Tell Me What It's Like

Valerie Russell spent a decade in criminal justice. She worked as a corrections officer, a narcotics investigator, even on the 9/11 Human Recovery Project. But one day, she realized she wanted something entirely different. She sold everything, moved to Guatemala with just a backpack, and built a thriving travel agency from scratch.

"I got rid of everything that I owned, basically sold it all on a weekend, my pajamas thro...

Matt Farley has created over 26,000 songs ... many of them about poop. But behind the absurd humor is a thoughtful approach to creativity, productivity, and making things without fear.

In this episode of Tell Me What It’s Like, Matt shares how he embraced the ridiculous, built an empire of searchable songs, and let go of perfectionism — all while homeschooling, making movies, and continuing to make music.

"We as creative ...

More than 3,000 years ago, a Native American community in what is now Northeast Louisiana built monumental earthworks - such as mounds, ridges, and a vast plaza - at Poverty Point, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For nearly two decades, Dr. Diana Greenlee, station archaeologist at Poverty Point, has worked to uncover what life was like for the people who lived there so many years ago.

"Every time I do some work there I...

In Part 1, Bill Gerhart shared his son Connor’s story and discussed the dangers of fentanyl. In Part 2, Bill shares more about the fentanyl crisis, why he feels prosecuting those who sell it is necessary, and what he’s doing to raise awareness. He also reflects on his belief that there’s opportunity in every event, and how he moves forward with that perspective.

"I'm a big believer that there's opportunity in every nega...

In 2023, nearly 80,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. Bill Gerhart's son Connor was one of those people. In this first part of a two-part conversation, Bill shares who Connor was, from his childhood and football days to his career as a civil engineer, and how a series of surgeries and pain prescriptions led to an opioid addiction that few around him knew about. He also reflects on when he realized what was happening with Con...

Dr. Mary Hayden recently traveled to Colombia to answer a question about mosquitoes that was actually about us humans. Specifically, she wanted to know how human behavior shapes the risk of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, Zika, and yellow fever. From unregulated areas with limited water access to neighborhoods in the U.S., she’s found that our daily habits, infrastructure, and even trust in information can either reduce or inc...

At 14, Brandon Phillips was a healthy kid with a passion for sports. Then one day he noticed his leg was swollen. Within 24 hours, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the outlook wasn't positive. In this episode, Brandon shares what it was like to face a life-threatening diagnosis, fight through months of brutal chemotherapy, and go on to become a professional polo player, as well as a devoted advocate for families ba...

Carol Hoenig published her first novel in 2005. Years later, while driving home from work, one of her characters suddenly returned, insisting to Carol that her story wasn’t finished. That unexpected moment sparked a new novel about the character's story. In this episode, Carol reflects on her creative process, the career pivots that shaped her path, and the moments when fictional characters come to life.

 I was leaving w...

Insurance agent Rich Salgado has spent decades building a reputation as the guy who knows how to help – whether you're an NFL player, a TV producer, or just someone he met at a business event. Known to nearly everyone as “Big Daddy,” Rich shares how he's built a powerful network rooted in generosity, trust, and simply showing up for people.

"You never know someone you meet might be the one that takes you outta diggi...

Bill Horan has spent nearly four decades interviewing people about one elusive idea: success. On his radio show Secrets of Success, he’s spoken with thousands of guests, from authors and business owners to everyday people, about the idea of success. In this episode, Bill shares some of the most memorable stories, the themes that have stuck with him, and how hosting this show has shaped his own understanding of what success really m...

Alexis Broz didn’t grow up thinking she’d become a wildlife rehabilitator. But when a baby squirrel slid across a restaurant patio toward a petrified customer, Alexis scooped it up and didn’t look back. That moment set her on a path of rescuing, raising, and returning animals to the wild. From squirrels and pigeons to otters and beavers, Alexis has rehabilitated and released hundreds of animals in New York. In this episode, she sha...

While in graduate school in the early 1980s, Dr. Morton Barlaz was offered a project studying how municipal waste decomposes. He wasn’t sure it was what he wanted to do, but it sounded interesting so he said yes. Forty-two years later, he’s a leading expert on how landfills work and why their management matters. In this episode, he explains what happens to the things we throw away, what biodegrades (and what doesn’t), and how landf...

When Becca Pizzi got dozens of messages from friends about an extreme endurance race – seven marathons on seven continents in seven days – she knew she had to run it. In 2016, she became the first American woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge, winning with a total time of 27 hours, 26 minutes, and an average marathon time of just under four hours. Then in 2018, she did it again. Hear what it took to win it and what the mi...

Saundra Pelletier has spent her career focused on women’s health, from Big Pharma to nonprofit work around the globe. Then she got the opportunity to lead a startup bringing a new kind of birth control to market: a non-hormonal gel designed to give women more control. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to fight for FDA approval, push for insurance coverage, and rethink what birth control can look like when women are the one...

April Mitchell realized one day that she actually knew the answer to the problem she was having when her kids left their towels on the floor ... she just had to invent it. Since then, she’s created dozens of products, from housewares to toys and games, and learned a lot along the way. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to have a spark of inspiration, go through the invention process, and co-create with her kids to bring her...

If you want to bring attention to litter, what do you do? For one man in Florida, the answer was to ... put on a wolf suit. In 2022, Trash Wolf began prowling the streets picking up litter and quietly building a movement.

In this episode, he shares what inspired the wolf, what it’s like to collect literal tons of trash, and why his mission is really about awareness, community, and taking that first step.

“The number one l...

Military spouse and mom Leigh Dzvonick was busy raising young kids when she started to feel off. After three ER visits and a misdiagnosis of anxiety, she was finally told she had Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that left her unable to walk.

In this episode, Leigh shares the confusion of misdiagnosis, the shock of sudden paralysis, and the determination it took to reclaim her health.

Dis...

After a career first as a journalist and then as a traveling nurse, Keri Nelson chased an even grander adventure and secured a job in Antarctica. Seventeen seasons later, she’s done a lot of different jobs at various research stations, she's experienced both summers and winters on the continent, and even helped with scientific research.

In this episode, Keri shares what it’s really like to live at the bottom of the world, giving in...

What’s it like to set a world record? To invent a new product? To survive an extremely rare illness?

Tell Me What It’s Like is a show about those experiences and the people who lived them. Host Stacy Raine sits down with individuals who’ve faced uncommon, life-altering challenges to learn how it happened, why it mattered, and what it was really like.

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