If you or someone you care about has experienced a devastating loss, you may be wondering how anyone could survive such debilitating grief. How do you find a way forward through that kind of darkness? Living in the light again probably seems impossible.

That's what Kyle and Betty Mertens thought when they lost their one-year-old daughter, Ella, to an undiagnosed heart defect. In this replay, Rebecca will talk with this resilient couple about their personal grief journey as well as their work to help others transform heartbreak into healing. Kyle and Betty do much of this healing work through their books and their nonprofit, Ella's Umbrella. 

As always, you can find our host, Rebecca Hall Gruyter at www.yourpurposedrivenpractice.com. Our guests are also online. The Mertens' online home is: https://www.ellasumbrella.org/.

About our guests:

Kyle and Betty Mertens met while pursuing their MBAs at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. After losing their 1-year-old daughter, Ella, in 2017, they established a nonprofit called Ella's Umbrella that works to provide inspiration, connections and resources to save kids with heart conditions. They are also passionate about uplifting grieving people and have authored two books: Unraveled, When Loss Changes Everything and Never Far Apart. Kyle and Betty live in St. Louis, Missouri, with their other two children, Ryder and Layne. When they're not busy working their full-time jobs (Kyle in corporate strategy and Betty in business development) and running their nonprofit, they enjoy traveling and spending time outdoors. They both love fitness; Betty is a certified personal trainer, while Kyle looks for any opportunity to get out to the golf course. Out of all their hobbies, spending time with friends and family is what they cherish most. Find them online at: https://www.ellasumbrella.org/.