Before Season Two gets underway, I’m sharing one more reflection from the first season of I’m Here Too.

At the end of every conversation, I asked each guest:

“What’s something the audience can do for you?”

Their answers weren’t transactional. They revealed seven ways we ask for meaning, support, and connection in our lives:

• Asking as Action: applying what we learn
• Asking as Amplification: helping meaningful work travel farther
• Asking as Understanding: staying curious about what people carry
• Asking as Attention: noticing what’s alive underfoot
• Asking as Contribution: showing up where it matters
• Asking as Self-Regard: tending to our internal belonging
• Asking as Impact: deepening how we support the causes we care about

• 
  

Featuring voices from across the season, this short bonus audio episode weaves those asks with reflections of my own and lands on a closing reflection.

Thank you for listening, and for being here too.

Off we go, enjoy.

A season closer — and a pause before what’s next.
Before heading into Season Two, I’m reflecting on the first season of I’m Here Too — where we explored how we grow, create, and stay connected while everything around us keeps moving.

Through some favorite moments and voices from Season One, I revisit reflections about purpose, belonging, becoming, and the everyday practice of finding home wherever we are.

Thank you for listening, and for being here too.
Off we go, enjoy.

Hi everybody, this episode feels like a late-night call — the kind you don’t want to end. I’m talking with Amy, a friend from my early years in Essex County, New Jersey, and we go deep into what it means to grow, drift, and return to the people who’ve known every version of us.

This one’s audio-only, intentionally — I wanted it to feel like the kind of conversation you lean into, where you can just listen. The pauses, the laughter, the quiet — they’re part of the story too.

We talk about how friendship can be a kind of home — a mirror, a soft landing, and a reminder that connection isn’t about proximity but about presence. If you’ve ever had a friend who helped you find yourself, this one will feel like an exhale.

Off we go. 🎧

CHAPTERS

(00:00:06) Opening: A Call Between Old Friends

(00:01:32) The Work of Friendship: Staying When It’s Hard

(00:03:35) What Deep Friendship Feels Like

(00:05:24) You Are a Relief: Finding Calm in Each Other

(00:06:37) Learning to Let Yourself Be Seen

(00:11:07) Settling into the Hug — Presence as Practice

(00:12:36) Holding the Whole of Someone: The Good, the Awkward, the True

(00:20:01) When We Leave, When We’re Left — and What Remains

(00:22:10) The Invisible Thread Between Us

(00:22:50) Imagination as a Bridge in Friendship

(00:28:00) Sitting with the Uncomfortable and Staying Open

(00:30:54) Where Energy and Empathy Intersect

(00:32:39) The Inner Game of Friendship

(00:34:05) Until Next Time — The Pause That Holds Connection

💬 Who’s a friend that still feels like home to you? Share your thoughts with me on Instagram → @im_here_too_podcast or @i_am_here_too______.

🎧 Home Is a Verb — two conversations about purpose, friendship, and belonging.

With old friends Gene and Amy, exploring how we stay connected to ourselves and others as we keep moving.

Listen next:

👉 Taking the Fork in the Road — with Gene Gurkoff

Hi everybody, in this episode, I’m talking with my old friend Gene Gurkoff, founder of Charity Miles. We grew up together in Essex County, New Jersey, and this is a conversation about what it means to keep moving — literally and figuratively — and to build a life that feels true.

We talk about taking the road that isn’t always straight, about purpose as something we practice rather than find, and how staying in motion can create its own kind of belonging.

If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to live a life aligned with meaning — even when you can’t see the whole map — this one’s for you.

Off we go. 🎧

Chapters

(00:00:06) Opening: Purpose in Motion

(00:02:10) From Big Law to Big Meaning — The Leap to Charity Miles

(00:07:28) Building Impact: How Charity Miles Works

(00:09:25) Becoming a Podcaster While on the Move

(00:12:45) Why Every Step Tells a Story

(00:15:20) Many Miles, Many Stories — Purpose as Practice

(00:16:40) Talking Style Canoeing with Seth Godin: Ideas in Motion

(00:21:45) No Days Off — Redefining Rest and Routine

(00:22:49) What It Means to Live an Integrated Life

(00:24:48) The Fork in the Road: Choosing with Courage

(00:27:49) Habits, Rituals, and the Stories That Shape Us

(00:32:47) Naming Your Superpower

(00:35:00) Impact Starts Small: How to Begin Today

(00:37:18) Culture, Curiosity, and Creative Fuel

(00:40:35) Closing: The Miles Ahead

💬 What does “purpose in motion” look like for you?
Share your thoughts with me on Instagram → @im_here_too_podcast or @i_am_here_too______.

🎧 Home Is a Verb — two conversations about purpose, friendship, and belonging.

With old friends Gene and Amy, exploring how we stay connected to ourselves and others as we keep moving.

Listen next:

👉 Settling into the Hug of Friendship — with Amy

Hi everybody!

Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: Mastering the Art of YOU, a conversation with Dana Bernstein.

