I Choose Happy With Marilyn

When the Palisades Fire swept through her neighborhood, Paige Killian had only minutes to react. What followed was a day she’ll never forget — a frantic escape, a series of miracles - big and small, and the beginning of a long emotional journey she never imagined she’d be on.

In this conversation, Paige opens up about the fear, the shock, and the quiet moments that hit the hardest in the aftermath. 
She shares the triggers she didn’t expect, the grief that surfaced in everyday places, and the tools that slowly helped her breathe again. From ther...

When Bobby realized he was gay, fear and misunderstanding led to a devastating choice: at 15, he was sent across the country to a Christian conversion program designed to “correct” him.

What he endured there — the isolation, the emotional and physical abuse, and the relentless pressure to erase who he was — became one of the darkest chapters of his life.

In this episode, Bobby reveals what really happens inside programs built to change a young person’s identity, the moment everything finally broke open, and the long journey that followed as he rebuilt his sense of self, his...

When Aundria Adams ran away from an abusive home at 16, she thought she'd finally found safety. But what began as a quest for healing led her straight into the arms of a manipulative therapist who was running a cult in plain sight. In this gripping episode, Aundria shares how she escaped both her childhood trauma and a hidden web of psychological abuse—breaking the cycle not just for herself, but for her family. It's a harrowing story of betrayal, resilience, and ultimately, reclaiming joy.
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Connect with Marilyn and be a part of the conversation in the I...

On September 11th, 2001, Jack Grandcolas lost his wife, Lauren, aboard United Flight 93.

What followed was a journey no one is ever prepared for.

But before that day, Lauren was a woman who lived life wide open—full of curiosity, courage, and heart. And in this conversation, Jack brings us back to that life… while also sharing what it has meant to carry her memory forward.

From grief and trauma to healing and perspective, Jack speaks with honesty about what it looks like to move forward without ever leaving love behind.

This epis...

John Borland, better known by his stage name Johnny Irish, has spent his life surrounded by music, but a near-fatal car accident changed the way he understood what really mattered.

Then, in an instant, everything shifted.

As his car flipped and he became convinced he was going to die, John wasn’t thinking about fame or the next album. He was thinking about the people he loved, the family he hadn’t yet built, and the life he still wanted to live.

Years later, sobriety became another defining turning point, deepening his relationship with...

In an age of constant scrolling, comparison, and FOMO, today’s kids are under pressures that previous generations never faced. In this episode of I Choose Happy, Marilyn Getas Byrne sits down with child development specialist Diane Provo, who has spent decades helping families navigate the emotional challenges of modern childhood.

Together they explore the hidden cost of social media on self-worth, why “keeping up” is eroding confidence, and how parents can re-center around what really matters. Diane offers practical ways to build resilient kids through humor, perspective, and authentic connection—plus simple tools families can use to creat...

After a devastating accident in the Grand Canyon takes the life of a child, Margot Baker’s world is shattered. What follows is a harrowing journey through grief, survivor's guilt, and the tragic loss of her best friend. But in the silence of her home—and later, in the stillness of the Canyon—Margot hears a whisper that will change her life forever.

This is a story about choosing life when everything in you wants to give up. It’s about rivers, rituals, and remembering who you are. And it’s a story we’ll never forget.
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Harry Parker has spent more than three decades at the edge: jumping from airplanes and cliffs, traveling the world as a photographer, and finding family in the close-knit communities of skydiving and BASE jumping.

But a life spent confronting fear also brought Harry face-to-face with loss.

After a devastating period in which many friends in the BASE jumping community died, Harry found himself helping create memorials for the people left behind. That work eventually led him to Project Recover, where he helped locate, document, and bring home American service members missing since World War II...

In honor of Purple Heart Day, we're honored to share this conversation with Colonel Timothy Karcher once again. His story is a powerful reminder of the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of those who have been wounded in service to our country.

In 2009, Colonel Timothy Karcher's vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The explosion took both of his legs and forever changed the course of his life.

What followed was a journey through pain, perseverance, and perspective—one that revealed the power of humor, leadership, and the will to keep moving forward.

As we...

When Julie Rosenau was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38, she never imagined that her greatest challenge was still ahead. Just a few years later, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, her four-year-old son, Ellis, was diagnosed with leukemia.

In this powerful conversation, Marilyn and Julie explore what it means to face the unimaginable—not once, but twice. Julie shares the fear, grief, resilience, and hard-earned wisdom that carried her family through both cancer journeys, and how those experiences inspired her to create Parent Strong, a program supporting caregivers of children with cancer.

