From Roots to Ripples: Rearview Reflections, Hands on the Wheel

One year ago, we pressed record without fully understanding what this journey would ask of us — emotionally, creatively, relationally, and personally.

What began as a heart-led project to honor our mom became something far bigger: a space for truth, reflection, reconnection, and growth — both for us and for our listeners.

In this special "PJs & Pokey" sister chat, we slow down to reflect on Year One of The P-I-G Podcast — the conversations that moved us, the work we didn’t know we were signing up for, the losses we carried quietly while still showing up, and the unexpected relationships that reshaped our lives along the way.

We talk openly about:

• How this podcast transformed our relationship as sisters
• What we learned through self-awareness, communication, and courage
• Why our coaching work — and the creation of The P-I-G Relationship Reset (link)— became something we had to share
• The people who became family when we didn’t even know we needed them
• What it means to honor the past while keeping our hands firmly on the wheel

This episode also marks the launch of Roots & Ripples, a new reflective resource inspired by the very work we’ve been doing here — designed to help listeners pause, look back with clarity, and move forward with intention.

This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a breath. A reflection.
And an invitation to live with purpose, intention, and gratitude — even when the path surprises us.

🎧 Listen, reflect, and share with someone who’s walked this road with you.
 🌱 Learn more about Roots & Ripples and other listener resources at thepigpodcast.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to PJs & Pokey
• 5:18 Pressing Record Without Knowing the Cost
• 14:42 The Conversations That Changed Us
• 27:06 The Work We Didn’t Know We Were Signing Up For
• 39:55 Silent Losses While Still Showing Up
• 52:10 How The P-I-G Changed Our Relationship as Sisters
• 1:05:48 Family We Didn’t Know We Needed
• 1:17:30 From Gratitude Reset to Roots & Ripples
• 1:26:40 Looking Ahead: Hands on the Wheel for Year Two
• 1:34:55 Closing Reflections & Invitation to Listeners

Transcript

Kellie: 0:03

One year ago, we pressed record without fully understanding what this journey would ask of us. Emotionally, creatively, relationally, and personally. What began as a project to honor our mom became something much bigger: a space for truth, for learning, for unlearning, and for rediscovering not just ourselves, but each other.

Erin: 0:22

Today, we're slowing down to reflect on year one of the P-I-G, the stories that changed us, the work we didn't know we were signing up for, the personal losses we carried along the way, and the unexpected connections that reminded us we're never meant to do life alone. And also that family is often the people we choose.

Kellie: 0:40

We explore how this podcast reshaped our relationship as sisters, what we've learned through self-awareness, communication, and courage, and why the heart work we're doing now through reflection, gratitude, and our own relationship reset feels more important than ever. This isn't a highlight reel, it's a pause, a breath, a look at what's possible when we choose to live with intention, even when the path surprises us.

Erin: 1:06

Welcome to the P-I-G, where we explore life, love, loss, and legacy through real conversations and meaningful stories with purpose, intention, and gratitude. We're Kellie and Erin, sisters, best friends, sometimes polar opposites, but always deeply connected by the life and love of our mother Marsha, the woman who gave us our greatest gift, each other.

Kellie: 1:31

All right, sister. Deep breath. Here we are, one year into this heart-led podcast project. And I know we're both filled with endless gratitude for having taken this wild and crazy journey. It hasn't been all Heart Stars and Puppy Tales, and we honestly had no idea what we were actually signing up for when we hit the record button for the first time almost a year ago. But wow, has it ever been an extraordinary ride? What I love about these PJs and Pokey sister chats is the time we take to slow down and reflect without a guest or a set story or a script or a lesson, just us together munching on mom's favorite snack, popcorn, otherwise known as Poke, when we grew up, as we let listeners into our hearts, our insights, and our behind-the-scenes conversations. And today we're taking a look back at year one of the P-I-G, on all those conversations that moved us, touched us, changed us, on the work we didn't know we were actually signing up for, on all the lessons and growth experiences we never could have planned on, on the amazing people we never would have known or met if we hadn't done this. Even cracking opened the door into our own lives and some of the silent losses we carried quietly while still showing up for our listeners, for each other, week after week after week. And while some weeks felt absolutely freaking impossible, we did it. We did it. When I look in the rearview mirror at this past year, Erin, there's so much about this podcast and our work that has completely reshaped our relationship as sisters. All we've learned about ourselves and each other through our coaching work with Marcus and why the relationship reset became something we had to create and share with others. All the people who have quietly stepped into our lives, some becoming the family we didn't even know we needed, all the quiet moments and all the memories. It's honestly been a gratitude reset for both of us. Our roots are stronger and our ripples are wider. And while with us, there will always be a little or a lot of chaos. It's all the growth that stands out above everything else. So let's dive in and start where we are and let's see where this sister chat takes us.

Erin: 4:04

Oh, well, thank you so much for that. That was a really beautiful introduction and recap of this year. And I just sat here smiling and nodding because every word you spoke is so true. It resonates so deeply. It has been such an extraordinary journey. Lots of highs and lows and things we anticipated and a whole lot more that we did not anticipate. It's so fascinating to me because I knew that starting this project and creating this podcast would be meaningful. I had no idea that it would be so formative for me, for who I am, how I show up in the world, in all of my relationships, not just with you, but with other relationships in my life. This journey has really changed me. I feel very grateful for that. And I have fully embraced the challenges, although that hasn't always been easy. But there is absolutely nobody on the planet that I would rather be doing this project with than you. And I am also really proud of us.

Kellie: 5:19

And I know mom's proud of us too. And that's something that because of the heart behind this project and where it started a year ago, she has been, and we've said this on so many episodes in the past, been the heartbeat of our purpose, our intention, and our gratitude. So I think it's important for us to take a moment to pause and just allow the pride that I know she has in the work that we've done, in how we have embraced the hard, how we have celebrated the victories, and that she will continue to be the heartbeat of year two. But at the same time, I feel like a baton has been passed.

Erin: 6:07

I love that.

Kellie: 6:09

I feel like the healing that we have both done through recognizing how we grieve differently, how our grief took us down different paths, how we quietly let grief kind of erode the bond that we had. That keeping her at the forefront this last year allowed us to bridge the disconnect in a way that we never had been able to do before. But I do feel this spiritual healing and this spiritual passing of the baton to say, okay, I got you here. But now it's time for the two of you to take it forward from here. Thank you for all of the honor. Thank you for all of the memories. Thank you for all of the gifts that we have given back to her through the process. Yeah. But I don't know. I've never chatted with you about that before. I'd never even really thought about that before until we just decided to see where this sister chat takes us. But I do feel this moment of clarity and consciousness about while she is not here and her memory will always remain here. We are here. And we have lives and loves and children and family and grandkids, and now we have new friends and guests and all of it. And I'm excited to see where year two takes us.

