Ep003: Finding Your Purpose Post-Loss with Michele Neff Hernandez Artwork

Laugh At The Odds Podcast with Heidi & Dave

“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” Named after this Charles Bukowski quote on the meaning of life, "Laugh at the Odds" is a he said/she said podcast about surviving the loss of a partner or spouse through the lens of a young, interracial widowed couple. Heidi and Dave are two halves of a widowed couple, having lost Arnel in 2014 and Bianca in 2017, respectively. In this podcast, we offer our perspectives as two young widows who individually found joy and strength post-loss, and unexpectedly found love with each other after two years of platonic friendship. We speak with other widows and widowers who are writers, counselors, solo parents, comedians, COVID warriors, dancers, singers, entrepreneurs, and even self-proclaimed “wid-hos.” Dave is Dada to a sardonic and intelligent six-year-old boy, Benji, and Heidi is Momma to two adopted mini schnauzers, Ziggy and Xena. Together they raise and shuttle their family between their two homes in New Jersey.

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Laugh At The Odds Podcast with Heidi & Dave

Ep003: Finding Your Purpose Post-Loss with Michele Neff Hernandez

February 21, 2021 • Heidi & Dave • Season 1 • Episode 3

In Episode 3 of Laugh at the Odds Podcast with Heidi and Dave, we have the honor of speaking with Michele Neff Hernandez, who founded Soaring Spirits International in 2008, three years after losing her husband in a sudden and unexpected cycling accident. We sit down and talk about how she turned her tragic loss, and her personal need to find other widows, into a mission of connecting people. This consequently created the ripple effect of a worldwide community and a nonprofit that has served over four million widows and widowers, through various programs such as Camp Widow, Widowed Village, Widowed Pen Pals, the Resilience Center, and an upcoming book entitled, "Different After You," just to name a few.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Michele Neff Hernandez is the founder, and CEO of Soaring Spirits International. Michele founded the Soaring Spirits Resilience Center at Schreiner University in Kerrville Texas and serves as the center’s Director. She is a speaker, writer, and community activist and has received local, state, and national recognition for her work in founding Soaring Spirits. She is also the author of the upcoming book Different After You which will be published by New World Library in February of 2022. Michele resides in Simi Valley, California with her three amazing kids, one great son-in-law and one very Australian husband.

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