Together, they di...

When life doesn't go according to plan, how do you respond?

This week, Marilyn sits down with Carolina Panthers quarterback Haynes King for a conversation about resilience, faith, and the mindset that carried him through injury, setbacks, and the pressure of competing at the highest levels of football.

From growing up in Longview, Texas, to playing quarterback at Texas A&M and Georgia Tech before beginning his NFL career, Haynes shares why staying present, trusting the process, and surrounding yourself with the right people can change everything.

This episode is a reminder that...

What if the feeling you've spent years calling anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, or imposter syndrome was actually something else entirely?

In this deeply insightful conversation, Marilyn sits down with licensed clinical social worker and trauma therapist Kristine Jensen, to explore the hidden role shame plays in our lives—and why naming it can be a first step toward real healing.

Together, they discuss how childhood experiences shape our inner dialogue, why so many successful people still struggle with feeling "not enough," the difference between insight and healing, and how curiosity, self-compassion, and presence can help us...

What if the biggest thing standing between you and your dream... is the fear of what other people might think?

In this episode of I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with singer-songwriter Tom Siletto, whose journey from a music-loving kid in Carmel, California, to signing with legendary Arista Records is anything but an overnight success.

Tom opens up about the song that changed his life, the years of self-doubt that almost held him back, and why he believes it's "more uncool not to try than to try." Together, he and Marilyn explore the power of...

Life can change in an instant.

In this deeply moving episode of I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with Kristen Vargas, a wife, mother, former teacher, and septic shock survivor whose ordinary Friday morning became a fight for her life.

After a sudden infection progressed to septic shock - the most severe stage of sepsis - Kristen spent weeks in the ICU before ultimately undergoing the amputation of both hands and portions of both feet. But as extraordinary as her survival story is, this conversation is about so much more than what happened to her.<...

This week, we're revisiting a conversation about what happens when survival becomes purpose—and how one life-changing diagnosis can shape the path forward.

At 13, Jonah Rosas was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Overnight, life shifted from water polo and middle school routines to chemotherapy, hospitals, and the relentless uncertainty of cancer.

In this episode of I Choose Happy, Jonah reflects on the resilience it took to keep moving forward, the humor and family support that carried him through, and the relief of finally being told he was “out of the woods.” Now, years later, he’s come ful...

As beach days, pool parties, and summer adventures begin, we're revisiting this important I Choose Happy conversation with Marianne Banister, whose daughter Claire's story changed the way many families think about pediatric melanoma and the importance of early detection.

When her 14-year-old daughter Claire noticed a mole on her ankle changing, Marianne Banister never imagined it would be the start of a fight for her daughter’s life. Despite careful screenings, sunscreen, and doing “all the right things,” Claire was diagnosed with adolescent melanoma — an aggressive cancer most families don’t even know children can get. By 17, Claire was...

Marilyn sits down with Brian Speciale, co-founder of The Comfy, former television news producer, father, entrepreneur, and one of the most recognizable success stories to come out of Shark Tank.

Long before the deal with Barbara Corcoran in 2017, Brian was navigating unexpected turns, career pivots, fatherhood, and learning how to keep moving when life looked nothing like he imagined.

In this conversation, Brian shares the winding path from television news to entrepreneurship, the ordinary moment that inspired The Comfy, what really happened behind the scenes on Shark Tank, and the mindset that helped him take...

This week on I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with fashion designer, entrepreneur, mentor, and author Sally Miller for a conversation about confidence, curiosity, self-trust, and what it really means to design a life that fits.

After decades spent building a successful fashion brand and mentoring generations of young women, Sally shares the experiences that shaped her understanding of confidence — not as certainty or perfection, but as the willingness to trust yourself through uncertainty, change, and fear. Together, Marilyn and Sally explore identity, comparison culture, creativity, intuition, motherhood, reinvention, and the ways women are often conditioned to do...

What happens when you finally reach the top… and realize it still isn’t enough?

This week on I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with Cathy Compton — one of the winningest coaches in college softball history with 2 Halls of Fame — for a profound conversation about success, identity, pressure, purpose, and the climb we all face in life.

From building championship teams from the ground up to coaching at the highest levels of the sport, Cathy shares what it really felt like to “make it” — and why the fulfillment she expected at the top of the mountain never...

This week’s I Choose Happy Encore is shared in loving memory of Joseph “Joey” Pangilinan — honoring his extraordinary spirit, courage, and the light he so generously shared with others.

