What happens when survival turns into purpose?

In this deeply moving episode of Let’s Get Comfy, we sit down with Karen McGinnis Vaughn, CRPS, a Tampa native whose life is a testament to resilience, recovery, and redemption. After more than two decades battling substance use disorder, homelessness, incarceration, suicide attempts, and profound personal loss, Karen made a life-altering decision that changed everything.

Her turning point came in 2013 with the birth of her son, Owen, and her entry into Hillsborough County’s Drug Court Program after losing custody of him twice before he turned two. Today, Karen has full custody, a thriving career in behavioral health, and a powerful voice in the recovery community.

Karen shares her journey from active addiction to becoming a Florida Board Certified Recovery Peer Specialist (CRPS), using lived experience to help others navigate substance use and mental health recovery. She reflects on working as an Outreach Coordinator with American Addiction Centers, serving on the board of Dress for Success Tampa Bay, and recently being appointed to Hillsborough County’s Historic Resources Review Board.

The conversation also explores unimaginable trauma. In 2022, a fire destroyed Karen’s home and nearly took her son’s life. Thanks to first responders, community support, and faith, Owen made a miraculous recovery. Karen opens up about grief, gratitude, and how community can carry you through the darkest moments.

This episode is about recovery, motherhood, accountability, faith, and what it truly means to turn pain into purpose.

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Comfort Measures Media, powered by Comfort Measures Consulting, educates and empowers individuals, families, and healthcare leaders to navigate aging, healthcare, and life transitions with confidence and dignity. We are a platform for education, advocacy, and real-life stories that matter.

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Season three opens with heart, humor, and hard-won wisdom as we sit down with two leaders who live at the intersection of care and creativity: Robin Blyer of RB Health Partners and Dr. Walter Kittle, clinician-turned-international recording artist. We start with gratitude for the community that built this platform, then dig into what actually moves the needle in skilled nursing: culture, continuity, and practical systems that help people do their jobs well.

Robin shares how RB Health Partners built an interdisciplinary team—nursing, infection prevention, risk management, clinical reimbursement, life enrichment, and more—designed to strengthen facilities from the inside out. Her approach begins with listening, then layering regulatory review, trend analysis, and staff interviews to uncover root causes and culture patterns. We explore the cost of leadership turnover, the urgency of competency-based training for directors of nursing, and why a compliant grievance program can transform complaints into actionable data. The throughline is simple: sustained quality comes from shared accountability, clear tools, and support that respects the realities of frontline work.

Dr. Kittle’s journey brings a different lens on healing. After a severe back injury ended his clinical practice, he pivoted to music—carrying the same drive to help people into a new medium. We talk about the growing evidence around sound, frequency, and wellbeing, and hear a moving story of a guitarist with dementia who reconnected through his instrument. Music therapy, hospice experiences, and life enrichment all show how nonpharmacologic care can restore presence and dignity alongside medical treatment.

If you lead or support long-term care, this conversation offers a blueprint for change: invest in training, protect continuity, fix the grievance pipeline, and use expert voices openly. And if you’re here for the love story, you’ll get that too—tenacity, trust, and the balance of two careers that soar higher together. Enjoy the season kick-off, then share it with a colleague who needs a lift. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us the one change you’d make at your facility today.