Who We Become - Life Beyond Change

A physician who spent her career guiding women through pregnancy and birth, Dr. Buckheit suddenly found herself on the other side of care. A severe case of sepsis during pregnancy led to a life-threatening medical crisis and a preterm birth at 27 weeks, forcing her into a reality where expertise couldn’t protect her and control was no longer possible.Together, they talk about the emotional and physical aftermath of trauma, the identity whiplash of going from doctor to patient, and the long, nonlinear process of learning to trust your body again.

Together, they talk about navigating pregnancy loss and the sudden passing of a sibling, how grief can feel isolating and disorienting, and what it looks like to slowly rebuild a life that no longer feels the same. Natasha shares how her faith, writing, and willingness to face her pain head-on became anchors in her healing.

At nine years old, Tiffany Yu lost her father and acquired a permanent disability in the same car accident. She has spent the decades since building one of the world's most prominent disability advocacy communities — and figuring out, layer by layer, who she actually is beyond everything that happened to her.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Abby Maslin to explore caregiving, grief, rebuilding, identity, marriage, and resilience after trauma.

You Don't Finish Becoming. You Just Keep Doing It.A solo reflection on Season 1 — what it held, what it taught, and what it means to have built the space Amanda needed and couldn't find anywhere else.

When a cancer diagnosis arrives, it doesn't just change your health — it changes your work, your insurance, your income, your sense of stability. Monica Bryant has spent fifteen years making sure people know they have rights in all of those areas. This conversation is about what she built, what it cost her, and why she keeps going.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with her mom, Aileen Smalling, to explore caregiving across generations, identity, faith, resilience, and what it means when the strong one becomes the one who needs care.Together, they talk about watching a mother fight cancer at six years old, stepping into the role of caregiver decades later for her own daughter during the pandemic, and then facing a diagnosis herself. They explore the quiet emotional labor of caregiving, the difficulty of receiving help, and how strength evolves when life asks you to surrender instead of push through.This conversation is for anyone who has been the steady one for a long time — the caregiver, the organizer, the strong one — and is learning how to allow others to show up for them too.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda Lentz sits down with Samantha Harris to explore identity, survivorship, self-advocacy, and rebuilding after a life-changing breast cancer diagnosis.Together, they talk about the emotional shock of being diagnosed despite multiple “clear” screenings, the overwhelming process of navigating treatment decisions as a young mother, and the deeper healing journey that followed. Samantha shares how cancer transformed not only her health, but her understanding of wellness, advocacy, and what it means to truly care for yourself from the inside out.This conversation is for anyone navigating uncertainty, advocating for answers, healing after illness, or learning how to trust themselves again after life changes unexpectedly.

Together, Amanda Lentz and Casey Kang talk about the shock of an unexpected leukemia diagnosis, the physical and emotional toll of treatment and relapse, and how survivorship can feel just as isolating as the illness itself. Casey shares what it really looks like to move beyond survival—and how she transformed her pain into purpose through her work with The Happier Hustle.This conversation is for anyone who is rebuilding after a life-altering experience, feeling lost after “getting through it,” or searching for a way to feel like themselves again.

Amanda sits down with Rhonda Payne to explore grief, resilience, caregiving, identity, and what it means to rebuild a life when everything changes.Together, they talk about walking through a mother’s cancer journey, facing a diagnosis of her own, and how Rhonda transformed unimaginable loss into purpose — ultimately stepping away from corporate life to build something entirely her own.This conversation is for anyone who is grieving, rebuilding, navigating uncertainty, or quietly asking themselves: what now?

In this episode of Who We Become, Amanda Lentz sits down with Liz Vasquez to explore what it means to keep living — and keep advocating — in the wake of profound loss. Together they talk about how grief can quietly become a calling, why the world doesn't stop for a cancer diagnosis, and what it looks like to turn a deeply painful chapter into a life's mission.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Matthew Zachary to explore survivorship, identity, advocacy, disruption, and what it means to keep becoming after a life-changing diagnosis.Together, they talk about being diagnosed with a brain tumor at 21, losing the future he thought he was building as a concert pianist and composer, and how that rupture became the starting point for a completely different kind of purpose. Matthew shares how he turned pain into advocacy, built platforms that challenged outdated cancer narratives, and continues to push for a more honest, human-centered healthcare system.This conversation is for anyone who has felt reshaped by diagnosis, frustrated by broken systems, or determined to turn hardship into something that helps the people coming next.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Erica Neubert Campbell to explore grief, identity, survivorship, and how women reclaim their power after a breast cancer diagnosis.Together, they talk about the emotional weight of growing up with cancer already shaping her life after losing her mother to the disease, and how that history created years of anxiety leading up to her own diagnosis. Erica shares what it was like to receive the phone call confirming she had breast cancer, the loneliness that followed, and the difficult decisions she faced about treatment and surgery.Through her journey, Erica transformed one deeply vulnerable moment — when a colleague showed her what life after a mastectomy could look like — into a mission to support other women facing the same unknowns. That moment ultimately inspired her to write her memoir, The Mastectomy I Always Wanted, a guide that offers honesty, reassurance, and practical insight for women navigating the decision and experience of mastectomy.This conversation is for anyone who has faced a diagnosis that reshapes how they see themselves, anyone navigating life after loss, or anyone supporting someone they love through breast cancer.

