The Truth Is with Kathryn Flaschner

The information around us has never been more abundant. The truth has never been harder to find. Not because we've gotten less intelligent. But because the systems shaping what we see, believe, and repeat were not designed with our discernment in mind. In this episode of The Truth Is, I sit down with Esosa Osa — founder and CEO of Onyx Impact, former Deputy Executive Director of Fair Fight Action, and one of the most clear-eyed thinkers I've encountered on what it actually takes to protect your relationship to truth in this moment. We talk about: How disinformation actually works — and why repetition is its most powerful tool Why our brains are not built to resist what the current information environment is designed to do Why there is no such thing as an unbiased AI — and what that means for all of us What it looks like to build narrative power when you can't trust the existing infrastructure to tell your story Aisha — what it is, why it exists, and what it represents about who gets to shape the future What it means to keep doing the work when the work is hard This episode sits at the intersection of everything this show is about — the stories we inherit, the systems that shape what feels true, and what it takes to reclaim authorship of your own narrative. Except this time, the stakes are not just personal. They're collective. Who tells your story decides your future.   About Esosa Osa Esosa began her career in finance at BlackRock before moving into democracy work — serving as Campaign Manager for a top 2018 U.S. Congressional election, Senior Advisor to Stacey Abrams' gubernatorial campaign, and Deputy Executive Director of Fair Fight Action, where she led pro-democracy reform efforts focused on combating disinformation. She is now the founder and CEO of Onyx Impact — a nonprofit working to understand and counter disinformation targeting Black communities — and the creator of Aisha, an AI trained on Black news, history, and culture.   Connect with Esosa + Onyx Impact Website: onyximpact.org  Digital Green Book: digitalgreenbook.org  Blackout Report: blackoutreport.org  Instagram: @theonyximpact   Connect with The Truth Is Instagram: @thetruthispodcast  YouTube: @thetruthis_pod   Credits Hosted by Kathryn Flaschner  Video Production & Editing by Anton LaPlume  Music by Will Savino — wsavino.com  Visual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan Bush  Advised by Natalie Tulloch

Over the past month on The Truth Is, I’ve had conversations about rest, nervous system regulation, pleasure, and the systems shaping our attention. After stepping back and looking at them together, I realized they were all circling the same question: Why is it so difficult to access what’s actually true for us? This episode is a pause to process what’s emerging across the season. For most of my life, I believed that knowing myself required more effort — more thinking, more strategy, more trying to get it right. What I’m starting to see, through these conversations and through my own life, is that the opposite may be true. Accessing what’s true often requires space. Space to rest. Space to feel. Space to process our lives as they’re actually happening. But the culture many of us live inside of makes that space difficult to find. Hustle culture rewards exhaustion. Information ecosystems compete constantly for our attention. Certainty is broadcast everywhere, often louder than curiosity. Across recent episodes, my guests have offered different doorways into the same realization: Rest can be a return to ourselves Regulation in the body often precedes clarity in the mind Permission to feel is essential for knowing what we actually want Reclaiming our attention may be one of the most important acts of agency available to us This episode also reflects on a line from The Big Short, attributed to Mark Twain: “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” In a world saturated with certainty — algorithms, feeds, institutions, opinions — discernment becomes harder and more necessary at the same time.  The work, as I see it right now, is not withdrawing from the world. It’s creating enough distance from the noise to decide where our attention and energy actually belong. I close this conversation with an idea my recent guest Jiore Craig calls “dark hope.”  When systems begin to fracture, the path forward can look surprisingly simple and human: Reconnect. Pay attention to what’s real. Build lives and communities rooted in truth rather than external authority.  And maybe start by ending this year with more real friends than you started it with. Episodes referenced in this episode Sam Bianchini — Rest as a Return to Self: On Ritual, Worthiness, and Remembering Cindy Sharkey — On Permission for Pleasure — and Why You’re Worthy of It Nahid de Belgeonne — The Culture of Self-Improvement and the Loss of Self Jiore Craig — Dark Hope and the Work of World-Building Jedidiah Jenkins —  The Authority of Your Own Questions Upcoming Offerings from The Truth Is Part of what I’m building through The Truth Is are spaces where these conversations can continue beyond the podcast. One of those is a retreat experience I’m developing in partnership with my guest from earlier this season, Sarah Spoto, and her community, Badii. We’re gathering early input from this community as we shape the experience. If you’d like to share what would make a retreat like this meaningful for you, you can add your thoughts at this link below: Share input on the retreat experience: Early Access I’m also launching a small cohort experience called Calibration, designed for people who want space to process where they are and discern their next step from a place that feels true. Connect with The Truth Is on Instagram:  @thetruthis_podcast @kathrynflaschner Credits Hosted by Kathryn Flaschner Video Production & Editing by Anton LaPlume Edited by Dan Croll Music by Will Savino — https://wsavino.com Visual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan Bush Advised by Natalie Tulloch

