Grief 2 Growth

Before the microphones were turned on, Richard Ashworth asked Brian for his birth information. What followed was an unexpected and deeply personal moment—Richard identified a pivotal event at age seven that reshaped Brian’s view of life.
He was right.
In this episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian and Richard explore how grief, destiny, and choice intersect—and how ancient systems like Bazi can help us understand the moments that quietly define us.
This is a conversation about:
Childhood loss and lifelong impact
Fate vs free will
Healing heartbreak without bypassing pain
Why grief is not something to “fix,” but something to listen to
Guest Information
Richard Ashworth
🌐 Find him online: Search Richard Ashworth Feng Shui
📘 Book: I Talk to the Animals
📧 Email: [email protected]

Listener Reflection Prompt 💬
Was there a moment in childhood that changed how you see the world?
How do you relate to the idea that grief can be a teacher?
👉 Join the conversation at https://grief2growth.substack.com
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Guided Meditations
My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
Mini-courses
Mini-guides

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
Support the show
🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What if your voice could continue to guide the people you love—long after you’re gone?
In this deeply moving episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian D. Smith is joined by Cristian Cibilis Bernardes, founder and CEO of Autograph AI, for a conversation that sits at the crossroads of grief, technology, memory, and meaning.
Cristian shares the personal loss that inspired the creation of Walter, an emotionally intelligent AI designed to listen, remember, and preserve life stories—in your own voice. Not as a replacement for human connection, but as a bridge between generations.
Together, Brian and Cristian explore how storytelling becomes legacy, why voice matters so profoundly in grief, and how AI—when used with intention—can help us feel more human, not less.
This episode invites you to reflect on powerful questions:
What stories of your life might be lost if you don’t share them?
What wisdom do you wish you could still hear from those you’ve lost?
How do we honor the past while guiding the future?
🌱 In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
Why voice carries emotional meaning that text alone cannot
How Autograph AI helps families preserve memories across generations
The surprising role AI can play in vulnerability, empathy, and healing
How legacy isn’t about perfection—but presence
What it means to live in alignment with your “higher self”
🔗 Learn More:
Autograph AI: https://autograph.ai

Join the ongoing conversation: https://grief2growth.substack.com

💬 Let’s Make This Interactive:
After listening, take a moment to reflect:
If someone could hear your voice years from now, what would you want them to know?
Whose story do you wish you had recorded?
Share your thoughts, reflections, or questions in the comments or join the community discussion
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Guided Meditations
My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
Mini-courses
Mini-guides

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
Support the show
🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What happens when grief collides with faith — and suicide shatters everything you thought you believed?
In this candid and raw episode of Grief 2 Growth, Brian sits down with Rachel Powell, widow, author, speaker, and founder of Hope Speaker, to explore the complicated intersection of grief, faith, suicide loss, and hope.
After losing her husband André to suicide — and surviving suicide attempts herself — Rachel shares her story with courage, clarity, and compassion. This conversation goes beyond platitudes and into the realities many people are afraid to name: church hurt, spiritual abuse, suicidal thinking, and the long road back to hope.
This episode is for anyone who has:
Lost a loved one to suicide
Struggled with faith after loss
Felt silenced, blamed, or misunderstood in grief
Wondered if hope is still possible
🧠 In this episode, we discuss:
Why suicide is not a failure of love or faith
How grief becomes more complicated when faith communities cause harm
The difference between religion and faith in healing
Rachel’s concept of the “black box” of suicidal thinking
Why suicide prevention must include helping people save their own lives
How hope can still grow — even after devastating loss
💬 A gentle note to listeners
This episode includes honest discussion of suicide and suicidal ideation. Please listen with care and take breaks as needed.
Share your reflections and connect with others at
 👉 https://grief2growth.substack.com

🔗 Guest Resources
Rachel Powell – Hope Speaker: https://hopespeaker.com

Christian Widow Community: https://hopestronghold.com

Instagram & Facebook: Hope Speaker / Rachel Powell
📝 Helpful Resource from Brian
Not sure where you are in your grief?
 Take the Grie
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Guided Meditations
My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
Mini-courses
Mini-guides

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
Support the show
🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