When Megan-Claire Chase — known to many as Warrior Megsie — began experiencing symptoms, she spent more than two years fighting to be believed.By the time she was finally diagnosed with Stage 2A invasive lobular breast cancer, the battle had already taken a deep emotional toll.In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Megan-Claire to talk about what survivorship actually looks like after treatment ends — the trauma, the identity shifts, and the emotional realities that are rarely discussed openly.They explore the anger and grief that can surface after cancer, the impact of infertility and surgical menopause, and the mental health challenges many survivors face — including PTSD, chronic pain, and depression.Megan-Claire also shares how writing became her lifeline, why representation in clinical trials can be life-saving, and how she now uses her platform Warrior Megsie to advocate for survivors whose stories are often overlooked.Recently selected as an ASCO Voices speaker, Megan-Claire continues to amplify the message that guides her work:Every story matters.This conversation is for anyone who has struggled to be believed in their health journey, anyone navigating life after cancer treatment, and anyone learning how to rebuild identity after life changes in ways they never expected.Because survivorship isn’t just about living.It’s about finding your voice again.

In this powerful episode, I sit down with the heart behind Pink Ink Tattoo, Tara Williamson, to explore her personal journey, the experiences that shaped her calling, and what led her to launch a business and foundation rooted in service and compassion.We explore the stories behind restorative tattooing, supporting survivors, and creating a space where people feel seen after trauma, illness, and loss — along with her commitment to always learning, growing, and wanting to do better for the community she serves.This conversation is about reclaiming identity, honoring resilience, and becoming whole again — one story, one scar, and one brave step at a time.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Meredith Nye to explore grief, healing, caregiving, and how identity evolves after cancer.Together, they talk about the shock of an unexpected cancer diagnosis during a busy season of life, how Meredith navigated treatment while raising young children, and what it looks like to rebuild a sense of normalcy after treatment ends. Meredith also shares the powerful moment when roles reversed and she found herself supporting her best friend through cancer — learning firsthand what it means to pay forward the support she once received.

In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Becky Horn, Executive Director of Pretty in Pink Foundation, to explore financial toxicity, survivorship, dignity, and what real support looks like during breast cancer treatment.

When Kimberly Stevenson sat in the doctor’s office and heard the words, “Do you want me to be blunt? This is cancer,” life changed instantly.But the hardest moment wasn’t the diagnosis.It was telling her kids.In this episode of Who We Become — Life Beyond Change, Amanda sits down with Kimberly — a wife, mom, realtor, and cancer survivor — to talk about what it’s really like to walk through illness while raising a family.Kimberly shares how her family held onto small rhythms that brought stability during an unstable season: dinners together, cleanup routines, and nightly belly laughs that reminded them they were still themselves in the middle of it all.They talk about the vulnerability of parenting while immunocompromised, learning to accept help from others, and how survivorship often means rebuilding confidence, perspective, and identity in unexpected ways.Kimberly also shares the family motto that guides her life today:“Well… it ain’t cancer.”This conversation is for anyone navigating a diagnosis, supporting someone they love through illness, or learning how to rebuild life after a chapter that changed everything.Because sometimes becoming stronger doesn't look like pushing harder.Sometimes it looks like rest, laughter, and letting people love you.

Survival is often treated like an ending — a moment of relief, gratitude, and closure. But for many, survival is just the beginning of a much quieter, more complicated chapter.In this episode of Who We Become, Life Beyond Change, host Amanda shares her personal experience of survival and the identity shift that followed. She explores what it feels like to live in the aftermath — when treatment ends, support fades, and you’re expected to be “back to normal,” even though nothing feels the same.This episode speaks to the tension so many survivors carry: gratitude alongside grief, strength mixed with exhaustion, and the slow, ongoing process of becoming someone new after life-altering change. It’s an honest reflection on resilience, identity, relationships, and learning how to live forward without erasing what changed you.If you’ve survived something — illness, loss, or a season that reshaped you — this conversation is for you.

We talk a lot about the moments that change our lives — the diagnosis, the loss, the decision that divides life into before and after. But we don’t talk enough about what comes next.In this episode of Who We Become, Life Beyond Change, host Amanda explores the quiet, often overlooked space after change — when the world expects you to move forward, but you’re still figuring out who you are now.This conversation names the emotional complexity of life beyond change: the waiting, the identity shift, and the tension between grief and resilience that so many people carry silently. It’s an invitation to slow down, reflect, and feel less alone in the becoming that follows life’s hardest moments.If you’ve ever felt like life moved on before you were ready, this episode is for you.

Life has a way of changing us in an instant — through illness, loss, caregiving, or moments that quietly divide life into before and after.In this opening episode of Who We Become, Life Beyond Change, host Amanda introduces the heart behind the podcast and the space it’s meant to hold. This is a place for honest conversations about identity, resilience, and what it means to move forward after life doesn’t go as planned.This episode sets the tone for the season, naming the often-unspoken space after change — when the world expects you to be okay, but you’re still becoming who you are now. You’ll hear why this podcast exists, who it’s for, and what kinds of stories you can expect in the episodes ahead.If you’ve ever felt like life moved on before you were ready, this space is for you.