RESILIENT A.F. with Blair and Alana Podcast By Blair Kaplan Venables cover art

RESILIENT A.F. with Blair and Alana

RESILIENT A.F. with Blair and Alana

By: Blair Kaplan Venables
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Welcome to RESILIENT A.F. with Blair and Alana—a podcast that celebrates the incredible strength of the human spirit and the ability to bounce forward. This is the show where we dive headfirst into the raw, real, and unfiltered stories of people who have faced life’s toughest challenges—and come out the other side stronger. In every episode, we explore the complex journey of resilience: the heartbreaks, the breakthroughs, and the triumphs. Whether it’s navigating personal loss, overcoming mental health battles, or finding hope amidst chaos, RESILIENT A.F. is a safe space to connect with others who have been there. Blair and Alana bring a unique mix of candid storytelling, heartfelt empathy, and expert insights, shining a light on the untold stories of grit and growth. With inspiring guest interviews and conversations with mental health professionals, each episode is designed to empower you to bounce forward, no matter what life throws your way. Why listen? 1. Relatable Stories: Hear real people share their journeys of resilience in their own words. 2. Expert Advice: Gain tools, tips, and insights from mental health experts to support your own healing and growth. 3. Empowerment: Leave each episode feeling inspired, hopeful, and ready to tackle life’s challenges head-on. But we’re not here to sugarcoat it—resilience isn’t always pretty. It’s messy, it’s painful, and it’s profoundly human. We’re here to remind you that while life can knock you down, it also offers the chance to rise again, stronger than before. ⚠️ Content Note: Some episodes may contain themes that could be distressing. Please take care of yourself while listening, and don’t hesitate to seek support from a mental health professional if needed. If you’re ready to find hope, strength, and the courage to keep moving forward, hit play and join us on this powerful journey. Because no matter what life throws your way, you are RESILIENT A.F. Subscribe now and keep on strengthening your resilience muscle today.Copyright 2026 Blair Kaplan Venables Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • How to Survive Compound Grief After Losing Multiple Family Members with Brooke Carlock | 072

    How to Survive Compound Grief After Losing Multiple Family Members with Brooke Carlock | 072
    Mar 24 2026

    What happens when grief doesn’t come in waves—but in avalanches?

    In this deeply moving episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair sits down with Brooke to explore complex compound grief—the kind that unfolds when multiple devastating losses happen within a short period of time, leaving little room to breathe, let alone heal.

    Brooke shares her unimaginable journey of losing her father, stepmother, mother, and daughter within 18 months, while also supporting her son through a traumatic head injury and navigating the pressures of returning to work as a teacher. This conversation is raw, honest, and filled with practical insight for anyone living through layered loss.

    This conversation is for anyone who has ever thought, “It’s too much. I don’t even know where to start.” It offers validation, practical tools, and permission to grieve in your own way—especially when life keeps asking you to function through the unthinkable.

    If you’re navigating layered loss, caregiving, workplace pressure, or the quiet loneliness of grief, this episode will make you feel less alone.

    Sponsorship opportunities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15oZsxAigvb6e4wbAmvW_El_1_laeyK4shMY1md6zVWI/edit?usp=sharing

    Subscribe to our Substack: https://theglobalresilienceproject.substack.com/

    Buy our books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/

    About the Guest:

    Brooke Carlock is the author of Grief Sucks (But Your Life Doesn’t Have To), host of The Mourning Coffee Podcast, and a YouTube creator known for honest, no-BS conversations about grief and loss.

    Links:

    https://brookecarlock.org

    https://www.youtube.com/@brookecarlock

    https://www.facebook.com/BrookeACarlock

    https://www.instagram.com/brookeacarlock/
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    31 mins
  • How to Build Financial Resilience Early with Genicca Whitney: Lessons From a 19-Year-Old Homebuyer | 071

    How to Build Financial Resilience Early with Genicca Whitney: Lessons From a 19-Year-Old Homebuyer | 071
    Mar 17 2026
    What does financial resilience actually look like?In this episode, Blair sits down with entrepreneur and investor Genicca, whose journey from financial hardship to financial independence began earlier than most. As an immigrant growing up in Toronto, Genicca experienced firsthand the stress and instability that can come from money struggles.Instead of letting those experiences define her future, she used them as motivation.At just 19 years old, Genicca purchased her first home to support her family after learning she was about to become an aunt. Guided by mentors she met while working in sales at 18, she began learning about investing, financial discipline, and long-term wealth building.Over the years, she has expanded into real estate, online business, and multiple income streams, while raising a family and continuing to grow financially.In this conversation, Blair and Genicca explore how financial trauma can become fuel for financial resilience, and why it’s never too late to start rebuilding your relationship with money.Financial resilience isn’t about having perfect knowledge or perfect timing. It’s about learning, adapting, and making better decisions as you grow. As Genicca reminds us in this episode: You are never too late to start building a different financial future.Buy the books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/About the Guest:Genicca Whitney is a Holistic Financial Strategist and Independent Financial Planner dedicated to transforming the financial culture of families and communities by helping high-performing individuals and entrepreneurs optimize, protect, and multiply their wealth. With nearly two decades of entrepreneurial experience — beginning with purchasing her first real estate investment at 19 for her parents and growing into a six-property portfolio — she combines lived experience with strategic precision. Independent of financial institutions, Genicca designs cohesive wealth strategies that integrate tax-efficiency coordination, risk management, wealth automation, and legacy planning, ensuring her clients build wealth that is protected, positioned, and built to endure.Links: https://www.instagram.com/geniccadotcomhttps://linktr.ee/geniccadotcom⚠️ Content Note: Some episodes may contain themes that could be distressing. Please take care of yourself while listening, and don’t hesitate to seek support from a mental health professional if needed.About the Hosts: Blair Kaplan Venables is a British Columbia-based grief and resilience expert and coach, motivational speaker and the Founder of The Global Resilience Project. Her expertise has been featured on media platforms like Forbes, TEDx, CBC Radio, Entrepreneur, and Thrive Global. She is named the Top Grief and Resilience Expert of the Year 2024 by IAOTP. USA Today listed Blair as one of the top 10 conscious female leaders to watch and she empowers others to be resilient from stages around the world. 'MyStory,’ which is a television show available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Google Play, showcases Blair's life story. She is the host of the Radical Resilience podcast and specializes in helping people strengthen their resilience muscle using scientifically proven methods and guides grieving high performers with her Navigating Grief Framework. The Global Resilience Project’s award-winning book series are international bestsellers, and her fourth book, RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol 2, will be published in January 2025. In her free time, you can find Blair writing, in nature, travelling the world and helping people to strengthen their resilience muscles. Links:https://www.blairkaplan.ca/https://theglobalresilienceproject.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/blairdkaplan https://www.facebook.com/blair.kaplan https://www.facebook.com/BlairKaplanCommunications https://www.instagram.com/globalresiliencecommunityhttps://www.instagram.com/blairfromblairland/https://www.facebook.com/globalresiliencecommunity https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-global-resilience-project blair@blairkaplan.ca Alana Kaplan is a compassionate mental health professional based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She works in the mental health field, and is a co-host of the Resilient A.F. podcast. Fueled by advocacy, Alana is known for standing up and speaking out for others. Passionate about de-stigmatizing and normalizing mental health, Alana brings her experience to The Global Resilience Project’s team, navigating the role one’s mental health plays in telling their story.Engaging in self-care and growth keeps her going, and her love for reading, travel, and personal relationships helps foster that. When she’s not working, Alana can often be found on walks, working on a crossword puzzle, or playing with any animal she sees.Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media...
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    29 mins
  • Losing Both Parents Young, Breathwork, and Finding Purpose After Grief with Leslie Hacker