Erin: 7:39

Yeah, I am too. It's really cool that you just use that analogy. And yes, we've never had a conversation about this. And I think that that continues to be a theme of how this podcast even started is we started to have conversations that we had never had before, and now we continue to have conversations that we've never had before. And for me, you saying that the baton has been passed instantly brought a smile to my face because something that we have actually never really reminisced about is the fact that mom was a baton twirler. Like that was a thing that she did.

unknown: 8:17

Right.

Kellie: 8:18

Oh my gosh, I remember that. I completely forgot about that. But I remember that because she made me take baton lessons from Aunt Sally. What? Yeah, she drove me all the way to Olatha so that I could take baton lessons. I had no idea that that existed. Oh my gosh, I have not thought about that in so long in the world.

Erin: 8:42

But I do like you said you said baton, and instantly I had this flashback memory of the fact that mom was a baton toirler, and that is just hilarious to me. And so there's that. There's also such a really deeply rooted reality, and we've talked about it so often about how you know we kind of felt like she called bullshit from beyond, like the greatest gift I gave you was each other. Your sisters, start acting like it. And we have talked so much about how much she would love these moments with us on the mic, with headphones, because her career started in radio and she would have loved the podcasting world, but she didn't live to see the world of podcasting as it's known today. Everything you've said was just so spot on because I know that she's proud, and I really do feel like we responded to a calling from beyond a nudge to do something. And I'm really happy that we chose to honor her and she has been at the center and the heart of everything that we've done. But it is our time, and I am excited to see what's next for us as sisters, as podcasts, whatever we are, creators, co-hosts, all of the things. I still don't really know who we are or what we're doing, but we're doing it and loving the journey of it. And so thank you for speaking life into all of that and for holding space for her, which we always do and we will continue to always do, at the same time realizing that what we are creating here is part of our living legacy. And so, what does that mean? And what do what do we want it to look like? We're we will always honor her and all of the lessons and all of the heart behind it. But I really do look forward to launching into year two with a different sense of clarity and a little bit of a different sense of purpose, quite honestly.

Kellie: 10:53

Yeah. Yeah. And big curiosity. I think that even just us acknowledging what we've acknowledged makes her the most proud of all. And that we are going to today reflect on the year that has now behind us, like I said, in that rear view mirror, talk about the work we didn't know we were agreeing to when we hit the record button and we launched this wild and crazy project. But I will tell you that the clarity that we both have, the confidence that has been built over this last year, as I go back and work on the production of all of these episodes, the wisdom that is contained in every single one of them. Like literally every time I listen to a section or an episode, I'm like, oh my gosh, I hear it in a different way. And the growth that that has inspired inside of me through our own work sometimes blows my mind. And that's not to toot our own horn, but I think it's about pausing with these episodes long enough to hear the magic that's actually contained inside of them. And we have gotten that feedback from people who have taken the time to reach out to us and say, thank you for holding a space for me to share my story. Thank you for allowing me to heal a part of myself that I didn't even know needed to be healed. And I think that exact same thing happened to us. We started the podcast because we were and still are working on what we're calling the boxes project with Chris, Howard, and Mosaic Entertainment to really bring to life mom's legacy goodbye story of the gifts that she left for us, knowing that she was going to die. So the boxes. But what the podcast has become absolutely cannot be encapsulated inside of a box. It can't. There's just no way. Yet every single episode is like opening a box.

Erin: 13:22

Every single one. It's a gift. It's a gift. And exactly what you said inside each conversation, whether it's with each other or with a guest, so much insight, so much wisdom, so much hope. And that's another conversation that I find myself repeatedly having with people when I share with them what we're doing and when I share the podcast, is that if you don't take the time to actually listen to an episode, you would think that it's just really heavy. And it is. We talk about real life and loss and death and tragedy and all of these things. And it's a lot, and it can feel really heavy and very filled with emotion. At the same time, there is so much hope and so much positivity. And every single conversation ends with a message of hope. Yeah. And that is definitely something that I am proud of. I am proud of the fact that we have held space for people to share their stories. That's really, really important. I was not expecting the emotional weight that I would feel for holding those stories. You know, it's like this responsibility of like emotional stewardship. And I am very humbled and feel very honored that people have trusted us with the details of their lives and with their stories. I really hope that that continues to be a theme as we move forward, that we continue to hold this really sacred space where people can share and not feel judged.

Kellie: 15:13

I was just thinking about, we have a guest that is coming up in year two. And she said something that really struck both of us. And I'm gonna share what she said because it P-I-Ggybacks off of what you just said, and this is not easy work. Like you and I had no idea what we were signing up for and how hard this was actually going to be. But when we get messages like this, it makes every moment worth it. She said, The P-I-G is one of the few places where grief isn't avoided or rushed. Thank you for holding space for the stories that aren't easy to say out loud. You let people speak honestly about the hardest parts of their lives without feeling judged or talked over. That matters. Your conversations are real, thoughtful, and human in a way we don't often see. I'm grateful for the work you are doing and for the way you show up for every guest and every listener who needs to hear that they are not alone. I've heard feedback from people who have thanked me, us, for allowing space for the hard, but always bringing it back to a positive, upbeat, forward-moving, forward-thinking, healing place. I think that it's even in our crazy little jingle that Gary Smith wrote for us. I love our own jingle. It's not sad, it's not hard to listen to, it's not dark. And I think it allows us to open every episode with intention and purpose and close every episode with hope and gratitude. And that has allowed me to become resilient in the moments of working on this project that have been very, very hard. Yeah.

Erin: 17:28

And there's been hard moments.

Kellie: 17:30

Yeah, like I said, not all hard stars and puppy tales. There were days, honestly, I know there have been days where you wanted to quit, and I've wanted to quit.

Erin: 17:41

Oh, a hundred percent. In fact, I have learned a lot of lessons, and I have learned the difference between motivation and devotion, which is I think exactly what you just said. I think that devotion is the commitment piece. And you and I said in the very beginning that we were making a commitment to this, no matter what. And there's been a lot of what in our lives. And I think that it's fair to say that there have been moments and times, P-I-Ggybacking off of what you just said, where I know I questioned whether I had the capacity to do this. Not the desire. The desire was there and the commitment was there. But the reality is time, logistics, all the tech, time zones, the editing, the different time zones, scheduling, I mean, jobs, families, all of the things that we've mentioned, right? Leading very full lives and then adding a big project to it. We added something to our plate this last year, and nothing got taken off. No. And so there have been plenty of moments, yes, where we I have questioned whether or not I had the capacity to do this.

