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  • VINNEY TOLMAN: He died for 47 minutes. You won't believe who he met and what he saw.

    VINNEY TOLMAN: He died for 47 minutes. You won't believe who he met and what he saw.
    Oct 13 2026
    LINKS:WEBSITE LINK: https://livinggodslight.org/BOOK A SESSION https://livinggodslight.org/guidance/#sessionsPODCAST/ YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/@livinggodslightINSTAGRAM LINK: https://www.instagram.com/livinggodslight/FACEBOOK LINK: https://www.facebook.com/LivingGodsLightBOOK, THE LIGHT AFTER DEATH: https://thelightafterdeath.com/In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome Vinney Tolman, spiritual guide, author, and a man who has spent the last twenty-three years doing something most of us will never have to do: explaining to the living what it felt like to be dead.In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome Vinney Tolman, spiritual guide, author, and a man who has spent the last twenty-three years doing something most of us will never have to do: explaining to the living what it felt like to be dead.In 2003, Vinney was found unresponsive in a Dairy Queen bathroom. He was pronounced dead by three medics, placed in a body bag, and was on his way to the medical examiner's office when one member of the team broke protocol, opened the bag, and refused to stop until he got a heartbeat. Three days of induced coma followed, with less than five percent neurological activity, while his family faced decisions no family should have to make. And then, at 1:11 in the morning on January 21st, Vinney simply woke up, pulled out his sensors, wrapped himself in two hospital gowns, and tried to leave.What happened in those forty-seven minutes? In this episode, Vinney describes a guide named Drake, who walked him through ten principles before allowing him to travel further. He saw his life from both sides, every good thing and every bad thing, not as judgment but as accounting. He felt a love so complete and so unlike anything available on earth that he did not want to come back. Six months after he came back, he saw a face in a historical presentation in a small Wyoming town and recognized it immediately. Drake, it turned out, was his great-great-great-grandfather.Around the table, Bridget, Steve, and Vinney explore what authenticity actually costs us, why we trade our real selves for inauthentic security somewhere around the age of five, and what unconditional love looks like when it is not filtered through fear, performance, or the need to earn it. Vinney also leads the room through a quiet two-minute prayer that is one of the most unexpected and genuinely moving moments this podcast has ever produced.This episode is for anyone who has wondered what and who waits on the other side, anyone sitting with grief they cannot name, and anyone who simply needs a reminder that the love available to us is larger than anything this life has so far shown them.Pull up a chair. This is a story of a man who left and came back, a guide who turned out to be family, and the kind of love that does not have to be earned.BIO: Vincent (Vinney) Tolman was born in Arlington, Texas, and has since traveled around the world, living in both Cambodia and Thailand. He has worked as a home builder, computer technician, and producer for the television and film industry. He loves animals, meditating, and spending time in nature. His greatest priorities are his relationship to his Creator, his family, and the people he meets. He currently lives in Georgia with his wife, Andrea, and their two children.At the age of 25, Vinney was found dead in the bathroom of a small restaurant. He had been dead for over half an hour. When paramedics arrived, they put him in a body bag and took him away. A rookie paramedic had a feeling to risk his career, break all protocols, and try to resuscitate Vincent. Miraculously, he restarted Vinney's heart. However, Vinney was in a coma for three days and remembers what happened on the "other side" while he was dead. Vinney coaches individuals to find solutions to life problems, or when they are ready to grow and expand their life in powerful ways.YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRABridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.comBridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramonaSteve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/ Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbrokerBridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/ Substack: https://p...
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    38 min
  • TJ SWEET: He Should Have Died. How to turn life's painful detours into pure strength!

