Immersing ourselves in a culture is exhilarating and can change our view of the world. What happens when you are an American marrying into a Chinese family? What could go wrong? Good Chinese Wife is a memoir that explores Susan Blumberg-Kason's life integrating into a Chinese family and her thrilling search for agency.

Connect with Susan

susanbkason.com

Good Chinese Wife

Learn more about the podcast at byjennifergriffith.com/podcasts

How do you turn your trauma into growth? I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Dave Sanderson, a leadership expert, motivational speaker, and one of the passengers on the flight that became the infamous Miracle on the Hudson event.

Listen in as Dave shares about his experience on the harrowing day, how his mother’s voice guided him, and how he turned a traumatic event into one of the best things to ever happen to him.

If you’re struggling with processing your own traumatic experiences, Dave’s advice will teach you how to process and reframe your emotions so you not only survive, but thrive.

Resources Mentioned

• Miracle on the Hudson
• Dave’s TED Talk: Bouncing Back: An Experience With Post-Traumatic Growth Syndrome
• Tony Robbins’ State Management
• The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan

Connect With the Guest

• Dave’s books, including From Turmoil to Triumph
• Dave’s Website

Is the foster care system in the US broken, or is it even worse than that? According to Rob Schreer, my guest in this episode of About Your Mother, the system is shattered and must be rebuilt.

A child enters foster care every two minutes, totaling around 700 children a day. Eighty percent of death row inmates were foster children, and only 54% of foster children graduate high school.

As a foster kid himself, Rob knows the system and its faults all too well. Listen in to learn about Rob’s story, how he turned pain into purpose through his nonprofit Comfort Cases, and the forever family he’s created with his husband and five kids.

Resources Mentioned

• Rob’s Viral Upworthy Video
• Rob’s Interview With Ellen DeGeneres
• Nelson Mandela Quote
• Educated by Tara Westover

Connect With the Guest

• Rob’s Book: A Forever Family
• Comfort Cases
• Rob’s Instagram

Ann Fessler's critically accompanied book, "The Girl Who Went Away," gives voice to the millions of women forced to surrender their babies in the decades before Roe v Wade. As an artist and a teacher, listening to Ann tell her story feels like you are walking into a lecture hall about to learn something new, and you are.

This episode originally aired in December of 2022.

Connect with Ann
Website
The Girls Who Went Away
A Girl Like Her

Learn more about the podcast at byjennifergriffith.com/category/podcast

This is the story of a mother who made the ultimate sacrifice for her and her daughter’s freedom. In this episode, I’m joined by Namratha Stanley, author of Vineyard Melody, and wine entrepreneur. Namratha shares about her own mother’s sacrifices and the example of unconditional love she set throughout her upbringing.

At age 24, Namratha married into an abusive family and lost her sense of self. Twelve years later, after a near-death situation, Namratha escaped with her daughter and started her life over. With the support of her entire family, she made the ultimate sacrifice to live without her daughter so she could establish a new life for them in France.

Listen in as Namratha shares the challenges of her journey to freedom, the contradictions of life in India for women, and how her family supported her throughout.

Resources Mentioned

• Gloria: In Her Own Words
• Pierce’s Pledge: Life After Tragic Loss With Lesley Hu

Connect with the Guest

• Namratha’s website
• Namratha’s book, Vineyard Melody

What happens when the places that are supposed to feel safest become the places that wound us most deeply?

In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie Maley to talk about her memoir, No Longer That Girl, and the extraordinary path she’s taken from childhood trauma to a life rooted in faith, resilience, love, and purpose.

Stephanie shares her journey through grooming, sexual abuse, illness, shame, abandonment, and family instability—and how she rebuilt her life with intention, honesty, and strength. We talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic resurfaced buried trauma, how the Me Too movement sparked long-suppressed grief, and how writing became a critical tool in her healing.

This is a deeply honest conversation about what it really takes to heal—and how to create a meaningful life on the other side of trauma.

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of trauma, grooming, and sexual assault.

🎙️ Listen to This Episode If You’re Wondering:

• How do you heal from childhood trauma?
• Why does trauma resurface years later?
• Can writing help process emotional pain?
• How do you move from victim to survivor—and beyond?
• What does healthy love look like after trauma?

Connect with Stephanie:

Website: stephmaley.com

Book: stephmaley.com/memoir

How do you discover your sense of belonging when your culture and background have been erased?

In this episode of About Your Mother, I’m joined by Brittany Penner, author of Children Like Us: A Métis Woman's Memoir of Family, Identity and Walking Herself Home. She shares her story of being adopted as an infant, the history of indigenous children being taken from their families in the Sixties Scoop, and her struggle with finding where she belongs.

Brittany also shares about her writing process, how writing her memoir changed her, and how she writes about traumatic experiences. You’ll love this honest conversation about rediscovering your roots and integrating each part of your identity into a whole person.

Resources Mentioned

• The Sixties Scoop
• Percentage of Indigenous Children in Foster Care in Manitoba
• 2021 Canadian Census Report
• Truth and Reconciliation Day

Connect with the Guest

• Brittany’s Book: Children Like Us