The present moment doesn’t just feel noisy. It feels disorienting.  Not because we’ve become less thoughtful, but because we’re living inside systems that reward reaction over reflection — systems that pull at our nervous systems all day long and quietly influence what starts to feel obvious, urgent, or true.  In this episode of The Truth Is, I sit down with strategist Jiore Craig to explore what it takes to reclaim agency inside an environment like this — and what becomes possible when we shift from endless reaction to intentional world-building.  Jiore has spent her career inside political strategy and public opinion, with a front-row seat to how amplification becomes belief — how what rises in a feed begins to feel like consensus. She’s watched social media move from connection and organizing to optimization and extraction. And she’s seen how public debate often gets stuck in the wrong frame: “free speech vs. censorship,” when the deeper issue is design, incentives, and control.  This conversation isn’t alarmist. It’s an invitation to take responsibility for where we place our attention — and what we choose to build. In this episode: Why hyper-personalized feeds fracture shared reality The real design problem behind the “free speech vs. censorship” debate How outrage and anxiety fuel the system The breakup analogy for how feeds keep us stuck Why agency requires responsibility “Make them earn it” — reclaiming your attention The difference between reacting and world-building “Dark hope” as the engine for this moment Connect with Jiore: https://www.jiorecraig.com/  Connect with The Truth Is: @thetruthis_podcast Credits Hosted by Kathryn Flaschner Video Production & Editing by Anton LaPlume Edited by Dan Croll Music by Will Savino → wsavino.com Visual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan Bush Advised by Natalie Tulloch

What does it actually mean to regulate in a world that feels increasingly dysregulated?In this episode, I sit down with somatic movement educator and author Nahid de Belgeonne to explore the nervous system not as a self-improvement project, but as a doorway back to discernment.Nahid is the creator of The Human Method™ and The Soothe Programme, a 12-week somatic approach designed for high-functioning people who are successful on the outside and quietly bracing on the inside. Before this work, she built her identity around composure, capability, and chronic motion. A near-death experience forced a reckoning. What emerged was a body-first understanding of regulation that challenges much of modern wellness culture.We talk about:Why mistrusting the signals from your body makes you easier to manipulateThe shift from “a brain with a body” to “a body with a brain”High-functioning collapse and how pushing harder becomes fused with identityHow culture grooms us to turn back on ourselvesWhy you don’t “unlearn” patterns, you introduce new learning into the systemRegulation as authorship, not obedienceStaying human, engaged, and discerning in the context of late-stage capitalism and collective instabilityThis conversation is a continuation of a larger inquiry on this show: what does it mean to live truthfully underneath inherited assumptions about success, productivity, and worth?If wellness has ever felt like another performance, this episode is for you.Connect with NahidSubstack: The Soothe ClubInstagram: @thehumanmethodukProgramme: The Soothe Programme (12-week nervous system recalibration)Connect with The Truth Is: @thetruthis_podcastCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerVideo Production & Editing by Anton LaPlumeEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch 