Among many things, Dana is a conflict resolution author, speaker, consultant and Principal of Dare to Live Brave. With over 2500 coaching hours and more than 100 clients, Dana specializes in de-escalation, negotiations, contracts, project management and high stakes situations.

In 2025, Dana published “It’s the Thought That Counts: Mastering the Art of YOU vs. you,” an interactive book helping individuals resolve internal conflict to better navigate external challenges.

Dana and I got to know each other as part of the Rutgers Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance program and it was a real treat to get to sit down with her. As I think you’ll learn during the conversation, Dana has a way with words and I asked her to elaborate on a number of quotes that resonated with me after reading her book and listening to some of her other podcast appearances including:

• --> “The words that make you tick, are the same ones that tick you off.”

• --> “Sometimes the mountains are there for a reason.”

• --> "If you’re not vulnerable, you don’t have the stickiness to grow.”

• --> “You get to choose your hard.”

  Dana also generously did some live coaching with me, shared her thoughts on how quiet the outside noise so you can tune into your true inside voice and at your own pace, had some wild adventures and musical experiences to share, and somehow did all of this without missing a beat - even when we got disrupted briefly by a technical glitch.

  If you want to witness someone living their values out loud and in service of helping others, if you want to learn how to navigate in this fast paced world, or if you’re just curious about my least favorite food, then I think you’re really going to like this conversation.

• Off we go, enjoy!

  
  

  CHAPTERS

  (00:00:05) Introduction

  (00:02:30) ‘Dare to Live Brave’

  (00:04:01) How do we trust ourselves?

  (00:05:32) Moving to France without knowing (much) French

  (00:08:45) Wherever we go, there go our values

  (00:11:13) Do we have to live in the fast lane?

  (00:14:22) Building connection with others and showing them they matter

  (00:15:03) Becoming your best and most intentional self

  (00:18:40) What’s your ideal emotion?

  (00:19:56) Writing “It’s the Thought That Counts”

  (00:24:30) Curiosity, Play and Leadership

  (00:27:21) “The words that make you tick are the words that tick you off”

  (00:31:30) “Sometimes the mountains are there for a reason”

  (00:32:57) “If you’re not vulnerable, you don’t have the stickiness to grow”

  (00:35:50) “You get to choose your hard”

  (00:38:45) A diverse career journey and finding joy in work

  (00:42:20) Handling stress and navigating when “something happens”

  (00:43:55) Preoccupations

  (00:46:35) Superpowers

  (00:49:32) Be good to yourself

  (00:51:13) Binge watching and mosh pits

  (00:56:53) Closing

  
  

  About Dana Bernstein

  Dana Bernstein is a Conflict Resolution author, speaker, consultant and Principal of Dare to Live Brave.

  In 2025, Dana published “It’s the Thought That Counts: Mastering the Art of YOU vs. you,” an interactive book helping individuals resolve internal conflict to better navigate external challenges.

  Dana has a Master’s in Dispute Resolution from Montclair State and is a court-appointed volunteer mediator. She is an ICF NJ Board Member, Co-Director of Programs with a PCC Credential. She is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Meeting Professional (CMP).

  An avid volunteer, Dana has been working with the Girl Scouts and the Girl Scout Service Unit Leadership Team for 15 years. She is a strong supporter of women advocating for informed health choices for those who have breast cancer.

  Dana helps people use their voice in managing conflict. Dana offers a vast portfolio of business accomplishments with a proven track record of leadership and successful outcomes.

Hi everybody!

Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: Writing Our Lives, a conversation with Heather Lanier. Heather is an essayist, memoirist, poet, professor and TED speaker whose talk, “Good and Bad Are Incomplete Stories We Tell Ourselves” has been viewed over three million times and translated into 18 languages.

I had the good fortune of meeting Heather back in 2009 when we were roommates at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. It was great to catch up and talk about a number of things including: writing and spirituality, staying attuned to our dreams, making space for more honest emotions including vulnerability, grief and joy, finding community and connection with other writers, and the challenges of writing about the people closest to us.

And make sure you stick around for the lightning round where Heather reveals the secrets to thrifting, among other interesting facts. If you’re a writer, a reader or someone who’s just looking to build connection in an ever changing world, then stay tuned because I think you’re really going to like this conversation.

Off we go, enjoy!

CHAPTERS

(00:00:06) Introduction

(00:02:04) Writing as a Spiritual Practice

(00:07:55) It All Belongs: Joy, Grief and Wholeness

(00:12:22) Finding Creative Community

(00:17:55) Lessons from Teaching and Staying Put

(00:27:02) “Good or Bad, Hard to Say”

(00:31:48) Writing About the People We Love

(00:37:28) Parenting, Memoir and Presence

(00:39:56) Protecting Energy and Finding Rest

(00: 42:24) The Lightning Round: Preoccupations, Superpowers and Building Connection

(00:53:47) Closing

About Heather Lanier

Heather Lanier is an essayist, memoirist, and poet. She’s the author of the memoir, Raising a Rare Girl, along with two award-winning poetry chapbooks. Kirkus Reviews called her full length poetry collection, Psalms of Unknowing, “a powerful poetic reckoning with motherhood and religion.” Her nonfiction has appeared in The Atlantic, TIME, Salon, The Sun, Longreads, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. A recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, a Vermont Creation Grant, and a New Jersey Artist’s Fellowship, she works as an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Rowan University. Her TED talk, “‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Are Incomplete Stories We Tell Ourselves,” has been viewed three million times and translated into 18 languages.

