Meet Bridget

"Will This Help Heal Me?" - Alec Treffers, Food & Fitness Influencer @alectreffs

Alec Treffers started What Alec Eats as a question, not a strategy. She was a freshman at Arizona State, had just blown out her knee playing Division I volleyball, and was quietly developing an eating disorder she had no name for and no plans to talk about. She started posting food on Instagram because she wondered if falling back in love with cooking might help her fall back in love with food. It did. Eventually it became her career. In this conversation, Alec talks about the injury that changed everything: the athletic identity that got ripped away in a day, the months in a soft cast watching her leg muscle deteriorate, the mental weight of rehabbing a knee when you do not know if you will ever play again. She talks about how orthorexia developed in that void — the need to control something when everything else felt out of control — and how Instagram became an unlikely path back. She also walks through the career timeline honestly: seven years in corporate PR including Taco Bell, getting laid off in COVID, giving herself six months to make real money from content creation, and the moment she called it a business and never looked back. She talks about counting macros as a second healing — how the woman who once tried to survive on Special K red berries ended up eating over 2200 calories a day and finally trusting her body. And she ends with the trait she has carried since childhood that she once found annoying and now understands completely: attention to detail. The kid who color-coordinated her crayons is the one who makes the content that other people cannot stop watching. 🎙️ Meet Bridget | Season 6, Episode 159

"Life Is Not Meant To Be Lived All At Once" - Shannon McLaren, Founder of Prairie Interiors

Shannon McLaren did not set out to become an interior designer. She set out to be in fashion. She studied business in London, worked at Stella McCartney, moved back to LA to become a celebrity stylist, and spent years working for Petra Flannery — her most formative mentor — learning how to run a small team, stay proactive, and never say die. Then she accidentally flipped a house. Someone asked who staged it. She said she did. And that was that. In this conversation, Shannon talks about what it actually looks like to build a design practice from staging to studio to retail, why her sweet spot is twelve clients and four or five in active construction, and what it means to design for how people live rather than how it photographs. She talks about the through-line from styling to interiors that she did not see coming: the same skills, the same brief, the same instinct for the unexpected mix. She also goes back to the girl she was: an only child rearranging her room in the middle of the night so she could sleep, drawing floor plans at thirteen on the shores of Lake Washington because it was just fun, transitioning from middle-class Orange County to living down the road from Bill Gates and figuring out how to show up somewhere new. And she ends with the quality she now cherishes that nobody would have told her to keep: her impulsiveness. The gut that fires before the brain catches up. The instinct she did not know was the whole thing. 🎙️ Meet Bridget | Season 6, Episode 158

"It's Okay to Not Be Okay." -Brooke Medina, Founder of AR Workshop OC

Content note: This episode discusses themes of substance abuse, grief, and loss. Resources available at SAMHSA.gov or by calling 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7). Crisis support: call or text 988. Brooke Medina grew up around craft. Her dad owned a craft and floral store. Her mom was an interior designer who helped people fall back in love with the things they already had. Creativity was everywhere, but for a long time, she wanted nothing to do with it. In this conversation, Brooke shares the story behind the story. The teenage years marked by instability, loss, and substance use. The overdose at 18, the drug class the morning after, and the pregnancy that arrived less than a year later that she calls the thing that saved her life. The grief she carried through early adulthood — a stepbrother, a grandfather, a best friend, a mother — and what it took to learn to carry it without being buried by it. She also talks about the pivot she did not plan: closing her brick-and-mortar AR Workshop after seven years and going mobile. Why she calls it the best decision she ever made. What it looks like to let go of something before you are ready and trust that the next thing is already forming. And she talks about building community as a practice, not a marketing strategy. The way hands-on creativity drops people's guards. The women's networking group she just started. The belief she has carried since long before it was a tagline: there is a seat for everyone. This one is honest, warm, and goes somewhere real. 🎙️ Meet Bridget | Season 6, Episode 157 Resources: SAMHSA.gov | 1-800-662-4357 | Crisis line: 988

"Comparison Is the Thief of Joy" — Leland Drummond, Co-Founder of AZIONE PR & LDMA

