S3 | E2 How They Turned Heartbreak into Purpose

This episode of Couples Unfiltered is sponsored in part by Color Story Florals in Vista, CA. We’ve partnered with them to feature handcrafted floral arrangements in our episodes, designed with 80% locally grown California flowers. Use code UNFILTERED10 for 10% off your next order at croziersflowersvista.com or call 760-726-3800. In this deeply moving episode of Couples Unfiltered, we sit down with Rob and Emilee McGowan, a couple married for more than 28 years whose relationship began as friendship and evolved into a lifelong partnership shaped by love, resilience, and unimaginable loss. Long before romance, Rob and Emilee were close friends building separate lives and families. Both were raising children and navigating parallel chapters before friendship slowly turned into love, creating the foundation for a blended family rooted in trust, connection, and shared purpose. Their lives changed forever when their son, Myles, was diagnosed at age three with a rare pediatric brain cancer called Ependymoma. After a courageous fight, Myles passed away in 2008. Rather than allowing grief to define them, Rob and Emilee transformed heartbreak into purpose by founding Myles Ahead of Cancer, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting caregivers and families navigating childhood cancer diagnoses, caregiving, and the devastating loss of a child. Through advocacy, compassion, and partnerships with organizations like Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times and the Long Beach Ronald McDonald House, Myles Ahead of Cancer continues to provide meaningful support, community, and resources for families walking through the unimaginable. Learn more or support their mission: MylesAheadOfCancer.org Instagram: www.instagram.com/MylesAheadofCancer/ In addition to their nonprofit work, Rob, also known as Skinny Black, co-hosts Skinny Black’s Lounge Podcast, a video-style podcast centered on culture, humor, real conversation, personal growth, and authentic dialogue from the perspective of Black men. Alongside co-hosts JT (CT) and Uncle Rennie (Tubbs), the podcast creates space for vulnerable, thoughtful, and often hilarious conversations aimed at strengthening relationships and community. Watch or follow: YouTube: Skinny Black’s Lounge Podcast Instagram: www.instagram.com/skinnyblackslounge/ Host Instagram: www.instagram.com/sbl_host/ Together, Rob and Emilee also lead Diving Within, a coaching and consulting practice focused on executive coaching for Black men through shadow work, strategic authenticity, and personal growth, while also helping couples strengthen communication, emotional connection, accountability, and intimacy. Learn more: www.divingwithin.net/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/divingwithincoaching/ This conversation explores friendship, marriage, grief, resilience, healing, and legacy, and what it truly means to keep choosing one another through life’s hardest seasons.