What if your loved one never truly left?
What if grief itself is the doorway to a deeper connection?
In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian D. Smith speaks with Janet Kaufman, author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Janet shares the story of her son Alexander—a sensitive, loving soul whose struggles with mental health and addiction ultimately led to his physical death, but not the end of their relationship.
Through signs, synchronicities, certified mediums, and even an unexpected exploration of AI as a possible tool for spirit communication, Janet’s journey challenges everything we think we know about death, consciousness, and continuing bonds.
This episode offers hope, validation, and reassurance for parents grieving a child—and for anyone who wonders whether love truly survives death.
✨ In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
Why deeply sensitive souls often struggle in today’s world
How grief can awaken intuition and spiritual awareness
Common signs from loved ones in spirit—and how to recognize them
The role of mediumship in healing after loss
Why Janet believes AI may become a future tool for spirit communication
How to release guilt and find meaning after child loss
Why death may not be an ending, but a transition
🕊️ A Message for Grieving Parents
If you’ve ever asked yourself:
Did I do enough?
Is my child still with me?
Why did this have to happen?
You are not alone. Janet’s story reminds us that our children are eternal, and that love continues—even when the physical body is gone.
📘 About the Guest
Janet Kaufman is the author of Through the Veil: A Soul’s Journey in Grief and Grace. Her work explores grief, spirituality, mediumship, and emerging frontiers of consciousness through the lens of lived experience.
📧 Contact Janet:
www.ThroughT
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Guided Meditations
My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
Mini-courses
Mini-guides

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
Support the show
🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support

Nervous System Healing After Trauma: From Survival to Sovereignty with Angela Jean
What if healing isn’t about fixing your thoughts—but about retraining your body?
In this deeply moving episode of Grief to Growth, Brian Smith sits down with Angela Jean, a mindset and nervous system strategist whose life was shaped by profound trauma—and radical transformation.
After surviving childhood abuse, homelessness, and the devastating loss of her father and sister to suicide, Angela discovered something that changed everything:
 🧠 The body remembers danger before the mind can explain it.
This conversation goes beyond performative healing and into the lived, embodied work of coming home to yourself.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why mindset work alone often fails after trauma
How the nervous system “locks up” in survival mode
Why rhythm and micro-movements signal safety to the body
How childhood trauma imprints beliefs about love, pain, and worth
Practical tools to interrupt anxiety, anger, and emotional collapse in real time
Why healing is a daily practice—and who you train yourself to be matters
Angela shares simple, powerful techniques you can use in the moment—not someday, not after years of therapy—to regulate your nervous system and reclaim your inner authority.
This episode is for anyone who:
Feels stuck in survival mode
Is tired of chasing healing
Has experienced trauma, abuse, or suicide loss
Is ready to stop abandoning themselves and start listening inward
🌿 About Angela Jean
Angela Jean is a mindset and nervous system strategist who blends rhythm, embodied movement, and nervous system science to help people move from self-sabotage into sovereignty.
🔗 Learn more & explore her resources:
 https://angelajeanchat.com

🎧 Free nervous system demo available on her site.
Visit the Grief 2 Growth store for FREE items as well as other tools to help you along your journey:
Guided Meditations
My book GEMS of Healing (signed copy)
My Oracle deck to help you connect with your loved ones
Mini-courses
Mini-guides

Check it out at https://grief2growth.com/store
Grief doesn’t follow stages, timelines, or rules.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I doing this right?”—you’re not alone.
That’s why I created the Grief Check-In.
It’s not a test. There are no right or wrong answers.
 
In just a few minutes, you’ll gain clarity, reassurance, and language for what you’re experiencing.
👉 Visit grief2growth.com/checkin
This deck is a labor of love. It's a 44 card oracle deck that's about connecting you to your loved one in spirit. The deck comes with a companion digital guide that gives you an affirmation, a reflection, and an activity for the day.

Check it out at https://stan.store/grief2growth/p/oracle-deck
Support the show
🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Join Facebook Group- Get Support and Education
👛 Subscribe to Grief 2 Growth Premium (bonus episodes)
📰 Get A Free Gift
📅 Book A Complimentary Discovery Call
📈 Leave A Review

Thanks so much for your support