    Losing Both Parents Young, Breathwork, and Finding Purpose After Grief with Leslie Hacker
    Mar 10 2026
    What happens when you lose both parents to cancer in your 20s while trying to build a business, stay functional, and survive emotionally? In this deeply moving episode of RESILIENT A.F., Blair Kaplan Venables sits down with Leslie Hacker to talk about early loss, end-of-life caregiving, alternative healing, and what it really means to take care of yourself when everything around you is falling apart.Leslie shares her story of losing both of her parents to cancer, beginning at age 25, while simultaneously growing her marketing and communications business. She opens up about the emotional toll of caregiving, the impossible choices that come with terminal illness, and how grief reshaped her identity, priorities, and sense of purpose.This conversation explores grief without platitudes, healing without judgment, and resilience without pretending things are fine.Leslie reflects on losing her father after a six-month battle with cancer, followed by her mother’s diagnosis of glioblastoma. While her mother was initially given a short prognosis, surgery extended her life by five years. Leslie describes the emotional complexity of living in constant anticipatory grief and how it affected her relationships, work, and sense of self.While caring for two terminally ill parents, Leslie was also building her business. She speaks candidly about the pressure to “keep going,” the guilt that comes with choosing work or rest, and the reality that grief doesn’t pause just because you’re self-employed.This part of the conversation resonates deeply with anyone who has tried to function professionally while navigating personal devastation.After her mother’s death in 2020, Leslie made a powerful decision to use her PR skills to advocate for cancer research. She organized a fundraiser to raise awareness for her mother’s brain surgeon in Montreal, transforming grief into action and meaning.Leslie explains how traditional therapy eventually stopped meeting her needs, leading her to explore alternative healing practices such as EMDR, breathwork, and sound healing. A transformative retreat in Costa Rica, complete with jungle immersion and a rain-soaked breathwork session, marked a turning point in her healing journey.In one of the episode’s most powerful moments, Leslie describes a breathwork and sound healing experience where she felt connected to her mother’s spirit and found clarity around unanswered questions.This episode is a reminder that resilience isn’t about pushing through pain or having the right answers. It’s about listening to your body, honouring your grief, and allowing healing to take forms you may never have expected.Leslie’s story is raw, generous, and deeply human. It’s an invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember that caring for yourself is not optional, especially when you are caring for others.Buy the books: https://theglobalresilienceproject.com/books/About the Guest:Leslie Hacker is a PR, social media, and marketing strategist with 15+ years of experience helping brands break through noise with meaningful, emotionally intelligent storytelling. She is the founder of Hacker Communications, a collective agency that partners with purpose-driven brands across hospitality, tourism, lifestyle, tech, and consumer goods. She also serves as Vice President of the Canadian Public Relations Society of Vancouver, where she helps shape the future of ethical, innovative communications in Canada.Leslie’s path to building her agency is rooted in resilience. In 2015, both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer in the same week. Overnight, she became a caregiver, and freelancing became her lifeline, and the only way to support her family while keeping her career alive. What began as survival slowly evolved into something meaningful. After losing both parents by 2020, Leslie made the decision to build a business with purpose at its core: work that connects people, tells the truth, and moves audiences to act.Today, Hacker Communications is trusted by brands across Canada for PR, influencer strategy, and experiential marketing. Leslie has led campaigns for national brands and emerging startups alike, delivering measurable impact through storytelling that resonates.She is currently writing her first book; a candid, powerful memoir about the five years she spent caring for her parents, how she survived the emotional and practical realities of illness and loss, and how she rebuilt her life and career with intention, creativity, and heart.Leslie’s story is one of grit, reinvention, and the strength it takes to transform pain into purpose. Through her work, her leadership, and her voice, she reminds others that resilience isn’t just something you endure, it’s something you build.Links:https://www.hackercommunications.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-hacker/https://www.linkedin.com/company/hacker-communications/?viewAsMember=truehttps://www.instagram.com/hacker_communications/https://...
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    31 mins
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