When 54-year-old Joseph Pangilinan went to urgent care for a nagging cough, he expected antibiotics and rest. Instead, he walked out with a diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer — tumors in his lungs, lesions in his bones, even his brain. Told he might only have months to live, Joseph made a choice: to live fully, with humor, grit, and gratitude.

Four and a half years later, Joseph sha...

In this episode of I Choose Happy, bestselling author of The Rise Back, Tiffaney Childers, shares her story of surviving the unimaginable: losing both of her parents to suicide just a year apart.

What followed wasn’t a clear path to healing… it was years of survival. Silence. Pushing forward the only way she knew how while raising her children, building a life, and carrying grief that had no place to go.

It wasn’t until nearly two decades later - when her body could no longer hold what had gone unspoken - that everything began...

Just days before the NFL Draft, Marilyn sits down with someone she’s known his entire life: her son, JT Byrne.

This is a moment years in the making. But what you’ll hear in this conversation isn’t just about football. It’s about the work behind the dream, the discipline no one sees, and the kind of integrity that’s built long before the moment ever arrives.

JT shares what it means to truly discover who you are, how to stay grounded in the face of pressure, and why the work you do when no on...

At 19 years old, Katie Mahon had a chilling encounter in San Francisco with a man she would only later realize was the notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy. What happened that day — and the stranger who appeared at just the right moment — would stay with her for the rest of her life.

But this conversation is about more than survival.

In this powerful episode, Katie shares how that experience shaped her understanding of intuition, fear, and the mysteries we can’t always explain — and how life continued to bring wave after wave in the years that followed...

This week on I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with her longtime friend Steve Georgeson for a deeply honest conversation about what it means to keep living fully when your body begins to change in ways you never expected.

Steve was just 29 years old — a new dad, a husband, and a firefighter in the prime of his life — when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In this episode, he shares what it’s been like to live with MS for more than 26 years: the grief of losing ease and mobility, the invisible mental and physical toll of the di...

At 55 years old, Irene Audet was stepping into a new chapter of life—her children grown, her career evolving, and a sense that life was finally opening up in a new way.
Then, everything changed.

Diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer despite never having smoked, Irene found herself facing a reality she never expected.

In this deeply moving conversation, Irene shares her journey through diagnosis and treatment, and the mindset that has carried her through it. She speaks with honesty about the limits of positive thinking, the power of appreciation, and the importance of...

ADHD is often misunderstood as a lack of focus. But what if the real challenge is regulating attention?

In this episode, Marilyn welcomes back childhood development expert Diane Provo to unpack the truth about ADHD. Together they explore what life feels like inside the ADHD brain, why procrastination and distraction are often misinterpreted, and how creativity, sensitivity, and passion are actually some of the greatest strengths of these minds.

From anxiety and dopamine to parenting strategies and classroom challenges, Diane shares practical insights that can help children with attention regulation issues build confidence and thrive.<...

In honor of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month this March, we’re re-releasing a conversation that means so much to the I Choose Happy community.

Born three months premature while his parents were visiting family on vacation, Adam Bremen entered the world fighting — and he’s been choosing life ever since. Living with cerebral palsy, he grew up in a home rooted in love, creativity, and a belief that limitations don’t define us. His parents taught him early to focus on what he can do — a mindset that continues to shape his life.

In this mo...

Four days after giving birth to her youngest daughter, Lori Hand Jankowski was living in the fullness of new motherhood. Surrounded by her husband, her four children, and the life they had built together.

Then, without warning, her heart tore open.

What followed was a fight for survival that few people could imagine. Multiple open-heart surgeries. Months in a medically induced coma. And the moment she woke up to learn she would never walk again.

Paralyzed from the waist down, Lori was suddenly faced with rebuilding her life... not only as a woman...

Olympian Nick Cunningham spent his life chasing speed.

From a young sprinter growing up in Monterey, California, to representing Team USA on the world’s biggest stage… his identity was built on discipline, belief, and the pursuit of a dream that carried him across the globe - shooting down the ice at nearly 90 miles an hour.

But what happens when the dream ends?

In this deeply honest conversation, Nick opens up about the unexpected grief that followed his Olympic career; the quiet depression that set in when the structure and identity he had know...

Actress Suzanne Marie Berman has spent more than fifty years in front of the camera. From her earliest days as a child performer, to a lifelong career in film, television, and national commercials.

But behind the spotlight was a personal journey marked by addiction, devastating loss, and the long road back to herself.

After the sudden death of her husband, Suzanne made the life-altering decision to get sober. What followed was not a single moment of healing, but a lifelong practice: learning to accept what she could not control, rebuilding relationships, and discovering how to...