Kellie: 18:59

Well, and we don't have a team. Yeah, just little or less. Just little or less. It reminds me of starting supper solutions. You're the accountant, you are the meat cutter, you're the butcher, you are the prep gal, you are the janitor, you are the order taker. Like we do everything. We have no team. Yeah. And everything is out of pocket. This isn't a revenue generating business. This is a heart project podcast. Yeah. I just had no idea how much work went into producing something that you put on air and share with the world. Yet, I think our tagline absolutely encapsulates the why behind what we do. That hearing the stories of others helps us create a more meaningful connection to our own. Every single episode with every single guest this past year. Guests who told us, I miss the dialogue between the two of you when you have other guests on. And learning how to balance that. And going into it really with no real strategy and hoping and praying that we would have enough content to develop a project that felt very personal, very guided, very intentional, but not really having it all mapped out. And now we have more guests than we could ever feature on the podcast. And I think that in and of itself is something for us to really celebrate with pride and confidence and appreciation to say, yes, we are learning from the lessons that are in the rearview mirror, but we are fully facing the windshield with our hands on the steering wheel of the P-I-G. I love that.

Erin: 20:59

I love that analogy so much. It's perfect. I think that I also look forward to every conversation that I know we're gonna have and all of these guests that we get to have on because I get so personally impacted by these conversations. And it's been so cool to find common threads woven throughout other people's stories where we're like, oh, that reminds me of this, or it makes me reflect on a memory with you or with mom, or you know, something else gets just like triggered in my brain. It's beautiful, it's amazing. And so hearing the stories of others has helped me create a more meaningful connection to my own, my own story, which is different than your story. And I think that that's what's really cool too. And the exact thing that brought us to this point and brought us together was the realization that you and I experienced the same loss in our lives in two wildly different ways. And so it's cool to embrace that. Yeah. Now it's cool to look at all of the differences and to acknowledge that and ask each other questions about our experiences through those guest interviews, ask ourselves more questions for me to reflect personally on, huh, I've never thought about that before, or I didn't realize that that was the experience I had. And now I have language for it and I've put words to it. And so, anyway, I couldn't agree more. It's awesome. We have learned so much, not only about the technical process of podcasting, but I have learned so much about myself and I've learned so much about you and so much about others in the process, and I would not trade that for anything.

Kellie: 22:45

No, and I will forever carry every single one of our guests, the ones we've had and the ones we're going to have, which we'll talk a little bit more about later, what's coming up in year two, in my heart. Yeah. There are moments of life now where I think back about something Marcus or Jason said, or Chris said, or Matthew Aro said, or Jenny, or Wendy, or even like you were just talking about grieving differently and what an aha moment that was for us. And we have Christy Whitney on, who led hospice for 30 years and is like, yep, that happens all the time. And it makes so much sense that it happens all the time. How we didn't realize that earlier sometimes kind of baffles me. At the same time, life is life and life moves fast. I am baffled the older I get on a weekly basis, how it's all of a sudden Monday, Friday, Monday, Friday. Time is rushing past. And to learn to see life, my own and everybody else's, with an increased level of empathy for different perspectives, different ideas, different behaviors, different values is something that could just never be replaced. And it wouldn't have come to us if it weren't for the project that started, that launched the podcast project. Yeah. That makes sense.

Erin: 24:22

Yeah, it makes perfect sense to me. Which maybe is a cool transition to something that I really want to talk about today. And Chris said it when we started out working with him on this project, the Boxes project. You know, he's like, I just I just thought I was stepping into this sisterhood relationship that was like everything was great and people were healed, and there was like this really cool story from our past. But as we started working and we started having conversations and we started peeling back the layers of mom's life and then our lives through that process, he was like, whoa, wait a minute. Do I still want to sign up for this? And I know that the answer is a resounding yes. He has become our brother, he has become family. He is a very extraordinary human. But working on that project and then launching the podcast has really changed our relationship. And you even referenced the relationship reset in the intro. I was not expecting our relationship to transform and to deepen in the way that it really has. And that in and of itself is such an incredible gift. And why I get so excited for the future and for the these next conversations and to keep going and keep building because what it has given me selfishly is really energizing. Like I just want more of that. I want more connection, I want more stories, I want more conversations. I just want so much more of it. I am very grateful for the commitment that we made that nothing was off limits. We knew we were gonna have hard conversations, we knew we were gonna talk about tough stuff and that nothing was off limits. No holes barred. And we stuck to it. It's been a beautiful uncovering for sure.

Kellie: 26:26

It absolutely has been. And a beautiful unboxing of a relationship that meant so much to both of us, but that we weren't nurturing and taking care of. That they say they're okay, that they say they have a good relationship, but it's not great. They come together on special holidays and family gatherings. I can't wait to talk a little bit about how much fun we all had at Thanksgiving, which was a holiday for the record books. So this is a it was this is a great example of we could have all gathered for the holiday without having done this work, and we would not have had the holiday that we had because we did this work a thousand percent. Yep. And we had enough icky holidays in our childhood years to last a lifetime, and so to really be able to mend the fences, so to speak, bridge the gaps, so to speak, it's just it's so much deeper than that. It's more like, okay, mom was a seamstress and a needle pointer and a knitter and a crocheter and all the things. I love all that stuff too. In fact, I still think it's funny to this day that in college, my senior year, I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas. All of my friends were like, okay.

Erin: 28:51

Nerd alert.

Kellie: 28:52

Right? At the same time, I'm cramming 27 credit hours in so I could graduate on time. Marcus and I were just laughing about that the other night. I'm not gonna get off track here. We really took the time to stitch back together the pieces of our relationship. So I hope that other people hear this. And I guess I would challenge any listeners right now. If there is a relationship that pops into your head in this moment that isn't where you want it to be. Whether it's with a family member, a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, whatever. Maybe it's not about fixing the relationship. Maybe it's just about understanding and allowing the relationship to be what it is. Focus on the good positive aspects of that person. Step out of your own skin for a moment to maybe inside of your own being ask, you know, why do they do that? Or what may be happening in their life that gives them that perspective? What maybe happened in their past that brought them to here? Because we don't know what we don't know.

