Real Talk with Tina and Ann

Ann Kagarise
  • 5.0 (2)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
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Tina and Ann met as journalists covering a capital murder trial, 15 years ago. Tina has been a tv and radio personality and has three children. Ann has a master's in counseling and has worked in the jail system, was a director of a battered woman's shelter/rape crisis center, worked as an assistant director at a school for children with autism, worked with abused kids and is currently raising her three children who have autism. She also is autistic and was told would not graduate high school, but as you can see, she has accomplished so much more. The duo share their stories of overcoming and interview people who are making it, despite what has happened. This is more than just two moms sharing their lives. This is two women who have overcome some of life's hardest obstacles. Join us every Wednesday as we go through life's journey together. There is purpose in the pain and hope in the journey. 

  1. Right On Time: Growth that Waits for Safety

    2D AGO

    Right On Time: Growth that Waits for Safety

    Send us a text What if you’re not behind at all—you’re right on time for a life that finally feels like yours? We dive into nonlinear living and redefine progress as capacity, not speed. Instead of chasing milestones and highlight reels, we talk about the quiet work that actually changes us: noticing overwhelm sooner, asking for help before the breaking point, and choosing rest without guilt. Together we unpack how grief, trauma, neurodivergence, and caregiving ignore schedules and why that’s not a failure, it’s honesty. We share real stories—from moving the family’s music and gaming spaces to be closer, to finding laughter in a difficult caregiving season—that show how small, ordinary moments become anchors. You’ll hear why comparison erases crucial context, how “late blooming” is growth that waited for safety, and why some friendships can’t travel with you through certain seasons. We also get practical about boundaries, saying no to misaligned opportunities, and protecting the peace that lets deeper healing take root. If you’ve ever felt pressure to perform your progress or explain your timeline, this conversation offers permission and a path back to yourself. There’s no finish line on becoming; there’s only honest attention to what your body and life can hold today. Invisible growth won’t trend, but it transforms: trusting your inner voice, releasing shame, staying present when escape would be easier. Listen, breathe, and let your pace be your own. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs permission to slow down, and leave a review to help others find this conversation. Support the show

    45 min
  2. He Polished My Soul: When You Only Have One Quill Left with Deborah Weed

    JAN 21

    He Polished My Soul: When You Only Have One Quill Left with Deborah Weed

    Send us a text We sit with creator Deborah Weed to explore how love, loss, and art can coexist, and why self-worth must be defined from within. Her stories of hospice dignity, cross-country wandering, and the evolution of Paisley the Musical point to a courageous path back to voice and purpose. • holding grief and joy in the same body • caregiving as dignity and soul polishing • the year of firsts and self-permission to feel • self-worth versus self-esteem and why it matters • fear as information, not a prophecy • Paisley the porcupine and the cost of self-erasure • reclaiming power when only one quill remains • parenting, special needs, and a different kind of proud • real connection beyond social media “Thank you for listening and watching as we're uh we're on YouTube and a bunch of radio stations and TV stations out there too. So uh thank you for being a part of Real Talk with Tina and Ann. And as always, there is purpose in the pain and there is hope in the journey, and we will see you next time.” Support the show

    1h 12m
  3. Fear is not a Prophecy: Living, Showing Up, Advocating and taking Charge

    JAN 14

    Fear is not a Prophecy: Living, Showing Up, Advocating and taking Charge

    Send us a text Tina and Ann explore gratitude that tells the truth in crisis: not a list, but a lifeline beside cancer, caregiving, and long grief. Kara Lockwood’s story and Robert Emmons’ research anchor practical ways to find small joys that help us keep showing up. • Cara Lockwood’s remission story and irreverent wisdom • Robert Emmons’ research on gratitude and resilience • Fake gratitude versus honest, wound-aware gratitude • Tiny joys during treatments, caregiving and daily stress • Holidays, nostalgia and shifting traditions after loss • Building a psychological immune system with habits • Boundaries, clarity and stepping away from toxicity • Practical toolkit: one-line journal, gratitude texts, asking for help • Agency and taking back ownership during hard seasons • Grounding practice and closing words for weary hearts You can reach Cara and her books at Tanamachi: Rom-Com Author & Your Next Great Read! Robert Emmerson's website and books: Gratitude Works – Robert Emmons, Ph.D., Director If our episode helped you, please share it with someone who might be in a hard season Join us at Real Talk with Tina and Ann | Real Talk with Tina and Ann Please share and like and subscribe on our youtube channel. Everything helps! Thank you for being you!  Support the show