Hi everybody!

Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: a bonus feature with Hilary Harkness and Becky Moon.

Many of you may know Hilary is my wife, but more importantly, she is a wonderful artist. In 2023, she had a solo show at PPOW Gallery in New York City. Upon hearing about this, Becky actually decided to take a flight from St. Louis where she was a student at Washington University. Becky landed in Tribeca and came to the closing day of the show. This was actually the first time Hilary and Becky met in person.

When Hilary heard that Becky and I were having a conversation, she said, “I’d love to drop in and talk to Becky for a little bit.” And so here is some of that conversation. I think it will be very helpful for artists, but also people who wonder what artists do when they talk to each other, artist to artist.

Off we go, enjoy!

CHAPTERS

(00:00:06) Introduction

(00:01:04) Hilary’s tips for being a mentor and giving feedback

(00:02:30) What Becky learned about maximalism and painting

(00:03:37) Finding love and inspiration

(00:04:07) Closing

About Hilary Harkness

In her meticulously rendered small-scale paintings, Hilary Harkness (b. 1971) fuses traditional techniques with a distinctly contemporary sensibility to explore power struggles inherent in sex, race, and class systems on an uncensored stage.

Working in episodic series that take years to complete, Harkness wields unparalleled skill and imagination to elevate the stories and intersectional experiences of women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people. Harkness earned her BA from UC Berkeley and her MFA from Yale University.

Her work has been featured in exhibitions at FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain; American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY; Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; and Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT; among others. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Yuz Museum Shanghai; Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA; and the Seavest Collection, New York, NY; among others.

In 2017, she received the Henry Clews Award and participated in the inaugural Master Residency Program at the Château de La Napoule, France. She has lectured widely at leading academic and cultural institutions. In 2014, she co-curated Roy Lichtenstein: Nudes and Interiors at FLAG Art Foundation. Harkness’s first solo exhibition with P·P·O·W Gallery, Prisoners from the Front, was on display in fall 2023.

Co-published by Black Dog Press and P·P·O·W, Hilary Harkness: Everything for You is the first comprehensive monograph on the artist’s work and features new texts by Lynn Tillman, Dr. Ashley Jackson, as well as an interview with American painter Ivy Haldeman.

Harkness was represented by Mary Boone Gallery in New York City from 2003 until the gallery closed in 2019. She is currently represented by P·P·O·W Gallery in New York City.

About Becky Moon

Becky Moon (b.2002) is an artist based in New York City who comes from a half North Korean and half South Korean heritage. She paints the imagined structure of the invisible human mind through the arrangement of fictional objects. In this limitless world built from meticulous brushstrokes, each thought transforms into a branch, rock, or snail shell.

She is pursuing her MFA in Visual Arts at Columbia University. Previously, she earned a BFA in Art with a Second Major in Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis and attended Yale Norfolk School of Art. She has also worked as an education associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum. Her most recent solo exhibitions were held at Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, MO, and at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.

Hi everybody!

Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: Seeing the Forest and the Trees, a conversation with Becky Moon. Becky is many things; she’s an artist, a philosopher and an admirer of ants.

So, you can imagine when we got together, we had a lot to talk about around all of these intersections, but most importantly about the spirit of generosity that Becky brings to her work, her life and her practice. So, if you’re someone who is interested in questions like: What does it all mean? Why am I here? Now what do I do? then stay tuned, because I think you’re really going to like this conversation.

Off we go, enjoy!

CHAPTERS

(00:00:06) Introduction

(00:01:05) Becky’s Artistic Journey

(00:03:11) The Ig Nobel Awards Connection

(00:06:36) Isolation and Connection

(00:09:59) Art and Feminist Philosophy

(00:19:30) Interconnectedness of Art, Science and Philosophy

(00:30:52) 10,000 Trees, Swiss Cows and Ant Power

(00:37:34) Influence of Parents

(00:42:50) Humor in the Creative Process

(00:50:51) Building a Community of Artists

(00:55:44) Preoccupations

(00:56:53) Superpowers

(00:58:53) Finding Joy in the Smallest Things

(01:00:31) Neko Case and Fish Sense

(01:01:35) Closing

About Becky Moon

Becky Moon (b.2002) is an artist based in New York City who comes from a half North Korean and half South Korean heritage. She paints the imagined structure of the invisible human mind through the arrangement of fictional objects. In this limitless world built from meticulous brushstrokes, each thought transforms into a branch, rock, or snail shell.

She is pursuing her MFA in Visual Arts at Columbia University. Previously, she earned a BFA in Art with a Second Major in Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis and attended Yale Norfolk School of Art. She has also worked as an education associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum. Her most recent solo exhibitions were held at Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, MO, and at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.