Growing Pains w/ Ani

In the journey of pursuing your dreams, where is the line of living to work or working to live? John joins us to talk about what a work life balance looks like.

The holidays can be stressful, and though they would never admit it, family can be the most stressful part. Kayla Davis joins us once again to talk about learning to navigate the toughest of family dynamics

 In celebration of Growing Pains‘s one year anniversary, Jordan Teegardin our guest from the very first episode joins us again to reflect over the past year and what growth has looked like in our lives.

As kids we are often encouraged to play sports, but what happens when sports become your life and there’s the day that the sport ends? The search for identity after having an identity given to such an early age is a hard one and Tyler comes on the podcast to talk about her own experience finding identity after the identity of being a sports player was stripped away

With burnout comes bitterness, John and Ani sit down and have a very real conversation about the reality of burnout in everyday lives, and how they individually deal with burnout in their own lives.

As kids we almost got kidnapped and though we didn’t really realize it then, that event sparked a harsh reality of the world, Makenzie joins us to talk about learning to not let fear overcome us. And hey we as humans are drawn to true crime.

Bri is a photographer based out of northern California, she joins us on the podcast to talk about her journey in finding out that photography was her passion and how she has not only grown her business but how she has grown as a person through capturing the moments of others. you can find her at @bribischof go check her out!

https://www.instagram.com/bribischof/
https://bio.site/bribischofphotography

Actually Starting a Podcast 

This weeks episode is all about Ani’s individual journey with Christianity in finding faith. Through the life and death of a friend she saw the importance of having God in her own life, this episode is an expression of her own experience, and journey of becoming a Christian. Through the pain of losing a friend she was encouraged to continue his strength and was inspired by his own walk of faith to start her own journey with Christianity. If you have any questions there will be resources posted to the Instagram @growingpainswithani

 Ryan joins us on the podcast to talk about the year he has dedicated to creating videos, creating is one of his passions and he decided that he was going to take a year and make two videos each week in order to help fuel this thing he loves to do, we discuss what it’s like when you actually give time and effort into the things you enjoy doing, in the hurdles that it brings. You can watch all of Ryan’s YouTube videos on his channel: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC0rYdCgifdgkmOmAQlxaCzw

You can also listen and watch John and Ryan on their video podcast “What the Podcast” available anywhere or you get your podcasts

On this episode we are joined by the founders of plant-based meals, they share their inspirational story of how they started their business, and their heart behind spreading awareness on the power of plant based eating. Starting a business from scratch is not easy and there are plenty of growing pains so if they have experience.

https://www.plantbasedmealsnow.com/

We welcome Lauren back on the podcast, in this episode Lauren and Ani share their own experiences with eating disorders. They share stories and explain how they have grown from struggling with eating disorders.
https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/eating-disorder-statistics/

https://anad.org/get-informed/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/

Having been adopted from Russia as an infant, Sophia has heard all of the questions and knows all the stereotypes. She joins Ani on the podcast to share her experience and how she has forged her own identity. “You are more than the things that have happened to you” -Sophia Brown

Video link: ‘What Adopted Children Think you should know’ https://youtu.be/QuRPKITqmxE

We grow up knowing that one day we will say goodbye to grandparents and parents, but when you have to bury a friend at 21 thats different, a different pain and a different growth, we welcome Brynli back on to share her perspective of going through grief alongside friends

At times in life it feels as if the world is holding us back, we have somewhere to be and now because of no fault of our own we are running late, almost as if we are stuck in traffic.

We check back in with John and Jordan with another relationship tracker, this time talk about the role money has in a marriage. The two share their own experience and perspectives as an engaged couple trying to navigate this next stage of their lives.

Ani welcomes the new member of the team, Lauren, to the podcast. Thanks to a gap year before her start of college, Lauren has joined the Growing Pains team as a social media intern. The two talk about their journeys with gap years, the ups and downs that they have, and ultimately how to grow in a time of uncertainty.

From living in a house full of interns to moving back to small towns, Aaron and Ani talk about how their journeys to find community and how community has helped them through the different pains in life.

How can you grow from throwing caution to the wind and going on that adventure to that far off place, do you have to put your life on hold? Listen as Ani and her guest Annika Ware talk about their different experiences of traveling and their advice to others who wish to travel too

It's a hard time to be working in politics. Ani and her guest Ryan discuss what it is about politics that keeps them coming back. Join them as they tell their personal stories and unforgettable moments.

As we start this new year with optimism and excitement for what's to come for Growing Pains, we also wanted to spend some time reflecting on how Growing pains came to be and the ins and outs of starting a podcast.

Don’t you just want to run away to a tropical island? Many people dream about moving to Hawaii, but Jon Fox was able to make that a reality. He sits with us and talks about friendship and the journey he had to move to Hawaii.

Kaj joins us to explain her own experience as being a young mixed race woman in society. Expressing the struggle to find identity when your race is not easily identifiable. A conversation that is raw and real and relevant. 

A lot of growth can come on your own journey, but when you decide to grow alongside someone you open up yourself to grow in ways you never could imagine before. Join us as we talk with John and Jordan about their journey as a couple and how they’ve grown for the better together.

We talk about Julia’s battle with figuring out how not to be the girl whos brother died, and what will life look like on the search for identity

It seems that we are constantly striving for better, but often we are not striving to be better but hold a better title. This episode we talk about what it looks like to fight the urges to be engulfed in the role you've been given and the title that you hold. How to shead the habit of finding worth in your title.

This episode looks a little different, I wanted to explain a name that keeps coming up and will continue to come up, Andrew. Andrew was my best friend and he passed away after battling bone cancer in 2019. In this recording I explain our friendship and how I grew to be a better person from knowing him. 

If you want to hear Andrew speak in detail about his journey with bone cancer take a listen to the podcast ‘My Backstory with Josh Boyer’ Episode 58 titled Andrew Tompkins

A deep dive on learning to live with and grow from anxiety. Joely Brown joins us to share her journey with anxiety. Learning to live with anxiety is not an easy feat, but it is important to know that we are not in it alone. Below is a number that you can call if you feel that you need help in your journey. 

SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.

What happens when two teen girls take a two week road trip together? Brynli Mcbride joins us to discuss friendship, adventure, and growth. Two weeks, two friends, one trip, are we better people from it?

Grief is a funny thing, literally. Jordan joins us in a conversation about the growth that can be found in grief. She shares her story of how grief and vulnerability has affected her life.

Growing Pains w/ Ani Trailer