Falling Apart or Falling Together? Amanda Pieraldi on Grief, Reinvention, and Resilience

Amanda Pieraldi is the host of the Spiritual Gangster Podcast, co-host of Bees on a Mission, and the author of three books! None of this was the original plan. Amanda's identity was built around being a wife and a mother, and when her marriage ended in 2017 she went back to school full time as a single mom. Then came a run of loss that would flatten most people: her mom passed away on Christmas morning in 2019, her grandmother 13 months later, and then she lost the job she thought was the one. While she kept looking for work, she started writing. All three books followed, and in February 2025 she launched her podcast without knowing how, spending a year and a half on solo episodes before she started interviewing guests. We talk about how affirmations carried her through the hardest stretches, why she chose purpose over the job she thought she should want, and what she means when she says that when life feels like it is falling apart, it is likely falling together. CHAPTERS 00:00 Meet Amanda Pieraldi: Host of the Spiritual Gangster Podcast and Three-Time Author 03:04 From Education to Author: A Life Built Around Helping People 03:51 When Your Identity Is Wife and Mother: Starting Over After Divorce 04:16 Going Back to School Full Time as a Single Parent 05:14 Losing Her Mom on Christmas Morning 06:19 Grief and Losing the Job: When Everything Hits at Once 07:35 Choosing to Write: Three Books Born From Hard Times 08:12 Starting a Podcast Without Knowing How 09:54 Why Writing, and Why Affirmations Helped Her Through 11:42 From Affirmations to a Prompted Journal to a Children's Book 13:54 Perspective Is Everything: Glimmers and Where Your Attention Goes 14:51 A Year and a Half of Solo Episodes: Building a Soulful and Strong Community 16:39 When the Job Search Isn't Working: Choosing Purpose Over What You Should Do 19:30 New Opportunities: Co-Hosting Bees on a Mission 22:24 When It Feels Like It's Falling Apart, It's Falling Together ABOUT AMANDA PIERALDI Amanda Pieraldi is an author, speaker, and the host of the Spiritual Gangster Podcast, a vibe-driven space for the soulful and strong, and co-host of Bees on a Mission. Follow On Instagram:   / spiritualgangsterpod   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... TikTok:   / the.spiritual.gangster   Listen to The Spiritual Gangster Podcast YouTube: ‪@TheSpiritualGangsterPodcast‬ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3rP2403... Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Listen to Bees on a Mission Podcast YouTube: ‪@BsonaMissionpodcast‬ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/057hSzB... Find Amanda's Books Spiritual Gangster Daily Affirmations: https://a.co/d/04Nj2fQY Spiritual Gangster Daily Affirmations Prompted Daily Journal: https://a.co/d/01TDV9P3 Dream Big, Little Star: https://a.co/d/06sMF9PT ABOUT VICTORIA Victoria Steward is a Corporate Exit and Financial Empowerment Coach, helping senior corporate women stuck in the 'one-more-year' loop build the self-trust and financial clarity to leave corporate on their own terms, their own timing, their own scenic route. Curious? Book a Pivot Clarity Call: https://victoria-steward.com/pivotcla... Follow On LinkedIn:   / victoria-steward-coaching   On Instagram:   / victoria.steward.coach   Resources The Can I Pivot Yet? Exit Roadmap: https://roadmap.victoria-steward.com The Engineer's Exit Decision Toolkit: https://toolkit.victoria-steward.com The 5-Minute Grounding Reset: https://reset.victoria-steward.com Website: https://victoria-steward.com 🎙️ This show is recorded with Riverside, the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? riverside.sjv.io/PzzkYY