About The Life Shift:

Website: www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com

<aside> <img src="notion://custom_emoji/9bc33228-f50d-467c-989e-99dd9f8329ad/1d44d238-d59b-8082-94be-007ad6c2fd45" alt="notion://custom_emoji/9bc33228-f50d-467c-989e-99dd9f8329ad/1d44d238-d59b-8082-94be-007ad6c2fd45" width="40px" /> Hello! Welcome to your personalized Life Shift Podcast page!

Thank you for being a part of this most fulfilling journey of The Life Shift podcast. I have no doubt that your story will resonate with many.

Purpose

This page serves as a central hub for all the branding materials and information related to your episode.

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Social Media

<aside> 📷 Instagram: @thelifeshiftpodcast

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelifeshiftpodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelifeshiftpodcast

X: https://x.com/thelifeshiftpod

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thelifeshiftpodcast/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgilhooly/

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Newsletter

https://embeds.beehiiv.com/888203c7-316a-4211-a97f-5e800a20f064

🎵 Spotify Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/13M4aCWJ2RokI96Abzj3J0?si=e09e61f84be040ac

Leave a Review

I would be incredibly grateful if you could take a moment to share your thoughts about our conversation on Apple Podcasts. Your review helps others find The Life Shift and continues to build our amazing community of listeners. Thank you for being a part of this journey!

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Review The Life Shift on Apple Podcasts

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🎧 Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sally-mcquillen-on-carrying-her-sons-light-forward/id1613618660?i=1000730541132

🎧 Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/15sc9BwDTFgumt4Y7UqsUv?si=594661a9d3d94a1e

🌐 Website:

www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s4e207

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🎙️ Audio File

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dgph91npp1u6iblg52fl1/SallyM_FinalFullEdit.mp3?rlkey=vndckmmxljsnbfxrms32futqb&dl=0

Please credit Matt Gilhooly and The Life Shift if the audio is used in any other assets.

🖼️ Digital Assets (Images + Videos)

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Download All Episode Assets

All episode images and videos can be found in this folder.

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🗯️ Potential Captions

Caption 1

When I lost my son Christopher at 21, my world split in two. Nothing prepares you for that kind of grief, and yet life keeps asking you to keep moving. In this conversation, I shared how sobriety, therapy, and the choice to stay open helped me survive. It was not easy and it never will be. But I've learned that grief and gratitude can live side by side. Sharing Christopher's light is one way I continue to honor him.

Listen at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s4e207

Caption 2

Getting sober at 25 changed my life in ways I never expected. At the time it was simply survival, but looking back, it gave me the tools to face later heartbreak. When Christopher died, I leaned on those lessons to keep going. Choosing the harder road prepared me to face the unthinkable. It is never about fixing grief but about finding a way to carry it. This episode was a chance to share how those choices shaped who I am today.

Listen at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s4e207

Caption 3

I will be grieving my son for the rest of my life, but I also believe I am a better version of myself because of him. Grief has taught me that strength is not found in closing off but in letting myself feel. I used to think vulnerability was weakness. Now I see it as one of the bravest choices we can make. In this conversation, I spoke about what it looks like to live with love and loss intertwined. My hope is that others will feel less alone in their own grief.

Listen at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s4e207

Caption 4

Parenting through grief is one of the hardest things I have ever faced. I wanted to protect my surviving children from my pain, but I also had to accept my limits. Putting on my own oxygen mask became essential. It was not about being perfect but about being honest. Grief reshaped the way I showed up as a mother, partner, and human being. In this episode, I share how I learned to carry love forward even while broken open.

Listen at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s4e207

Caption 5

Someone once told me, keep your heart wide open even when you want to protect it. That has become a guiding truth in my life after losing Christopher. It would be easier to shut down, but love is the only thing that lasts. I shared in this conversation how I try to live with both grief and joy. They are not opposites but companions. My son's light continues to shape how I show up in the world today.

Listen at www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com/s4e207

Quotes

• “When my son Christopher died over nine years ago now, I felt very much like my heart had been hit by lightning. I was completely eviscerated. There is something about an experience where we are broken open in that way that is both excruciating and beautiful at the same time.”
• “Getting sober at 25 was a different kind of hard, but it gave me the gifts and tools I would later need to survive losing Christopher. I don’t think I would have had the capacity to make deliberate choices in grief without that earlier decision. Both moments demanded faith, loss, and starting over.”
• “I don’t know if there is a grieving parent who doesn’t at some point wonder if they want to live themselves. What helped me survive was being deliberate in my decision making — to not fall into self-pity, to move toward gratitude, to remind myself that I had choices even in devastation.”
• “It took me seven years to feel like myself again, though I know I will be grieving Christopher for the rest of my life. In many ways I am a different and better version of myself. Grief has reshaped me into someone who understands that strength can look like letting grief have its way with me.”
• “There will be more light that enters into your life than you can fathom. Keep your heart wide open, even when you want to protect it. Love is the only thing that matters, and there are still so many opportunities to share Christopher with the world.”