What would change if you believed you were worthy of pleasure?In this episode of The Truth Is, I sit down with Cindy Scharkey — Registered Nurse, OB/GYN nurse, Certified Childbirth Educator, and host of the podcast and author of Permission for Pleasure. With nearly 40 years in women’s health, Cindy has witnessed how silence and shame shape women’s relationship with their bodies, sex, and desire.Many women come to her with questions about sex and desire. What they often uncover is something deeper: a relationship with themselves that was never fully examined.We talk about inherited narratives around purity, modesty, and worth. The belief that pleasure must be earned. Why what we call a “desire problem” is often a pleasure problem. And how difficult it can be to admit we were never taught to truly listen to our own bodies.This conversation, and Cindy's work, goes beyond sex. It’s about permission — to feel, to listen, and to stay in relationship with yourself. And part of that practice is allowing what is present, without polishing it or performing.At its core, this episode asks what happens when we stop living from inherited assumptions and start listening to what is actually true.In this episode, we explore:The idea of a “pleasure crisis” — and what it feels like in real lifeCuriosity as a way back into relationship with your bodyWhy what we call a “desire problem” may actually be a pleasure problemWhat happens when we override sensation — and what shifts when we listenThe courage it takes to question what we were taught about sex and worthPermission not to manufacture meaning — but to be in the truth of the momentHow pleasure, grief, and aliveness can coexistSmall, embodied practices — from dancing naked to finding “sips of joy” — that keep us connected Connect with Cindy: Website: www.cindyscharkey.comListen to her podcast: Permission for PleasureExplore her book: Permission for PleasureFollow Cindy on Instagram: @cindyscharkey Connect with The Truth Is: @thetruthis_podcast CreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerVideo Production & Editing by Anton LaPlumeEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

Rest isn’t just about slowing down. It’s about remembering who you are.This conversation begins there.My guest is Sam Bianchini, an international yoga teacher, psychedelic therapist, and artist. Sam led a Yoga Nidra training I took during a season of deep burnout — a moment when I didn’t yet know what was next, but knew I couldn’t keep moving the same way.In this conversation, we talk about the ancient ritual she guided us through: Yoga Nidra — a deep form of rest that Sam teaches not as a technique to master, but as a state of consciousness. One that extends beyond the ritual itself, and offers a different way of relating to rest, clarity, and worth in today’s culture.What unfolded — both that weekend and here — wasn’t a lesson in rest as recovery or self-care. It was an invitation to relate to rest as a return. To the body. To intuition. To an inherent sense of worth that exists before productivity or achievement.We talk about why clarity requires nervous system regulation. About how many of us were taught — subtly or explicitly — that our value is tied to output, endurance, or optimization. And about what becomes possible when we slow down enough to hear what’s actually true.This isn’t an episode about doing less so you can do more.It’s about remembering who you are — and learning to move from that place.In This Conversation, We ExploreRest as a return to self, not a reward for productivityYoga Nidra as an ancient ritual and a state of consciousnessHow practices of rest can extend beyond the mat and into daily lifeWorthiness beyond achievementNervous system regulation and clarityCeremony, ritual, and remembrance as pathways back to truthWhy we are designed to regulate and heal in communityConnect with Sam BianchiniWebsite: https://sambianchini.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samdarlin/?hl=enConnect with The Truth IsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetruthis_podcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetruthis_podCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerVideo Production & Editing by Anton LaPlumeEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino — https://wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

In Spain, there’s a ritual called La Hora del Vermut — a pause in the middle of the day that isn’t about winding down or earning rest. It’s a celebration of the day itself.This conversation starts there — with vermut, salty snacks, and a toast.My guest is David Neimanis, a maker I grew up down the street from, whose life has moved through music, writing, food, and now building a Spanish vermouth brand called Cueva Nueva while living in Valencia.What I loved about this conversation is that it isn’t a tidy story about one big pivot. It’s about a quieter shift — learning not to defer living to some future moment.We talk about:what La Hora del Vermut reveals about pleasure, community, and pace — and what it feels like to live inside a different relationship to timethe difference between freedom and autonomy, and how Dave came to understand both through life on the roadredefining success — not as exits or endless scale, but as something livable, human, and sustainablehow different environments shape attention, pace, and conversationwhat it takes to stay grounded in your “why,” especially when the culture around you keeps moving the goalpostsThis isn’t an episode about slowing down to get more done.It’s about learning how to enjoy the day without waiting for permission — and telling the truth when what you wanted stops fitting.Connect with David Neimanis + Cueva NuevaFind where you can drink and purchase a bottle of Cueva Nueva near you:https://www.cuevanueva.com/find-usFollow Cueva Nueva:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cuevanueva/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cueva_nuevaFollow David Neimanis:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidneimanis/Connect with The Truth IsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetruthis_podcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetruthis_podCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerVideo Production & Editing by Anton LaPlumeEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino — wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

