Hope Comes to Visit
Hope Comes to Visit is a soulful podcast that holds space for real stories, honest conversations, and the kind of moments that remind us we’re never alone.
Hosted by author, speaker, and former TV journalist-turned-storyteller Danielle Elliott Smith, the show explores the full spectrum of the human experience — from the tender to the triumphant. Through powerful interviews and reflective storytelling, each episode offers light, connection, and presence for anyone navigating the in-between.
Whether you’re grieving, growing, beginning again, or simply craving something real, Hope Comes to Visit will meet you right where you are — with warmth, grace, and the quiet belief that even in the dark, transformation can take root.
New episodes drop every Monday, so you can begin your week with a little light, reflection, and hope.
Episodes
41 episodes
A Life Bigger Than Grief: Melissa Hull on Grace, Forgiveness and Choosing Joy
Gentle note: we talk honestly about grief and child loss—please listen with care and kindness for yourself.What does healing look like when the unthinkable happens? In this episode, I’m sitting with Melissa Hu...
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Season 1
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Episode 40
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44:50
Start Anyway: K.T. Jay on Grief, Courage, Indie Publishing, and Imagination
Gentle heads-up: mentions of grief and loss.If you’re new—welcome, I am so grateful you are here. If you’re back again for hope to visit—welcome home. In this episode, I'm delighted to be chatting with K.T. Jay—t...
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Season 1
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Episode 39
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33:25
Ep 38 Hustle, Heart, Hot Dogs & Hope: Danni Eickenhorst on Feeding a City
I love conversations that make you want to show up for people. This is one of them.Today’s guest is Danni Eickenhorst, the heartbeat behind Hustle Hospitality and some of St. Louis’ most beloved spots:
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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25:59
EP 37 Hope, Hustle & Tiny Tags: Melissa Clayton on Building a Beloved Brand & Hitting Dream Milestones (Like Making Oprah's Favorite Things!)
If you’re new—welcome. If you’re back—welcome home. Today I’m sitting down with my friend Melissa Clayton, founder & CEO of Tiny Tags—the personalized jewelry brand born at a kitchen table and now beloved by moms, worn by Megh...
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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32:25
EP 36 From Panic to Peace: Everyday Practices for Anxious Hearts with Amanda Willson
If you’re new here—welcome. If you’re back—welcome home. Today I’m sitting with my dear friend of 12+ years, Amanda Willson, a life coach and anxiety expert who has walked this road and now teaches the rest of us how to find steadier gro...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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25:53
The Night Laughter Saved My Life: Ron Blake on PTSD, Community, & 522 Boards of Hope
A gentle heads-up: In this conversation, we name some hard things — including suicide and sexual assault. If that’s tender for you today, please listen with care, skip ahead,...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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41:53
When “Try Again” Isn’t Enough: Sam Bonizzi on Missed Miscarriages, IVF & Finding Community
Hope isn’t the absence of fear—it’s the light that keeps you moving when fear won’t leave. In this tender, no-fluff conversation, I sit with Sam Bonizzi, co-author of The Losses We Keep, as she shares how two misse...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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34:22
From Silent Suffering to Solid Support: Lucy Rose on Healing Chronic Loneliness
Some seasons of my life, loneliness wasn’t a passing mood—it was the air I breathed. I didn’t always call it by name, but my body did: tight chest, racing thoughts, that sense of being “with people” and still feeling alone. In this conversation...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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45:37
Seen at Last: Dr. Deb Muth on Women’s Health, Functional Medicine, and Finding Answers
If you’ve ever been told “it’s normal” when you knew it wasn’t—this episode is for you. I’m joined by Dr. Deb Muth—naturopathic doctor, functional medicine expert, and founder of Serenity Health Care Center—to talk about being seen a...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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47:33
Who Gets a Seat at Your Table? Curating Your Life with Clarity, Care, and Courage
Pull up a chair and take a breath—then ask the question most of us avoid: who gets a seat at your table, and why? In this solo episode, I treat your table as a living metaphor for your energy, time, and love—and names what it takes to pr...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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14:58
Back to School: Dr. Gina Barreca on Hope, Grief and How Laughter Gives Us the Mic
Humor doesn’t just make us laugh—it hands us the mic. In this episode, Dr. Gina Barreca—award-winning professor, cultural critic, and bestselling author of Gina School—shows how wit turns grief into agency and outsiderhood into belongi...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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49:19
Planning in Pencil: Candice Suarez’s Life Drafting After Tongue Cancer
Content note: candid discussion of cancer diagnosis, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and recovery.What if hope isn’t “it’ll be fine,” but “I can handle what comes”? That shift changed everything for Candice ...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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33:29
Build-A-Bear, Build-A-City: Maxine Clark on Curiosity, Business & Belonging
What happens when you treat curiosity like a business plan and community like your bottom line? Maxine Clark—founder of Build-A-Bear and the force behind St. Louis’s Delmar Divine—talks about creating brands that hold people, not ...
