It Is What It Is

Turning Grief Into Love: Creating Space for Healing with Kelly Whalen

In this deeply personal episode of The Sticky Truth, Dave Tidler welcomes life coach and certified breathwork instructor Kelly Whalen for a conversation about grief, loss, and learning to stay open when life breaks your heart. Kelly shares how a series of profound personal losses transformed her understanding of healing. Rather than trying to move past grief, she discovered the power of moving with it through breathwork, presence, and self-compassion. Together, they discuss the hidden emotions that often accompany loss—guilt, shame, regret—and why creating space for those feelings can lead to unexpected gratitude and growth. This episode is for anyone who has lost someone they love, struggled to make sense of grief, or wondered if healing means letting go. Kelly offers a different perspective: grief isn't the opposite of love—it's proof that love mattered. Because sometimes the stickiest truths become the most beautiful parts of being human.

Crystal Young | Turning Pain Into Purpose

In Episode 4 of The Sticky Truth, Dave Tidler sits down with Crystal Young — mother, advocate, entrepreneur, and widow — for a powerful conversation about grief, resilience, healing, and purpose. Crystal shares her journey through unimaginable loss and how she transformed pain into advocacy and impact for others. This episode is an honest reminder that even in life's hardest moments, healing and hope are still possible.

Mental Health | Be Heard & Be Seen

In Episode 3 of The Sticky Truth, Dave Tidler sits down with Maria Winters for an honest conversation about mental health, emotional resilience, and what it really means to feel seen and heard. Maria shares her journey from Venezuela to the United States, the life experiences that shaped her path into therapy and coaching, and why so many people struggle to speak openly about pain, identity, and the stories they carry beneath the surface. Together, this episode explores how unspoken emotions can keep us stuck, why healing is often misunderstood, and how awareness—not perfection—is often the first step forward. This conversation is not about fixing yourself. It's about recognizing what you've been carrying, understanding what may be holding you back, and finding the courage to begin moving through it. A thoughtful episode for anyone navigating stress, transition, emotional fatigue, or simply trying to understand themselves a little better.

Aging | Resentment & the Forgotten Roadmap

In Episode 2 of The Sticky Truth, Samantha McDaniel joins the conversation to explore aging, resentment, and the quiet grief of realizing life didn't come with a roadmap. Together, we unpack the unspoken expectations we carry into midlife, how resentment builds when those expectations go unmet, and what it means to grieve the versions of ourselves we thought we'd become. This episode is an honest, compassionate look at growing older, letting go, and finding a new way forward when the path isn't clear.

It Is What It Is

In this deeply personal premiere episode of The Sticky Truth, host Dave Tidler sits down with longtime friend and author Maura McGee to unpack the meaning behind the phrase "It is what it is." What begins as a common expression of resignation becomes a profound exploration of grief, love, faith, family, and resilience. Through the story of Maura's late husband Dave McGee and their journey through illness, loss, and transformation, listeners are invited to confront life's hardest truths — and discover that acceptance is not surrender, but strength.