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Real Talk with Tina and Ann Blog

Oct. 15, 2025

Becoming Brave: A Story of Resilience, Safety, and the Strength to Start Over

💫 Becoming Brave: Finding Strength in the Face of Fear Featuring Ana Hebra Flaster, Author of Property of the Revolution A motorcycle in the barrio.Forty-eight hours to leave.A six-year-old girl whose world shrinks to the sound of an engine and th…

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Oct. 14, 2025

What if the Love you Learned wasn't Love at All

What if the love you learned was never love at all  but performance, peacekeeping, and fear dressed up as care? In this week’s episode of Real Talk with Tina and Ann, I sit down with my friend Denise Bard for one of the most honest and h…

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Oct. 1, 2025

Raising Today’s Kids: Strength Through Struggle

I remember watching one of my kids face a problem that I could have easily stepped in and solved. Every part of me wanted to jump in and fix it. I wanted t take away the frustration I saw on their face. But something in me said, “Step back. Le…

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Sept. 24, 2025

Reinvention Isn’t Optional: Finding Purpose When Life Changes the Script

You know, listening to my conversation with Leslie, I couldn’t help but think about how many times in life we all hit that moment when the story we thought we were living suddenly changes. Maybe it’s a marriage that doesn’t last. M…

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Sept. 10, 2025

The Alphabet of Neurodivergence — And Why It’s My Superpowe

  Hi, I’m Ann — podcast host, writer, photographer, and proud mom of five amazing kids (three of whom are also neurodivergent). And here’s something I want to say loud and clear: I have autism. I have ADHD. I am also dyslexic…

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Sept. 3, 2025

Mental Health is Health

🧠 Mental Health Is Health: You’re Not Alone and You’re Not Broken Real Talk with Tina and Ann Let’s get something straight right out of the gate:Mental health is health. Period.It’s not a luxury. It’s not a weakness. …

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Aug. 26, 2025

Grief isn't where Love Ends It Just Finds a New Way to Speak

What happens to love after loss? Does it vanish into memory, or does it find new ways to stay alive in us? That’s the question at the heart of this week’s Real Talk with Tina and Ann. My guest, Tony Stewart, lived this question firsthan…

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Aug. 13, 2025

When Pain and Passion Meet There is Purpose

“When pain and passion meet, you have purpose.”Let that settle for a second. Most of us spend a good portion of our lives trying to avoid pain and chasing passion as if it’s only reserved for the lucky or the chosen. But what if y…

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Aug. 6, 2025

Becoming Your Best Self, No Matter Where you Start

In today's episode, we’re getting real about something that’s not just inspirational, it’s transformational. Let’s talk about the journey from broken beginnings to becoming your best self. Now, maybe you weren’t techn…

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July 30, 2025

Family Secrets and Identity: Reclaiming the Narrative They Tried to Write for You

“When you grow up inside a secret, you learn how to survive in silence. But survival isn’t the same as living.” On this episode of Real Talk with Tina and Ann, I sat down with my dear friend and returning guest Denise Bard to unpa…

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July 23, 2025

Self-Worth vs. Self-Esteem: Why Knowing the Difference Changes Everything

"Self-Worth vs. Self-Esteem: Why Knowing the Difference Changes Everything" Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt… “not enough”? Maybe it was after a rough day when the world made you question your value. Maybe it was afte…

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July 16, 2025

Family Secrets: When the Truth Is the Missing Piece

Some stories, in our very own lives, sit quietly—unspoken, unanswered, unexplored. Recently, I watched the Mariska Hargitay documentary. What stayed with me wasn’t just her courage or her advocacy (though I’ve long admired her for…

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July 9, 2025

Living Neurodivergent: The Beautiful, Baffling, Brainy Ride

Living Neurodivergent: The Beautiful, Baffling, Brainy Ride Ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went in there?Welcome. You may be entitled to compensation… or at least a sticker. Hi, I’m Ann Kagarise (co-host at R…

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July 5, 2025

Family Secrets: When the Truth Changes Everything

I recently watched the Mariska Hargitay documentary, and I don’t say this lightly--it shook me. Not in a loud, dramatic way, but in that quiet, unsettling way when something grabs your soul and whispers, "Something Isn't Right." It touched me…

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July 3, 2025

I'm Broken BUT Beautiful!

There’s a phrase I used to whisper to myself on hard days. Days when the world felt too loud, and my heart felt too cracked to carry on. “I’m broken.” But I never finished the sentence. I stopped short, as if brokennes…

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July 1, 2025

Peeling back the Layers of Pain

This is for every adult still peeling back the layers to understand what really happened behind the family photos. Some of us still carry pieces of our childhood that we were never allowed to say out loud.Some of us were taught that good families d…

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June 29, 2025

Keeping Secrets--a thank you to Mariska Hargitay

I wrote this after I watched 'My mom Jayne' by Mariska Hargitay. I posted it on Real Talk with Tina and Ann...so this is what I wrote. Being raw and real is what we do here. This is Ann from Real Talk with Tina and Ann. I just watched the Mariska Ha…

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Feb. 9, 2025

Understanding the Cries: Attention or Connection Seeking

Understanding Cries for Help: The Line Between Attention-Seeking and Connection Have you ever witnessed behavior that seemed like attention-seeking but, upon closer inspection, was really a cry for connection? This common misunderstanding is someth…

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Feb. 8, 2025

Finding Peace in a Chaos

Finding Peace in a Chaotic World: Prioritizing Mental Health In a world that constantly bombards us with distressing news, our mental health has never been more vital. With each headline flashing negativity and division, it’s easy to feel…

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Nov. 23, 2024

Stigma

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the word Stigma. When trauma happens theres an automatic stimga. A label. All of a sudden you are that person in the room that had something happen to them. You are no longer that person that you were,…

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Nov. 23, 2024

Embrace the valleys with courage. These moments are where the seeds of growth and healing take root

The Transformative Power of Embracing Pain Embracing Pain, Finding Growth is difficult but a must.  Embracing your pain with honesty and vulnerability is essential for true healing and personal growth. In a culture that often encoura…

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Sept. 30, 2024

The Worst Thing Someone Could do to You

When Trust Shatters: How to Heal and Rebuild After Deep Hurt What happens when someone you trust deeply causes you to lose faith in humanity? How do you move forward after betrayal or disappointment from someone you care about? On a recent episode …

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