scarier than failure. We name the pattern of shrinking right before growth and remind ourselves that being seen is not selfish. • struggling with visibility even while hosting a growing podca...
Sextortion And Kids: A Calm Parent Response Can Save A Life
We talk honestly about sextortion, how quickly it escalates, and why shame keeps kids silent when they need support the most. We share practical, step-by-step guidance for parents who want awareness without panic and a home where kids come to u...
Finishing A Memoir And Finding Healing
We celebrate a personal milestone as Ann finishes her memoir and turns the writing process into hard-won lessons about trauma, neurodivergence, and self-compassion. We unpack how survival skills can masquerade as personality, and how healing st...
You don't have to be the Trauma that Raised You: An Interview with Author Lena Fein
A spotless house. A raging mother. A silent father. And a child who learns to survive by shutting down her own heart. We’re joined by Lena Fine, author of *Shattering the Mirror: One Woman’s Journey of Healing*, for a raw conversation about chi...
From Immigrant to 700 million dollar deal: Taking the road to discover self with Michael Yang
The internet didn’t arrive with fanfare for most people, but Michael Yang remembers the exact moment it became real: a friend opens the Mosaic browser, types a simple URL, and information appears from far away. That flash of possibility turns i...
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From Invisible Courage to Visible Success: The Michael Yang Story
A life can look “successful” from the outside and still be held together by courage you never see. We sit down with Michael Yang, author of *Coming Alive on the Ride*, to trace the real roots of his drive: family history shaped by Japanese occu...
Parenting Redefined: A Brain-Based Parenting Conversation with Dr. Kristen Cook
Your child throws the sandwich, melts down on the floor, and you can feel every set of eyes in the room. We know that moment, and we also know the shame spiral that comes right after it. Today we’re sitting with Dr. Kristen Cook, pediatrician, ...
Life is on the Other Side of Fear: From a Detention Center to a Golden Gloves Champion
A 12-year-old watching his grandfather die in the hallway doesn’t just lose a person, he loses direction. Our guest, professional boxer Ryizeemmion “Johnny” Ford, grew up in Ohio as one of eight kids raised by grandparents after pa...
When Your Past Is Waiting For You
A single trip back to Cuba turns into a confrontation with the one place Mario Cartaya never truly left: his own childhood. After 56 years away, he walks familiar streets, returns to his old school, and finds himself pulled toward a balcony whe...
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Returning to the Place that Made you: Identity and finding Lost Memories with Mario Cartaya
This week’s episode is one everyone needs to hear—a story of miracles, identity, and the kind of closure most people never expect to find.In his book Journey Back into the Vault: In Search of My Faded Cuban Childhood Footprints,...
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Raising Resilient Kids Begins with Regulated Parents with Clinical Psychologist Dr. Kate Lund
Today we’re talking about something every parent wants for their kids but often struggles to build in the middle of real life—resilience.We’re joined by clinical psychologist and author Kate Lund, whose work focuses on help...
What if Dementia isn't the end of Connection, but an Invitation to a Different Kind of Presence?
What if dementia isn’t the end of connection, but an invitation to a different kind of presence? We sit down with author and advocate Marilyn Raichle, whose book Don’t Walk Away, A Care Partner’s Journey chronicles how her mother’s unexpected p...
The Invisible Hard
What do you say when a five-year-old whispers, “Can someone take the disease out of grandma?” That tender question anchors a conversation about late-stage Alzheimer’s, new diagnoses for our kids, and the gritty, everyday work of loving people w...
Beyond the Diagnosis: Understanding the FASD Brain (Part 2)
We dig into the real-life supports that help neurodivergent brains thrive, from the hard science of FASD to daily tools for executive function, transitions, sensory needs, and affect regulation. RJ Formanek and Ann Kagarise share candid stories...
Brain Wiring, Not Character Flaws; Symptoms, not Bad Behavior with RJ Formanek
Ever watch someone recite the rules and still miss the first step? We dive into that gap with FASD advocate RJ Formanek to reveal what’s actually happening under the surface —and why replacing blame with understanding can change a life. We’re t...
Belonging Begins Before Permission: Nancy Shear Part 2 | Creativity, Mentorship, and Life Inside Music
The room changes when a true maestro enters—yet the most revealing stories often happen offstage. We sit down with Nancy Shear to explore the hidden lives behind classical music’s brightest names and the personal courage it takes to step throug...
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Diagnosis Day: Neurodivergent Parenting-A Segment of Real Talk with Tina and Ann
Today on Real Talk with Tina and Ann we are talking about neurodivergence and share a raw, practical look at “diagnosis day,” advocacy, and the tools that actually help our kids thrive. Nothing about our kids changed with labels; only our map d...
Belonging Begins Before Permission: Nancy Shear’s Story Inside the Mind of Music’s Greats
A teenage girl finds her way through the stage door and into the inner life of a great orchestra, learning how courage, craft and attention can open rooms that seem shut. Nancy Shear reflects on mentors, trauma, Stokowski’s charisma and the qui...
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Right On Time: Growth that Waits for Safety
What if you’re not behind at all—you’re right on time for a life that finally feels like yours? We dive into nonlinear living and redefine progress as capacity, not speed. Instead of chasing milestones and highlight reels, we talk about the qui...