Erin: 30:11

That's exactly right. And to take it a step further. The work that you and I did, especially with Marcus, in going through our disc and driving forces. And are still doing. And are still doing. Yeah. And hopefully we'll forever do. Yes. Because I feel like you could dedicate a lifetime to understanding yourself better, and then certainly the people around you better. But I think that that's exactly what it is. Is that our relationship really started to transform when I developed a deeper understanding of myself, who I am, how I operate in the world, why I do the things I do, say the things I say, act the way I act. Yep. Waste time the way I waste time, all the things, right? Like the good, the bad, and the ugly. And it's so fascinating to do these assessments, but particularly then to walk through them with a world-class coach like Marcus, to understand that it's not good or bad. It's just who you are. For me, when I started embracing, well, one, understanding myself better, and then embracing that, not trying to change myself or not trying to force myself into being somebody that I'm not, right? It's the whole fitting a square peg into a round hole type of thing. And I feel like we do that so often in life. We just trying to cram ourselves into relationships or situations or jobs that just aren't meant for us for whatever reason. And so there was something really profound and magical that happened when I started developing a deeper sense of myself and who I was and embracing that. But then the other part of that equation is understanding you and who you are, and through a comparison report, going, oh, well, this is who I am, and this is who Kellie is. And so this is where we're in total alignment on so many things. And this is why our relationship as sisters works. This is why our co-hosting works, and why these tasks are really perfectly suited for you, and these ones are perfectly suited for me. But then it also allows for the, okay, well, this is who I am and how I operate in the world. This is who Kellie is and how she operates in the world. And so when there are moments of disconnect or when there's things to be done that really neither of us wants to do, you know, or things like that, it creates this bridge just of knowledge, of understanding of each other. It's such a gift to be committed to really understanding another human being on purpose. I think that the other thing for me, and I referenced it before, was then having language to not only describe myself, but to describe you, to describe a situation and really to describe then what I need or how I'm feeling. It has given me this whole new vocabulary that allows me to put words to feelings. And there's so much power in that.

Kellie: 34:31

Oh, sure. Because, and Jason's gone through all of this work too now. So when you're really irritated with me, you have language to complain about my sister. But you know it's in that assessment, and that I think creates the understanding and the awareness, right? The conscious awareness of the differences without becoming a victim, without getting angry, without having to fall victim to reality. Marcus's magic in the work that he does is turning assessments into functional tools. Because so many people have done an assessment or a personality test or profile. There's so many different ones. And we really believe strongly in this particular assessment for very, very scientifically backed reasons. And then the accuracy and the detail that's contained in them and the breadth of information that is applicable across all personal and professional areas of life. But information is only as good as the paper it's printed on unless you pull it off the paper and make it come alive. Yeah. And I think that the language actually allows you and I, or anybody who's doing the work, to own their own shit without taking ownership of other people's shit.

unknown: 35:56

Yeah.

Erin: 35:57

That's crazy that you say that because I feel like I know that this happens for both of us. Bless us. With each other and in every other relationship. Like I can look back, especially like now a year ago, two years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, and think back into moments of our relationship where at the time I was probably saying things in my head like, Why is she like this? Why is she like this? Like, I don't understand why she's like this. Whereas now, understanding who you are and just knowing what I know about you, everything about that has shifted in my brain. And so now I notice when something's off with you. And so instead of being like, Why the hell is she like this? I can come to you and be like, What do you need? How can I help you? To me, that just seems like a way healthier way to interact with people in our world.

Kellie: 36:55

Well, I'll give you a prime example of that. Yesterday you and I were having a conversation and I said to you, Hey, is everything cool? And you said, Why? Why do you ask? Well, because I was seeing Erin in level two or level three under moderate to kind of, I'm like, okay, there's some stress there because I know when Erin is not under stress, she behaves this way, her tone is this way, her body language is this way. But if she's under moderate pressure or extreme pressure or stress, her behaviors and her tone and her eye contact are a little bit different. Yeah. So it allowed me to just ask the question and maybe hopefully allow you to reflect on that a little bit. Yeah, it did.

Erin: 37:46

It did cause me to reflect on that.

Kellie: 37:49

Yeah. Without any judgment, any condemnation, anything at all. It it came from a place of sincere and authentic care for who you are as a human being and who you are as my sister. That to me has been the greatest gift of the work that we have done and that I hope other people will do. Yeah. If a relationship really means something to them, they will be willing to pull out the tweezers and get that splinter and pull it out. Yeah. You know, letting a splinter sit inside and fester is either going to create an infection, which is going to be a huge problem, or at least it's going to be really, really irritating and that isn't fun. We got to dig in there and squeeze a little bit and get it out.

Erin: 38:39

Yeah. I think the other thing too that I really want to talk about, and I really do hope that more and more of our listeners will hear this and choose to dive into their own relationship reset, any relationship, like you talked about. The other part of that being at any level of their relationship in terms of time. So, like for you and I, literally known you my entire life, right? And we did this work this year. Right. With our relationship reset, right? 48 and 55 years old, we did the relationship reset work. Yep. But then I also think back, and you referenced it, you know, Jason and I did the relationship reset work, not because our relationship needed resetting, but we did it at the very beginning of our relationship. You know, six, seven, eight months into our relationship when without even knowing you were walking into doing it. It wasn't the relationship reset at the time. Like that wasn't the title of it. Like it wasn't like we didn't know exactly. We didn't know the work that we were doing, but I had done my assessment work with Marcus. Jason agreed to do his assessment work. With Marcus and he speaks so raw and authentically about his own experience in some of the other episodes. And of course, we have so many side conversations. But Jason did his assessment work with Marcus kind of begrudgingly. But then we sat at your kitchen table for two solid days and dove through our assessments and then did the comparison report for Jason and I. And it's all we could talk about. It's all we still talk about. Like it has changed. I mean, it had such a profound impact on the way we interact with each other and the language that we use with each other, the tone and exactly everything that you said. Like being able to identify because you really know and understand somebody and how they operate, like being able to identify when somebody's off and then how I can respond, you know, like when Jason's off, when he's grumpy, when he's, you know, the something. He can't scrumpy. Wild, right? And then I can identify that. But it was a really beautiful, incredible, unexpected gift in the beginning of our relationship.

Kellie: 41:19

Before this podcast was ever even conceived of.

Erin: 41:22

Yeah. Which is wild to think back on that too, right? It just set us up for success in our relationship to have that deep of a level of understanding of each other and to acknowledge it and to appreciate our differences for what they are. I mean, you look at our disc profiles side by side, and you're like, you know, bust out into Paula Abdul's opposites attract. Like it's great. Like we are so different. We are wired so differently. Yeah. Marcus and I too.

