We Do Not Become by Accident — We Become Through the Stories We Choose to Live | a convo with Laura Patac

God Never Left — Holding Deep Grief and Deep Faith at the Same Time

What do you do when the thing you feared most actually happens — and then happens again? Kathy Rogers knows. And somehow, impossibly, beautifully — she is not bitter. She is not broken. She is a woman whose faith grew unshakeable in the very seasons that would have destroyed most of us. In Episode 95 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast, Kathy joins host Dea Irby for one of the most tender, honest, and deeply faith-filled conversations this podcast has ever held. Kathy is a business owner, speaker, author, and host of the Your Best Friend's Mom Podcast — and her life story is not an easy one to tell. In January 2018 she was diagnosed with aggressive triple negative breast cancer. She survived. Then her mother lost her five-year battle with metastatic ovarian cancer. Then, six months later, her daughter Elena was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Two years later, Elena went home to heaven at just 29 years old. And through all of it — every chemo treatment, every funeral, every grief-soaked Christmas — Kathy kept hearing the same quiet voice: trust me. In this episode, she opens up about what it truly means to surrender to God not by desire, but by necessity. She talks about the community that showed up with cards every week, loaves of bread left on porches, and gifts on Christmas Eve from a woman she had only just met — and why Satan's greatest tool is isolation. She shares what she witnessed in her daughter's face as Elena found complete peace in Jesus, even in the face of death. And she talks about why she started Your Best Friend's Mom Podcast — born directly from Elena's tight circle of friends who still needed a wise, warm, experienced voice in their corner. Her book, Look for Good: Discovering God in Grief, Celebration, and the Everydays, is already changing lives two and three steps removed from people she has never even met. And that, she says, is only God. Her favorite verse — Ephesians 3:20 — will anchor you. He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. He proved it in Kathy's life. He is proving it still. This episode will move you — and remind you that you are never, ever alone. 💛 #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #GodNeverLeft, #LookForGood, #KathyRogers, #YourBestFriendsMom, #GriefAndFaith, #TrustMe, #CancerSurvivor, #BerevedMother, #FaithThroughGrief, #ImmeasurablyMore, #Ephesians320, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #HoldingGriefAndFaith, #CommunityInGrief, #FaithNotFear, #GodIsFaithful, #YouAreNotAlone

We Do Not Become by Accident — We Become Through the Stories We Choose to Live | a convo with Laura Patac

What happens when success on paper no longer feels like alignment in real life? That is the question Laura Patac spent years avoiding — and then finally, bravely, answered. Laura is a storyteller, leadership speaker, Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths Coach, and author of Whole, Not Perfect — an Amazon bestselling book in spiritual growth that is less a book to read and more an experience to live through. With over 25 years of executive leadership experience across 7 countries and 5 continents, Laura had a life that looked extraordinary from the outside. High-end roles. Good salary. Constant achievement. Constant movement. And a very quiet, very persistent disconnection she could not explain. In Episode 94, Laura joins Dea Irby all the way from Romania for a conversation that is going to reach into your chest and rearrange something. She opens up about the moment she realized she could no longer hear herself underneath all the noise — the roles, the responsibilities, the versions of herself she had built for every room she walked into. She talks about what reinvention actually looks like when it is not about becoming someone new, but about returning to yourself. And she walks through the three questions that started everything: Who am I beyond what I do?What am I actually good at?What still feels true to me? She also unpacks how CliftonStrengths revealed the patterns driving her life — and how some of those patterns were serving her while others were quietly running the show unchecked. Plus the story of Whole, Not Perfect — a book born from a lifetime of poetry, 5 years in the making, and a LinkedIn poll that chose the title. And her favorite quote — from her own book — is one of the most quietly powerful things said on this podcast yet. We do not become by accident. We become through the stories we choose to live. This episode is for every high achiever who has everything on paper and still feels something is off. You are not broken. You are just ready to come home to yourself. 💛 #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #WholeNotPerfect, #WeDoNotBecomeByAccident, #LauraPatac, #ReinventionJourney, #BelongingStartsWithin, #CliftonStrengths, #HighAchieverLife, #FromSuccessToAlignment, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #StoriesWithPurpose, #InternalAlignment, #WholenessNotPerfection

"The Greatest Good You Can Do Is Reveal Someone's Riches to Themselves" | Ep. 93 with David Ask

What if the most powerful thing you could do for someone wasn't give them your advice, your money, or your time — but help them see who they already are? That's the question at the heart of this conversation, and David Ask has built his life around answering it. David is an entrepreneur, inventor, lead coach for the True North Resiliency Program, and author of the upcoming Guardians of Grit — a book for fathers raising strong, uncrushable sons anchored in identity and purpose. He's also the man who turned a simple thermostat guard into a product carried in over 3,700 retail stores — and who spent a full year showing up daily for a friend who didn't want to live anymore, not because he knew what to say, but because he knew how to stay. In Episode 93, David and Dea get into all of it — the power of hospitality as a secret weapon, what it means to set the temperature in your home, why knowing someone is the only way to truly love them, and why belonging starts the moment someone looks across a room and says: I am really glad you are here. He also shares the desk story. And if it doesn't wreck you in the best possible way, check your pulse. His favorite quote from Benjamin Disraeli will reframe everything you think generosity means. The greatest good you can do for another is not to share with them your riches, but to reveal to them their own. This one is for the fathers, the friends, the ones who show up — and the ones who are finally ready to believe they are worth showing up for. 💛 #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #RevealTheirRiches, #GuardiansOfGrit, #TrueNorthResiliency, #DavidAsk, #BelongingMatters, #FathersAndSons, #IdentityMatters, #ShowUp, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #PricelessAndPurposed, #SeeingSomethingSaySomething, #YouAreGodSInheritance

"You Cannot Become What You Already Are" | Ep. 92 with Rev. Ryan Wiksell

What if everything you've been striving to become… you already are? The Reverend Ryan Wiksell — Episcopal priest, church planter, and co-author of The Last Seder of James — joins Dea Irby for one of the most theologically rich and practically grounding conversations yet. Ryan shares why belonging is the one unique thing the church has to offer, how a WWII military lesson completely changed the way he thinks about reaching people, and what happened when he planted a coffeehouse church between the bars and galleries of downtown Springfield, Missouri — open mic nights, conversational sermons, and all. He also opens up about co-writing a historical novel set in a first-century Jerusalem dungeon on the last night of James, the brother of Jesus — and why the Jewish roots of our faith matter more than most Christians realize. And then there's the quote that reframes everything: you cannot become what you already are. Salvation, Ryan says, is not transformation. It is remembering. It is reclaiming. It is returning to who God made you to be all along. This one will stay with you. Here's the link to the book: https://ourfatherabraham.com/

Distinct by Design — A Cancer Survivor, AI Pioneer, and Mom's Journey to Embracing Exactly Who She Was Created to Be

What if the thing that made you feel like you didn’t fit… was actually proof you were designed to stand out? In Episode 91, I sit down with Elana Etten—and this conversation will stay with you long after it ends. She’s a mechanical engineer. A Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. A stage 4 cancer survivor. An AI strategist. A mom to a nonverbal son who taught her a whole new language of love. But more than anything… she’s a woman who chose not to shrink. Elana shares her journey from feeling like the “in-between girl” who never quite fit, to discovering a powerful truth: she was never meant to. We talk about: ✨ Surviving stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 35—and rebuilding a life from nothing ✨ Meeting her husband during chemo (yes, really!) ✨ Raising a neurodivergent son who redefined connection, presence, and love ✨ And why the future of AI should make us more human, not less As the founder of Identity Marketing U.S., Elana is helping leaders and entrepreneurs align who they are with how they show up—and her perspective on AI as a thought partner (not a replacement) is something every business owner needs to hear. And then… there’s the quote. The one that might just shake you awake. From A Return to Love: “Your playing small does not serve the world.” This episode isn’t just a story. It’s a wake-up call. Press play—and remember who you were created to be. 💡 #HearWhereYouBelong, #DistinctByDesign, #YouBelong, #CancerSurvivor, #AILikeAHuman, #HowToAILikeAHuman, #CognitiveFingerprint, #FractionalAIStrategist, #NeurodivergentMom, #ShineYourLight, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #ElanaEtten, #FaithAndPurpose, #YouWereCreatedForThis