Leland Drummond has spent over 20 years building other people's brands. Somewhere along the way, she figured out the only way to do that well is to understand yourself first. In this conversation, Leland walks through the dual life of running two businesses at once — Azione, the PR and marketing agency she co-founded that works with brands like Sol de Janeiro, Hoka, Caraway, and Sweetgreen, and LDMA Activewear, the active women's brand she built from the inside out, literally: starting with underwear and bras before working outward. She talks about what it's like to be a creative person who became a CEO, the chaos and the humility that comes with it, and why she still believes quality of output matters more than hours clocked. She also goes back. To boarding school at 13 after her parents separated, to arriving in a place where relationships were already formed and feeling very alone, to snowboarding down a mountain in Connecticut because of a boy she had a crush on, and to the career that built from a blown-out knee and a few brand sponsorships she didn't want to lose. And she ends with the word she had to dig for: discernment. The quality her mom recognized when she was a baby. The thing that looked like aloofness in high school. The instinct that has guided every business decision, every partnership, every person she's allowed into her orbit. She always had it. She just finally has the word. 🎙️ Meet Bridget | Season 6, Episode 156

"Are You Happy?" - Christina King, MS, LMFT, Teen Therapist

She was the moody, overwhelmed teenager nobody would have guessed would become one of the most empathetic voices in teen mental health. Christina King, MS, LMFT sits down with Asha and Keshiia this Mental Health Awareness Month to share the story behind the therapist — the undiagnosed ADHD, the pivotal moment her mom asked "are you happy?", the trauma at 19 that tested everything, and the slow, beautiful journey back to herself. This is one of the most honest conversations we've had about what therapy actually is, what it costs to do it well, and why the teens who need it most are often the least likely to ask for it. What we cover: → The reality of being a teen therapist — emotional limits, self-care, and community → Growing up high-achieving and undiagnosed with ADHD in a pressure-filled environment → How one question from her mom — "are you happy?" — sent her to therapy and changed her life → Her trauma at 19, the social fallout, and why the fastest way out was through → How COVID, her mom's breast cancer diagnosis, and graduate school collided — and what she found → The mother-daughter retreat work she's building and why it's deeply personal → What therapy actually looks like — and why it's a tool, not a last resort → Opening her own practice designed to feel like a living room, not a clinical office Resources mentioned: → CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists): camft.org → Christina on Instagram: @christinakingtherapy → Mental health support: NAMI.org | Crisis line: call or text 988 Connect with Meet Bridget: → Instagram: @meetbridget → Asha: @theashagabriel | Keshiia: @keshrose → Website: meetbridget.com → Partnerships: info@meetbridget.com Mental Health Awareness Month — May 2026. This episode is part of a three-part series with Christina King on teen mental health. Stay tuned for the next two episodes dropping this month.

"It Wasn't Going to Be Handed to Me" — Heather Altman, The Altman Brothers Team

Heather Altman | @heatheraltman | Million Dollar Listing LA | The Altman Brothers Team She started in real estate at 17 with a fake engagement ring and a contract she'd learned to write the day before. She survived a market collapse, moved to LA with nothing lined up, and built one of the most recognized real estate teams in the country. Heather Altman of the Altman Brothers Team and Million Dollar Listing LA joins Asha for one of the most candid career conversations of the season. This episode covers what it actually takes to build something real in a commission-based, client-first industry — and the teenager who was quietly carrying all of it before she even knew it. What we cover: → Starting real estate at 17 in Las Vegas during the pre-crash boom → Surviving the market collapse and working three jobs to stay afloat → Moving to LA to start over and learning under a top Beverly Hills agent → What the Altman Brothers Team looks for when hiring agents → How 17 years on national television shaped her brand and her resilience → The shy, Gothic-phase middle schooler she once was — and the Laguna Beach summer that unlocked something new → Why she didn't learn to advocate for herself until her early 30s → The quality her childhood friends say has never changed about her Resources mentioned: → The Altman Brothers Team: altmanbrothers.com → Million Dollar Listing LA (Bravo) → Heather on Instagram: @heatheraltman Connect with Meet Bridget: → Instagram: @meetbridget → Asha: @theashagabriel → Keshiia: @keshrose → Website: meetbridget.com → Email for partnerships: podcast@meetbridget.com Heather's Protein Waffles 🍌🧇 Ingredients 1 heaping cup rolled oats 1 cup cottage cheese 1 large egg 1 ripe banana 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking powder or baking soda 1 tablespoon agave (adjust to taste) Additional rolled oats, as needed (to thicken batter) Chocolate chips, for sprinkling Instructions Add the rolled oats, cottage cheese, egg, banana, vanilla, baking powder (or baking soda), and agave to a blender. Blend until smooth. If the batter is too runny, blend in a little more rolled oats until it reaches a thick but pourable consistency. Preheat your waffle iron. Pour the batter over the iron, sprinkle chocolate chips and then mix into batter so they are covered completely. Close the waffle iron and cook for about 3½ minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Carefully remove and serve warm. Optional Toppings Fresh berries Extra banana slices Maple syrup or honey Nut butter

"Staying Calm Is My Core Trait" - Joanna Young, Founder of Quiet Beauty

What does it mean to build a career out of the belief that people deserve to feel genuinely cared for? For Joanna Young, it started not in an aesthetics school or a luxury spa — it started in a garage, with a makeup compressor and a friend who had skin cancer, and a simple conviction: I'm going to help her feel beautiful without hurting her. That instinct — to nurture before she had credentials, before she had a plan — is the thread that runs through everything Joanna has built. From a hotel dining room in her teens to a commodities trading floor to her own practice in Newport Beach, she didn't follow a straight line. She followed the feeling of her hands doing something that mattered. In this conversation, Joanna talks about the art of intentional touch, what it really takes to prepare a space (and yourself) for someone else's energy, why she screens job candidates by asking if they cook for their families, and what she's building next with her "quiet beauty" concept — a hotel spa feel, right in your neighborhood. She also goes back to the girl she was: bullied, shy, and told she was "too emotional" — qualities she now recognizes as the foundation of everything she's good at. This one is quiet, warm, and goes deep fast. 🎙️ Meet Bridget | Season 6, Episode 153

"Grow Slow, Pay For It Yourself" - Cassie Piasecki of The Full Routine

Cassie Piasecki built The Full Routine at 52, self-funded, after walking away from a 29-year marriage with almost nothing. Three decades in fitness, three studios across Southern California, and one of the most honest voices we've had on the show about what midlife reinvention actually costs. In this episode, Asha and Keshiia sit down with Cassie to talk about the three pieces of paper she pulled out during a week at the Hoffman Institute, the left turns her parents told her never to make, and why she still gets on the lobby floor to run through her routine alone before every class she teaches. WHAT WE COVER → Why confidence is the thing left behind when you stop worrying what other people will say → The 29-year marriage Cassie left at 52, and the one word she refused to accept anymore → Self-funding as stubbornness: the honest cost of growing slow on purpose → The Halloween accident at 18 that broke her back and ended her only shot at college → What a room full of women moving together actually does to a person's nervous system   CONNECT WITH CASSIE Instagram: @cassietfr The Full Routine: @thefullroutine · www.thefullroutine.com   CONNECT WITH MEET BRIDGET @meetbridget · meetbridget.com

Confidence Is a Muscle, Not a Costume

Season 6 of Meet Bridget is here and we're starting exactly where we should. At the roots. Asha and Keshiia return to one of the show's most beloved early traditions: Bridget etymologies. Breaking down the words that sit at the center of everything they do — bridge, confidence, and inspiration — not as buzzwords, but as living ideas that shape why this show exists and who it's built for. In this episode: → Why Asha woke up one morning with the name "Bridget" in her head → The Irish saint who turns bath water into beer (yes, really) → What the Latin roots of "confidence" actually mean and why real confidence is a muscle, not a costume → "Inspiration" reframed, not as pressure, but as breath given to something → What they each got wrong as teenagers, and what they know now → The practices — horseback riding, poetry, and more... that bring them back to themselves This is Meet Bridget, Season 6. The stories they don't tell anywhere else.  Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube  Follow us: @meetbridget  @theashagabriel | @keshrose Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome to Season 6 02:30 Why we started with etymology 06:00 The word "bridge" — and the Irish saint 12:00 What "confidence" really means in Latin 19:00 Confidence is a muscle, not a costume 26:00 Reframing "inspiration" as breath 33:00 What we got wrong as teenagers 41:00 The practices that ground us 48:00 What Season 6 is really about

Season 5 Finale