Rebuilding Your Life and Finances After Widowhood

Rebuilding Your Life and Finances After Widowhood

In 2019, Catherine Bass’s husband died in an accident, leaving her to raise their two children on her own. In this Ready Living Podcast episode, she shares what it means to rebuild one’s identity and life after widowhood. She talks candidly about the shock of those early days and the cost of burying grief rather than facing it, a pattern she'd learned decades earlier after losing three young nephews in a house fire. She carried that same behavior into her husband's death, until a health scare and hospital stay forced her to confront how unwell she truly was. She describes the isolation many widows feel, how discomfort with grief causes some friends to disappear, and how those who stay often offer well-meaning but unsolicited advice instead of the quiet presence she says widows actually need. Catherine brings a practical, financial lens to the conversation as well, walking through some of the financial challenges widows face in the early weeks and months, the pressure to make major decisions before they're ready, and the predatory behavior, especially online, that targets many of them. She offers a look at widowhood that treats the emotional and financial realities as inseparable parts of the same recovery, and lays out a three-step framework she uses to help clients. Catherine is an Enrolled Agent (a federally licensed tax professional) and the owner of Bass Tax Service and Bass Tax Relief [https://www.basstaxservice.com/]. She is a contributing author to Unbreakable Spirit [https://www.amazon.com/Unbreakable-Spirit-Feminine-Resilience-Blessings/dp/1733392394], where her chapter "From Tears to Treasure" describes her own path through grief and financial uncertainty. On her TikTok account [https://www.tiktok.com/@cathy.bass.tax.widow] she offers practical advice widows can immediately implement. LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

What Alternative Dispute Resolution Can Do That Litigation Can’t

Attorney Sam Imperati is a full-time mediator and Executive Director of ICM Resolutions [https://icmresolutions.com/] who has spent decades helping individuals, businesses, and institutions find their way out of conflict without the punishing costs of traditional litigation, bringing a multidisciplinary background to some of the most entrenched disputes imaginable. He's critical of American culture’s deeply ingrained litigation reflex, describing the impulse to ‘lawyer up’ the minute someone feels wronged as the pursuit of revenge deceptively dressed up as the pursuit of justice. The adversarial structure of litigation consumes time, money, and emotional energy, often leaving people worse off for having gone through it. Although his journey into dispute resolution began with litigation, over time he saw the same pattern repeating; even when clients won, they rarely walked away feeling satisfied. A stint as a part-time judge confirmed what he suspected—the system, however necessary in some circumstances, routinely overpromises and underdelivers. He became a full-time mediator and never looked back. One of the distinctions Sam draws is between settlements and resolutions, terms many use interchangeably but which describe very different outcomes. A settlement is when everyone walks away unhappy, while a resolution is when underlying business and personal needs are reasonably satisfied. Compliance rates for resolutions are significantly higher since people are more likely to honor agreements they feel are fair than ones they feel pressured into accepting. Before committing exclusively to alternative dispute resolution, Sam represented individuals and labor unions in private practice and served as Nike's assistant corporate counsel for litigation. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for ADR and Mediation Practice since 2006, and has taught at the University of Oregon School of Law, Willamette University's Graduate School of Management, and Lewis and Clark Law School. LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

How Red Flag Laws Can Protect Survivors Before Gun Violence Occurs

In 2024, around 44,000 people [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/28/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/] died of gun-related injuries in the United States, which includes both homicides and suicides. Spencer Cantrell [https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/4839/spencer-cantrell], JD, co-lead of the National ERPO Resource Center [https://erpo.org/about/] at the Center for Gun Violence Solutions within Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, is working to reduce that number. In this Ready Living Podcast episode, she explains how extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), often called red flag laws, are civil legal tools that can help protect people from gun violence by intervening before tragedy occurs. ERPOs enable a petitioner to ask a court to temporarily remove firearms from someone who is making threats or engaging in threatening behavior, and to bar that person from legally obtaining firearms for the duration of the order. Twenty-two states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands currently have ERPO laws on the books, covering more than half of the country’s population. Spencer walks through the ERPO process, from the initial filing to the final hearing where all parties have the opportunity to present evidence. She addresses how due process is included at every stage and the factors courts consider when deciding whether to grant or deny an ERPO. She also explains how ERPOs can work in conjunction with traditional domestic violence protection orders. ERPOs focus solely on firearms, while domestic violence protection orders carry broader relief. Knowing what each tool does and when to use them can make a critical difference for survivors seeking safety. This episode is essential listening for survivors, advocates, attorneys, and anyone who wants to understand how the law can step in to protect people at risk. LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Regulating Your Nervous System Is the Ultimate Act of Rebellion

Born in Madagascar, Liva RJ's early years were marked by tragedy, instability, and frequent moves between countries, languages, and socioeconomic realities. Hypervigilance became a way to survive and adapt. Later, her career took her inside some of the world's most influential institutions, from working as a journalist at Bloomberg and the Financial Times to sitting down with leaders at the World Economic Forum at Davos, before spending five years as a Malagasy diplomat heading international communications for the office of the president. At close range, she’s seen how power operates. After surviving 9/11, she started asking what a life aligned with her deepest values, one oriented around inner peace rather than hustle-culture achievement, could look like. The answer involved a derelict 16th-century farmhouse in France’s Loire Valley that she began restoring seven years ago. Today she hosts retreats [https://www.soulxplorers.com/soulfulflow] for women who’ve lost themselves in overachievement or survival mode and realize something needs to change. The Joy Oasis [https://www.soulxplorers.com/joyoasis] offers a restorative environment without phones, social media, or the need to perform. In this Ready Living Podcast episode, she shares how regulating one's nervous system means having the internal resources to meet difficulty without being consumed by it. Liva describes it as “the ultimate act of rebellion.” LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Is the Law Keeping Up With Technology Or Are We Already Behind?

Is the law doing enough to keep pace with the internet and technology? Attorney and political columnist Bennet Kelley, founder of the Internet Law Center, has seen what happens when tech moves fast but the legal system moves slowly. In this Ready Living Podcast episode, he talks about a wide range of issues, from the shielding of online platforms from legal liability, the absence of a federal anti-doxing law, and AI research companies’ use of artists' work without their permission, to social media’s impact on children and teenagers. Underneath it all is the question: just because we can build something, does that mean we should? He shares the personal experience that shaped why he believes so strongly in standing up against the misuse of power, and why that matters now more than ever. Bennet’s boutique firm [https://www.internetlawcenter.net/] offers legal and policy solutions to entrepreneurial businesses. He's advised the Justice Department on technology-facilitated abuse, and fought for victims of online harassment. He’s also a five time winner of the LA Press Club's Southern California Journalism Award. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from American University, and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University. LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST