What does grief ask of us? And what does it open?

Momo (Monica Escobedo) has lived close to both questions — through her mother's death, her own cancer diagnosis, and the slow discovery of who she was becoming on the other side. In this conversation, we walk through grief as a threshold — the surprise of it, the importance of community, and the opening to vulnerability that loss, over time, can make possible.

This episode includes conversation about grief, terminal illness, and loss. If you're navigating something tender right now, we hope it offers companionship.

Momo (she/they) is a coach, space-holder, and creative companion supporting people through life transitions and grief. Born in Mexico and based in Canada since 1998, she spent nearly two decades as a software engineer before a personal experience in 2016 shifted the course of her life — leading her to volunteer at an oncology center supporting cancer patients and their families, and eventually to coaching work rooted in presence, connection, and the belief that we need to be witnessed during times of change.

Momo is also the co-host of Unframed with Patricia and Momo, a podcast that creates a space for exploring what it means to grow as coaches and humans navigating uncertainty, identity, and transformation, speaking from their own questions rather than answers.

Momo can be reached on her website: humanconnection.ca and on LinkedIn. 

Books referenced in this episode:

• Mary Frances O’Connor, Ph.D., The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss
• Mary Frances O’Connor, Ph.D., The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing

Say hello. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Jennie Snyder, a leadership coach and the host of Traveling Companions. I created this podcast for anyone standing in that uncertain space between who they've been and who they're becoming. You don't have to travel it alone.

Podcast artwork by Desirae Rivera (desirae.design)
Music "Through the Years" by Roots and Recognition, The Bittersweet

🌐 travelingcompanionspodcast.com | 📧 [email] | [LinkedIn]

Corinne Hart spent nearly a decade at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), building a career around advancing women's rights and gender equality around the world. When the agency was shut down in 2025, the ground shifted beneath her — and what came next wasn't clear.

What held her back wasn't the lack of clarity. It was learning to trust what she already knew.

To carry with you:

• What makes it possible for you to trust what you already know? 
• What opens up when the ground beneath us shifts?

Corinne Hart is an executive and personal coach who helps women navigate career transitions and uncertainty with clarity and confidence. A former USAID senior advisor focused on gender equality, she now works with clients to reconnect with their values, rebuild self-trust, and take intentional steps toward what’s next.  

Corinne can be reached at corinne@hart-and-co.com and on LinkedIn. You can find out more about her Rebuilding with Purpose Group Coaching program [here].

Say hello. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Jennie Snyder, a leadership coach and the host of Traveling Companions. I created this podcast for anyone standing in that uncertain space between who they've been and who they're becoming. You don't have to travel it alone.

Podcast artwork by Desirae Rivera (desirae.design)
Music "Through the Years" by Roots and Recognition, The Bittersweet

🌐 travelingcompanionspodcast.com | 📧 [email] | [LinkedIn]

When Vanessa Wedderburn was laid off, the professional disruption was only the beginning. What followed was something harder to name — a slow unraveling of the identity she had built around her work, and what opened up in its place. 

In this conversation, Vanessa talks about what it's like to sit inside that uncertainty — the disorientation of not knowing who you are beyond what you do, the grief of losing something you didn't choose to let go, and the winding process of rediscovering yourself in the middle of it. 

To carry with you:

• Who am I without the roles I’ve been carrying?
• What might become possible if I let go of what no longer fits?

________________________________________________________________________________________

Vanessa Wedderburn is a communications strategist and storyteller who has spent her career helping school districts and organizations build trust through clear, thoughtful communication. She writes about her own experience of navigating transition on her Substack, Notes from Vanessa. Vanessa can be reached on LinkedIn and at vwcreativestrategy.com. 

Say hello. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Jennie Snyder, a leadership coach and the host of Traveling Companions. I created this podcast for anyone standing in that uncertain space between who they've been and who they're becoming. You don't have to travel it alone.

Podcast artwork by Desirae Rivera (desirae.design)
Music "Through the Years" by Roots and Recognition, The Bittersweet

🌐 travelingcompanionspodcast.com | 📧 [email] | [LinkedIn]

Ten years into teaching, Kellie Sanders heard a woman at a backyard party mention that she had been a middle school principal. Her head whipped around. In all her years in education, she had never seen a woman in that role. That moment — what Kellie calls her "unicorn" — set off a chain of crossings she never could have mapped in advance.

In this conversation, Kellie traces the arc of her becoming: the lightning-bolt epiphany in a middle school classroom. The slow pull toward school leadership that cost her a relationship. And, the grinding doubt of two early principalships that left her asking a hard question — what's the common denominator here? Me. She talks honestly about the tension between calling and selfishness, the difference between a voice that invites and one that compels, and what it took to keep stepping forward even when she wasn’t sure which way to go.

To carry with you:

• Where in your life have you heard a voice calling you toward something you couldn't yet fully see?
• When doubt has made you question your direction, what has helped you find your footing again?

____________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Kellie Sanders spent over thirty years in education — as a teacher, principal, and district leader. She is the co-founder of Lifeline for Courageous Leadership and co-author of The Courage to Lead and The Courage to Grow. She works with leaders navigating change and growth. Kellie can be reached at lifeline4leaders.com.

Say hello. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Jennie Snyder, a leadership coach and the host of Traveling Companions. I created this podcast for anyone standing in that uncertain space between who they've been and who they're becoming. You don't have to travel it alone.

Podcast artwork by Desirae Rivera (desirae.design)
Music "Through the Years" by Roots and Recognition, The Bittersweet

🌐 travelingcompanionspodcast.com | 📧 [email] | [LinkedIn]

There are moments when you know you can't go back. And what's ahead isn't clear yet.

In this episode I'm turning the lens inward — sharing a threshold that shaped me, what it asked, and what it made possible.

Not quick fixes. No shortcuts. Just the honest territory of what it asks of us to put something down and step anyway.

"We cannot hold on to things and enter. We must put down what we carry, open the door, and then take up only what we need to bring inside. It's a basic human sequence: gather, prepare, put down, enter."
— Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

If you've ever stood in that uncertain place — or find yourself there now — this one is for you.

Say hello. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Jennie Snyder, a leadership coach and the host of Traveling Companions. I created this podcast for anyone standing in that uncertain space between who they've been and who they're becoming. You don't have to travel it alone.

Podcast artwork by Desirae Rivera (desirae.design)
Music "Through the Years" by Roots and Recognition, The Bittersweet

🌐 travelingcompanionspodcast.com | 📧 [email] | [LinkedIn]

There are moments in every life when you can't go back to who you were — and who you're becoming isn't yet clear. Traveling Companions: Stories of Becoming is a podcast about that in-between space. Come join us.

Say hello. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Jennie Snyder, a leadership coach and the host of Traveling Companions. I created this podcast for anyone standing in that uncertain space between who they've been and who they're becoming. You don't have to travel it alone.

Podcast artwork by Desirae Rivera (desirae.design)
Music "Through the Years" by Roots and Recognition, The Bittersweet

🌐 travelingcompanionspodcast.com | 📧 [email] | [LinkedIn]