    TJ SWEET: He Should Have Died. How to turn life's painful detours into pure strength!
    Sep 29 2026
    LINKS: Website: https://tjsweet.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetjsweet/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetjsweetLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetjsweet/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetjsweetTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thetjsweetPodcast: Living The Sweet Life with TJ SweetEmail: tj@tjsweet.comIn this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome TJ Uete, purpose coach, podcast host, and a man who has built his entire life around a single conviction: less fences, bigger tables.TJ did not arrive at this philosophy easily. It came through a cold February night in Columbia, Missouri, when he rear-ended a car without his seatbelt on, at forty-five miles an hour, and walked away from a wreck that by every account he should not have survived. The woman he hit thought she was looking at a ghost. His friend arrived at the scene, took one look at the car, and said four words that changed everything: God's not done with you yet.With warmth, clarity, and a generosity of spirit that fills every room he walks into, TJ shares what those moments taught him about gratitude, purpose, and what it actually means to show up for people. He also shares the story of the very first episode of his podcast, a conversation with a young man he had never met, who sent him a message the next day to say he had been thinking about ending his life the day they spoke, and that after their conversation he called his mother and told her everything. TJ did not know that when he hit record. God did.Around the table, Bridget, Steve, and TJ explore what it means to live your purpose rather than pursue it, why the things that feel like they should disqualify us are often the exact things that qualify us to serve, and three principles that TJ returns to every day: that nothing meant for him will pass him by, that he is being prepared for what has been prepared for him, and that amor fati, love of one's fate, means meeting everything that comes with the question of how it is shaping him rather than breaking him.This episode is for anyone still searching for their why, anyone who has written off their own story as too broken to be useful, and anyone who needs a reminder that showing up, present and unhurried, for just one person, can change the entire course of a life.Pull up a chair. This is a story of second chances, a $20 microphone, and a man who decided that the best thing he could do with the days he has left is make sure no one at his table feels invisible.BIO: TJ Sweet is a keynote speaker, author, podcast host, and executive coach who helps people reconnect with what matters most. After more than 20 years in healthcare leadership, TJ saw firsthand that people do not just need better strategies. They need to feel seen, valued, and connected to the purpose behind their work.Today, he helps leaders and high performers build stronger relationships, create cultures people want to be part of, and pursue success without losing themselves or the people they love along the way.TJ has impacted more than 10,000 leaders across 48 countries. He is the author of Practice Gratitude: Find Joy and Grateful Leadership, and the host of the Living The Sweet Life podcast, where he shares honest conversations and practical tools for living, leading, and showing up with greater intention.YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRABridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.comBridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramonaSteve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/ Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbrokerBridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/ Substack: https://p...
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    27 min
  • REBECCA KASTL: "Live by the light." PTSD & Healing 100% of the mind & body

    REBECCA KASTL: "Live by the light." PTSD & Healing 100% of the mind & body
    Sep 29 2026
    In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome Rebecca Castle, sacred soul guide, spiritual mentor, and someone who knows from the inside out what it means to carry darkness for years before the light finally breaks through.At thirteen, Rebecca survived an assault that quietly reshaped her world from the inside. She looked fine on the outside, kept her grades up, went to therapy, and was eventually told she was healed. At twenty-three, she knew she was not. So she made a private commitment, the kind no one else saw but that changed everything, to heal all the way down, to feel her heart again, to move whatever was sitting on top of it.What followed was a two-year spiritually transformative experience, ignited by a simple journal entry addressed to God, that brought her into direct contact with what she can only describe as being fully known, fully held, and fully loved, down to the cellular level. She saw light. She encountered angels. She received a dream so vivid and so full of presence that she woke up the next morning knowing her life had turned a corner it would never turn back from.Around the table, Bridget, Steve, and Rebecca explore what it actually feels like to be dissociated from your own body after trauma, why the people who reached her were the ones willing to stay and witness her pain rather than fix it, and how the darkest experiences can carve out the largest capacity for light. They also talk about the work Rebecca does today, sitting with people in what she calls sacred soul sessions, helping them reconnect with their own light at the moments when they need it most.This episode is for anyone who has ever been told they were fine when they knew they were not, anyone who has felt too broken to be reached, and anyone quietly longing for a conversation that puts love back at the center of everything.Pull up a chair. This is a story of a thirteen-year-old who survived something she should never have had to survive, a twenty-three-year-old who decided to go all the way toward healing, and a woman who came out the other side able to see the light in everyone she meets.⏱️ Episode Timestamps & Key Highlights:00:00 – Welcome to Stories Across The Table with Steve Ramona & Bridget Cook-Burch00:33 – Gratitude of the Day: "The hardest battles often lead to the most beautiful victories"01:40 – Rebecca’s story: Surviving trauma at 13 and navigating silent PTSD03:00 – Moving beyond high-functioning survival to choosing total heart healing04:30 – The Dear God journal entry that ignited a 2-year Spiritually Transformative Experience (STE)06:40 – Understanding dissociation and what reconnecting to your body feels like07:45 – Experiencing divine love: Being fully known, held, and accepted09:30 – How to genuinely support loved ones walking through deep trauma and grief13:30 – STEs vs. Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and navigating supernatural encounters15:00 – Sacred Soul Sessions: Helping others rediscover hope and choose life16:20 – The pendulum effect: Why profound darkness creates capacity for greater light19:00 – The unforgettable visitation dream: "Being alive is a gift" and stepping into purpose23:30 – Where Rebecca finds hope in the world today & closing reflections🔗 Connect with Our Guest:Website: rebeccakastl.comSocial Media: Connect with Rebecca across platforms @rebeccakastlYouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRABridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.comBridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramonaSteve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/ Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbrokerBridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/ Substack: https://p...
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    26 min
  • LINDA BUCHER: Loss. Grief. A New Beginning.

    LINDA BUCHER: Loss. Grief. A New Beginning.
    Sep 22 2026

    How To Change Your Life Instantly!

    In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch welcomes Linda Bucher, life coach, founder of The Ripple Effect, and someone who spent forty-five years feeling like life was something that happened to her before she finally decided to happen to it instead.

    Linda moved through years of quiet difficulty, a marriage shadowed by alcoholism she carried largely alone, five years of fertility treatments, five trips to Russia to bring home three children she loves deeply, and then, without warning, her husband's death in the night. She was a sudden widow with a three-year-old, a five-year-old, and a seven-year-old and no map for what came next.

    What she found instead of a map was a book tucked away at the bottom of a cedar chest, a declaration spoken out loud to no one in particular, and eventually a lightning bolt of a realization in front of a website: she was not supposed to find a coach. She was supposed to become one.

    Around the table, Bridget and Linda explore the difference between grieving a person and grieving the unlived tomorrows you thought you would share, why the capacity that opens up after loss can be one of the most important gifts we never asked for, and what it means to help others unleash what they were born to bring.

    This episode is for anyone who has ever said, out loud or silently, that the life they are living is not the one they were meant to live.

    Pull up a chair. This is a story of loss that became a launching pad, a cedar chest that held the right book at the right time, and a woman who discovered her purpose by looking for someone else's help and finding her own instead.


    BIO:
    Linda Bucher (pronounced Boo-ker) is a Master-Certified Life Coach, speaker, podcaster, and MBA who guides purpose-driven humans to shed what they’ve outgrown and create a life that is fully aligned and deeply impactful. After years of building a life that looked right but felt wrong, Linda reclaimed her own truth. Today, she is an influential visionary whose unique gift is cultivating individual empowerment. Linda has a rare ability to sense the future identity someone is growing into, bringing actionable clarity to life’s turning points so they can confidently unleash what they were born to bring.

    Website: https://lindabucher.com
    Conversations Worth Your While Podcast - https://lindabucher.com/podcast
    Book your Complimentary Clarity Chat: https://lindabucher.com/book-the-call
    Contact Linda: https://lindabucher.com/contact-us
    Linda’s free guide to ditch the hustle & find your flow: https://lindabucher.com/success


    Linda’s Socials:
    YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/@LindaBucher
    LinkedIn -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindabucher/
    Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/lindabucher.gobigcoach/
    Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/LindaBucherLifeCoach

    • YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRA
    • Bridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.com
    • Bridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter
    • Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836
    • Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramona
    • Steve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’
    • Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/
    • Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbroker
    • Bridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter
    • Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/
    • Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/
    • Substack: https://p...
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    29 min
  • GEORGE BRYANT: 9,200 Interviews & Multiple Bestsellers... and only 2 questions that create change

    GEORGE BRYANT: 9,200 Interviews & Multiple Bestsellers... and only 2 questions that create change
    Sep 15 2026

    LINKS:
    Website: www.mindofgeorge.com
    Instagram: @itsgeorgebryant

    In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome George Bryant, entrepreneur, author, speaker, host of over seven hundred podcast episodes, and a man who has appeared as a guest on more than nine thousand shows, because once people hear him, they cannot stop sharing him.

    George grew up learning to survive, which meant learning to use people, situations, and circumstances as tools before they could be used against him. He carried that wiring into the Marine Corps, then into a business career that rewarded him handsomely for being exactly the disconnected, performance-obsessed person his early life had built. He had the followers, the book deal, the revenue. He also had no idea what any of it was costing him until a woman at a personal development seminar stood him up in front of a hundred people and asked whether he had ever turned around to look at the trail he was leaving behind.

    With disarming honesty, unstoppable energy, and the kind of clarity that can only come from having dismantled yourself and rebuilt from scratch, George shares what it took to shift from surviving to serving, and why he believes connection is the one thing the world is most hungry for and least willing to sit still for.

    Around the table, Bridget, Steve, and George explore the two questions that actually create change, why most personal development content keeps people stuck, and what it looks like to fall in love with the pursuit rather than the result.

    This episode is for anyone who has ever collected every certification, read every book, and still felt like nothing was actually shifting.

    Pull up a chair. This is a story of a man who drove an elderly couple home through Glacier National Park last night without mentioning his name once, and who will tell you without hesitation that this, not the million followers or the bestseller list, is who he actually is now.

    BIO:
    George Bryant is a visionary entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and host of a top-ranked podcast that inspires millions to scale with soul. From his roots as an Active Duty United States Marine for 13 years to a celebrated food blogger and marketing genius, George has turned his raw, authentic journey into a global movement.

    • YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRA
    • Bridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.com
    • Bridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter
    • Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836
    • Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramona
    • Steve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’
    • Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/
    • Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbroker
    • Bridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter
    • Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/
    • Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/
    • Substack: https://p...
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    34 min
  • SARAH STOCKHAM: From Rainforest to TV Host. Painful life detours and the secrets to staying grounded.

    SARAH STOCKHAM: From Rainforest to TV Host. Painful life detours and the secrets to staying grounded.
    Sep 8 2026
    In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome Sarah Stockham, award-winning television host of Simply Sarah on E3 TV, former music educator, and a woman whose childhood at a makeshift table on the edge of the rainforest in central Africa turned out to be the best preparation imaginable for a life spent hosting meaningful conversations.Sarah grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where her missionary parents built schools and welcomed dignitaries from around the world to a table made of two sawhorses and a door draped in African fabric. People came with different languages, different beliefs, and different visions for the future, and the table held all of it. That early lesson, that conversation across differences is not just possible but essential, became the throughline of everything Sarah has done since.With grace, humility, and a warmth that fills the room, Sarah shares how thirty-five years of teaching music gave way to a television career she never planned, how a traumatic event in a classroom became the doorway to a calling she could not have imagined, and why she believes the most powerful thing any of us can do is honor the people who invested in us by keeping that energy moving forward.Around the table, Bridget, Steve, and Sarah explore the art of unintentional mentorship, what it means to start the day grounded before you start it in service, and how a show built on nothing but honest unhurried conversation is reaching over a million viewers a year.This episode is for anyone who has ever felt pushed out of something they loved and wondered whether what waited on the other side could possibly be worth it.Pull up a chair. This is a story of a girl raised at the edge of the rainforest who grew up to build a table of her own, and of the quiet voice that kept telling her the best conversation was still ahead.BIO:Before Sarah Stockham was born, she was introduced to loss. During her mother's pregnancy, an international incident in the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed the life of a colleague who died attempting to rescue a group of missionaries — including Sarah's parents, who were among those being held. Sarah shares this not to compare losses — one cannot — but because it shaped everything that followed. It was her earliest introduction to what she would spend a lifetime learning to navigate: the cascading stress of loss, grief, and the long work of choosing life again.Sarah spent 35 years as an award-winning educator before discovering that stress isn't just something to manage — it's something you can prevent. A #1 Amazon Bestselling Author, Award-Winning TV Host, and Reiki Master, she now teaches women — especially teachers nearing retirement — how to break stress cycles and choose life again after loss, transition, and the accumulated weight of giving everything to everyone else.As Host, Creator, and Producer of Simply Sarah on e360TV, founder of Peaceful Pathways Community, and creator of Reiki Claremont, Sarah brings over three decades of teaching excellence together with energetic healing, nervous system science, and her own journey through PTSD recovery and reinvention at 58.She has witnessed firsthand how loss — of loved ones, of identity, of financial structure, of the ease of gathering — can lead us to build emotional tombs for ourselves, stuffed with regret, guilt, loneliness, and anxiety. Her life's work is giving voice to what choosing life again actually looks like — through the deeply connecting power of community, spiritually guided meditation, Reiki healing practices infused with celestial wisdom, and leaning into the God she calls Papa.She holds a Master's Degree in Education and an Administrative Certificate and has been recognized as both a Master Teacher and Mentor Teacher.Sarah believes it is always okay to care — without carrying the burden.LINKS: https://instagram.com/sarahstockhamhttps://www.facebook.com/sarah.stockham.2025/https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahstockhamSarahStockham.comReikiClaremont.comhttps://www.youtube.com/SarahStockhamYouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRABridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.comBridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramonaSteve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/ Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbrokerBridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/ Substack: https://p...
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    29 min
  • JOHN GULLO: From Goodfellas to Hall of Fame - The Founder of Pro Pickleball shares there are only 2 kinds of mistakes

    JOHN GULLO: From Goodfellas to Hall of Fame - The Founder of Pro Pickleball shares there are only 2 kinds of mistakes
    Aug 31 2026

    LINKS: https://www.johnagullo.com


    In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome John Gullo — entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, and the man who put professional pickleball on the map — whose story begins not with a silver spoon but with the streets of Buffalo, New York, where the line between a life of impact and a life of consequence was razor thin, and the choice he made at twenty changed everything.

