Episodes

The Next Steps Forward guest this week is Master Sergeant Crystal C. Romero, who retired after serving sixteen-and-a-half years in the U.S. Army National Guard. She served full-time, providing active-duty operational support, primarily in her home state of New Mexico. Today, she is an activist for veterans’ causes and has had a significant role in passing legislation related to military sexual assault and veterans’ mental health. Crystal will discuss these topics, as well as her experience with ...

Do you feel like your life is insignificant? Do you ever wonder if your life even matters? Next Steps Forward guest Dr. Cliff Robertson Jr wants you to know that your life matters and addresses these questions and more in his book “Your Life Matters: The Toolkit to Change Your World.” Through his work with veterans as the executive director of The Warrior’s Refuge in West Columbia, Texas, he is no stranger to members of the population expressing feelings of worthlessness as a result of mental he...

Program host Chris Meek sits down for a conversation on brain health with Dr. Geoff Ling and Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman on this installment of Next Steps Forward. Dr. Chapman founded the Center for Brain Health, a research institute at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she also serves as the Dee Wyly Distinguished Professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Dr. Ling is a professor of neurology, neurosurgery and anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins Universi...

Jeff Gum is a U.S. Navy SEAL veteran, entrepreneur and founder of Sunga Life, a swimwear and athleisure brand focused on achieving bottom line goals of purpose and profitability, where 10% of profits go to veteran focused charities - specifically those that benefit wounded and amputee Special Operations Forces. He joins program host Chris Meek to speak to the essence of his brand and how he first fell in love with swimwear during his many travels and adventures in Brazil which ultimately inspire...

David Loud occupies a unique place in Broadway history. This week, he sits down with program host Chris Meek to discuss his distinguished body of work as a music director and vocal arranger and the three roles that he has originated as an actor. David will walk the audience through his Broadway career, which includes serving as music director for The Visit, The Scottsboro Boys, Sondheim on Sonheim, Curtains, Ragtime, A Class Act, Steel Pier and revivals of Porgy and Bess, She Loves Me, Company a...

Ruth Rathblott is a TEDx speaker, Inspirational DEI speaker and an award-winning former CEO committed to creating inclusion for all. Ruth has spent her entire career focused on providing opportunities for those who face obstacles. In this installment of Next Steps Forward, she speaks with Chris Meek about being born with a limb difference and how her experiences have propelled her to speak on issues of inclusion and diversity, the freedom of accepting your differences, and rising above life’s ch...

Katie Hafner is a journalist, author and current host of not one but two podcasts, Lost Women of Science and Our Mothers Ourselves. She speaks with program host Chris Meek about the focus of both of her podcasts. The first, Lost Women of Science, is a new narrative podcast that illuminates the lives of remarkable female scientists whose stories have been lost to history and have often been overshadowed by men. The show has focused on fascinating female scientists such as Dr. Dorothy Andersen, wh...

Every young person needs a trusted adult who they can turn to, both at home and at school. Brooklyn Raney explores this topic in-depth in her book “One Trusted Adult: How to Build Strong Connections & Healthy Boundaries with Young People” and now she is joining Chris Meek on Next Steps Forward to speak on the same topic. As Raney will explain to the audience, being a trustworthy adult does not have to be onerous. It’s about parents encouraging young children to develop connections with adults in...

How does society address wrongs inflicted in the past? Should we even dwell on the past when we don’t have the power to change it? This week on Next Steps Forward, Chris Meek welcomes Mark Milke - a public policy analyst, keynote speaker, author and columnist based in Calgary, Canada - to discuss these questions and more. Mark highlights the current pervasiveness of victimhood and its negative effect on societies, while going into detail about how past societies and individuals have a long histo...

Laura DeCook is a wellbeing specialist at a major technology company where she is passionate both inside and outside of the company about supporting the mental health of employees who are working in high-pressure corporate environments. In this installment of Next Steps Forward, Laura speaks with program host Chris Meek about how her own experience of not receiving the mental health support she needed while working at a previous major company inspired her to create a position at her current plac...

Kayla Scheanon is a believer in going for your dreams, leaning into fears and owning your self evolutions. On this episode of Next Steps Forward, she speaks to her personal philosophy and how something as simple as offering encouragement to others can lead to empowerment. A licensed professional counselor and creator of the mental health clothing line Self Evolver, Kayla preaches the power of connection, counseling and compassion and cites examples of how these components have played vital roles...

This week on “Next Steps Forward,” Chris Meek welcomes Mary Daly, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Beth Shaw, the founder of the largest yoga school in the world YogaFit. At the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, President Daly has the important job of setting American monetary policy that promotes a healthy and stable economy. She will talk about the importance of increasing diversity and inclusion in the Federal Reserve System and ...