Content note: This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse. Please listen with care.

Silence can travel quietly through families, shaping how we love, how we cope, and how we survive. In this deeply moving conversation, Marilyn speaks with actor, author, and founder of The Survivor Movement, Perry Power, about what it takes to break that silence and stop cycles of harm from repeating.

Perry shares how his own experience as a survivor led him to write Breaking the Silence, build a global community for others to find their voice, and create the upcoming film...

Eating disorders are often misunderstood as struggles with food or willpower — but for many, the story begins much deeper.

In this episode of I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist Amy Isabella Chalker for a thoughtful, compassionate exploration of what lives beneath eating disorders.

Drawing on nearly two decades of experience, Amy shares how food and body can become a language when emotions have not yet found words; and why curiosity, safety, and relationship are often the true starting points for healing.

Together, they discuss th...

On October 1st, 1995, Pep Torres’ heart stopped after a devastating car accident on an early morning drive through Watsonville, California.

What followed was not darkness, but a near-death experience that would alter the course of his life forever.

In this moving conversation, Pep takes Marilyn inside the moments before the crash, the surreal calm that followed, and the strange space between life and what comes next - a place he would later come to call the Boulevard of the Dead.

At the time, Pep was a school teacher and basketball coach, fo...

Journalist, mother, and advocate Erika Mahoney shares her story of life after her father was killed in a mass shooting in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado.

Erika reflects on the shock and disorientation that followed his death, the love and human connection that helped carry her through those early days, and the complexity of grieving while preparing to welcome new life as a first-time mother.

She also speaks to what came next: how loss began to take the shape of purpose, and how she committed to staying open, choosing love, and stepping into advocacy in...

In this episode of I Choose Happy, Marilyn sits down with Jamie Estelle Roth, best-selling author of Should’ve Seen That Coming: Navigating the In-Between Moments of Acceptance, Surrender, & Resilience, to talk about what happens when life changes without warning - and how we learn to meet what comes next.

After suddenly losing her eyesight in 2021, Jamie was forced to slow down in ways she never had before. What began as fear and uncertainty became a journey into presence, healing, and a deeper way of seeing herself and the world around her.

With honesty, humor, an...

What happens when cancer enters your life... and then returns years later?

Scott Miller was diagnosed with throat cancer for the first time in his forties. With no family history and no warning, his life changed in an instant. What followed was not only treatment and recovery, but a profound internal shift. One that led him to slow down, listen to his body, and approach healing with compassion instead of fear.

Fifteen years later, after building a life rooted in presence, peace, and purpose, Scott faced a second cancer diagnosis. In this episode...

On New Year’s Eve 2025 in New Orleans, best friends Ryan Quigley and Tiger Bech were walking back to their hotel after a night of celebration. In the middle of the noise, crowds, and chaos of Bourbon Street, a terror attack unfolded, taking Tiger’s life and leaving Ryan fighting for his own.

What follows is a story of unimaginable grief, physical recovery, and the unthinkable task of learning to live in a world without your very best friend. Ryan and Tiger met as Princeton football teammates - two young men who built a deeply loyal and brot...

When a series of unlikely events saved Joan Hill’s son, she realized she was witnessing something more than coincidence. That moment became the foundation for her books The Miracle Chase and The Miracle Collectors, and a lifelong exploration of how miracles truly unfold.

In this conversation, Joan shares why miracles often arrive quietly, how to recognize them in your own life, and why these moments matter — especially during this season. A thoughtful, comforting episode about wonder, timing, and the gentle ways we’re guided.

If you’d like to explore more of Joan’s work, her...

This week on I Choose Happy, we sit with Stuart Preston as he shares the deeply personal story of losing his son, Ian, ten years ago — and the unexpected path that helped him begin to heal.

Stuart opens up about the moment that changed his life, the shock and the silence that followed, and the long stretch of grief where happiness felt impossible. He then shares how psychedelic medicine became a doorway — not to escape pain, but to understand it, soften it, and eventually make space for peace, presence, and connection.

We talk about ego, comm...

Born three months premature during a family vacation, Adam Bremen entered the world fighting — and he’s been choosing life ever since. Living with cerebral palsy, he grew up in a home overflowing with love, creativity, and a belief that limitations don’t define us. With parents who modeled possibility at every turn, Adam learned early that joy begins with focusing on what you can do.

In this powerful conversation, Adam opens up about the moments that shaped him: the strength he found in his family, the independence he built through curiosity and grit, the career that fueled...