Kellie: 42:04

And yet there's some commonalities and some similarities that stitch your relationship together as well.

Erin: 42:12

Yeah. In a way that you understand more now than you can appreciate the similarities for what they are and lean into those when you when you do feel disconnected, when you do feel separated, to lean into where are we alike, where are we aligned, right? And then to appreciate the differences for what they are. It's incredible. And so I'm excited for any human being, any of our listeners, anybody who is in a relationship. Invest.

Kellie: 42:47

It's worth the investment of time, emotion, spirituality, financial resources. Yeah. There's no price that you can actually put on what you get out.

Erin: 42:58

Yeah. And now we've seen it. We've we've had, you know, friends and people go through the work with Marcus and their significant other or somebody else in their lives. And the feedback is astounding. People are like, I had no idea that this was what it was gonna be. Was what it was actually going to be. And that's like really, really cool. And so to bring it back to your point about Thanksgiving, we were able to walk into this holiday season with so much joy, so much understanding of each other. And it did make for a really incredible celebration to just all be together and to laugh and to love and to celebrate and to embrace our differences. It was incredible. It was a holiday to remember for sure.

Kellie: 43:58

On the heels of the gobble to you wobble episode that we put out before Thanksgiving, it exceeded, I think, any expectations that any of us could have had. And what it did was allowed us to prepare for the holiday, even just the way we set it up so the kids could all be together and we could all be together. And then when everybody got together, it was just seamless. And it was full of light and life and celebration, food, family, and fun. I mean, literally, that's what it was. I loved we, Marcus and I, we have talked about this so many times. We loved seeing Jason Jepson, who hardly slows down, fall asleep on the couch. Yeah. And rest. Yeah. Because of the space that was created for people to just be. No fighting, no bickering, no yelling, no assumptions, no expectations. It was just a beautiful, beautiful experience. And kudos to all of us and kudos to our kids for showing up. Little Rainbow Baby had the most fun that she's ever had in her life. She had all of her people together. Her auntie Erin and her auntie Elle were pouring whipped cream shots in her mouth. She's writing on Jason and Reese's back. She's just living a life surrounded by a family that was embracing this child with nothing but love. Yep. Nothing but love. And that was probably one of my most favorite parts of Thanksgiving was her joy at being the youngest member at two years old of a family of people who were just loving and doting all over her. Because here's what we know her life is not going to be all hearts, stars, and puppy tales either. Yep. Right? Life just brings what it brings. But doing this work allows us, allows anybody who does it to roll with the punches, to take life as it comes, and to embrace difficulty and change in a way that feels very empowered. And knowing that no matter what, I have the resiliency and the perseverance and the capacity inside of me to take this wave, fill with grace, and handle it in the moment. And I think that that is actually a perfect segue into some of the stuff that we both had to carry this year while we still showed up for each other, for ourselves, for our partners, for our children. When life got really hard because we kept this podcast going at the same time that we were carrying our own life and our own losses.

Erin: 47:00

Yeah. And life did not slow down just because we were building something meaningful. No. We did have some tough stuff this year. We did go through a lot of things.

Kellie: 47:13

You want to talk about some of that? I don't think we have to belabor it, but I think that actually letting listeners in and you and I actually talking out loud. Yeah.

Erin: 47:24

No, I think it's good. I think it's important. We are stories of life, love, loss, and legacy. And throughout year one, we had a lot of conversations specifically around grief and loss and legacy through that, and life and love woven throughout that. But there was just a lot of real life shit that happened. And to your point, I don't think we necessarily need to belabor it with details, but you know, we have talked recently, we had such an incredible conversation with Ashley, Joe, and we talked very specifically about joy and sorrow sitting at the same table, holding hands. Joy and sorrow holding hands. What does that look like? And what does that really mean? And for me personally, while this year brought so much laughter, so much joy, so many smiles, so many good times, great memories, vacations, good food, travel, all the things. 2025 held a lot of joy for me personally. 2025 also held a lot of grief. I lost my job. I lost adult friendships and navigating through some really icky, muddy waters in both of those experiences. And staying true to myself and really having to do the hard work of remembering who I am when I had a lot of self-doubt over what I'm capable of, what my strengths are, and then having to face the reality of people just not liking me for who I am or the truth that I told. You know, I continued to do the right thing or the next best thing. And that was not seen in a positive light from a lot of people around me. In fact, just the opposite. And it led to a breakdown of adult friendships. And I had to do a really hard thing in choosing to walk away from some of those. On the flip side, I was also the one being walked away from in some of those situations. And people chose not to be friends with me. It's a wild reality and some crazy conversations to have at 48 years old because there's so much of it that feels immature. It feels childish. You know, I was like, am I the one in middle school? Like Jason's daughter is in middle school, but I feel like I'm back in middle school, like having some of these things. And the reality is that it's not an age-specific thing. We deal with people and relationships and disagreements and hurt feelings because we're human. Not because we're in middle school or we're 48 years old. It's just because we're human. But it was hard this year. And I have always prided myself on being somebody who owns my own shit and takes responsibility for my actions. When I am wrong, I will say that I am wrong. Hard to do sometimes. Like really, really hard to do sometimes. But I was I was met with some challenges this year in those things. Job, personal losses, which leads to so much uncertainty, you know, in my life and in my head and about the future and all of that. And so through all of those things, I think the relationships for me were the hardest. Yeah. Because I'm such a relationship.

Kellie: 51:24

Because you're a relationship person.

Erin: 51:27

Like that is literally who I am. And it's so important to me. It was very painful for me to have to face the ending of relationships that were actually really important to me. I don't want to sugarcoat that. It's just been painful. Yeah.

