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Making Meaning: Deep Conversations on Life, Purpose, and The Human Experience

Making Meaning: Deep Conversations on Life, Purpose, and The Human Experience

The Cohere Collective 91 episodes Aug 27, 2026

Making Meaning is a podcast about why we are here, what gives life meaning, and how people can live with purpose. Host Reese Brown interviews guests every other week about how they have chosen to live meaningful lives. Through these conversations, the show invites listeners to reflect on how they create meaning in their own lives. It is a thoughtful, interview-based series focused on life, purpose, and the human experience.

Episodes

Finding the Lesson in Every Trigger: You Owe it to Yourself to Heal with Tracy Smaldino
Finding the Lesson in Every Trigger: You Owe it to Yourself to Heal with Tracy Smaldino Aug 27, 2026 1:41:28 Trauma is something we all experience and are called to integrate and grow through, and no one’s journey exemplifies this strength of the human spirit more than Tracy Smaldino.****CW: SA, Physical Trauma, Car AccidentsA near-death auto accident at 12, group sexual assault at 15, and a lifetime of repression and suppression led Tracy to a moment where she realized it was time to start living life o
The Intersection of Grief and Growth: Holding Pain to Create Healing with Angela Clement and Kevin Hughes
The Intersection of Grief and Growth: Holding Pain to Create Healing with Angela Clement and Kevin Hughes Aug 11, 2026 2:03:56 It’s difficult to be told, or to tell ourselves, “everything happens for a reason.” Not only can it undermine and invalidate our feelings, it can also unhealthily minimize extremely tragic events and experiences.Conversely, grief is often looked at as a set back in our lives, but what are the ways that grief and other hardships actually support our personal growth and spiritual evolution?There has
From Half Half Cakes to Whole Lives: Redefining Success and Presence with Jim Sabellico
From Half Half Cakes to Whole Lives: Redefining Success and Presence with Jim Sabellico Jul 29, 2026 1:43:09 On his son’s 6th birthday, Jim came home late from work to find half of a birthday cake, presents already opened, and the realization that everything he had been taught and believed about success led him to act in contradiction to who he wanted to be.Throughout his life, Jim worked tirelessly to provide for his family, and though he provided financially, he realized he wasn’t providing the most im
The Sacred Art of Hunting: A Journey of the Land and the Self with Christie Green
The Sacred Art of Hunting: A Journey of the Land and the Self with Christie Green Jul 14, 2026 1:45:39 Christie Green is the author of Moonlight Elk: One Woman’s Hunt for Food and Freedom published by The University of New Mexico Press (UNMP) in 2024.Christie is a land and water steward, landscape architect, local food activist, educator and hunter which attracts passionate audiences in these fields. She represents a fundamental missing bridge between polarized audiences and cultural extremes.Durin
How to Choose Yourself and Create Lifelong Evolution and Balance with Hakeem Bourne Mcfarlane
How to Choose Yourself and Create Lifelong Evolution and Balance with Hakeem Bourne Mcfarlane Jun 30, 2026 1:41:21 We’ve all heard, “put your own oxygen mask on first,” and yet, we still all struggle to do so, and to make space for others to do so too. Choosing yourself sounds self-centered. So why does it allow us to step into service and reverence with so much more presence?Hakeem Bourne Mcfarlane is a speaker, coach, and storyteller focused on harnessing his story of resilience, honesty, and accountability
The Power of Musicality in Connection, Transformation, and Meaning with Tigrilla Gardenia
The Power of Musicality in Connection, Transformation, and Meaning with Tigrilla Gardenia May 19, 2026 2:05:21 Community has been a pressing need in the zeitgeist. But beyond the desire for human connection, there is a vast world of other-than-humans ready to connect and waiting for us to come home.Tigrilla Gardenia, B.M. M.S., Nature-Inspired Mentor, Certified Life Coach (ICF PCC), and World Ambassador for Plant Advocacy, empowers creative multipotentialites and nature-inspired professionals to confidentl
Stop Choosing Between Purpose and Security: Pursuing Purpose and Cultivating Vocation
Stop Choosing Between Purpose and Security: Pursuing Purpose and Cultivating Vocation May 5, 2026 1:34:50 Purpose and practicality rarely seem to work together in today’s world. But what if we could build our lives to support necessity, a baseline feeling of safety and security, and fulfill our deepest needs of fulfillment? It’s these questions of Purpose, passion, and Vocation that we dig into in today’s episode, and continually ask: how can I live more Coherently? A huge thank you to Florian Kemmeri
Purpose is a Privilege: Creating Financial Freedom to Make Meaning
Purpose is a Privilege: Creating Financial Freedom to Make Meaning Apr 14, 2026 1:26:49 In a world where meaning is a privilege, how do you create the life of your dreams from a place of safety, security, and empowerment? Pursuing Purpose is a privilege, one that every human being deserves access to, but feels like a rarer and rarer possibility.In our current economic and socio-political world where systemic factors prevent so many from building a life of Purpose, where do we go from
Unlock Your Soul’s Mission: Building Aligned Movements with Cailen Ascher
Unlock Your Soul’s Mission: Building Aligned Movements with Cailen Ascher Mar 31, 2026 1:36:05 The time for your vision is now.So many of us feel the intuitive sense of Purpose seeded deep within us, but what does it look like to actually craft a life in alignment with our soul’s fulfillment? Cailen Ascher’s work is founded on the belief that soul-led women don’t just live their missions – they create movements. And the world needs you and your Purpose.Check Out Cailen Ascher’s Work:Free Tr
Release The Overwhelm of People Pleasing with Radical Self Acceptance with Christina Slaback
Release The Overwhelm of People Pleasing with Radical Self Acceptance with Christina Slaback Mar 17, 2026 1:49:31 It's time to get unstuck!Christina Slaback is a life and business coach who helps people understand why they’re stuck, and what staying there is quietly costing them. With a background in psychology and business and over 15 years of leadership experience, she blends compassion with honest perspective to help clients outgrow patterns that once kept them safe but no longer fit. Her work is about cla
You Were Never Meant to be Separate from Nature with Julie Brams
You Were Never Meant to be Separate from Nature with Julie Brams Mar 3, 2026 1:41:06 Julie Brams IS your mother’s psychotherapist: Mother Gaia. An ANFT certified Forest Therapy Guide, meditation practitioner and teacher, and author of The Nature Embedded Mind, Brams works to help us all re-member our connection with nature and believes that through this sacred relationship, we can begin and deepen a restorative approach to environmental sustainability and social change.In our conv
Chiropractic Care is Deeper Than You Think: Healing Body, Mind, & Spirit with Dr. Trey McMahon
Chiropractic Care is Deeper Than You Think: Healing Body, Mind, & Spirit with Dr. Trey McMahon Feb 17, 2026 1:31:00 Join host Reese Brown as she sits down with Dr. Trey McMahon to discuss the intersection of physical health, mental health, and how the nervous system is the key to unlocking your body’s spectrum of wellbeing.A huge thank you to Dr. Trey McMahon for his time, energy, and expertise during this episode!Follow Dr. Trey McMahon: https://www.instagram.com/chirotrey/Work with Dr. Trey McMahon: https://g

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