Alana Springsteen: Learning You Don't Have to Earn Love

Alana Springsteen: Learning You Don't Have to Earn Love

What if the songs you've been writing were actually thetherapy you desperately needed? What if the version of you that felt like the black sheep your whole life was the one who would help the rest of us feel less alone?   Alana Springsteen has been performing since before she knewwhat performing cost her. She signed her first publishing deal at 14, earned a gold record before she turned 25, CMT's Next Women of Country, and has shared stages with Keith Urban and Tyler Hubbard — all while quietly carrying a version of herself she hadn't yet figured out how to put down. Her sophomorealbum, I Hope This Helps, is the result of what happened when she stopped grinding and started digging. Miles and Alana go deep into the fear woven into her faith,the people-pleasing that had her questioning “why,” the EMDR session that surfaced a memory from four years old, and the eating disorder she kept hidden until she was finally ready to let her mom in. This is a conversation about what it costs to become who you were always meant to be and the honesty aboutthe journey to get there.   In this conversation, you'll learn: * How to Tell the Difference Between Faith and Fear * How Performing for Love Slowly Erodes Your Identity * How to Use Curiosity as a Tool for Deconstruction * How People-Pleasing Becomes a Mask You Can't Take Off * How to Pick Up the Mirror Instead of the Microscope * How EMDR Unlocks Childhood Memories Still Running Your Adult Life * How to Recognize When Validation Has Become a Drug * How to Write Your Way Through Seasons That Would Otherwise Break You * How to Let Your Parents See Who You Actually Are * How to Stop Waiting for Permission to Love Yourself   The conversations we have on Human School are shaped by the work happening every day at Onsite. For more than 45 years, Onsite has helped people slow down, get honest about their stories, and experience meaningful change through world-class therapeutic experiences. Learn more at experienceonsite.com [https://hubs.la/Q04kcNwQ0].   Follow Human School: YouTube - Human School Podcast [https://hubs.la/Q04kcP650] Instagram - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04kcPtP0] Threads - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04kcPKr0] TikTok - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04kcQ4C0] What We Discuss: 00:00:00 – Meet Alana Springsteen 00:04:39 – The Two Years That Reshaped Everything 00:08:02 – Growing Up in Small Town Virginia 00:12:16 – The Gift and the Burden of a Religious Upbringing 00:18:57 – Moving to Nashville at 14 00:20:11 – Learning to See Your Parents as Human 00:21:17 – Advice for those Questioning Faith 00:23:27 – The Story Behind "Same God" 00:29:57 – Learning to Trust Your Own Inner Voice 00:31:48 – Wearing So Many Masks You Forget Your Own Face 00:36:52 – Being Public Before You Know Yourself 00:41:02 – Rick Rubin’s Influence on Creating Art 00:45:42 – Learning to Love Yourself Without Conditions 00:48:56 – EMDR Therapy and What It Surfaced 00:51:49 – Picking Up the Mirror Instead of the Microscope 00:56:52 – The Story Behind "Note to Self" 01:00:13 – “It's Never Too Late to Have a Happy Childhood.” 01:00:58 – Affirmations from Alana