Kellie: 51:47

As your sister, and I'm giving you a huge, huge, huge hug because I've been there. In fact, when you were just talking, Erin, I was thinking back to seven years ago. Because while we're really on an even playing field in life right now, I still am and will always be seven years older, and you will always be seven years younger. When I was 48, I had a major job loss and a major ending of adult friendships. It was a pivotal turning point in my life. And I haven't thought about that in quite some time until you just talked about it out loud. Here's what I think happens. You and I are both, we've learned through our assessment work and coaching work, very trusting and very highly optimistic. And one of the things that I have had to learn, especially over the last seven years, is tempering my trust and my optimism. We are so trusting that when trust is broken, it is so difficult for people to earn it back. And I think that that is something that we have had to come to understand in addition to grieving differently. There were things that happened in our relationship where trust was broken. And so we have had to learn how to trust again. Yeah. And moving forward from here, you're going to learn how to trust again. You're going to temper your optimism and have a healthy dose of realism. And looking at a situation with perspective gained from having gone through the experiences, and that builds resilience. Yes. Because resilience is really so much more about being flexible than being tough, being strong, handling it all. And when I look back and reflect on my own situation, situations, and it wasn't just adult friendships that severed and were lost. There were biological, familial relationships that should never come crashing down on anybody in their lifetime, that came crashing down on me, on my husband, on my family, on you, your family, our children. But when I think about our respective journeys, one of the things that you and I, in our authenticity and vulnerability, and in all of our mistakes, because we make missteps and mistakes just as much as anybody else every single day of our lives. But we're willing to look in the mirror. Yeah. I am willing to look in the mirror, number one, because I have to, and number two, because I want to. I do not want to live my life with blinders on. I want to live this life with eyes wide open. That is the only way that I'm going to be the very best spouse I can be to Marcus, the very best sister I can be to you and Scott, the very best mother that I can be to Reese and Lily and Savannah, grandmother, Kiki to Rain, Auntie to your boys. I want to show up. And I cannot show up and be the best human that I can be if I'm not willing to look myself in the mirror every single day. And as you and I were both raised with, be responsible for your own actions. Yeah. And I want to instill that in the next generation that's coming behind as I navigate this third phase of my living, which is a really, really important phase because this is where that legacy really becomes what we live and ultimately what is left.

unknown: 55:37

Yeah.

Erin: 55:38

Thank you for putting language to the concept of resilience and it being more about flexibility and less about toughness. Because sometimes I feel like resilience has meant having to push through, which sometimes comes with some level of compromise. Does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely. The concept of flexibility is really profound, actually, when speaking about resilience.

Kellie: 56:12

I have found that that has been a requirement for me in this past year as we talk about the loss and the hard and joy and sorrow holding hands sitting at the same table. You know, I've been out of work for 14 months and I have never worked harder than I have this last year. You know, stepping back into coaching and consulting and genetics and doing this passion work that I absolutely love with people to help them better understand their health and their well-being and what they can do and, you know, how they're kind of hardwired biologically. I have worked on my own personal, emotional, and spiritual growth. I've worked so hard in my relationship with you and with Marcus and with my kids. I have built new projects. I've launched new programs. We've grown the podcast. I've done all the production. I have been a senior advisor for an organization, kind of waiting for some things to come to fruition. It's been a lot of waiting, and the and a lot of the waiting has been filled with uncertainty. And so what I do in my own crazy human behavior is I overwork and I overthink and I overstress and I overcommit because it's all to me building towards something bigger, better, and greater, but that causes emotional fatigue. Yeah. And then I'm emotionally fatigued, which makes me physically fatigued. So then I don't necessarily take care of myself in all the ways that I could, which then results in me not taking care of others in the way that I want to and could, if I weren't so emotionally and physically fatigued. And so that's one of the things that has really become apparent to me in this last year, right? Because there's always a gift in the journey. Yeah. And that gift in this journey for me has been the importance of carving out more time instead of taking on something else so I feel accomplished, that I actually take a step back to reset my own parasympathetic nervous system and give my brain and my body the space that it needs to just be and rest and not always have to be do, do, do, do, doing. Because when I feel uncertain or if I am in a gap, I just do. You know this, you've watched it. So I don't need to over talk it.

Erin: 58:46

But so interesting. As you were talking, I was thinking about how does that translate into my own life? Because we are different and why you're different, especially under times of stress. But here's what I know about both of us this year, and especially going through the loss of jobs and friendships and things, there were so many times where I just felt out of control. I spent time trying to like control situations when actually what I needed to do was just release. It's a lesson in releasing control. I didn't need to control all of those things. The thing that I needed to control, which is the only thing we can control, is how we respond, right? And not react, but how we choose to respond, especially to the things that we don't have control over. And there were things that I did have control over, and there were things that I did not have control over. But how we choose to respond to those things, whether they are in our control or not, is a really hard but extremely important and valuable lesson. And this year asked me to release control. Yeah.

Kellie: 1:00:01

Control what you can, let go of what you can't. Marcus says it all the time. Yeah. We're going to talk about marketisms this year. I listeners are just going to have to get used to it because, you know, these are the lessons that we're learning through our own coaching. And I'm proud of us for being vulnerable enough and open enough to say we still have a lot to learn.

Erin: 1:00:25

Yeah.

Kellie: 1:00:26

And we're coachable too. Yeah. And if we can be and stay coachable, then we can help others do the very same thing. Yeah.

Erin: 1:00:36

Which is so interesting too because I feel like there have been so many times, especially going through a shakeup in friendships, right? Yeah. Where I'm like, I wish everybody would do this assessment work and understand the people that they are choosing to surround themselves with. Yeah. I wish I could force people in my friend group to take an assessment so that I could be the best friend to them, so that I could be the best sister, so that I could be the best girlfriend, so that I could be the best parent, right? Now we've got our kids going through assessments. It's so cool, right? But like it's that impactful. You know? And I feel like there's so much heartache that could be avoided if people had a better understanding of themselves and the people around them.

Kellie: 1:01:18

Yeah. Here's one thing I wanted to say to you. And I don't want to be remiss to this. So I want to get this out. And I want you to hear this. I saw you in the loss of your job and the loss of your adult friends walk straight up to your mirror, look yourself in your own eyes, and acknowledge how much you've grown. And in that moment, you were able to let go of a job that no longer suited you and was not healthy, very constricting, without knowing what in the world was going to be next, and relationships that were doing the exact same thing with people who no longer aligned with where you were at in your life and what direction you were headed because of how much you learned about yourself and how much you had grown. And so kudos to you because you and I had a lot of conversations about it. And yes, there were tears shed, but the tears were not tears of sadness and regret and woe is me. They were tears of releasing what no longer serves. And this last year called on both of us to release things that no longer served and will not serve moving forward into the next year and the next phase of our life. So again, super proud of both of us for doing the hard work with honesty, vulnerability, and integrity. At the same time that we had a lot of stuff and the podcast. Some things happened that were completely and totally unexpected. I'm excited to talk about that!

Erin: 1:03:42

I'm excited for this next segment.

