Kristen Mardis was 21 years old, fresh out of college, and had just been accepted into graduate school when she found out she was pregnant. With no financial safety net and no health insurance, she had to quickly figure out how she would care for a baby while still pursuing her dream of becoming a speech pathologist. In this episode, Kristen shares what it was like to navigate Medicaid, SNAP benefits, and childcare assistance — and how those programs gave her the foundation she needed to build the life she has today.

1. Finding out she was pregnant just weeks after being accepted into graduate school
2. How Medicaid and SNAP helped her access prenatal care and feed her baby
3. Navigating childcare assistance so she could finish her master’s degree
4. The stigma around government assistance — and the dignity everyone deserves
5. How her experience shaped the way she now serves families in her work as a speech pathologist

1. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
2. Medicaid
3. Childcare assistance programs

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Carol Lin spent her career inside newsrooms built for breaking news. She covered some of the most difficult moments in recent history, including being the first person to report the attacks on September 11. In this conversation, she reflects on her career in journalism and the behind-the-scenes moments that shaped her life. She also discusses what it was like to revisit those experiences while writing her memoir.

Hear Carol talk about:

1. What it’s like inside a newsroom built for breaking news
2. The moment she realized she was going live on September 11 without a script
3. How anchors rely on producers, reporters, and unseen teams during national crises
4. The emotional discipline required to deliver information in uncertain moments
5. The intersection of her career with major personal turning points
6. Why writing her memoir required revisiting both professional and private pain
7. What she hopes readers — and her daughter — take away from her story

Mentioned in this episode:

1. The first moments reporting 9/11 (viewer discretion advised)
2. Carol Lin’s memoir, When News Breaks

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What’s it like to spend weeks inside a monastery in complete silence?

What’s it like to find out you’re pregnant with no idea how you’re going to support yourself?

And what’s it like to be the first person to tell the world a plane has just hit the World Trade Center?

Season two of Tell Me What It’s Like gives you a window into someone else’s world - the moments that challenge us, scare us, and shape who we become.

Join host Stacy Raine as she uncovers what each experience was like, and the lessons learned along the way.

1. Breaking historic news and facing profound loss
2. A silent retreat inside a monastery, and what happens when the outside world falls away
3. Navigating unexpected pregnancy without a safety net
4. Helping nonprofits do meaningful work in complex systems
5. Making sense of Medicare and aging in a system few people truly understand
6. Supporting girls in their tween and teen years
7. Finding connection, confidence, and love again later in life

Season two of Tell Me What It’s Like is coming soon.

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As the year comes to a close, guests from Season 1 of Tell Me What It’s Like share the holiday traditions that matter most to them. From longtime family rituals to traditions shaped by loss, life season, culture, and even wildlife, this bonus episode reflects on how traditions evolve and how new ones are created along the way.

1. Keri Nelson
2. Morton Barlaz
3. Alexis Broz
4. Bill Horan
5. Rich "Big Daddy" Salgado
6. Carol Hoenig
7. Linda Strader
8. Sarah Teresinski

1. Midwinter Day
2. Feast of the Seven Fishes
3. Cardinali Bakery, Carle Place, NY

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When Sarah Teresinski was a single mom, she couldn’t afford the beautiful little dresses she saw in stores for her daughter. So she decided to teach herself how to sew. That simple decision sparked a movement — and eventually, Redeux Style, where Sarah transforms old, unused items into something new and beautiful. Today, she helps people see the potential in what they already have or what they might find at the thrift stores — proving that sustainable can be stylish too.

“If everyone who follows me did just one upcycle a year, we could keep 60,000 pounds of waste out of landfills — that’s 5,600 garbage trucks saved.”

Hear Sarah talk about:

• How teaching herself to sew turned into a full-time creative business
• What it was like to face criticism early on — and why it fueled her mission
• The difference between fast fashion, fast furniture, and true sustainable style
• Her viral ceiling fan upcycle that caught the attention of The Drew Barrymore Show and Architectural Digest
• How small, beautiful changes can make a big impact — for your home and the planet

Mentioned in this episode:

• Find Sarah on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook
• See Sarah's appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show
• United Nations Fashion & Lifestyle Network
• Sarah's placemat upcycle
• Sarah's fan blade upcycle
• Fire starter upcycle
• 15 ways to use silica packets
• Organizing a pantry on a budget
• Sarah's friend Dan the Organizer Man

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Susan Polgar’s father believed geniuses weren’t born, they were made. So when his three-year-old daughter found an old chess set in their Budapest apartment, he saw an opportunity to prove it. Susan quickly learned the game, but soon realized the real challenge: convincing the world that girls could play just as well as boys - which she did by becoming the first woman to earn the Grandmaster title under the same standards as men. In this episode, she shares how she rewrote the gender norms of chess, overcame deeply rooted sexism, and helped redefine what young girls believe they can achieve.

• How, at six, she decided to specialize in chess (and not math)
• The sexism she faced as a young girl rising in a male-dominated field
• Why her grandmother's words shaped her sense of perseverance
• What came after winning world championships
• The lessons chess teaches about focus, decision-making, and resilience

• Rebel Queen: The Cold War, Misogyny, and the Making of a Grandmaster by Susan Polgar
• The Susan Polgar Foundation - scholarships, training, and outreach for young chess players
• Introduction: Learn Chess in 30 Minutes (first instructional video for beginners)

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After decades of chasing success as a tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and even a candidate for Utah governor, Jeff Burningham found himself questioning what it all meant.

When the governor’s race ended in 2020, Jeff finally had space to pause—and that pause changed everything. It led him to write The Last Book Written by a Human, a deeply personal reflection on consciousness, connection, and wisdom in an age increasingly defined by artificial intelligence.

• What it was like to step back from chasing success and re-evaluate what matters
• Why he believes AI is a mirror showing us who we are
• The four stages he sees as part of every human and technological evolution: disruption, reflection, transformation, and evolution
• Why slowing down might be the most human thing we can do

• The Last Book Written by a Human by Jeff Burningham
• Read more about Jeff
• The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

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Journalist Charlie Wells is a Millennial — and by now, something of an expert on the Millennial generation, too. In his debut book, What Happened to Millennials: In Defense of a Generation, he shares the stories of five people whose lives reveal what it’s really been like to grow up Millennial — through the early optimism, the crises that shaped us, and all the change we’ve weathered along the way.

Hear Charlie talk about:

• Why he wanted to explore what it’s really been like to grow up as a Millennial
• How he chose the five people whose lives he shares in the book
• How major moments like 9/11 and the rise of the internet shaped Millennial identity
• The nostalgia objects — from Tamagotchis to AIM screen names — that connect us across divides
• Why he feels proud of Millennials, and what he hopes we carry forward into the next chapter of adulthood

Mentioned in this episode:

• What Happened to Millennials: In Defense of a Generation by Charlie Wells
• Charlie Wells on Instagram and X (Twitter)

Support this show:

• Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast app
• Leave a rating and review
• Share on social media and tag @rainemediaco