What does it mean to make decisions from love instead of for love?In this conversation, I sit down with Samantha Abrams to explore how that distinction quietly shapes our work, our relationships, and the lives we build—and why it takes real courage to live it.Samantha is a transformational guide and entrepreneur whose work centers on embodiment, self-trust, and aliveness. Many people first come to know her as the co-founder of Emmy’s Organics, a nationally beloved natural foods brand she built in her early twenties and grew for over a decade. What makes her story compelling isn’t reinvention, but continuity. The same intuition and devotion that built a successful company continue to guide her life and work today.We talk about the subtle ways we abandon ourselves to be chosen or to feel worthy. About why it can be tempting to rewrite the past as “misaligned” instead of honoring that it once fit. And about the courage it takes to leave a life that is beautiful—not because it was wrong, but because you’ve changed.At the heart of this conversation is a simple but clarifying idea: when we act for love, we contort ourselves to earn it. When we act from love, we move from fullness. Not urgency. Not performance. But aliveness.This is not a conversation about reinvention or arrival. It’s about staying in relationship with yourself as life unfolds—letting discomfort inform you, letting trust build slowly, and allowing what feels alive to lead. In This Episode, We Talk AboutThe difference between doing things from love and for loveWhy leaving something good can be harder than leaving something bad“It was aligned—until it wasn’t” as a truer way to name changeThe quiet ways we abandon ourselves in relationships and workFollowing aliveness instead of certainty as a compass forwardWhy moving on doesn’t mean you didn’t love what came before About Samantha AbramsSamantha Abrams is a transformational guide and entrepreneur whose work focuses on embodiment, self-trust, and aliveness. She is the co-founder of Emmy’s Organics and now supports people through deep listening, embodied practice, and honest inquiry.Website: https://www.samanthaabrams.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthaabrams/Substack: https://samanthaabrams.substack.com/Podcast — I’m Just Listening: https://open.spotify.com/show/3FffNb8xRXYi6xZqW9UL0s?si=b0e384c850424ccf Connect with The Truth IsFollow The Truth Is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetruthis_podcast/Watch The Truth Is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetruthis_pod CreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerVideo Production & Editing by Anton LaPlumeEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

A year-end solo reflection drawing three throughlines from the season: telling yourself the truth, loosening the grip of identity, and orienting toward curiosity. Featuring moments from conversations with Joanne Molinaro, John Markland, and Jedidiah Jenkins. This episode gathers what emerged, without conclusions, as the show steps into a new year.We Revisit: Telling yourself the truth as a daily practice, not a single revealIdentity as protection, and what becomes possible when it loosensCuriosity as an orientation, trusting the authority of your own questionsReferenced Episodes & VideoJoanne Molinaro — Listen to the full episodeJohn Markland — Listen to the full episodeJedidiah Jenkins — Listen to the full episodeWatch this episode on YouTubeConnect with The Truth Is on Instagram @thetruthis_podcast

What happens when achievement delivers everything it promised, except fulfillment?In this episode, Kathryn sits down with Megan Hellerer to examine the quiet crisis many high-achieving people experience: success on paper, disconnection inside.Megan shares the moment when the old rules stopped working — and how that reckoning led her to develop a different way of living and working she calls Directional Living. Together, they unpack why hustle culture’s central promise falls apart, why ambition itself isn’t the problem, and what it looks like to rebuild a life from alignment rather than external expectations.This conversation stays with the deeper questions beneath burnout and reinvention: how clarity actually forms, why curiosity matters more than certainty, and what becomes possible when we stop organizing our lives around destinations.In this episode, we explore:Why success and fulfillment are not the sameThe limits of achievement as a life strategyAmbition vs. aligned ambitionHow clarity emerges through action, not planningWhy not knowing can reduce anxiety rather than increase itThe cultural reckoning beneath hustle cultureHow truth-telling creates collective permissionWhat it means to live directionally in an unpredictable worldAbout MeganMegan Hellerer is a coach, speaker, and author whose work centers on helping people unlearn inherited definitions of success and build lives rooted in alignment rather than expectation. She is the creator of the Directional Living framework and works with individuals navigating burnout, career transitions, and reinvention.Megan’s bookDirectional Living: A Transformational Guide to Fulfillment in Work and LifeAmazonBookshop.orgLearn more on her websiteFollow MeganInstagram: @meganhellererWebsite: meganhellerer.comConnect with The Truth IsWatch full episodes on YouTube:youtube.com/@thetruthispodcastFollow along on Instagram for clips, reflections, and episode highlights:instagram.com/thetruthis.podcast

This week’s conversation widens the frame. The Truth Is has always centered the internal work—alignment, reckoning, truth-telling, and the quiet process of returning to ourselves. But for many of us, the tension isn’t only personal. It’s structural. The friction we feel inside is often a response to the systems, workplaces, and expectations we’ve been moving through.My guest today, Jen Randle, co-founder of SGNL, names that intersection with clarity. Her work maps trust across three levels: the micro (self), the meso (teams and relationships), and the macro (organizations and institutions). Through that lens, our personal misalignment becomes inseparable from the collective dynamics shaping our lived experience.We talk about the “season of sitting in it”—the pause, the discomfort, the in-between so many of us find ourselves in. We explore why hustle culture is losing its hold, why mistrust is surfacing everywhere, and what it takes to rebuild environments where trust isn’t performative, but practiced. Jen’s framework gives language to what so many are sensing: the world as it was built no longer fits, and the work now is to reimagine, not just endure.We talk through:How post-2020 life reshaped our relationship to time, work, and what we’re willing to sacrificeWhy so many high performers hit the wall at the same momentThe micro: aligning head, heart, and gut—and why most of us have been over-relying on the headTurning everyday habits into rituals that reopen intuitive and emotional accessShifting from “purpose” as a pressure-filled destination to “contribution” as a grounded way of movingThe truths we inherited or internalized about success—and how to begin unwinding themThe meso: the relational tissue between teams and why most friction stems from fractures in trustThe macro: what happens to an organization when its outsides stop matching its insidesCongruency, stewardship, and why accountability—not branding—determines real cultureThe coming wealth transfer to women and what becomes possible when new worlds are built with intentionWhy we may need to stop fighting for a seat at old tables and imagine entirely new onesIf you’re in a pivot, a pause, a burnout, or a quiet questioning, this conversation offers perspective and orientation. A reminder that the season you’re in isn’t regression—it’s data. It’s part of the process of getting clear about who you are, what you value, and what no longer fits.More from Jen Randle• Website — www.sgnladvisory.com• Jen on LinkedIn — www.linkedin.com/in/jenrandle• Jen’s Substack — thetrustsgnl.substack.comConnect with The Truth IsFull conversation on YouTube → @thetruthis_podFollow on Instagram → @thetruthis_podcastCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainor & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch 

What if the clarity you’re looking for isn’t “out there” at all, but already inside you — waiting for the moment it comes into view?In this conversation, NYT bestselling author and adventurer Jedidiah Jenkins sits down with us to talk about revelation, habituation, aging, and what it means to build a life you’re actually comfortable being yourself in.Jed talks about how his books — from To Shake the Sleeping Self through Mother, Nature and now his upcoming fourth — trace the long arc of becoming, moving through the mother wound, his religious upbringing, and the early experiences that sharpened his curiosity. He shares why he sees revelation as the moment when previously collected pieces finally organize into clarity, and how trusting the authority of his own questions has guided his life and work.We talk through:Revelation vs. information — why most “aha” moments are old truths finally landing in the right orderHabituation and the hedonic treadmill — how we get used to everything, even the life we once wanted, and how Jed disrupts that patternHow he now makes sense of the 30-year-old who biked from Oregon to Patagonia — and the life that opened because of itHow his first three books became a trilogy of healing the mother woundWhy living fully as yourself quietly liberates other people to do the sameHis eight-week, no-phone sabbatical in rural Colorado during the election — and what surfaced when the noise stoppedWhy he believes many of us are one sabbatical away from a breakthroughEntering the “youngest old person” season of life and finding a beginner’s mindset again in midlifeWe also talk about the truth of the moment — how naming what’s real as it arises becomes its own form of presence — and how Jed has had to rebuild his sense of truth from the inside out after growing up inside a religious system that defined it for him. He reflects on learning to trust the authority of his own questions, and why that practice continues to shape his life and his work.And yes — we talk about the leaf.The one Kathryn caught during a silent walk at Jed’s retreat, the one that never touched the ground. Jed wrote on it: What falls will feed the new. It becomes a quiet throughline for this conversation about clarity, courage, and letting what’s no longer true fall away so something more honest can grow.More from Jedidiah Jenkins:• Website — www.jedidiahjenkins.com• Instagram — @jedidiahjenkins• Substack — jedidiahjenkins.substack.com• Forthcoming fourth book — out fall 2026 (fun sneak peek at the process mentioned in the episode)Connect with The Truth Is:🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube → @thetruthis_pod📸 Follow on Instagram → @thetruthis_podcastCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will SavinoVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch 

Blair Milam is the co-founder of Sound Garden in Mill Valley, CA, a new space for sound healing, restoration, and deeper connection. Over the years, Blair has moved through many environments — from high-performing corporate settings to yoga studios, teacher trainings, and sound school — letting different parts of herself grow at different times. What once felt like separate identities began to inform one another, and eventually, she allowed and embraced their coexistence.In this conversation, we return to the beginning: the horse girl from the South shaped by kindness, service, and a belief that she could do anything; the young woman who followed intuition across the world; the executive who knew how to lead inside high-pressure rooms; and the healer who was slowly forming in the background. All of those selves lived inside her, even when they didn’t feel like they belonged together.We talk about the moment she ran out of “oomph,” the body-level signals that told her something needed to shift, and the season of surrender that unfolded when she stopped gripping as tightly. Blair shares how her mother’s cancer diagnosis changed her relationship to healing, how timing aligned only after she released her grip on it, and how community, love, and readiness shaped the birth of Sound Garden.This is a conversation about truth, alignment, and what becomes possible when we allow — instead of effort.We talk about:How dual identities — the corporate self and the healer — can live in the same roomTrust as a body sensation, not an ideaWhat surrender actually looks like in practiceHow her mother’s diagnosis opened the path to soundThe role of community, love, and timing in this next chapterThe stillness that teaches us what striving never couldWhy letting things change you is part of living in truthIf this episode meets you in a season of transition or new beginnings, share it with someone who might need it — or leave a review so others can find the show.Visit Sound Garden ✨:Instagram → @soundgarden.coWebsite → www.soundgarden.coCheck out Blair's favorite book!: Hidden Messages in WaterConnect with The Truth Is:🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube → @thetruthis_pod📸 Follow on Instagram → @thetruthis_podcastCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will SavinoVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

Jakob Wandel is a filmmaker and photographer whose path has carried him from the Navy to years on tour with musicians — and now into a new chapter of storytelling through his documentary series, Craft.In this episode, we talk about how his journey has been one long act of starting again: leaving behind identities that no longer fit, saying no to what’s safe, and following the pull to create something of his own. Jakob shares how witnessing other makers has reconnected him to patience, process, and presence, and what he’s learning about embracing failure as part of the creative path.It’s a reminder that the process itself is the point — and that meaning often lives in the making.We talk about:The moment of clarity that led Jakob to walk away from touringWhat Craft is teaching him about patience, attention, and integrityThe connection between grief, truth, and creative courageHow slowing down and making with our hands reconnects us to meaningWhy so much of the work we do bears no immediate reward — and why that’s okayIf this conversation reminds you of your own season of starting again, share it with someone creative in your life — or leave a review so others can find the show.Connect with Jakob:Instagram → @jakobwandelVisit his website → www.jakobwandel.comConnect with The Truth Is:🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube → @thetruthis_pod📸 Follow on Instagram → @thetruthis_podcast

John Markland is a highly respected director, screenwriter, producer, and acting teacher, and the founder of The Markland Studio, whose work has guided countless artists and performers toward deeper, more authentic expression.In this conversation, we talk about what happens when the identity you’ve built to feel safe or successful starts to feel out of alignment. John shares how a lifetime of adapting shaped his work with artists, and why he believes honesty matters more than approval — on stage and in life. We explore the unexpressed parts of ourselves we learn to hide, how reconnecting to instinct and curiosity can bring us closer to what’s real, and why taking the time to understand the moments that shaped you can open more freedom in how you move forward.It’s a conversation about truth, creativity, and what becomes possible when we stop performing and start allowing.We talk about:Why so many of us live inside identities built for safety, not truthWhat it looks like to start expressing the parts of yourself you’ve been taught to hideHow honesty — not effort or perfection — creates real presenceThe role of play in loosening control and reconnecting to what’s realWhy understanding your own story changes how you move through the worldHow letting go of control opens the door to something truerIf this episode leaves you thinking about the self beneath your own identity, share it with someone who might need it — or leave a review so others can find the show.Connect with John & The Markland Studio:Instagram → @themarklandstudioWebsite → www.marklandstudio.comConnect with The Truth Is:🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube📸 Follow on Instagram → @thetruthis_podcast

Debut romance author Joss Richard joins us this week to talk about what happens when something that’s lived quietly inside you for years finally asks to be shared.We talk about the leap from corporate to a creative life, how writing fan fiction became her quiet training ground, and the months of 5 a.m. mornings that led to It’s Different This Time — a story that began in the Notes app on her phone and turned into a USA Today bestselling debut.It’s a conversation about creative permission, evolving dreams, and what it looks like to follow the thing that feels most true to you, even when it asks you to let go of the plan you thought you had.Her debut novel, It’s Different This Time — a New York-in-the-fall, Nora Ephron–style second-chance romance — is out now wherever books are sold.We talk about:Our cross-country drive with our rescue dogs (and how friendship sometimes sneaks up on you)Fan fiction 101, “shipping,” and why writing for yourself changes everythingThe moment she realized she wanted to create her own charactersStarting It’s Different This Time in her phone’s Notes app, then writing the rest before work each morningThe practical and emotional side of leaving a full-time jobRedefining success when the goalpost keeps movingWhy romance is serious storytelling — about love, loss, and everything in betweenThe truth that what’s meant for you might just be what you never thought was possibleIf this episode leaves you thinking about the part of yourself that’s been waiting to be seen — share it with someone who might need to hear it, or leave a review so others can find it too.Connect with Joss Richard:📚 Order It’s Different This Time✨ On Instagram → @joss.richard🌐 On her website→ https://www.jossrichard.com/Connect with The Truth Is:🎥 Watch the full conversation on YouTube📸 Follow on Instagram → @thetruthispodcastCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will SavinoVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

This week on The Truth Is, Kathryn sits down with Joanne Molinaro — or as many know her, The Korean Vegan — a New York Times best-selling and James Beard Award–winning author, attorney, and creator whose storytelling and advocacy invite millions to look more closely at who they are, what they stand for, and how they show up in the world.At the height of her legal career, Joanne realized that to be “successful,” she was becoming someone she wasn’t sure she could respect. That moment of reckoning — between achievement and integrity — sits at the center of her story, and at the center of this conversation.Together, they explore what it really means to fight for yourself, to tell the truth to yourself first, and to leave the life that looks right in order to build the one that actually is. Joanne shares how she turned fear into agency, how writing became a lifelong practice of truth-telling, and how her voice — through food, advocacy, and storytelling — continues to be a force for compassion and change.A conversation about courage, integrity, and the ongoing practice of becoming someone you respect.In this episode, they talk about:What it really means to fight for yourselfThe myth that adulthood means giving up joyHow to tell the truth to yourself firstThe cost of “success” when it’s defined by othersTurning fear into agency and advocacyThe quiet work of staying rooted in integrityConnect with JoanneORDER JOANNE'S NEW BOOK! → The Korean Vegan: HomemadeDiscover Korean Vegan Beauty → koreanveganbeauty.comConnect with Joanne → @thekoreanvegan | thekoreanvegan.comConnect with The Truth IsInstagram → @thetruthis_podcastYouTube → @thetruthis_podTikTok → @thetruthispodCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will SavinoVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

This week on The Truth Is, Kathryn sits down with Jennifer Swartley—her coach and a leadership, mindset, and career coach whose work helps people return to themselves, rebuild compassion within, and move through change with clarity and agency.Together, they talk about the moment we’re in—one where distraction can masquerade as progress, and where even self-work can keep us from truly listening to ourselves. Jen offers language and perspective for what it means to get beneath the noise: noticing the pulls that are actually yours, meeting yourself with compassion, and creating space for what’s next to take shape.She also shares her own journey—the moment she realized how much work had become an over-indexed aspect of her identity, the experience of being at a wellness company while not being well, and how that awareness led her toward her own “what’s next,” built from the inside out.In a world constantly competing for our attention, this work isn’t a one-time realization—it’s a continuous commitment. Throughout the conversation, Kathryn and Jen walk through real examples of her work in action: how fear transforms when met with understanding, how clarity comes through the body before the mind, and how slowing down can reveal what’s true and ready to emerge.A conversation about discernment, compassion, and the ongoing practice of returning to yourself in a world that’s always asking you to look away.In this episode, we talk about:How distraction can masquerade as progressWhy even self-work can keep us from listening to ourselvesThe difference between mental noise and embodied knowingMeeting yourself with compassion instead of judgmentThe relatable experience of being at a wellness company but not being wellHow slowing down helps us move from control to clarityLinks & ResourcesConnect with Jen → @jenswartleyLearn more about her coaching and group programs → jenniferswartley.comConnect with The Truth IsInstagram → @thetruthis_podcastYouTube → @thetruthis_podTikTok → @thetruthispodCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