Kellie: 1:03:45

Okay, so I'm gonna keep this backstory brief. Three and a half years ago, on our mother's birthday, June 14th, Flag Day, I had this overwhelming feeling well up inside of me. I don't know where it came from. I hadn't thought about these people in a long time. This was long before you and I started working with Chris Howard. It came from somewhere. And it may have come from a place of rebuilding family after so much family loss in our lives because it came on the heels of all of that, much of which we have not talked about yet on the podcast. We'll get there when the time is right. I had an overwhelming feeling well up inside of me to reach out to our estranged Uncle Bob, who is married to our Aunt Karen. And you and I did not know our Uncle Bob and Aunt Karen outside of meeting them once or twice as children. And I later found out that Bob was actually my godfather. I have the letter that is in my baby book. I didn't even realize that. So the picture I have with my godparents were actually stand-in godparents for our Uncle Bob and our mom's best friend Paula from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. So I listened to the calling and I picked up the phone and I called. Karen answered the phone, and that began a three-year journey of discovery into the lives of two people that we had never known because our mom and her mother and our uncle were all estranged from each other. We don't have any family lineage, and they were the only living relative that we had on our mother's side, yeah, other than each other. Yeah. And so you know the story, right? And just to keep it short and simple, we stayed connected over the last three and a half years. In May of this past year, you know, this is one of the losses that we experienced. I called on Memorial Day weekend. Bob answered the phone. Typically, Karen always answered the phone. And the very first thing he said to me was in his own weakness, because he had Crohn's disease his whole entire adult life. Serious, serious Crohn's disease. So he wasn't healthy and he wasn't well, and he had a lot of challenge. Said, I have sad news for you. Karen died. She had a fall at their home, and they don't know if a heart attack preceded the fall or the fall preceded the heart attack. But he found her and he had to navigate that very, very unexpected and very tragic loss. Whew. That was a wave of grief that I did not see coming. Yeah. Was losing this woman who's always been there, but that I really only had a relationship with for the past few years. And a pretty sporadic relationship at that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And so I had another conversation with Bob in June. And then Marcus and I were leaving on our summer vacation, and I told him that I would get in touch when we got home. We got home. I called every single weekend for five weekends. And on the fifth weekend, which was Labor Day, I knew something was wrong. So I navigated through the Vermont state trooper, police, sheriff system, and finally got to somebody who was willing to go out and do a welfare check. It took about 24 to 48 hours, but that trooper finally called me back and said, I'm sorry to tell you that your uncle passed in July while we were gone. So that brought another wave of grief. And also the end of what I thought was going to be this newfound connection and building this relationship and supporting him through the loss of Karen and all of that. What we did not expect was meeting and connecting with in a very deep and a very profound way his best friend, brother, for 55 years, Wayne, and his wife Wendy. And I remember when the trooper told me that there was a neighbor or a friend. And I said, Will you give them my phone number? Because we don't have any, like, does he have anything that we can hang? We have nothing that belonged to him. Like, you know, is there anything?

Erin: 1:08:12

Yeah. Well, and I want to interject this so our listeners understand that he was an incredible woodworker. Yes. Carpenter. Yeah. Carpenter and wood burner. And our mom had a print of one of his wood burnings. And we had had conversations, you and I, when this kind of reconnection was being established with Karen and Bob, that we were so hopeful that we would maybe be able to have something of his, like one of his pieces of art. Yes. At some point in our lives.

Kellie: 1:08:52

Yes. And that print is now hanging in my hallway outside my office. Love that. So fast forward, long story short, more to come on this. Wayne and Wendy stepped into our lives. They knew that some nieces had showed up. That is all they knew. They have become the family that we didn't know we had and needed. Yeah. And vice versa. It has become one of the most meaningful, impactful, and inspiring relationships and relationship stories that I have ever heard about, let alone experienced myself. Not only has Wayne turned into Santa with these wood burning gifts and his own artwork that he shared, and a friend of his who they're building this big home building project out in Vermont. I can't wait to do a whole entire episode on that. But his friend that's kind of leading that project with him is also a carpenter and a woodworker. And for Christmas, Wayne took the very, very last photograph of our Uncle Bob sitting on the front porch and had it burned into wood and sent it to us. And we have these treasures from our family lineage that we never would have had otherwise. But more than anything, we have Bob's chosen family, Wayne and Wendy, now our uncle Wayne and Wendy, Aunt Wendy, who are part of our lives. It has been absolutely such a joy-filled experience. And I think that it is a testament to family is who you choose, not necessarily who you are biologically related and connected to. And you and I get that because Pop adopted you and I. And we have a brother that's not biologically related. And we have this big family bush with all these people. And it has helped heal my heart in ways that I didn't even know needed to be mended. And at the same time, Wayne has started reuniting and reconnecting with his own son through all of this. And they articulate on a regular basis. We didn't even know we needed you to.

Erin: 1:11:36

Because they have become family. They claim us, we claim them. It was so unexpected and bonds and relationships that none of us knew we needed, but now, like we needed them. They have healed parts of my heart that I didn't know needed healed, just like you. It's just been so remarkable how meaningful it has been for all of us. You know, I I want to acknowledge you and the steps that you took and listening to that internal voice and that nudge that you had to reach out to Bob and Karen when you did several years ago because it was vulnerable to do that. And it was worth it. Yes. To do that. It was worth it. You did it, not knowing what was gonna come of it, not knowing if our uncle really would be open to hearing from us all these years later or you know, build any kind of relationship. And he was really becoming more and more open to that when Karen tragically died, and then he followed a very short time later. Yep. Two months. It did create a wave of grief for us in an unexpected way. I think for me, it was really grieving what could have been. Undoubtedly. But man, through that to be connected to Wayne and Wendy to hear the joy in their voices when we call together. He's a jokester and just so full of life and energy. And Wendy is just as sweet as can be, and they have just really embraced us.

Kellie: 1:13:24

Yeah.

Erin: 1:13:25

It is another beautiful gift that could never fit in a box.

Kellie: 1:13:30

No, and I think it's a a really beautiful example, Erin, of the roots that we tend create the ripples that we leave. That is exciting to think about because we actually have created a resource called Roots and Ripples that's available for people on the website. They can go to the website and check it out. But on top of the gratitude reset, which is a free resource, just about checking in with yourself on gratitude, purpose, intention, connection, and legacy. And Roots and Ripples builds on that to a greater degree, but it's understanding really what shaped you and at the same time what you're shaping. And so I look forward to continuing to allow this project to ignite and inspire ways that we can take the journey that we've been on and the experiences that we've had and the work that we've done and radiate that out into an opportunity for other people to do the same thing, right? To pause and reflect and listen to themselves and to each other in a more profound way and be open to what can be and what can this expected or unexpected moment in time, what gift might it hold?

Erin: 1:14:55

Yeah.