Skylar Grey: The Courage to Be Yourself

Have you ever felt like becoming quieter was the only way to survive being too much? What if the chaos you chased and the life you almost missed were both pointing you home?   Skylar Grey is a five-time Grammy-nominated artist, SpotifyBillions Club member, and one of the most distinctive voices of the last two decades. Known for her work with Eminem and Dr. Dre, she sits down with Miles Adcox to talk about the parts of her story the highlight reel never shows: a 1,500-person Wisconsin town, being told she was too much, a friendship breakup she never forgot, and a teacher who said music wasn't a career — the last day she went back to class.   Skylar opens up about retreating to an Oregon cabin afterher record deal fell apart, how that silence gave her "Love the Way You Lie," and the fears that kept her shrinking even as the world grew louder. She shares what it took to believe she deserved real love, why she's letting the wild little girl back out, and how Wasted Potential became a story she wrote for herself — one that might save someone else.   In this conversation, you'll learn: * How childhood fractures quietly shape your adult life * How being "too much" can become what makes youunforgettable * How to find yourself after the world trains it out of you * How to tell the difference between influence and inspiration * How burnout signals you've drifted from your own voice * How fear of criticism shrinks your art and your life * How to know when you've earned the right to want what you want * How polarizing art finds the people who need it most * How to write through darkness without forcing a resolution * How to build a life that makes the work worth doing   The conversations we have on Human School are shaped by the work happening every day at Onsite. For more than 45 years, Onsite has helped people slow down, get honest about their stories, and experience meaningful change through world-class therapeutic experiences. Learn more at experienceonsite.com [https://hubs.la/Q04jfC_l0].   Follow Human School: YouTube - Human School Podcast [https://hubs.la/Q04jfDxt0] Instagram - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04jfJvp0] Threads - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04jfJBF0] TikTok - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04jfK6v0]   What We Discuss: 00:00:00 – Meet Skylar Grey 00:02:19 – What it feels like to be truly seen 00:04:25 – Turning 40 and why now was the time to tell her story 00:06:49 – Growing up in a small town 00:10:48 – The childhood fractures that still live in her 00:13:50 – Carrying the past into the music industry 00:19:12 – A Celtic harpist mom and a barbershop quartet dad 00:21:36 – "Generations" – the duo that started her career 00:24:11 – Going solo at 12 and buying her first piano 00:27:18 – Influenced vs. inspired 00:34:24 – Tunnel vision work ethics 00:41:30 – The teacher who said "music isn't a career" 00:44:16 – Running off stage in tears & what the crowdfelt in it 00:47:09 – Her message to those who feel like they don't belong 00:51:29 – The grocery store pick-up line & dream partner 00:54:03 – "Love the Way You Lie" Origin Story 01:05:11 – How Eminem's "Stan" changed everything 01:11:53 – What setbacks taught her 01:14:16 – The burnout she didn't see coming 01:16:18 – Why success scared her & fear held her back 01:28:16 – "Bubble Grunge" Era 01:33:54 – The story behind "Bruises" 01:37:06 – Her journey to the "That'll Be Fine" girl 01:38:48 – What the younger Skylar would think of all this 01:41:08 – Meet Time - the AI stuffed animal voiced by Skylar Grey

Tim Harris: Hugging the World Back Together

What if the most powerful thing you could offer the world wasn't your résumé or achievements, but simply your presence and a hug?   Tim Harris is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, Special Olympics athlete, author of The Book of Hugs, host of the Big Heart Talks with Tim podcast, and founder of Tim's Big Heart Foundation. Raised in Albuquerque, Tim built a life around one belief: love, kindness, and connection can change everything. He ran Tim's Place: Breakfast, Lunch & Hugs, greeting every guest at the front door — all while living with Down syndrome, not in spite of who he is, but because of it.   In this conversation, Tim shares about his seven steps to an awesome life, what he told a worried father whose baby would be born with Down syndrome, and why hugs are the best medicine in the world. Miles and Tim talk about their love of country music and feature a special performance of a country classic. These new best friends cover it all before Tim’s 5 o’clock flight home.   In this conversation, you'll learn: * How to be the light instead of complaining about the darkness * How to use your superpower to lift someone in their hardest moment * How to dream something and then do the work to make it real * How friendship becomes the foundation for everything worth building * How to lead with love in every room you walk into * How kindness attracts more kindness back into your life * How to grieve loss while still showing up for the world * How asking first makes connection stronger * How to recognize the gift in people that the world underestimates * How to love someone for a thousand years, starting today   Human School is powered by the work happening at Onsite, a place where people step out of their normal rhythms to do deeper healing work in community. Learn more here. [https://hubs.la/Q04hzJPk0]   Follow Human School: YouTube - Human School Podcast [https://hubs.la/Q04hzJQ70] Instagram - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04hzK4d0] Threads - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04hzK180] TikTok - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04hzKfy0]   More from Tim:Book Tim to Speak in your Community [https://timsbigheart.org/work-with-tim] Listen to Tim's Podcast [Listen to Tim's Podcast] Follow Tim on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/timsbigheart]   What We Discuss: 00:00:00 – Meet Tim Harris 00:03:02 – Country music fan since 13: Garth Brooks, Josh Turner & the deep cuts 00:05:20 – Nashville coffee taste test 00:10:39 – Tim's Big Heart Foundation 00:13:42 – "Oh, yeah": the trademark and how his dad gave him the hype 00:14:25 – Tim’s 7 steps to an awesome life 00:16:05 – Tim's Place: Breakfast, Lunch & Hugs 00:21:36 – Special Olympics USA Games Athlete: representing New Mexico 00:26:55 – The Book of Hugs: monkeys, bananas, and the world's biggest softie 00:30:21 – "Hugs are the best medicine to heal the world" 00:39:25 – Grief and the friend who gave his book away before he passed 00:43:14 – Speed dating, proposals, and dreaming about love 00:44:57 – A special performance from Tim & Miles 00:51:09 – Meeting Reba McEntire on the job 01:02:28 – World Down Syndrome Day and Tim Tebow's Night to Shine 01:13:41 – Emcee at the World Games & Hugging the Obamas 01:18:21 – "We should love each other for a thousand years" 01:19:03 - Tim makes Miles his new best friend — officially 01:21:33 - Tim McGraw reached out about "Humble and Kind" 01:23:01 - Nashville boots, cowboy hat, and a human school gift

