NASHVILLE Local Spotlight

Collection

Aug 28

This is a curated collection of recent stories, interviews, and insights from the Nashville community that Human Amplified is part of. From healing journeys and making a difference to keeping a pulse on industry trends, you’ll want to check these locals out.

Psst… there are more interviews from Nashville than we can share here! Only the latest appear here, but if you want more to binge, watch the entire Nashville playlist here.

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When Assimilation Isn’t the Goal: Finding Your Own Identity

What if belonging doesn’t require becoming someone else? Delanyo Mensah explores growing up between cultures, the pressure to meet expectations, and the difference between adapting to the world and losing yourself in it.

What It Takes to Bring an Internationally Adopted Child Home

After years of waiting, Scotty and Carrie Hunt finally met the son they'd been praying for. Here's what happened next, from bringing Jordan home from China to helping him adjust to life with his new family.

Why Great Teachers Leave the Classroom

Why are so many passionate teachers leaving the classroom? Former science teacher Trey Cokeroft shares the realities of teacher burnout, low pay, and the lasting impact educators have on students long after graduation.

How Childhood Trauma Can Resurface Years Later

Childhood trauma doesn't always stay buried. Learn how repressed memories, therapy, mindfulness, and community helped one man rebuild his life after a mental health crisis.

How to Manifest What You Want Through Self-Discovery

Can manifestation really change your life? James Ruzinok shares how self-discovery helped him find purpose after divorce, and why the life you want begins with understanding yourself.

How to Leave Toxic Relationships and Rebuild Your Life

What do you do when someone you love is the person causing you the most harm? Kim Daigle shares how she learned to recognize manipulation and walk away from toxic relationships.

How Social Worker Burnout Led to a New Life of Service

What happens when the work you love starts taking more than it gives? After 12 years in child welfare, Carmen Gosa reached a breaking point. Hear how burnout led her to an unexpected new chapter.

Lessons From Serving Nashville's Homeless

The people Josh Stephenson set out to help ended up changing him too. Discover the lessons he learned serving Nashville's homeless community.

The Human Need to Create in a World That Consumes

Making something with your hands can do more than pass the time. Stephanie Stewart-Howard explains why creativity has always helped people find purpose, connection, and joy.

How Burlesque Builds Confidence and Self-Expression

Most people assume burlesque is about performance. Kristen Teffeteller explains why it's really about confidence, body acceptance, creative expression, and having the courage to be fully seen.

How Veterans Faced the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the world shut down, Marine veteran Andy Littlefield continued serving, supporting fellow veterans, and navigating the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CBD Myths, Facts, and the Science Behind Cannabis

CBD has become one of the most talked-about wellness products, but misinformation is everywhere. Neal Thompson separates CBD myths from facts, explains the science behind how it works, and shares what every consumer should know before buying a product.

Creative Projects Can Change Your Life

What starts as a creative project can become something much bigger. Michelle Liter shares how illustrating her first children's book helped her rediscover purpose, embrace handmade traditions, and rethink consumer culture.

Escaping the Control of Spiritual Abuse

When does faith become control? Sarah Gates shares her experience with spiritual abuse, religious trauma, fear-based Christianity, and the difficult journey of rebuilding trust in herself after leaving a controlling faith community.

Juicing Benefits for Gut Health and Weight Loss: Ashley Garth’s Story

After a high blood pressure wake-up call, Ashley Garth changed her diet, lost 50 pounds, and built Glow Up Juice Co. She shares what she learned about juicing, gut health, food habits, and the social side of transforming your health.

Life After Losing a Spouse and the Myth of Moving On

Heather Burwell shares why grief doesn't follow a formula, how loss extends far beyond death, and what it means to build a meaningful life without "moving on."

What People Reveal When You Really Listen

What happens when people feel truly heard? Susan Ruth shares lessons from hundreds of conversations about storytelling, curiosity, creativity, and human connection.

How Chronic Illness Changes More Than Your Health

After years of unexplained headaches and brain fog, Lynnette Henderson discovered she had a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. She shares her diagnosis journey, treatment experiences, and how chronic illness reshaped her identity, relationships, and purpose.

Benefits of Ballroom Dancing for Confidence and Trust

Ballroom dancing helped Brea Cox rebuild confidence, process grief, manage stress, and trust her body again after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. In this Human Amplified conversation, she shares what dance can teach us about connection, communication, emotional release, and starting something new.

What a Former Cop Learned About Systemic Racism in America

Former police officer Peggy Kingsbury shares how growing up white in the Jim Crow South shaped her understanding of systemic racism in America. We talk about implicit bias, foster care, privilege, criminal justice reform, and the lifelong process of becoming anti-racist.

How Tattoos Help Breast Cancer Survivors Heal

What starts as a conversation about tattoo culture becomes a deeply human story about grief, healing, cancer survival, and connection. Tattoo artists Jeff Barnard and Caitlyn Campbell share how special tattoos transformed not only their clients, but themselves.

When Gender Transition Doesn’t Fit the Expected Story

Winter Breedlove opens up about gender transition, religious trauma, HIV stigma, heartbreak, addiction, and learning how to feel comfortable in her own body after decades of shame and survival.

Black Philanthropy and the Racial Wealth Gap

Kia Jarmon discusses Black philanthropy, the racial wealth gap, collective trauma, systemic inequality, and why healing requires truth, discomfort, and rebellious joy.

How One Couple Rebuilt Their Marriage After Trauma

After his wife suffered a traumatic brain injury, Jon Mullins turned to music to process fear, grief, and healing. The Nashville artist opens up about marriage after trauma, writing “Better Man,” going viral on TikTok, and learning how vulnerability can help other people feel less alone.

How Hustle Culture Leads to Burnout

Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse. Sometimes it looks like discipline, productivity, wellness, and trying to be “good enough” all the time. Elizabeth Moore explores hustle culture, chronic stress, perfectionism, and the hidden cost of tying your worth to your output.

Finding Common Ground in a Politically Divided America

Long before social media, Clif Doyal was already witnessing how politics can strain relationships. He reflects on the Vietnam War era, integrated bands in the 1970s, and losing connections over political division.

100 Episodes of Healing Through Storytelling

After 100 episodes, Human Amplified has become more than a podcast. Brandi Fleck and Ryan Sauls revisit the stories, guests, creative breakthroughs, grief, healing, and human connection that shaped the show over four years.

Healing From Lyme Disease and Learning to Trust Yourself

After doctors repeatedly told Hannah Bethel she didn’t have Lyme disease, her body told a different story. In this deeply personal conversation, the Nashville singer-songwriter shares how chronic illness, holistic healing, yoga, intuition, and solo hiking adventures reshaped both her life and her music career.

How to Learn to Trust Yourself Again

Courtenay “Coco” Rogers spent years trying to control how everything unfolded. Here’s a look at what changed when she stopped doing that and started trusting herself instead.

How to Reconnect With Your Body After Trauma

Disconnection doesn’t always look obvious. Sometimes it shows up as tension, reactivity, or ignoring what your body is trying to say.

Renee Watkins breaks down how that happens and what it means to reconnect in a way that actually holds up in real life.

Join the conversation!

Feel free to share your own experience and let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

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Hi, I’m the founder of Human Amplified. I’m Brandi Fleck, a recognized communications and interviewing expert, a writer, an artist, and a private practice, certified trauma-informed life coach and trauma recovery coach. No matter how you interact with me, I help you tell and change your story so you can feel more like yourself. So welcome!

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