    John grew up in a neighborhood where Goodfellas wasn't a movie — it was the block he lived on. His brother dealt in stolen goods, ran black-market beef, and once unknowingly possessed a painting worth $350,000 that made Fox News. John watched all of it, and then — quietly, stubbornly — chose something different.

    That something different was the Junior Chamber of Commerce, whose motto hooked him for life: community leadership training through community service. A self-described total introvert until twenty, John found in the JCs not just a direction but an identity — and never looked back. What followed was a life of perpetual reinvention: Burger King franchise manager, foundation builder, pickleball pioneer, and now author. After five bypass surgeries and weighing over three hundred pounds, he discovered pickleball, built the first four courts in northern Utah, launched the first professional tournament, and watched an eleven-year-old named Annalie Waters win it. She's now the top female player in the country, a Nike athlete who made over three million dollars last year. John was inducted into the Pickleball Hall of Fame in 2024 — and lost a hundred pounds along the way.

    He believes there are only two kinds of mistakes: positive ones, where you try and fail, and negative ones, where you do nothing at all. He has lived entirely on the positive side of that ledger.

    This episode is for anyone who grew up where the choices weren't clean, found one door cracked open, and walked through it anyway.


    BIO

    John Gullo didn’t learn leadership in a classroom. He grew up street-smart in Buffalo, learned business the hard way, and never stopped betting on people. From flipping Whoppers to flipping communities, he built a Burger King empire, launched major philanthropic initiatives, and helped pioneer professional pickleball into what it is today—often while learning lessons the hard way. Known for his blunt honesty, big heart, and refusal to play small, John believes leadership is proven not by titles, but by how well you serve when no one is watching.

    • YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRA
    • Bridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.com
    • Bridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter
    • Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836
    • Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramona
    • Steve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’
    • Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/
    • Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbroker
    • Bridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter
    • Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/
    • Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/
    • Substack: https://p...
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    27 min
  • JASON COOMBS: Addiction & Recovery - What really works & what doesn't

    JASON COOMBS: Addiction & Recovery - What really works & what doesn't
    Aug 25 2026
    LINKS:https://BRICKHOUSERECOVERY.com https://www.unhooked.family/weekly-lives--b8766 In this episode of Stories Across the Table, Bridget Cook-Burch and Steve Ramona welcome Jason Coombs, addiction recovery advocate, entrepreneur, and author of Unhooked, a book written not for the person struggling but for everyone who loves them.Jason did not grow up around addiction. He grew up in a comfortable home with successful parents and no obvious reason for the road he ended up on. What he did grow up with, unnamed and untreated, were anxiety, ADHD, and a kind of pain that nobody around him had the language for. He found his own language for it eventually, and it cost him nearly everything.With candor, compassion, and a clarity that can only come from having lived it, Jason shares how self-medication became addiction, how addiction became felonies, and how his parents' decision to finally stop absorbing the consequences of his choices was the moment his real recovery could begin. He also shares why he wrote his book for the family standing on the shore and not the person drowning, because in his experience, that is where the turning point actually lives.Around the table, Bridget, Steve, and Jason explore the boulder-and-wave metaphor that changed his parents' lives, why family members often enable out of love and fear rather than weakness, and what it means to help someone want to change rather than simply demanding that they do.This episode is for anyone who has watched someone they love disappear into addiction and had no idea what to do next.Pull up a chair. This is a story of hitting every bottom available, finding the one thing that finally held, and turning the wreckage of a life into a map for the people who needed it most.BIO: Jason Coombs is a recovery advocate, author, and speaker who helps families and individuals navigate the complex challenges of addiction and mental health. With a Master’s in Professional Communications and lived experience in recovery, he brings a blend of empathy, insight, and practical tools to his work. Jason is the founder of Brick House Recovery, a faith-based outpatient treatment program recognized with national and regional awards for excellence in care. He’s the author of anational bestseller, Unhooked: How to Help an Addicted Loved One Recover and host of the Get Unhooked podcast.He currently serves on multiple committees and as Southwest Regional Director for the Idaho Association of Addiction Professionals. Outside of work, Jason enjoys skiing, triathlons, and traveling with his family.ABOUT BRICK HOUSE RECOVERYThe high-quality, behavioral-health professionals employed at Brick House have received the:• National Excellence in Treatment Award 2023• Idaho’s Best in Mental Wellness 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025• Awarded Best Places to Work in Idaho 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025• Inspire Excellence Award 2021• CARF Nationally Accredited 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025• Meridian Business of the Year 2018• Healthcare Business of the Year 2023YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRABridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.comBridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramonaSteve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/ Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbrokerBridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/ Substack: https://p...
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    35 min