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Danielle Elliott Smith
Danielle Elliott Smith
  • The road through addiction and recovery is rarely straight — and for Jamie Felton, it’s been marked by both unimaginable loss and profound resilience. By age 24, Jamie had accumulated three DUIs and found herself walking home from a blackout at 3:30 AM. That was the breaking point that led her to seek help — and on November 7, 2006, she began a journey that has kept her sober for nearly 19 years.

    From Rock Bottom to Renewal: Jamie Felton on Sobriety, Loss, and Hope for Families

  • unexpected gifts? In this moving episode of Hope Comes to Visit, award-winning writer Maria de los Angeles shares how caring for her parents with Alzheimer’s taught her the very resilience, humility, and compassion she would later need to face her own esophageal cancer diagnosis.

    The Gifts Hidden in Life’s Hardest Seasons: Maria De Los Angeles on Caregiving, Cancer, and Midlife Transformation

  • Grief doesn’t end with goodbye. For many, it’s followed by a quiet, exhausting weight no one talks about — the paperwork, the phone calls, the endless “to-do’s” that come when your heart has already been broken. When Adria Ferrier lost her mother after a five-year battle with cancer, she not only faced the deep ache of missing her, but also the overwhelming burden of navigating the practical aftermath. From transferring accounts to hours on hold with companies that had no clear process, she found herself spending precious time and energy on logistics when all she wanted was space to grieve.

    A Ray of Light Through the Clouds: Adria Ferrier on Creating Elayne and Honoring Her Mother

  • “Hope has to evolve and change.” These powerful words shaped the extraordinary journey of Martha Sharkey, Founder & CEO of Today is a Good Day — a nonprofit creating a lifeline for families navigating the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

    One Day at a Time: Martha Sharkey on Hope, Loss, and Building “Today is a Good Day” – Episode 19

  • What would your life look like if you used every single second with intention? This week on Hope Comes to Visit, I’m joined by Donald L. Dowridge Jr., a man who embodies resilience, purpose, and what it truly means to live with hope.

    86,400 Seconds of Hope: Donald Dowridge Jr. on Choosing Purpose Every Day

  • Discover Valerie Rowekamp’s journey from medical crisis to reinvention. A story of hope, audacity, and transformation on Hope Comes to Visit.

    Trauma to Triumph: Valerie Rowekamp on Choosing Audacity and Becoming “Hope Personified”

  • What happens when life breaks open in every direction? For Aimee Kandrac, it all came crashing down in a six-week period — empty nesting, a cancer scare, the end of her 23-year marriage, and selling her dream home. But from that breaking point came something extraordinary: “Amy 2.0.” In this episode of Hope Comes to Visit, Aimee shares how she rebuilt her life with new boundaries, deeper self-knowledge, and a joy her own family and friends had never seen before. As CEO and co-founder of What Friends Do, Aimee also brings hard-won wisdom about how we show up for each other in times of crisis. Because when we let others in — when we accept help as much as we give it — we create the kind of connection that heals us all.

    Boundaries, Broken Places, and Being Mended with Gold – with Aimee Kandrac

  • “You were the most chosen.” These are the words Miranda Ward spoke to her son after he learned he was conceived through sexual assault. In this week’s episode of Hope Comes to Visit, Miranda shares her extraordinary journey from a moment of unthinkable violation to building a life defined by fierce love, protection, and healing.

    The Most Chosen: Miranda Ward on Love, Survival, and Rewriting the Narrative

  • What happens when you set out on an 86-mile journey with no athletic background, no clear “why,” and only three days to complete it? For Ian Hawkins — Speaking and Storytelling Coach at Netflix — the answer was far more than sore feet. In this conversation, Ian shares his whirlwind trek along the historic Pilgrim’s Way from London to Canterbury Cathedral — a pilgrimage that most take a week to complete, but he compressed into just 72 hours. Along the trail, blistered and battling rain, Ian unexpectedly found himself face-to-face with unprocessed grief over his father’s death and childhood trauma.

    72 Hours, 86 Miles, and a Lifetime of Lessons with Ian Hawkins

  • Grief shatters us in ways we never imagine possible until we're standing in its wreckage.  When Marty died suddenly, almost 2 years ago, on August 13, 2023, I found myself navigating the rawest form of pain while thousands of miles away in Greece with my children. The frantic journey home, the 17 days by his hospital bed, and the impossible decision to let him go fundamentally altered who I am.

    Broken Open: What Grief Teaches Us About Living

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