“When fear outweighs truth then we begin to live a life of justification.” Does this sound like your current situation or the situation of someone close to you? John Register helps individuals overcome their fears in his motivational and inspirational speeches by first identifying the three areas of fear - ourselves, other people and society - and then helping others commit to overcoming their fears by actually putting in the work. A two-time Paralympian, Paralympic Games silver medalist and Per...

Meriel Schindler is the author of The Lost Cafe Schindler: One Family, Two Wars, and the Search for Truth which follows the journey of her extraordinary family prior to and during WWII, including the Jewish doctor who treated Adolf Hitler’s mother when she was dying of breast cancer, Franz Kafka, Oskar Schindler and Alma Schindler, the wife of Gustav Mahler. On this episode of Next Steps Forward, Meriel speaks with Chris Meek about the Cafe Schindler which was at the time a celebrated social clu...

Karin Weiri is a licensed marriage and family therapist and sought after speaker on trauma, anxiety and depression, marriage enhancement, divorce and healthy lifestyle management. In this installment of Next Steps Forward, Karin will focus specifically on trauma and the powerful treatment method of EMDR that targets cognitions, emotions, and the physical body to help release the body's memory of it on a cellular, neurological, and physical level. Karin will not only provide an overview of the pr...

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa's Second Congressional District, was elected to her first term in 2020 by one of the closest margins in United States history: six votes out of 394,625 cast. The Congresswoman - who is also a 24-year Army veteran, ophthalmologist and the former Iowa Department of Public Health director - joins program host Chris Meek on Next Steps Forward to speak about her historic win and how she has already used her elected position to create positiv...

In his new book Belonging and Betrayal: How Jews Made the Art World Modern, professor of history at Boston University and founding director of its Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College, Charles Dellheim, provides a new look into how, what were at the time, considered Jewish outsiders came into possession of artful masterpieces in the late 19th century/early 20th century and the fate of their art after being stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Charles recounts fascinating tales...

Drs. Ray Dorsey and Michael Okun, both leading experts in the United States on parkinson's disease, have a prescription for action on how to prevent the disease in the first place and offer revolutionary treatment for those suffering. This week, they are speaking with Next Steps Forward host Chris Meek about their book “Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action” and their PACT initiative. They will break down step-by-step what PACT is composed of: P - Prevent the disease, A - Advocat...

Monique Daigneault, president and CEO of MD Consulting speaks with Chris Meek about her role as an executive coach with over three decades of experience developing corporate executives into successful leaders ready to change company cultures. Monique's personal story exemplifies what it means to be empowered: having dropped out of high school, she married at sixteen, got a divorce, was a single mom to her two children, began her healing journey through exercise and bodybuilding, got her GED alon...

This week’s Next Steps Forward guest is Michelle Elman, a five-board accredited life coach who is best known for her campaign Scarred Not Scared. Named one of The Sun’s 50 most inspirational women in the United Kingdom and a prolific speaker whose TedX talk has been viewed more than 65,000 times, Michelle speaks with program host Chris Meek about her new book “The Joy of Being Selfish: Why You Need Boundaries and How to Set Them,” the importance of creating boundaries in order to teach others ho...

Erik DaRosa and Marc Fernandes, hosts of the From Survivor to Thriver podcast, aim to shatter the stigma long associated with speaking out and speaking up about mental health issues without desensitization. In their efforts to disrupt discussions surrounding mental health and wellness, Erik and Marc stop by Next Steps Forward to speak with program host Chris Meek about normalizing those discussions, especially among men, and helping drive home the point that it is okay for people to have those s...

Eighteen year old Rasha Alqahanti sits down with Next Forward Host Chris Meek to speak about the video game software she is developing within the setting of the ever popular Minecraft game which she designed to help her peers learn about their anxiety and access mental health. Rasha - third place recipient of the 2021 Regeneron International Science and Engineering behavioral science award, Mawhiba alumni member, and public speaker - will provide an inside look into how the video game specifical...

David Woods Bartley has seen his fair share of successes and setbacks, from directing a nationally recognized nonprofit to battling a life-threatening mental illness. Now he’s speaking with Chris Meek about what he describes as the brutal knock-down, drag-out fight he experienced with clinical depression, which led him to attempt suicide and now devote his life to opening the doors to the possibility of good mental health and wellness to everyone. As an international mental health educator, trai...

Michael Gier - actor, producer, and director - is attracted to projects that change people’s lives. This week on Next Steps Forward, Michael joins Chris Meek to speak about the life-changing documentaries he directed and produced, award-winning “Wounded Heroes” and the follow-up documentary “Healing the Heroes of 9/11.” “Wounded Heroes” focuses heavily on alternative treatments for those veterans, police officers and first responders living with post-traumatic stress (PTS), including RTM Therapy...