Mary Bellofatto: What Happens When People Feel Truly Seen

Have you ever met someone who spent 50 years healing others and somehow became more human with every one of those years? What would it mean to stop hiding behind your busyness, your title, or your phone, and let someone actually see you?   Mary Bellofatto is a pioneer in mental health who has spent five decades walking the hardest terrain human experience offers — trauma, disordered eating, addiction, grief, and couples work. With deep mastery in psychodrama, she has brought healing to therapy rooms across the world. At 81, she still wakes up excited, tears up at the thought of never retiring, and gets out of Ubers last because someone needs to finish their story.   In this conversation, Mary opens up about what it means to be a catalyst without burning out, why loneliness is cured by learning to be alone, and how shame shields the grief we won't feel. She shares the moment a young man in Uganda said, "I'm just a boy," and freed himself from years of soldiers' shame. Miles and Mary go deep into disordered eating, including what she said in a bathroom that finally unlocked the real story underneath. Eighty years of hard-won wisdom, delivered with Arkansas common sense and lack of clinical jargon.   In this conversation, you'll learn: * How to Be a Catalyst Without Losing Yourself * How Loneliness Can Be Cured by Learning to Be Alone * How Shame Functions as a Shield for Unprocessed Grief * How to Widen Your Definition of Grief Beyond Loss * How the Stories We Tell Ourselves Build a Lifetime Around a Lie * How Psychodrama Unlocks What Talk Therapy Can't Reach * How to Hold Space Without Trying to Fix Anyone * How to Recognize When Busyness Is a Medicator * How Disordered Eating Is Really About Dignity * How to Live Your Legacy Right Now — Not Someday   Human School is powered by the work happening at Onsite, a place where people step out of their normal rhythms to do deeper healing work in community. Learn more at ⁠⁠experienceonsite.com⁠ [https://hubs.la/Q04gSYlk0]. Learn more about the Pastor's Living Centered Program through The Onsite Foundation at theonsitefoundation.org [https://www.theonsitefoundation.org/pastors-living-centered]. Follow Human School: YouTube - Human School Podcast [https://hubs.la/Q04gSZ6q0] Instagram - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04gSZhg0] Threads - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04gSZLS0] TikTok - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04gS_2b0]   What We Discuss: 00:00:00 - Meet Mary Bellofatto 00:04:31 - The Currency of Miracles 00:05:55 - How to Hold Space Without Fixing Anyone 00:09:37 - Wounded in Relationship, Healed in Relationship 00:09:10 - The Airport Wave That Said Everything 00:10:54 - Tears Are Actually Talking 00:12:30 - Why Strangers Always Pour Their Stories Out to Her 00:13:53 - Hugging Your Uber Drivers 00:20:04 - What We Miss When We Hide Behind Technology 00:21:52 - Grief in the Coffee Aisle 00:23:22 - What Hurry Is Really Running From 00:25:19 - Loneliness and the Courage to Be Alone 00:26:44 - Shame Is the Shield 00:29:57 - The Many Faces of Grief 00:32:11 A - Country That Stopped Grieving 00:40:18 - Does Kindness Still Work? 00:43:06 - Trauma Is… 00:44:18 - The Stories We Tell Ourselves vs What We Hear 00:48:32 - How Mary Walks into a Room Full of Strangers 00:52:11 14 - Years of Monthly Psychodrama Training 01:00:38 - The Child Soldiers of Uganda 01:03:37 - Rwanda After the Genocide 01:05:02 - The Brain When People Move Their Bodies 01:13:44 - Wisdom from 53 Years of Marriage 01:22:27 - Disordered Eating Is Not Like Any Other Addiction 01:35:58 - Mary Doubles for Miles Live, On Air 01:41:19 - Legacy is the Now 01:48:22 - Words to the World Right Now 01:54:04 - Pastor’s Living Centered Program at Onsite 01:55:08 - Five Grammy Moments from Mile’s North Star