This week on The Truth Is, Kathryn sits down with her sister, Alyssa Flaschner, for a conversation about paying attention to what makes us feel alive, and how change really happens: not all at once, but through tiny degree shifts that slowly realign our lives toward what feels true.In the stillness of COVID, Alyssa began to notice a quiet pull toward something else. What started as weeknights with her cookbook collection soon turned into a decision to take herself—and her curiosity—seriously. That choice led to nine months of commuting to New York City for culinary school—twenty-seven weekends in a row—couch surfing with friends and family and rolling a little suitcase full of knives through the city. Nine months later, that curiosity had become a craft—and eventually, a full-time role on the team at Philadelphia’s acclaimed restaurant My Loup.Together, we talk about what it means to find the thing that makes you come alive—and to keep following it, even when it asks you to rewrite the life you thought you were building.In this episode, we talk about: How perfectionism shaped Alyssa as a competitive dancer—and the ways it still shows up in the kitchenThe difference between chasing achievement and feeling aliveHow small degree shifts add up over time—where slowly, you start to take yourself seriously, and the things that once felt impossible begin to feel realThe awkward, necessary process of being a beginner againWhat it’s like to work in an environment where you can’t fake it—and how that kind of honesty builds confidenceThe people who remind us of our own strength, and why support systems matter more than we thinkIt’s an intimate, sister-to-sister conversation about curiosity, courage, and learning to trust the pull toward what makes you come alive.Links & ResourcesVisit My Loup, where Alyssa is part of the culinary teamRead Alyssa’s essays on SubstackFollow Alyssa on Instagram → @alyssaflashConnect with The Truth IsInstagram → @thetruthis_podcastYouTube → @thetruthis_podTikTok → @thetruthispodCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch

This week, I sit down with James and Michael Gallagher—brothers from the Midwest who spent years on different career paths before choosing to create something together. James built a career in design, while Michael worked in recruiting. Their journeys eventually came together in this new chapter with Rituil, a brand and community devoted to the rituals that keep us grounded in daily life.What I love about this conversation is the idea that creation is born out of stillness. For James and Michael, that stillness took shape in an unexpected way—when James called his brother to join him on a trip to Portugal, and Michael said yes. That “yes” became a doorway: an opportunity to rediscover themselves and each other, and the seed of what would become Rituil. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most important paths reveal themselves not through control, but through surrender and openness.We talk about loosening our grip on our preconceived expectations for how life “should” unfold, and in return, what the concept of “vertical timing” can reveal to us. In their work as founders, James and Michael see themselves as stewards—listening, and building something co-created with their community. It’s a very different model than the one most of us grow up with around success and building—where we’re taught to plan, push, and control. Here, they offer another option: trust, presence, and allowing.At its core, this is a conversation about how truth reveals itself when we stop forcing and start listening.We Talk AboutWhat it's like to say yes to something unexpected (like a brother asking you to come to Portugal less than a week out) and where it can leadThe concept of vertical timing vs. our linear expectations for our lives–and how it offers us a sense of grace and groundednessRituals as simple, everyday anchors—gardening, cooking, and golfing barefootCreation as something born out of stillness and alignmentActing as stewards: listening, surrendering, and letting the community shape what unfoldsLinks & ResourcesExplore Rituil (& sign up for their newsletter!) → rituil.comFollow Rituil on Instagram → @dailyrituilUse code THETRUTHIS for 10% off your first order from RituilMentioned in this episodeThe Surrender Experiment by Michael A. SingerEckhart Tolle: Essential Teachings PodcastConnect with The Truth IsInstagram → @thetruthis_podYouTube → @thetruthis_podTikTok → @thetruthis_podCreditsHosted by Kathryn FlaschnerEdited by Dan CrollMusic by Will Savino → wsavino.comVisual Identity by Sarah Gainer & Jonathan BushAdvised by Natalie Tulloch