Tell Me What It's Like

When JoAnne Chitwood graduated from nursing school, she wasn't sure what she actually wanted to do—until a hospice volunteer at the bedside of her patient told her, "JoAnne, you are a hospice nurse". She had never even heard the term, but she soon realized she was born for the role.JoAnne has spent the past four decades at the bedside of the dying. In this episode, she shares the profound lessons learned from 40 years of end-of-life care: how to manage terminal anxiety, why death mirrors the birth process, and how "pouring love" into patients can lead to the most unexpected outcomes."Hospice has a level of intuition and sensitivity that I have not found in any other area of nursing or healthcare... it’s fabulous."Hear JoAnne talk about:How JoAnne discovered she was "born" for this hospice workWhy the dying process is a mirror image of birth, as the body begins to "unwind" and nourish itself from within.Managing the many different facets of hospice nursingWhy she doesn’t run from sadnessWhy forty years of witnessing "peaceful" transitions has completely removed her own fear of death.Mentioned in this episode:Please Help Me Die Well Book Series by JoAnne ChitwoodThe Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine AronThe Medicare Hospice Benefit Support This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media

After 30 years of marriage, Victoria Vaughn found herself newly single in her 50s — and back in a dating world that looked nothing like the one she left. She landed many dates, but many of them weren’t what she expected.She calls those dates “frogs.” But through those experiences, she gained a much clearer understanding of what she wanted, what actually matters in a partner, and why finding the right person often starts with being true to yourself."Don’t try to put a square peg into a round hole … don’t settle."Hear Victoria talk about:What it’s like to date again after 30 years off the marketWhy dating later in life comes with more complexity and more clarityThe unexpected realities of finances, baggage, and honesty in datingWhy you might be a “frog” to someone else — and what that meansHow she recognized her “prince” and what made him differentThe lessons she wishes she knew before she started dating againHer husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis and why she supports the Michael J. Fox FoundationMentioned in this episode:Oh the Frogs I’ve Kissed Before I Finally Found My Prince - Victoria’s book on dating againThe Michael J. Fox FoundationSupport This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media

Mitch Wu thought he knew exactly what his creative career would look like. But after years in product design, a difficult job, and the loss of his brother, he realized how far he’d drifted from the kind of work he actually wanted to be doing. Then one afternoon he and his nephew went to the park with a couple of action figures and from the first photograph he knew he'd found what he was meant to do. In this episode, Mitch shares what it’s like to build miniature worlds, develop a creative niche that didn’t really exist, and turn play into a profession."Then I took the photo and I looked at what I got on the camera and it's like, my God, this is, it was like clear as day that that's what I was going to do for my next career."Hear Mitch talk about:His journey from illustration to product design to wedding photography—and how he realized he’d gotten off his creative pathThe moment in a park with his nephew that instantly shifted his career directionWhat toy photography actually is, and why it’s rooted in storytelling and world-buildingHow he built a career in a niche that barely existed at the timeThe difference between being a “commodity” creative and owning a specialized nicheWhy continual learning and experimentation keep his work evolvingMentioned in this episode:Larger Than Life (documentary) – See Mitch at work and get a behind-the-scenes look at his toy photography processNew York Toy Fair – The largest toy industry convention in North America, where Mitch exhibited his work and connected with major brandsDisney+ Marvel documentary series – A series featuring toy creators, including Mitch and his workMitch Wu’s toy photography work – See examples of his work for major toy companies, including Mattel’s Ever After High, one of Mitch’s first major clientsSupport This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media

Toni King was at a Medicare workshop when she realized how easy it is for someone to misunderstand the system—and how difficult it can be to fix those misunderstandings once they happen.She’s spent years helping people navigate Medicare, a process shaped by rules, timelines, and decisions that aren’t always intuitive. She shares what it’s like to guide people through it, how the system works, and why it can be so challenging to understand from the outside."The whole thing is all about rules."Hear Toni talk about:How she got started helping people navigate MedicareWhy the system can be difficult for people to understandThe structure of Medicare and how the different parts fit togetherThe role of private insurance within MedicareWhat people need to think about as they approach enrollmentMentioned in this episode:Learn more about Toni KingMedicareSocial SecurityMedicare Advantage (Part C)Prescription Drug Plans (Part D)Support This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media

Cities don’t just develop over time — they’re shaped by decisions about transportation, where we build, and what gets prioritized.Urban planner Jahnavi Kirtane explains how those decisions come together, why so many places in the U.S. are built around cars, and how walkability affects independence, access, and everyday life in ways most people don’t realize."Walking is really good for you, both your physical health and your social health and emotional health."Hear Jahnavi talk about:The difference between growing up in a car-dependent suburb and navigating New York CityWhat “walkability” actually means and how it shows up in daily lifeWhy many U.S. communities are designed around carsThe kinds of decisions that shape how cities functionHow design influences independence, access, and connectionMentioned in this episode:Walkable City by Jeff SpeckSpeck Dempsey, the planning and design firm where Jahnavi worksJeff Speck's TED talk, The Walkable CitySupport This Show:Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast appLeave a rating & review — it helps others find the showShare the episode and tag @RaineMediaCo on social media