Circle This

What changes when we stop trying to be the most impressive person in the room and start taking care of the room itself? Broadway director, educator, and producer Marc Tumminelli joins Dre and Em for a deeply moving conversation about creativity, collaboration, grief, leadership, and the courage to open ourselves to possibility. Marc shares how theater helped save his life, why the most powerful creative spaces are built on connection, and what sitting in circle taught him about listening, restraint, and receiving love. He opens up about the sudden loss of his mother, the signs and rituals that have accompanied his grief, and the spiritual awakening that has changed how he moves through the world. From rehearsal rooms and Broadway dreams to manifestation, self-consciousness, and the unforgettable lesson he learned from Cynthia Erivo, this conversation reminds us that great leadership begins with care—and that anything can happen when we allow ourselves to celebrate the dream while it is happening. Marc Tumminelli is the founder of Broadway Workshop and Broadway Events and an award-winning theatrical director whose work spans Broadway, film, cabaret, and arts education. Follow: @marctumminelli @broadwayworkshop @bwayevents Learn More At: www.marctumminelli.com -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries [email protected]

After taking August off, Dre and Em are back and ready for the newness of a new cycle of the school year to begin. In this welcome-back episode, they catch up on wedding-planning chaos, experiments in intentional living, and the practices that helped them get out of autopilot and come back to connection. They share about a 30-day meditation challenge, unexpected lessons in accountability, community, and the power of deciding how you want to feel before the day even begins. Em shares the Rockefeller Center moment that changed her relationship with her phone—and made her realize just how much of the actual world she was missing while looking at a screen. Dre introduces a meditation she's been exploring in circles, "remembering the future" and considers what if we could look at a future vision the same way choose to look back on a memory, and use the feeling of that future self to guide the choices we're making right now? Dre leads Em (and all of us!) through a meditation traveling between past, present, and future to uncover the through-line of our own stories—and perhaps find a little more peace in the present moment. Welcome back to Circle This. -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries [email protected] If you loved this conversation, listen next to our episode with Tal Rabinowitz, "Trust the Signs: Transition Your Career and Powerfully Manifest." It is beautifully aligned with everything explored here.

What if the experiences that shaped you—even the painful ones—weren't detours at all, but preparation for the life you're here to live? This episode will leave you thinking differently about your past, your purpose, and the healing power of genuine human connection. In this episode, Dre sits down with educator, speaker, and Kid Grit co-founder Julia Gabor for a deeply honest conversation about childhood loneliness, resilience, emotional intelligence, and the surprising ways our greatest struggles can become our greatest contribution. Dre and Julia grew up in New York City, and their circles have remained connected through the years, bringing a love, history, and genuine chemistry to this conversation. Julia shares the remarkable story of growing up far too fast, raising herself through family dysfunction, addiction, and instability before dedicating her life to helping children, teachers, and communities build emotional resilience through authentic human connection. Together, she and Dre explore why loneliness has become one of our greatest modern epidemics, why emotional intelligence may be the most important skill we'll ever teach, and how storytelling can transform shame into purpose. This conversation is about much more than education. It's about learning to stop asking, "Why did this happen to me?" and beginning to ask, "How did this prepare me for the life I'm here to live?" If you've ever wondered whether your past still defines you—or whether it might actually be pointing you toward your purpose—this episode is for you. Follow: @julesfrmnyc Learn More At: https://kid-grit.com/ -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: [email protected]

In this episode, actress, author, therapist, and addiction specialist Rosa Blasi joins Dre for an honest conversation about intuition, reinvention, accountability, grief, and the courage to trust yourself. Together they explore why so many of us ignore our instincts, how feelings of "not enough" quietly shape our lives, and what it actually takes to break old patterns instead of simply understanding them. They dive into the connection between the healing arts and the creative arts, the courage to tell the truth about your life, and why building self-trust often begins with keeping the smallest promises to yourself. This is a conversation about owning your voice, following your inner knowing, and remembering that your next chapter doesn't begin when life changes, it begins the moment you decide to trust yourself. Follow: @therosablasi Learn More At: www.rosablasitherapy.com -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace For sponsorship inquiries, email: [email protected]

Davide De Pierro has become one of the internet's most thoughtful voices on love, heartbreak, and modern relationships as he willing asks questions many of us quietly carry. In this conversation, we circle around modern masculinity, loneliness, dating, and the stories we tell ourselves about love. Along the way, an even bigger question emerges: What are we really searching for? Is it permanence...or presence? Together we explore why chemistry isn't the same as emotional capacity, why endings aren't always failures, and how our desire to matter shapes the way we love, choose partners, and imagine our future. Thoughtful, funny, and unexpectedly moving, this conversation reminds us that perhaps a life well lived isn't measured by how long something lasts, but by how fully we show up while it's here. Follow: @davi87dp on IG, and see bio to purchase audio book and tickets for his tour! -- Stay connected with the Circle This team: @andreabendewald @circlethispodcast @emkratter @goodmessmedia For sponsorship inquiries [email protected]