The LIVing Room with Liv Harrison

Liv Harrison
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Arts

 Liv is the host of The LIVing Room podcast produced at her home studio in Houston, Texas. The LIVing Room is where authentic Catholic faith meets real conversations, culture, and creativity. Liv sits down with guests you know (and some you should) to talk about the stuff that actually matters: fear, identity, calling, and what happens after you think you’ve got it all figured out. It’s honest. It’s funny. And it might just change the way you see yourself.

  1. 3d ago

    Harrison Ford Walked Past the Journalists to Greet This Sister | Sr. Nancy Usselmann

    🎬 Sr. Nancy, a Daughter of St. Paul and Hollywood film reviewer, once watched Harrison Ford walk into a room of journalists and head straight for the sisters. When she told him her whole community prays for him, he bowed his head and said it meant more than she knew. In this episode, she and Liv Harrison talk about red carpets, religious life, and how a teenager who prayed "as long as it's not religious life" ended up entering the convent right out of high school. They cover George Clooney's altar-boy Latin, a camera operator with a bottle of holy water on a dark set, and how to examine your conscience about your online life. This one's for you if you've ever told God, "Anything but that." Guest Bio: Sr. Nancy Usselmann is a Daughter of St. Paul and director of the Pauline Media Studies center in Los Angeles, where she reviews film and TV from a faith perspective. She previously served as CFO of her province and holds a master's in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and a doctorate in ministry from The Catholic University of America. She teaches Media Mindfulness nationwide and helped form Catholics in Entertainment, a Hollywood community for faith-filled creatives. In This Episode 00:00 Harrison Ford Heads Straight for the Nuns 01:00 Classic Movies, Elvis, and Ginger Rogers 03:00 Growing Up Catholic in the "Rome of the West" 06:00 Meeting the Daughters of St. Paul 08:00 The Prayer Card: "As Long As It's Not a Nun" 11:00 From the Convent to CFO During the 2008 Crash 12:00 Theology, Pop Culture, and Media Mindfulness 17:00 Blessed James Alberione and Nuns Driving Cars in 1915 22:00 Red Carpet Stories: Harrison Ford and George Clooney 28:00 Seeing Movies With Sacramental Eyes 34:00 Holy Water on a Dark Set: Faith in Hollywood 39:00 An Examination of Conscience for Your Online Life ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit Liv on the web at thelivharrison.com ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram @thelivharrison ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter #thelivingroom #livharrison #catholicshow #catholicyoutube #catholicpodcast #wherefaithfeelshuman

  2. Sep 24

    Pilgrimage, purpose, and ministering to a generation on screens | Fr. Dave Pivonka

    🎧 Fr. Dave Pivonka, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, walked 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago as a thank-you for his priesthood — and almost didn't become a priest at all, since school was never his thing. In this episode, he and Liv Harrison talk pilgrimage, purpose, and what he's watching happen to a generation raised on screens. They cover why he kept campus open (and free) for incoming students during COVID, the difference between loneliness and isolation, and why he thinks AI is quietly teaching kids to need it instead of each other. This one's for you if you've ever wondered whether a rough start disqualifies you from where you're headed. The LIVing Room is here for that question, too Guest Bio: Fr. Dave Pivonka is a Franciscan University of Steubenville alumnus and has served as the university's president since 2019. He was ordained a priest and worked at Franciscan from 1995 to 2008 before returning to lead the university, and he holds a doctorate; he is also the author of Hiking the Camino, a book on his 500-mile pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, which is being republished this September. Fr. Dave grew up in Durango, in southwest Colorado. In This Episode 00:00 Her Son's Calling to the Camino 01:00 What Is the Camino, Actually? 03:00 Life on the Trail: Albergues, Bunk Beds, and Shared Meals 06:00 The Pilgrim's Shell and the Deeper Question of the Walk 08:00 Why He Wrote Hiking the Camino 10:00 Presence, Screens, and Missing the Person in Front of You 12:00 Was Fr. Dave Always Headed for the Priesthood? 14:00 Growing Up in Colorado (and a Grudge Against Texans) 15:00 Becoming President of Franciscan University in 2019 16:00 The COVID Semester: Keeping Students on Campus 18:00 What Fr. Dave Loves About This Generation 20:00 Letting 18-Year-Olds Make Mistakes 22:00 Is AI a Tool or a Crutch? 23:00 Loneliness vs. Isolation 25:00 The Story That Sums It Up: Passing the Class, Alone 27:00 Resurrection Parties and Building Real Community 29:00 Texas Banter (Comic Relief) 30:00 He Never Wanted to Be a University President 32:00 Blessed Stanley Rother: Failure, Then Sainthood 33:00 Closing Ask: Pray for Discernment ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit thelivharrison.com for more ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram @thelivharrison ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter

  3. Sep 17

    The Woman Behind Catholic PR: Faith, Family & Free Will | Kate Sell, Mission Advancement Partners

    🎙️ Kate Sell has spent 25 years as the "backroom person" behind Catholic dioceses, religious orders, universities, and authors — helping organizations like the Augustine Institute and the Eucharistic Congress figure out who they are and get their message out. In this episode, she traces her whole story: converting to Catholicism at 22 after a black cassette tape titled The Conversion of Scott Hahn, getting her marriage blessed by John Paul II on her honeymoon, and building a career almost by accident — one phone call, one unpaid bill, and one act of obedience at a time. Kate and Liv also get into raising five kids (including two sons now in seminary) while fielding real pushback from other faithful Catholics for working and traveling too much, the saints she leans on to stay grounded (St. Thérèse, St. Zélie, St. Edith Stein), and her philosophy on free will, fear, and preparing kids for the real world instead of shielding them from it. This one's for you if you've ever wondered how a career, a conversion, and a big Catholic family actually fit together. Guest Bio: Kate Sell is a Catholic public relations and communications strategist who has spent 25 years working behind the scenes with dioceses, parishes, religious orders, universities, apostolates, and authors across the Church. Her work has included public relations for the Augustine Institute and media support for the Eucharistic Congress, alongside strategic planning and leadership transitions for Catholic organizations nationwide. A convert to Catholicism married since 1999, she and her husband live in the mountains north of Atlanta and have five children — including two sons currently studying for the priesthood, a daughter in college, a son serving as a missionary, and a youngest with special needs. ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit Liv on the web at thelivharrison.com ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram @thelivharrison ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter

  4. Sep 10

    He Quit Wall Street Cold, Then Built the #1 App Worldwide | Alessandro DiSanto, co-founder of Hallow

    🙏 He walked into his boss's office at a top Chicago investment firm to resign and got cut off seven words in with, "Are you quitting right now?" The LIVing Room welcomes the co-founder of Hallow, the Catholic prayer app that beat six national Super Bowl campaigns to the #1 spot in the entire App Store. Liv Harrison talks with him about the year he went without a paycheck, the Mark Wahlberg ad that changed everything, and why he still insists "nobody needs an app to pray." This one's for you if you've ever wondered whether walking away from a "sure thing" was worth it. Guest Bio: Alessandro DiSanto is a co-founder of Hallow, the Catholic prayer and meditation app that became the first faith-based app in history to reach #1 across the entire App Store. He began his career on Wall Street before working as a private equity investor, before leaving finance entirely to help build Hallow with his friends. He and his co-founding team have since led the app through a Mark Wahlberg–fronted Super Bowl campaign and continued growth across 150+ countries. He lives with his wife, Sam, and their three young sons. In This Episode: 00:00 Conference Fame and Life as "The Guy" Behind Hallow 01:00 Humility, Marriage, and Three Boys Under Four 03:00 Being a "Professional Catholic" and Conference Survival Hacks 05:00 From Wall Street Investor to Founding a Prayer App 07:00 The Late-Night Friend Group That Became Hallow 08:00 "Have Good Breakups": The Ex-Girlfriend's Sister Story 10:00 A Half-Day Retreat and the "Light Switch" Prayer Moment 12:40 Quitting Day: "Are You Quitting Right Now?" 15:00 A Year With No Income — Eggo Waffles and Ramen 18:00 Launch, First Hires, COVID, and 700% Growth 20:00 The Super Bowl Ad Nobody Thought Would Work 21:30 Mark Wahlberg, Jesus, and Beating Temu to #2 22:30 Colbert, Jonathan Roumie, and Hitting #1 23:30 The Risk of Celebrity Partners — Chris Pratt to Gwen Stefani 27:00 "A Heart for the One, Not the 99" and Saints in Seven Days 30:00 Moving People From the App Back to the Altar 32:00 St. Thomas Aquinas, "Everything Is Straw," and St. Joseph's Silent Service

  5. Jun 18

    Writing, Conviction, and What It Actually Means to Stand for Something with Eliza Monts

    ✍️ Eliza signed a book deal with Penguin Random House's Catholic imprint — and it started with a Lilly Pulitzer blog about Demi Lovato in eighth grade. In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison sits down with Catholic writer and content creator Eliza to trace the unlikely path from middle school recess "therapy sessions" to one of the most honest Catholic voices on the internet. They get into just war theory and the Iran conflict, the dignity of people sleeping on the streets of downtown Charleston, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter and what it means to "stand up and be counted" when no one is with you, and how Eliza handles it when she posts too fast and gets it wrong. This one's for the woman who knows she has something to say but keeps waiting for permission. Guest Bio: Eliza is a Catholic writer and content creator based in Charleston, South Carolina, known for her Instagram platform Eliza Writes Things, where she covers faith, human dignity, and Catholic social teaching with a distinctly unfiltered voice. She built her audience from scratch beginning in 2020 while studying English and creative writing, later serving a year on mission in the Diocese of Charleston, and currently works in marketing. She has recently signed a book contract with Penguin Random House's Catholic imprint. Eliza also leads small group ministry for middle and high school girls at her parish. In This Episode: 00:00 The Charm Necklace That Preaches a Homily 01:45 Hart Hagerty, Charleston, and Walmart Knockoffs 02:45 Eliza's 8th-Grade Lilly Pulitzer Blog (It's Still Live) 04:00 How Eliza Writes Things Actually Started in 2020 05:30 The Holy Spirit, a Resume Line, and Her First Marketing Job 07:20 "Your Dreams Are Gonna Come True" — The Penguin Book Deal 08:45 The Non-People Pleaser Who Built a Following for It 09:50 Her Mom, Her Grandmother, and the League of Women Voters 10:40 Fourth-Grade Recess Therapy and the Tree Sign 12:00 Human Dignity as Her North Star — JP II, Sacred Heart, and Both/Ands 15:00 What Issues Keep Her Up at Night in 2026 16:30 Just War Theory and Why Iran Doesn't Clear the Bar 17:45 The Poor Aren't an Abstraction — Life on the Streets of Downtown Charleston 20:45 Mary Magdalene and Why She's the Saint for Suffering 23:00 Two White Women in Charleston — Addressing the Elephant in the Room 24:30 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter: The One Man Who Voted No 32:00 "It's Enough Just to Stand Up and Be Counted" 33:30 When You Post Too Fast and Have to Take It Down 39:30 What Accountability Actually Looks Like for Catholic Influencers 41:00 Why She's Excited About Gen Z Catholic Creators 44:30 How to Raise Kids Who Stand Up for Something 47:30 Book Jail, Book Mansion, and How to Pray for Eliza Right Now ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit Liv on the web at: https://www.thelivharrison.com/ ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivharrison/ ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter #thelivingroom #livharrison #catholicshow #catholicyoutube #catholicpodcast #wherefaithfeelshuman

  6. Jun 11

    From Federal Prosecutor to "Just His Beloved": Nell's Identity Overhaul at 43

    🤍 She was a federal law clerk in Vegas, a managing editor of Law Review, and a prosecutor — and she drove home one morning drenched in spit-up thinking, who am I? Nell O'Leary spent decades performing her way through life until a daughter's mysterious illness, the collapse of a ministry, and a silent retreat stripped everything away and left her with one answer: beloved. In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison and Nell cover the identity crisis hiding inside early motherhood, what it actually feels like to enter silence when you have the gift of gab, how Nell's marriage deepened when she finally understood her husband's prayer life — and the Catholic mommy wars nobody wants to admit are real. If you've ever felt like you are what you accomplish, this one is for you. Guest Bio: Nell O'Leary is a Catholic writer, speaker, and ministry consultant based in St. Paul, Minnesota. A former federal law clerk and prosecutor, she went on to spend nearly a decade in women's ministry before transitioning to freelance consulting, writing, and speaking for Catholic organizations. She contributed to or edited over 50 books, wrote the prayers for Ascension's 2026 planner, and is currently finishing her first solo book with a mainstream publisher. Nell and her husband Anthony have five children. In This Episode 00:00  Welcome — Nell and Liv in the Living Room 01:30  What Nell's life looks like online (and why it works) 02:15  18-year-old Nell: poetry, horses, and zero plan 03:45  How a love of show jumping led to law school 04:30  Ave Maria Law School and meeting her husband 05:45  The Vegas clerk era — dry cleaning and federal judges 06:30  Liv's origin story: kindergarten teacher to podcaster 07:45  The identity crash of early motherhood 09:30  Dropping her husband at a big law firm, covered in spit-up 11:00  "You are not what you do" — the Nazareth years 12:15  The thread connecting law, ministry, and storytelling 13:30  Nell's Substack and a first book she can almost announce 14:30  Learning when things are for the internet — and when they're not 15:15  "Who are you at 43?" — the identity question 16:00  What "I'm his beloved" actually cost her to believe 17:30  When her daughter got sick and she stepped away from everything 18:30  The 30-week Ignatian retreat — what it is and how it works 20:30  The first third: accepting that she was worth God's time 21:30  The middle third: imaginative prayer she didn't expect 22:15  The last third: real silence, and finding God in it 23:30  "Just turn your face" — what silence looks like now 25:30  Turning toward God all day long, not just in a prayer room 27:00  Nell's love story: two attorneys, law school, Nebraska 28:30  Her husband — ex-seminarian, former hermit, most patient man 30:00  How the retreat finally helped her understand her husband's prayer life 32:00  The strongest years of their marriage — and the hardest 33:30  Sending your spouse on silent retreat (even with five kids) 35:30  The evolution of arguments across 17 years of marriage 37:00  Choosing your family's life over your individual preferences 39:00  Female friendship: the good, the painful, the evaporated besties 41:30  Realistic expectations as a love language 43:00  Catholic mommy wars: beeswax candles, home births, and judgment 45:30  "Is your baby alive? Great." — on not policing other women 47:15  How can we pray for Nell? ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit Liv on the web at: https://www.thelivharrison.com/ ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivharrison/ ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter #thelivingroom #livharrison #catholicshow #catholicyoutube #catholicpodcast #wherefaithfeelshuman

  7. Jun 4

    She Quit Youth Ministry, Went Full-Time Artist, Then Closed Up Shop - Valarie Delgado

    🎨 She quit a stable youth ministry job to become a full-time Catholic artist — then, after her biggest vendor event ever, realized she never wanted to do it again. Valerie Delgado (known online as Pax Valerie) spent three years running her own Catholic shop, illustrating books, and traveling to conferences. Then she closed it all down. Not because she failed, but because she finally figured out who she actually wanted to be. In this episode of The LIVing Room, Liv Harrison and Valerie also dig into the pressure Catholic singles face about vocation, a doctor's wake-up call about food and heart health a month before her 30th birthday, and how Bad Bunny's Super Bowl set made her cry thinking about Hurricane Maria. This one's for you if you've ever built something good — and then had to let it go anyway. Guest Bio: Valerie Delgado is a Catholic artist, illustrator, and parish communications professional based in Houston, Texas, known online as Pax Valerie. She spent three years running her own Catholic art shop — selling prints, traveling to conferences, and building a following on social media — before closing the shop to focus on illustration and parish work. She has illustrated nearly 10 books, primarily reflective journal-style titles, working with multiple publishers. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Texas, her identity as a Puerto Rican Catholic deeply shapes both her art and her faith. In This Episode 00:00 Welcome to The LIVing Room — Liv & Val's Houston Reunion  01:00 "Are You Pax?" — The Origin of the Name Pax Valerie  02:00 Wait, Val Does Art? How a Non-Artist Discovered She Was One  03:30 A Random Summer Day, Hobby Lobby, and a Sunflower on YouTube  05:00 Painting Bible Covers, Grace Painted, and Praying Through Art  06:30 COVID, Youth Ministry Falling Apart, and a Shop Being Born  07:30 Quitting the Stable Job to Sell Art Full-Time (With No Idea What She Was Doing) 09:00 The FOCUS Conference, the Big Booth, and "I Never Want to Do This Again" 10:30 Giving Up Social Media for Lent — and Finding the Most Peace She'd Ever Felt 11:30 "I Don't Want to Be a Businesswoman. I Just Want to Doodle for God."  13:00 What She Does with Her Art Now — Etsy, Digital Downloads & Illustrating Books 15:00 The Scariest Part of Listening to God (and Trusting Him Through Anxiety)  16:30 Ministry Is Not Always Rainbows — The Church as a Hospital Full of Broken People 20:30 Being Catholic and Single: The Pressure to Have a "Capital V Vocation" 24:00 Growing Up, Not Going to College, and Feeling Like She Missed the Bus  27:30 A Doctor Said She Could Have a Heart Attack at 30. One Month Before Her Birthday.  29:00 What She Actually Did — Discipline, Blood Work, and Leaving Food at the Foot of the Cross  31:00 Spiritual Directors, Therapists, and Why Finding One Feels Like Dating  33:00 Life in Her 30s — Dog, House, Church Job, and a Dream Trip to Puerto Rico 36:00 Born in Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny, and the Super Bowl Halftime Nobody Was Ready For  38:30 Hurricane Maria, Her Grandma Walking to Church Every Day, and Crying at the Power Lines  42:30 What Does Being Catholic Mean in Puerto Rico? Culture vs. Intimate Faith  44:00 How Can We Pray for You? Val's Ask + Liv's Therapist Referral ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit Liv on the web at: https://www.thelivharrison.com/ ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivharrison/ ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter #thelivingroom #livharrison #catholicshow #catholicyoutube #catholicpodcast #wherefaithfeelshuman

  8. May 28

    What Does the Catholic Church Actually Expect from Gay Catholics?

    🎙️ He came out, left the Church, got a dream from God he tried to ignore, and now he works full-time for a ministry that helped bring him home. Manny Gonzalez is a Catholic campus minister turned mission development director at Eden Invitation, an apostolate for LGBT+ disciples pursuing the Lord in alignment with Church teaching. In this episode, Manny walks through his full story — the years of suppression, the combustion, the ultimatum he gave Jesus on his knees in his bedroom — and what it actually looks like to carry a cross you didn't ask for. They also dig into conversion therapy narratives, the "father wound" assumptions Catholics throw around, what the Church gets dangerously wrong about belonging, and the belong → believe → behave framework that should flip how we think about evangelization. This one's for you if you love someone navigating this — or if you've ever said something well-meaning that landed like a brick. The LIVing Room with Liv Harrison — pull up a chair. Guest Bio: Manny Gonzalez is a Catholic speaker, content creator, and mission development director at Eden Invitation, a lay apostolate for LGBT+ disciples pursuing faithful discipleship in alignment with Church teaching. He holds a master's degree in catechetics from Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he also served as a campus minister for three years. Now based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Manny works on community growth and mission partnerships for Eden Invitation while using his platform to share his story and speak hope to disciples navigating similar experiences. He is a self-described dramatic Hispanic man who once gave God an ultimatum on his knees — and credits what happened next as the turning point of his life. In This Episode 00:00 Technical Chaos, Pet Birds, and Getting This Thing Rolling 04:10 Manny's New Life in Minnesota (One Month In) 05:45 Six Months Unemployed After Franciscan — The Real Talk 10:30 Breaking Performance Mentality and Learning Who God Actually Is 13:00 21-Year-Old Manny vs. 27-Year-Old Manny 17:50 The Both/And: You Can Be Grateful AND Say "This Sucks" 19:00 Saints Were Messy Too — Why Grit Is the Point 22:00 Manny's Conversion Story: Growing Up Catholic, Coming Out, Leaving the Church 30:00 October 2018: The Ultimatum on His Knees 33:30 Eden Invitation — What It Is and Why Manny Joined Their Staff 36:00 "I Could Have a Girlfriend and Still Go to Hell" — Dismantling the Wrong Goal 38:30 What the Church Actually Teaches on Chastity (And What It Doesn't Mean) 40:30 Conversion Therapy, Father Wounds, and the Dumb Stuff We Say to People 43:00 Liv Gets Real About Her Own Cross — Weight, Suffering, and What "Rid Of" Actually Costs 47:00 How to Be a Better Ally Without Becoming the Savior Nobody Asked For 50:30 Belong, Believe, Behave — The Framework That Should Change Your Parish 53:30 How Can We Pray for You, Manny? 55:45 Goodbyes and "We're Definitely Road-Trip Friends" ⚡ Subscribe on YouTube! ⚡ Visit Liv on the web at: https://www.thelivharrison.com/ ⚡ Follow Liv on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivharrison/ ⚡ Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more! ⚡ Subscribe to Liv's newsletter: https://bit.ly/livnewsletter #thelivingroom #livharrison #catholicshow #catholicyoutube #catholicpodcast #wherefaithfeelshuman

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5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

 Liv is the host of The LIVing Room podcast produced at her home studio in Houston, Texas. The LIVing Room is where authentic Catholic faith meets real conversations, culture, and creativity. Liv sits down with guests you know (and some you should) to talk about the stuff that actually matters: fear, identity, calling, and what happens after you think you’ve got it all figured out. It’s honest. It’s funny. And it might just change the way you see yourself.

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