Thomas Rhett: The Pressure to Get It "Right"

Have you ever stood in the middle of a life that looks great on paper and still felt like you were failing the people right in front of you? What if being hard on yourself isn't humility?  It's just the long way around to never believing you're enough? And what happens when the same obsessive drive that makes you world-class at your craft is the exact thing that makes it hard to just sit down and watch your kid eat cereal slowly?   Miles sits down with his longtime friend for one of the most honest and wide-open episodes yet. Thomas Rhett brings all of himself — the songwriter who goes all in on everything he loves, the dad of five learning to trade productivity for presence, and the man doing the real work to make sure who his family experiences every day is the same person the world admires from a distance. This one is full of laughter, hard-won wisdom, and the kind of honesty that only happens between two people who genuinely trust each other.   This conversation is about the guy who flips on the bedroom lights at 6:30 AM, trying to get five kids out the door, and wonders on the drive home if he loved them well at all that morning. The man who told a new friend upfront, "I'm not a good friend" — and actually believed it. The songwriter who can make strangers cry but struggles to list three ways he was showing up for his own kids. Miles and Thomas Rhett go deep into what it actually looks like to chase congruence, to be as present and real inside your home as you are when the world is watching.   Thomas Rhett shares what his first trip to Onsite taught him about letting go, how a simple question from his counselor cracked something open about the way he sees himself as a father, why he's writing his most intentional album yet, and what he hopes his kids say about him long after the number ones stop counting.   In this conversation, you'll learn: * How to Stop Measuring Your Worth by Rooms That Aren't Full * How to Ask the Question: "How Do I Know I'm a Great Father?" * How to Parent Five Kids Completely Differently Without Losing Your Mind * How to Shed Your Stage Persona the Moment You Walk Through Your Front Door * How to Redefine Success So You Can Actually Sleep at Night * How to Have the Friendship You Want Instead of the One You've Labeled Yourself With * How to Live Like You Know You're Going to Die - Ecclesiastes edition * How to Stop Fixing and Start Being Present in the Mess * How to Give Yourself the Dugout Grace Every Parent Desperately Needs * How to Use Your Obsessive Nature as a Superpower Instead of a Trap   Human School is powered by the work happening at Onsite, a place where people step out of their normal rhythms to do deeper healing work in community. Learn more: ⁠experienceonsite.com⁠ [https://hubs.la/Q04fGT2q0]. Follow Human School: YouTube - Human School Podcast [https://hubs.la/Q04fGTsb0] Instagram - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04fGTHg0] Threads - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04fGT-00] TikTok - @humanschoolofficial [https://hubs.la/Q04fGV5X0]   Chapters: 00:00:00 – Meet Thomas Rhett Akins 00:03:18 – Trucks, Gear & Going All In 00:07:54 – Soundtrack of the Masters: A Career Highlight 00:09:29 – Golf is a Metaphor for Life 00:17:44 – Tiger Wood’s & Nick Saben’s Life Advice 00:22:01 – The 6:30 AM Spiral with Five Kids 00:24:17 – Wisdom from John Maxwell & Worst-Case Scenarios 00:28:19 – The Question That Started This Friendship 00:30:14 – What Raising Four Daughters is Teaching Him 00:35:49 – The Discipline of Being Present 00:41:23 – Work-Life Balance Is a Myth 00:42:37 – "They Just Need to See Your Eyes" 00:47:10 – What Breaks His Heart Most as a Dad 00:52:07 – "How Do You Know You're a Great Father?" 00:54:10 – The Coach’s Influence Still Impacting Him 00:55:14 – Showing Up in Friendships 00:58:01 – The Round Table & A, B & C Friendships 01:04:10 – Answering the “Great Father” Question 01:20:30 – Ecclesiastes & Living Like You're Going to Die 01:37:44 – Redefining What a “Hit” Actually Means 01:43:32 – Onsite & The Rock in the River 01:47:52 – 36-Year-Old TR Would Tell 25-Year-Old TR 01:52:49 – What He Hopes His Kids Will Remember