I Choose Happy With Marilyn

Ep45: Cancer Patient To Cancer Researcher: The Full-Circle Journey Of Jonah Rosas

This week, we're revisiting a conversation about what happens when survival becomes purpose—and how one life-changing diagnosis can shape the path forward. At 13, Jonah Rosas was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Overnight, life shifted from water polo and middle school routines to chemotherapy, hospitals, and the relentless uncertainty of cancer. In this episode of I Choose Happy, Jonah reflects on the resilience it took to keep moving forward, the humor and family support that carried him through, and the relief of finally being told he was “out of the woods.” Now, years later, he’s come full circle—pursuing a PhD in cancer research to help the very patients walking the path he once did. This is a story about survival, perspective, and choosing to transform hardship into purpose. ------ Connect with Marilyn and be a part of the conversation in the I Choose Happy private Facebook group. This is your safe space to share and be inspired. Please join today by clicking here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/730079836499519/]. ------ Find out more about Marilyn at marilyngetasbyrne.com. ------ I Choose Happy is made possible by The Comfy, a Shark Tank sensation whose wearable blankets make life happier. Find out for yourself with 20% off your first order with the code ichoosehappy at TheComfy.com.

Ep44: Losing A Child To Skin Cancer—And How To Protect Your Own Kids

As beach days, pool parties, and summer adventures begin, we're revisiting this important I Choose Happy conversation with Marianne Banister, whose daughter Claire's story changed the way many families think about pediatric melanoma and the importance of early detection. When her 14-year-old daughter Claire noticed a mole on her ankle changing, Marianne Banister never imagined it would be the start of a fight for her daughter’s life. Despite careful screenings, sunscreen, and doing “all the right things,” Claire was diagnosed with adolescent melanoma — an aggressive cancer most families don’t even know children can get. By 17, Claire was gone. In this episode, Marianne shares the heartbreak of losing her daughter, the lessons she learned along the way, and how she and her family turned grief into purpose through the Claire Marie Foundation. A conversation about loss, advocacy, and the power of love that never leaves. ------ Connect with Marilyn and be a part of the conversation in the I Choose Happy private Facebook group. This is your safe space to share and be inspired. Please join today by clicking here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/730079836499519]. ------ Find out more about Marilyn at marilyngetasbyrne.com [https://www.marilyngetasbyrne.com/]. ------ I Choose Happy is made possible by The Comfy, a Shark Tank sensation whose wearable blankets make life happier. Find out for yourself with 20% off your first order with the code ichoosehappy at TheComfy.com [https://thecomfy.com/].

Ep43: The Unexpected Path: Brian Speciale of The Comfy on Shark Tank, Risk & Choosing Action

Marilyn sits down with Brian Speciale, co-founder of The Comfy, former television news producer, father, entrepreneur, and one of the most recognizable success stories to come out of Shark Tank. Long before the deal with Barbara Corcoran in 2017, Brian was navigating unexpected turns, career pivots, fatherhood, and learning how to keep moving when life looked nothing like he imagined. In this conversation, Brian shares the winding path from television news to entrepreneurship, the ordinary moment that inspired The Comfy, what really happened behind the scenes on Shark Tank, and the mindset that helped him take risks before there was any proof they would pay off. Marilyn and Brian also talk ambition, happiness, the pressure that can come with success, and why some of life’s biggest changes begin when we stop waiting for certainty and choose to take action. This episode is a reminder that the paths we never planned… sometimes become the ones that shape us most. Thank you to Brian and The Comfy, founding sponsors of I Choose Happy, for helping create this space for inspiring conversations about resilience, healing, and overcoming. ------ Connect with Marilyn and be a part of the conversation in the I Choose Happy private Facebook group. This is your safe space to share and be inspired. Please join today by clicking here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/730079836499519/]. ------ Find out more about Marilyn at marilyngetasbyrne.com. ------ I Choose Happy is made possible by The Comfy, a Shark Tank sensation whose wearable blankets make life happier. Find out for yourself with 20% off your first order with the code ichoosehappy at TheComfy.com.

Ep42: Trust Yourself Anyway: Sally Miller on Confidence, Curiosity & Becoming Limitless

This week on I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with fashion designer, entrepreneur, mentor, and author Sally Miller for a conversation about confidence, curiosity, self-trust, and what it really means to design a life that fits. After decades spent building a successful fashion brand and mentoring generations of young women, Sally shares the experiences that shaped her understanding of confidence — not as certainty or perfection, but as the willingness to trust yourself through uncertainty, change, and fear. Together, Marilyn and Sally explore identity, comparison culture, creativity, intuition, motherhood, reinvention, and the ways women are often conditioned to doubt themselves. They discuss hardship, healing, purpose, and the freedom that can come from letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be, and learning to stay present through all of life’s seasons. At the center of this episode is a powerful reminder: you’re not broken, you’re not lost — you may have simply stopped trusting yourself. Connect with Sally at her official website [https://www.sallymiller.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] or follow her on Instagram @sallymillerfash Her new book, Trust Yourself Anyway: Designing a Life That Fits, is available now wherever books are sold and as an audiobook on Audible. ------ Connect with Marilyn and be a part of the conversation in the I Choose Happy private Facebook group. This is your safe space to share and be inspired. Please join today by clicking here. ------ Find out more about Marilyn at marilyngetasbyrne.com. ------ I Choose Happy is made possible by The Comfy, a Shark Tank sensation whose wearable blankets make life happier. Find out for yourself with 20% off your first order with the code ichoosehappy at TheComfy.com.

Ep41: The Mountain With No Top: Hall of Fame Coach Cathy Compton on Winning, Belonging & Learning to Love the Climb

What happens when you finally reach the top… and realize it still isn’t enough? This week on I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with Cathy Compton — one of the winningest coaches in college softball history with 2 Halls of Fame — for a profound conversation about success, identity, pressure, purpose, and the climb we all face in life. From building championship teams from the ground up to coaching at the highest levels of the sport, Cathy shares what it really felt like to “make it” — and why the fulfillment she expected at the top of the mountain never came. Together, she and Marilyn explore the hidden emotional cost of achievement, the pressure young athletes face today, the lasting impact of parents and coaches, and the universal feeling so many people carry of “not enough.” But this conversation goes far beyond sports. Cathy opens up about the moment she realized her true purpose wasn’t winning championships — it was helping people see their own worth and potential. Marilyn also shares an emotional reflection on her recent hospitalization and the profound clarity, gratitude, love, and presence that emerged during one of the hardest moments of her life. This is an episode about learning to love the climb instead of chasing the summit. About belonging to yourself. About redefining success. And about understanding that the greatest victories in life often happen far away from the scoreboard. Cathy started a movement called “Creating the One” where people can release what’s “not them” and remove the trapped emotions, disempowering beliefs, patterns and identity traits that keep them stuck and keep them from having what they really want whether it be love, optimal health, success, a purpose in life, or whatever is important to them. Online programs, 1 on 1 or group coaching, retreats and more are available.   Connect with Cathy on Facebook messenger, or email at TeamCathyC@gmail.com ------ Connect with Marilyn and be a part of the conversation in the I Choose Happy private Facebook group. This is your safe space to share and be inspired. Please join today by clicking here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/730079836499519/]. ------ Find out more about Marilyn at marilyngetasbyrne.com. ------ I Choose Happy is made possible by The Comfy, a Shark Tank sensation whose wearable blankets make life happier. Find out for yourself with 20% off your first order with the code ichoosehappy at TheComfy.com.