    55 min
  4. When Your Own Body Throws a Plot Twist: A Survival Comedy with Best Selling Author Cara Lockwood

    JAN 7

    When Your Own Body Throws a Plot Twist: A Survival Comedy with Best Selling Author Cara Lockwood

    Send us a text  Fear is not the enemy, until it starts running the show. In this episode, we sit down with USA Today bestselling author Cara Lockwood (aka Cara Tanamachi) to discuss her book, There Is No Good Book for This But I Wrote One Anyway: An Irreverent and Brutally Honest Guide to Crushing Breast Cancer, a refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud take on navigating cancer.  A mom of five in a blended family and a survivor of stage 1 HER2+ invasive breast cancer, to unpack how medicine, humor, and unapologetic self-advocacy helped her get through sixteen months of treatment. Cara Lockwood brings the same sharp wit and tender honesty from her book into this conversation as we talk double mastectomy decisions, reconstruction realities, naming the fear, picking out new boobs with her husband, and why laughter can steady your hands without ever replacing chemo. This is not a story about pretending cancer is funny. It is about refusing to let fear have the final word. Cara shares what it looks like to sit with terror, tell the truth about your body, advocate fiercely in exam rooms, and still find moments of levity that make the unbearable survivable. We talk about the emotional whiplash of diagnosis, the pressure to “stay positive,” the exhaustion of being brave, and the power of saying what you actually feel instead of what makes other people comfortable. This conversation is for anyone walking through cancer, caregiving, chronic illness, or any season where survival feels heavy and laughter feels risky but necessary. If you have ever needed permission to laugh through tears, to ask better questions, to trust your instincts, or to take up space in your own healing, this episode will meet you right where you are. Subscribe, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find honest conversations like this. What question about cancer, fear, or healing do you want us to tackle next? If you are a survivor or knows someone who is or if you just know someone who is going through a very difficult time, this episode will lighten your load and help you to find a smile.  You can reach Cara and her books at Tanamachi: Rom-Com Author & Your Next Great Read! Support the show

    1h 27m
  5. Rethinking Possible: Acceptance, Autism, And A Life Rebuilt

    12/31/2025

    Rethinking Possible: Acceptance, Autism, And A Life Rebuilt

    Send us a text We trace a life rebuilt through acceptance, humor, and purpose, from paralysis and autism advocacy to grief, faith, and the daily practice of choosing better. The path moves from why to how, from pity to power, and from isolation to community through Pathfinders for Autism. • tracking tiny gains with a “better than yesterday” list • Madison’s autism story and early ABA access • founding Pathfinders for Autism and scaling resources • parallel paths planning and an acceptance turning point • music, wheelchair dancing, and family humor as fuel • accessibility barriers and choosing agency over pity • faith, the “black chair,” and honest anger with God • reframing grief as “adventures with uncertain outcomes” • blended family grace and looking for people’s sparkle • unresolved anger, taking out the pin, moving forward • living fully with unanswered questions and daily effort Visit PathfindersforAutism.org to search resources by age and need Books available at BeckyGalli.com and major booksellers Subscribe to Thoughtful Thursdays on BeckyGalli.com Support the show

    52 min

  6. 12/24/2025

    Rethinking Possible, When Life Throws Curveballs, Build a Batting Cage

    Send us a text Some stories don’t fit inside neat arcs. Rebecca Galli’s life holds a brother gone at 17, a son who passed at 15, two children with special needs, and sudden paralysis nine days after divorce. What unfolds is not a list of tragedies but a blueprint for living when certainty disappears: short morning rituals that steady the mind, phrases that reframe pain, and a practice of choosing the next right step even when the path splits. We dig into parallel paths, a therapist’s tool that changed everything. Instead of waiting for clarity, Rebecca plans two futures at once—the hope path and the reality path—so she keeps moving whether life opens or closes. That motion shows up everywhere: in how she shifted from why to how after hard news, in how she built a support boat that changed over time, and in how she tracks the power of better by noticing one small improvement each day. Her father’s wisdom—let your love be larger, you will always walk with a limp, but you will walk—becomes a way to honor wounds without being defined by them. Rebecca also turns personal need into public good. A yellow flyer about ABA in Madison’s backpack leads to Pathfinders for Autism, a resource that now serves tens of thousands with training, sensory-friendly events, and a searchable database for families. Acceptance doesn’t mean shrinking your life; it can free you to build a new one. When therapy no longer promised walking, she made a “big toe moment” decision to stop, then poured that time into candlelit dinners, playlists, and presence with her kids. Humor keeps showing up too—snow angels in a wheelchair, van mishaps ending in tears of laughter—proof that joy can coexist with grief. If you’re navigating caregiver burnout, special needs parenting, grief, or abrupt change, you’ll leave with practical tools: start mornings with intention, plan in parallel, assess your capacity, curate your crew, and let love be larger than the storm. Subscribe, share this conversation with someone who needs it, and tell us the line you’ll carry into tomorrow. Support the show

    1 hr
  7. Hope on the Border part 2: I Love the Me I See in You with Gil Gillenwater

    12/17/2025

    Hope on the Border part 2: I Love the Me I See in You with Gil Gillenwater

    Send us a text We follow a wrong turn that became a mission and explore how dignity-based service transforms both givers and receivers. Gil shows how housing, education, and reciprocity can turn charity into equity, and why true joy is found when we serve. • enlightened self-interest and why service elevates the giver • rent-to-own housing tied to education and community service • girls’ scholarships and mentorship reducing dropout and pregnancy • reciprocity models that replace pity with dignity • volunteers becoming guardian warriors and bridge builders • policy ideas beyond walls, from vetted work programs to pathways • interdependence, brain science of giving, and a new border symbol • practical ways to sponsor, volunteer, and support safely If this episode moved you, please share it. Support Rancho Fleas if you are able. And keep asking yourself the question: what can I do from where I stand to make sure fewer lives are treated as if they matter less? Support the show

    55 min
  8. Border of Hope: I love the Me I See in You with Gil Gillenwater

    12/10/2025

    Border of Hope: I love the Me I See in You with Gil Gillenwater

    Send us a text We bring the border into focus as a lived place, not a line, and confront how wealth disparity, US demand, and policy choices shape human lives. Gil Gillenwater shows why enlightened self interest, housing with dignity, and education beat walls and fear. • wealth disparity between $18 an hour and $14 a day • the border as community, not an abstract boundary • enlightened self interest as a guiding principle • youth loneliness, consumerism, and loss of purpose • how US drugs, guns, and corporations fuel violence • post 9 11 militarization and the Devil’s Highway • predation and the cost of crossing • from charity to reciprocity in service work • Rancho Feliz housing plus education model • measurable outcomes and middle class mobility You do not want to miss it. Join us next week for part two with Gil Gillenwater. Book: Hope on the Border Rancho Feliz Charitable Organization Real Talk with Tina and Ann Support the show

    59 min
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5
out of 5
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About

Tina and Ann met as journalists covering a capital murder trial, 15 years ago. Tina has been a tv and radio personality and has three children. Ann has a master's in counseling and has worked in the jail system, was a director of a battered woman's shelter/rape crisis center, worked as an assistant director at a school for children with autism, worked with abused kids and is currently raising her three children who have autism. She also is autistic and was told would not graduate high school, but as you can see, she has accomplished so much more. The duo share their stories of overcoming and interview people who are making it, despite what has happened. This is more than just two moms sharing their lives. This is two women who have overcome some of life's hardest obstacles. Join us every Wednesday as we go through life's journey together. There is purpose in the pain and hope in the journey. 

Information

  • Creator
    Ann Kagarise
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    162
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Real Talk with Tina and Ann
  • Show Website
    Real Talk with Tina and Ann