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A gentle heads-up: In this conversation, we name some hard things — including suicide and sexual assault. If that’s tender for you today, please listen with care, skip ahead, or come back when you’re ready. If you need support in the US, call or text 988.

Sometimes hope is a laugh you didn’t expect.

At 10:44 PM on November 2, 2015, Ron “Blake” Blake was ready to end his life. A split-second laugh during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert interrupted the plan—and it changed everything. In this conversation, Blake and I talk about what came next: PTSD after sexual assault, dissociative amnesia, and a 10-year, one-human mission to gather stories on giant foam boards. Today there are 522 boards covered with 34,000+ names, poems, prayers, jokes, and equations. Proof that we belong to each other.

I love this talk because it’s not shiny; it’s honest. We sit with the hard and notice where the light still gets in. If you’re in a long night—or love someone who is—I hope this feels like a hand on your shoulder.

In this episode:

• “10:44 PM” — the laugh that stopped a suicide plan
• What dissociative amnesia felt like from the inside
• 522 boards, 32 Sharpies, and why being heard can be medicine
• A student at SDSU who chose to stay because Blake showed up
• Why his “symbolic goal” (getting on The Late Show) still matters

Find Blake: Instagram @blakelateshow | Documentary I AM (Sinconus Studios)

If you’re in crisis (US): Call/text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this conversation helps, follow the show, share it with someone who needs hope today, and leave a review - it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday, so you can begin your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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Some seasons of my life, loneliness wasn’t a passing mood—it was the air I breathed. I didn’t always call it by name, but my body did: tight chest, racing thoughts, that sense of being “with people” and still feeling alone. In this conversation, I sit down with Lucy Rose, founder of The Cost of Loneliness Project, to talk honestly about what chronic loneliness does to us—and how we can gently stitch connection back into our days.

We weave together science and story: cortisol and inflammation, yes—but also travel schedules that hollow you out, the “life quakes” that upend everything, and the small, human habits that actually help. If you’ve ever felt unseen in a crowded room (hi, same), this one’s for you.

What we get into:

• Chronic vs. passing lonely: how to tell when it’s a blue day…and when it’s a pattern your body is carrying.
• Stress biology, plainly: why loneliness spikes cortisol, chips away at immunity, and raises risks for heart disease—and possibly dementia.
• Gendered patterns: how many women and men are socialized to buffer loneliness differently (and what to do about it).
• Free connection practices: ask better questions, listen longer, volunteer shoulder-to-shoulder, check on one person today.
• For kids & teens: signs teachers/parents can watch for—and simple ways to bring a child back into the circle.
• Hope with boundaries: when hope fuels healing…and when it keeps us stuck in something that isn’t changing.

If this meets you where you are, share it with someone who might need the language—and the nudge—to reconnect. And as always, I’m glad you’re here.

Connect with Lucy Rose and learn more about the Cost of Loneliness Project.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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If you’ve ever been told “it’s normal” when you knew it wasn’t—this episode is for you. I’m joined by Dr. Deb Muth—naturopathic doctor, functional medicine expert, and founder of Serenity Health Care Center—to talk about being seen at last: how to advocate for yourself, ask better questions, and get to root causes instead of living on prescriptions that never explain the “why.”

We dig into:

• Why women are diagnosed 4–5 years later than men for many conditions—and what to do about it in real time.
• The difference between normal vs. optimal labs (think vitamin D and thyroid) and how ranges can hide what you’re feeling.
• Practical advocacy: what to ask when a provider orders “a full workup,” which tests that usually aren’t included, and how to prepare.
• Hormones 101: broken sleep, irritability, brain fog—how progesterone, thyroid, and nutrient levels actually play together.
• Everyday detox & environment: simple ways to lower exposures (fresh air, air purifiers, lemon water, NAC, vitamin C) and why new homes can make you feel worse before better.
• When to get a second (and third) opinion—and why you should go outside the same hospital system.
• Dr. Deb’s personal story reversing a scary MS diagnosis by uncovering infections, mold, and toxins—and the hope that offers.

If you’re navigating symptoms that don’t add up—or you’ve stopped going to the doctor because you’re tired of being dismissed—this conversation offers language, next steps, and a reminder: you are the expert on your body.

Links

• Dr. Deb Muth: serenityhealthcarecenter.com | FB group “She Knows” | Book: Seen at Last

If this helped, share it with a friend who needs a little light, follow the show, and leave a quick review so more people can find these stories.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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Pull up a chair and take a breath—then ask the question most of us avoid: who gets a seat at your table, and why? In this solo episode, I treat your table as a living metaphor for your energy, time, and love—and names what it takes to protect that sacred space without apology.

We get practical fast. You’ll hear clear, compassionate scripts for late-night crisis friendships, boundary-pushing relatives, and overflowing workloads, plus a four-part framework to sort who stays, who stands, and who moves to the balcony. We’ll also map the patterns that signal it’s time to edit your guest list (erosion, explosions, stagnation), and explore courageous hope vs. brittle hope—how to tell when optimism fuels growth and when it keeps you auditioning for a relationship that only exists in imagination.

Along the way, we return to three anchors—character, consistency, and care—because chemistry alone can’t carry a connection that refuses to evolve. There’s room here for nuance and grace: some people have good character but limited capacity; “not now” can be an act of love. You’ll hear closure rituals that soothe the nervous system and a reminder not to panic-fill empty chairs—leave space so better fits can find you. And we turn the mirror gently: be the guest you want to host.

Protecting your table is protecting your life. Curate with clarity, and you make room for relationships that truly nourish.

If this resonated, share it with a friend who’s learning to protect their own table, follow the show, and leave a review. Tell us on Instagram @DanielleSmithTV and @HopeComesToVisit which seat you’re reclaiming or which value gets a reserved chair next.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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Humor doesn’t just make us laugh—it hands us the mic. In this episode, Dr. Gina Barreca—award-winning professor, cultural critic, and bestselling author of Gina School—shows how wit turns grief into agency and outsiderhood into belonging. From losing her mother young to pioneering gender-and-humor studies, Gina traces the path where jokes become bridges and stories transform shame into connection.

We dig into how many women use humor differently—not as a weapon, but as an invitation—and why inclusive laughter thrives in everyday places (yes, even the women’s restroom). Gina is both bold and practical: you can’t live on other people’s praise, and outward confidence is not the same as inner self-esteem. The real fix? Steady self-kindness, cleaning up old messes, and the courage to claim your story.

Gina also takes us inside Gina School, an anti-AI, hand-crafted collaboration with a talented former student—pairing distilled lessons with pen-and-ink illustrations to prove that cross-generational creativity can be both human and timeless. We end with a grounded definition of hope: the belief that change is possible—and often better than we expect.

If you’ve ever felt like the “away team,” this conversation offers language, laughter, and a map back to yourself.

Connect with Gina on her website: GinaBarreca.com

Read more from Gina on Psychology Today.

And head right to grab your copy of Gina School here.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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Content note: candid discussion of cancer diagnosis, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and recovery.

What if hope isn’t “it’ll be fine,” but “I can handle what comes”? That shift changed everything for Candice Suarez. In this conversation, Candice takes us inside a whirlwind season: a misread ulcer during COVID, a tongue-cancer diagnosis, surgery removing over half her tongue, a forearm graft, and weeks of radiation and chemo. She walks us through recovery’s gritty middle—managing pain, relearning to swallow, and returning to public speaking with a voice that invites the world to lean in.

Out of that crucible came Life Drafting—a practical, compassionate framework for navigating change by planning in pencil. Candice shares the four buckets she uses with clients and in her own life—health, connection, contribution, and play—and shows how small, honest edits compound into momentum. We talk agency under uncertainty, why identity can survive (and even grow) through loss, and how to build routines and relationships that make resilience a skill, not a slogan.

Candice also introduces Draft You, her six-month journal for young adults, and the Draft Lab coaching community that supports students and grownups in the “no longer, not yet” spaces of life.

You’ll learn:

• A grounded definition of hope that doesn’t hinge on perfect outcomes
• How to “plan in pencil” with the four Life Drafting buckets
• Weekly audits + micro-commitments that actually stick
• Ways identity grows through loss—and how to practice agency under uncertainty
• Why edits aren’t failures; they’re craft

If you’re staring down a transition—or helping someone you love through one—this episode offers tools you can use today.

Connect with Candice on her website and learn more LifeDrafting.

And her new book is out! - get it here: Draft You.

If this conversation and episode resonated: please follow the show, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find these stories of hope, strength and renewal.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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What happens when you treat curiosity like a business plan and community like your bottom line? Maxine Clark—founder of Build-A-Bear and the force behind St. Louis’s Delmar Divine—talks about creating brands that hold people, not just products. We explore the question that keeps opening doors for her: “How can I help?” and the multiplier that guides her work—1+1=100.

We don’t run the play-by-play; we sit with the pivots: listening to children, translating insight into action, and building places where families can access programs, housing, and services. The Build-A-Bear founder followed her curiosity into community transformation—asking better questions, listening to kids, and building spaces where opportunity lives. She also teases a new project, Trick or Tree STL—a Halloween donation-box drive inviting kids to help replant tornado-lost trees. If you care about entrepreneurship with a human heartbeat, this one’s for you.

Learn more about the work Maxine is doing, her projects and connect with her here:

Maxine Clark on LinkedIn

Trick or Tree STL - This Halloween, kids across St. Louis will collect cash donations to help replant thousands of trees lost in the May 16, 2025
tornado. Trick or Tree teaches kids ecology, philanthropy, and community
pride while restoring our region’s green canopy. As they grow, so will the trees,creating a legacy in their own hometown.

BluePrint4 - Our vision is to ensure St. Louis families have easy access to information about high-quality learning opportunities and the support necessary for their children to attend.

Delmar Divine - Delmar DivINe maximizes the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of the nonprofit sector in the St. Louis region, especially among health, education and human service organizations, while simultaneously being a catalyst for the transformation of neighborhoods in North St. Louis City.

Clark Fox Family Foundation - Founded in 2004, the Clark-Fox Family Foundation supports the growth and prosperity of the St. Louis metropolitan region through research, program development and investments in PK-12, higher education, public health, immigration, social justice and racial equity, community leadership, and entrepreneurship. The Foundation prioritizes programs and investments that empower the end user and leverage each other for broader access and greater impact for our children and community.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit

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Content note: pregnancy loss and medical trauma.

Entrepreneur and dad Richie Treadway joins me to talk about becoming a parent later in life, the moment everything fell apart—and the choice to keep going.

We don’t relive every detail; we sit with what it took to advocate, to grieve, and to try again.

Richie names the kind of love that “changes the way your heart works,” and defines hope as the resilience to not quit against all odds.

If you’re somewhere between heartbreak and possibility, this one’s for you.

Connect with Richie here on his own website.

Thank you for listening to Hope Comes to Visit. If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and share the show — it helps others find their way to these conversations.

New episodes drop every Monday and Friday, so you can begin and end your week with a little light and a lot of hope.

For more stories, reflections, and ways to connect, visit www.DanielleElliottSmith.com or follow along on Instagram @daniellesmithtv and @HopeComestoVisit