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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1:02:53
Against All Odds: Fatherhood, Loss, and Hope with Richie Treadway
Content note: pregnancy loss and medical trauma. Entrepreneur and dad Richie Treadway joins me to talk about becoming a parent later in life, the moment everything fell apart—and the choice to keep going.
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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40:55
Bellamy Young on Caregiving, Liver Disease & the Freedom Beyond Shame
Actress Bellamy Young, from the hit TV shows Scandal and Brilliant Minds, joins Danielle to share the story behind her advocacy for liver disease—and the caregiving journey with her dad that began when he was diagnosed with cirrhosis and...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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22:35
The Language of Neurodivergence — Not What Autism “Looks Like”: Parenting, Self-Care & Community with Karen Kossow
“I was doing what everybody told me to do… he can make eye contact and have a conversation—he can’t be autistic.”Today, certified Master Life Coach and writer Karen Kossow gets real about the three-year journey to her son’s ...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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47:03
Story of Strength: Jenny Hoffmann on Birth Trauma, Advocacy, and Transforming Pain into Purpose
What happens when a woman’s pain is dismissed at one of the most vulnerable moments of her life?For Jenny Hoffman, it nearly cost her everything. Just hours after giving birth to her daughter, Jenny hemorrhaged internally while me...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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40:27
A Statement of Intent: Brian Franklin on Grief, Reinvention, and Finding Joy in Small Moments
For Brian Franklin, loss came in waves — the suicide of a childhood friend, a colon cancer scare, the discovery of a benign brain tumor, his wife’s breast cancer diagnosis, and the sudden heart attack of his closest confidant. At times, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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51:36
From Rock Bottom to Renewal: Jamie Felton on Sobriety, Loss, and Hope for Families
The road through addiction and recovery is rarely straight — and for Jamie Felton, it’s been marked by both unimaginable loss and profound resilience.By age 24, Jamie had accumulated three DUIs and found herself walking home from ...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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39:44
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The Gifts Hidden in Life’s Hardest Seasons: Maria De Los Angeles on Caregiving, Cancer, and Midlife Transformation
What if the most difficult chapters of your life were actually preparing you for unexpected gifts?In this moving episode of Hope Comes to Visit, award-winning writer Maria de los Angeles shares how caring for her parents ...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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50:26
A Ray of Light Through the Clouds: Adria Ferrier on Creating Elayne and Honoring Her Mother
Grief doesn’t end with goodbye. For many, it’s followed by a quiet, exhausting weight no one talks about — the paperwork, the phone calls, the endless “to-do’s” that come when your heart has already been broken.When Adria Ferrier ...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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45:44
One Day at a Time: Martha Sharkey on Hope, Loss, and Building “Today is a Good Day” - Episode 19
“Hope has to evolve and change.”These powerful words shaped the extraordinary journey of Martha Sharkey, Founder & CEO of Today is a Good Day — a nonprofit creating a lifeline for families navigating the Neonatal Inte...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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37:59
86,400 Seconds of Hope: Donald Dowridge Jr. on Choosing Purpose Every Day
What would your life look like if you used every single second with intention?This week on Hope Comes to Visit, I’m joined by Donald L. Dowridge Jr., a man who embodies resilience, purpose, and what it truly means to live...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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48:28
Trauma to Triumph: Valerie Rowekamp on Choosing Audacity and Becoming “Hope Personified”
What if the darkest moments of your life were actually preparing you for your greatest transformation?In this week’s episode of Hope Comes to Visit, I sit down with Valerie Rowekamp, whose story is a breathtaking testamen...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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50:22
Boundaries, Broken Places, and Being Mended with Gold - with Aimee Kandrac
What happens when life breaks open in every direction? For Aimee Kandrac, it all came crashing down in a six-week period — empty nesting, a cancer scare, the end of her 23-year marriage, and selling her dream home. But from that breaking point ...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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45:16