Kellie: 1:14:55

And we're gonna have even more of that with the guests that we have as we step into year two. Yeah. So we kicked off year two with Ashley Joe and her memoir, Tides of Grief, Waves of Grace. And I have a lot that I could talk about with that episode and how perfect it was for the kickoff episode of year two of the P-I-G. But I have to tell you, what I respect about Ashley the most is her unfiltered, unapologetic willingness to talk about her messy life, the things that were out of her control and the things that were in her control. And taking ownership of the bad choices and the mistakes, you know, I've had a lot of them in my life. And I have to say, I have never been bold or brave enough to speak some of it out loud publicly in the way that she is like, I'm gonna talk about this because other people, even if they don't do what I do, even if they don't follow my path, if you can at least walk up to your own self and look in your own mirror and take ownership and responsibility for the things that you could go back and do differently if you could, but you wouldn't because you wouldn't be here if you had done it any other way. Yep. It is a phenomenal episode, and I hope everybody listens to it.

Erin: 1:16:25

I completely agree. It was such a profound conversation and filled with so much insight, so much wisdom. But echoing what you just said, it's the truth. Just raw, unapologetic, like you said, but the whole truth, not just parts of it, right? Not just the prettier parts that are going to be more acceptable, right, to people. But her willingness to tell the whole truth is very admirable. And she's a lovely human being with an incredible story. I do hope that all of our listeners have listened to that episode.

Kellie: 1:17:08

And if they haven't, that they go back and listen to it. It's one to prioritize for sure. Yeah. She is a living, breathing example of welcoming the fire horse year. Ah, yes. Shedding the skin of the snake and stepping boldly into this year of the fire horse. So she kicked it off, right? We did not plan that. That wasn't even intentional. It just happened that way. I think that that is allowing life to flow. That's been one of the great lessons of this year is allowing life to flow more freely versus forcing life to be what we want it to be. To kick off this next year and some of the episodes that we are going to bring, the guests that we're going to have, the experts that we're going to feature, our own conversations, continuing to unfold our own story with our own family. It's really going to be incredible. And I don't know if we want to give any sneak peeks into a couple of or a few of the topics that listeners can look forward to this year or not. But suffice it to say, I am so looking forward to every single guest that we have the privilege to sit down and share time with because they're willing to give us their time, the one thing they can't get back.

Erin: 1:18:39

Yes. I will also say that part of my excitement in moving into year two, and I cannot wait to really dive into the power and the energy of the year of the fire horse. But I also feel like you and I are different hosts than we were a year ago. Oh, yeah. And so I'm carrying that excitement and energy into this next phase as well and into the next year and into these conversations. We referenced it in the beginning, but I mean, the cue we have of people who have reached out to us, publicists that are reaching out to us, wanting their clients to be on our show. I mean, if we stopped accepting applications now, we have enough people to do content for a few more years of the podcast. It's wild to me what's unfolding. And so I am really excited and energized, fired up in the Fireworks year for all that is to come.

Kellie: 1:19:50

One of that I'm really looking forward to is a father who adopted a daughter is a teenager from Africa and the nonprofit that they have started in the mission world. That they're doing. He happens to be somebody that I grew up with, and the story is so inspiring. We have a woman who navigated a five-year journey with her son who had cannabis-induced psychosis. And I'm very familiar with this, number one, because of the state of the legalization across the country, but particularly in Colorado, and also being in genetics, that there are some people who have this predisposition for that. So that's going to be really powerful. Yeah. We have a marriage crisis coach. We have a publicist who contacted us about her client being on the podcast, but we learned about her story and said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Will you be on the podcast? So she's going to share time with us. Yeah. We have a woman who lost her parents one year apart to suicide, and then her brother 12 years later to pancreatic cancer. End of life grief coaches. Some stories of drug overdoses and how families have navigated that and how not only have they navigated that, but they've turned that into their life's work.

unknown: 1:21:10

Yeah.

Erin: 1:21:11

And what you just stated is actually a theme in and of itself with so many of our guests, where their own life experience has prompted them to create resources, books, launch their own podcasts to find their life's work through those tragedies and to share that with us. And so I can't wait to have these conversations, but I can't wait to read these books and listen to these podcast episodes and to support the nonprofits that our guests are part of. And as we look to just expand our reach and grow our community, I can't wait to immerse myself in it and to be part of their stories and their journey. It's just a beautiful relationship. It's what we're doing and what we've created is fostering just unbelievable partnerships with people around the world. Yeah. And that's really cool. And then we're also gonna dive into some stories of people that are in the midst of their own cancer journeys, navigating, saying goodbye to their families, and looking at legacy and a living legacy through a very different lens. And and we are excited to hold space for some of that as well.

Kellie: 1:22:47

Yeah, and what we shared is just the tip of the iceberg. There's so much underneath the water that we're not bringing light to yet. But if I could encapsulate all that's been and all that's coming, it's people, including us, who have taken hardship and turned that into hope and taken hope and turned that into happiness and healing. To me, that keeps us grounded in what we're doing, grounded in our commitment to this work, grounded in our approach and our appreciation for every single person who listens to even one minute of one episode. Now, all of the magic typically comes at the very end. So if they only listen to the beginning and they don't get all the way to the very end, they're gonna be missing out on a lot of really, really deep magical stuff that comes at the end. But yeah, I think the biggest reminder on the heels of expressing our gratitude is this podcast is not about grief. It's about how people live well because of love.

unknown: 1:23:54

Yeah.

Erin: 1:23:55

How love continues to shape how we live. Yes.

Kellie: 1:24:00

Every moment, every day, every step of the way. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being open, honest, raw, and vulnerable and letting me do the exact same thing. And I know that we are both deeply grateful for having started the journey and more importantly, continuing the journey and doing it with purpose, intention, and gratitude.

Erin: 1:24:26

So beautiful. Thank you for being who you are, for staying true to that, for loving me and accepting me for who I am and for your for your willingness to share your truth and your story, your experiences, because hearing your story has helped me create a more meaningful connection to my own.

Kellie: 1:24:54

Wow. Ditto sister, I love you. I love you too. We hope today's conversation offered you insight, encouragement, or even just a moment to pause and reflect on the story you're living and the legacy you're creating.

Erin: 1:25:37

If something in this episode moved you, please consider sharing it with someone you love. A small share can make a big impact. You can also join us on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn and connect further at the P-I-Gpodcast.com.

Kellie: 1:25:51

And if you're enjoying this podcast, one of the most meaningful ways you can support us is by leaving a five-star rating, writing a short review, or simply letting us know your thoughts. Your feedback helps us reach others and reminds us why we do this work.

Erin: 1:26:07

Because the P-I-G isn't just a podcast.