The Carlos Whittaker Podcast

Ashley Lemieux is a literal miracle. I’ve known people who have said they have “lost everything”, and listening to their stories you would know why they would say that… But after listening to Ashley you realize that she in fact has lost absolutely everything… And is still standing. Not only standing but running. In today’s episode Ashley shares her story of losing not one, not two, but all three of her children in different ways and how she is finding the strength and purpose to not only survive but thrive. This is human hope wrapped up in one episode. Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Join The Village over at www.aimfree.org/carlos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 months ago someone DMd me an account of a beautiful family who was going through hell. Shanell of @TwoLightsAcademy had the first seizure of her life in March of 2021 and her condition had rapidly deteriorated to where she was having up to 100 seizures a day… She was trying to raise $25k for a seizure alert dog and after a month of fundraising was stuck at $9k. Enter… InstaFamilia… I asked and in a little under an hour we had raised the remaining $15k for her dog and it kept going to $50k. 😭🖤 My Instagram community fell in love with Shanell and keeping up with her military husband and beautiful little “sprout” (her son) on her Instagram. Through raw and emotional posts she updated us on her journey until on August 7th, she stopped posting completely. I’ll be honest that I was really worried. She had recently updated us on a seizure that had almost killed her… After a week of BLOWING UP HER PHONE she finally texted me back 😂 and I’ve been keeping tabs on her the last month but today, she wants to update everyone. It’s not a medically wonderful update… But you would never know it listening to Shanell. If you have ever been in the pit of hell and you have been looking for how to find Hope… Let today’s convo with Shanell give you exactly what you need… We will continue to pray everyday for her healing but in the meantime be in awe of her strength… Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You guys did it again. I asked “What’s the best thing that has happened to you this year?” AND YOU DELIVERED. So if you are in need of some hope, the Human Hope Fam has you covered… From overcoming covid to beating self harm… From road trips with dogs to sight being restored… You guys seriously are the best. I love you so. If you feel led please give some hope to AIM as they fight to end child sex trafficking by heading to www.aimfree.org/carlos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Jan 6th, 2021 I got a text from a friend of mine… “I see now.” Three words from a super close friend who lives on the opposite side of the aisle as I do. Three words that finally broke me and I wept. A white, conservative, middle-aged, Trump-voting man whom I love dearly. We have had many deep talks the last 4 years. Me explaining the depths of my concern. Him listening and explaining his. The goal wasn’t to turn him from his conservative roots. The goal wasn’t to make him lean left. It was simply to be seen. And he saw me. That doesn’t mean he turned his back on his values... It simply meant he faced me and protected mine. In today’s episode, I talk to one of my best friends Rob Sentell. And we talk about how to have rich and deep relationships with people whom you may massively disagree with on politics and policy. Spoiler alert… It’s not only possible… It’s necessary… Thanks to our sponsors. Get 10% off your first month of therapy when you join Better Help at www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Join the CHIME family at www.chime.com/humanhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So a few days ago I did a Q&A where I talked about how our kids have been doing all the laundry in the house since they were in elementary school. Insert 4324325543 DMs as to how we pulled that off. Yes it’s true. Heather and I have not done any laundry nor have we even made our own bed since the kids were old enough to wash a dish. We go over homeschooling, the sex talk, chores, allowance, technology, dating, roles, struggles, what we did wrong, and so much more. Our way of raising kids IS NOT the best way nor the only way. But we’ve found the best way for our kids. So take what we say with a grain of salt… But also know that we’ve known no greater honor than raising these kids. Hope this helps you guys. Thanks to our partner AIM for sponsoring the episode. Please join ME and their movement of rescuing children from sex trafficking over at www.aimfree.org/carlos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m still blown away at the opportunity I had to interview Karim. Karim was a translator for the United States Marines in Afghanistan and was granted permission to move to America but he had to leave his entire family behind. As Kabul has fallen to the Taliban Karim is now video chatting with his wife and children daily as they try and make their way to the airport to attempt to flee the country. His parents and siblings are still outside the airport walls trying to get in. Karim tells us what’s really happening. Thank you to World Relief for giving us access to Karim... You can donate to their incredible org here https://www.worldrelief.org/ We also dive into 10 tools we can use when the news is overwhelmingly bad that will keep our mental health… well… healthy. Thanks to our sponsor www.betterhelp.com/humanhope Click that to get 10% of your first month of online therapy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guys. I CAN’T WITH THIS CONVO. Mary Heffernan shares her story of how she and her attorney husband Brian risked everything and sold it all in the suburbs to raise their 4 little girls on a cattle ranch in Northern California. THEY HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DO EVERYTHING. And now they are a successful company growing every day. It wasn’t overnight. It was a lot of hard work. But today's conversation will make the most pessimistic 1/2 dreamer out there come alive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday I spent 8 hours inside a maximum-security prison here in Tennessee and even got to visit an inmate on death row. One of the inmates told me that the person they hurt had forgiven them. And now they are freer inside than they ever were outside. It got me thinking DEEP about forgiveness. Today I dive deep into the 3 types of forgiveness that finally gave me freedom. I unpack them. My wife’s forgiveness of me for how I wounded her… My forgiveness of others for their wounding me… And my forgiveness of self for hating me… (That last one is a doozy so hang on…) I think that many of you may just find the freedom you have been looking for... So join me with learning to love the F word… Forgive… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

November of 2019 we rushed our 17-year-old daughter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center as she was experiencing massive chest pain. The next 21 days in the hospital would change all of our lives and bring out a strength we didn’t know existed. Sohaila’s story is going to make you feel like you can bust down any wall that is in front of you. Also your stories of the most impactful gift you ever received. Make sure you have some Kleenex nearby. And thank you to our sponsor Better Help. www.betterhelp.com/humanhope for 10% off your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I stopped to have some Chick-fil-A in concourse A of the Atlanta airport and noticed nobody was paying attention to this piano player, so I thought I would sit down and enjoy his music. After listening for a few minutes I invited him over for a chat. I learned that Tonee has kidney disease and is on dialysis 9 hours every night but then comes to the airport to play piano 4 hours a day… I saw his empty tip jar and asked my InstaFamilia to cash app and Venmo a tip for him. 30 minutes later, and after a 20-minute conversation getting to know him, we tipped Tonee $10,000… which has since grown to $55,000 in 12 hours. In today's podcast, I sit down with Tonee and his wife Mickey to surprise them with the news that their $10,000 tip has morphed into $55,000 and their reaction is everything. Tonee shares his life journey on today's episode and it is nothing short of heroic. There is so much to learn from his life. Oh. His wife Mickey TAKES OVER the interview in what is sure to be one of my favorite podcast moments ever... This is what human hope is all about… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices