
The Heart Strong Podcast explores perspectives on growing through the challenges in our lives and our times. Host Jessica Lindberg interviews thought leaders, authors, experts, and amazing everyday people who have something to teach us all about living fully amidst our struggles. Listeners will leave the conversations encouraged and challenged with a fresh perspective and tangible ideas they can apply to their lives. Jessica Lindberg is living a life she did not expect. She is a writer, speaker, coach, and social entrepreneur with a passion for the divinity of every human heart. She’s built powerful resilience through personal traumas. Jessica loves authentic conversation and learning from others’ journeys. She encourages her listeners to take their life challenges and create an impact that transforms themselves, their families, and the world around them for good. You can find Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and @theheartstrong
Episodes

Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Five Lessons and Ten Years
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Jessica is joined by her husband, Erik Lindberg and they discuss five lessons they’ve learned in the 10 years since their son Ethan died. Reflecting on their journey of grief and growth, they offer hope, insight and wisdom for others on a similar path.
The five lessons they discuss:
- The only way is through
- Invest in your relationship
- We would do it again
- The relationship continues
- Life a purposeful life
This is the final episode of Season Three of The Heart Strong Podcast. We’ll be back in early fall for another season. Thank you for listening and for being part of this Heart Strong Community!

Thursday Jun 02, 2022
Self-Advocacy and The Permission to Evolve w/ Bridgett Piacenti
Thursday Jun 02, 2022
Thursday Jun 02, 2022
Today's returning guest, Bridgett Piacenti turns the table on host, Jessica Lindberg and interviews her about what she’s been up to this season. They discuss the newly formed Heart Strong Collective, the importance of self-advocacy, Jessica’s coaching training and spend a good bit of the conversation around the permission to evolve and change. Jessica shares some ways that she cares for herself and what she’s learning about living and working in an aligned way.
Jessica and Bridgett mention Michael Singer’s Book: The Untethered Soul
You can follow Bridgett Piacenti on Instagram @bpiacenti
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com

Thursday May 26, 2022
Mindset, Hard Work + Pitching Your Game w/J.A. Happ
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
J.A. Happ has spent the last 13 years as a pitcher in Major League Baseball. From his midwest roots to the World Series, we discuss his journey and what he’s learned along the way. J.A. has so much wisdom to offer from thoughts on mindset, what it takes to operate at a high level, how the best advice he’s gotten from his mom.
We discuss youth sports and how important sports are for the game of life. J.A. shares that hard work will trump talent any day and that we gain confidence by putting in the hard work so we can show up when it’s our turn to play.
J.A. just retired from the game and he talks about that decision and reflects on the highs and lows of his career and how baseball has positioned him for the next season of his life.
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com

Friday May 20, 2022
It’s All Love: Exploring Life After Death with Jeff Olsen
Friday May 20, 2022
Friday May 20, 2022
Jessica explores near-death experiences with author and speaker Jeff Olsen. Twenty-five years ago Jeff was in a car accident with his family that took the life of his 14-month-old son, Griffin, and his wife, Tamara. Jeff and his seven-year-old son, Spencer survived. Jeff went on to have 18 surgeries and lose a limb over the course of a six-month hospital stay. After the accident and during his hospital stay, Jeff had profound near-death and out-of-body experiences that changed his life forever.
This is a beautiful conversation about life beyond his physical space, asking big questions, living with grief, and the idea that we are so loved and that those we love never really leave us. Jessica and Jeff discuss common and unorthodox questions and encourage listeners to explore the questions in their hearts.
You can learn more about Jeff Olsen and his books here: https://www.envoypublishing.com/
Jeff and his son Spencer’s NEW Book is Where Are You?
You can follow him on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jefferycolsen
You can follow Jeff on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jefferyc.olsen

Wednesday May 11, 2022
Living a Life of Purpose with Scott Leezer
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Today’s guest, Scott Leezer, is a single ventricle/complex congenital heart disease patient and a seasoned strategic public affairs professional with over ten years of bipartisan government relations consulting experience. Grappling with the idea he is living on borrowed time, Scott shares his story and his thoughts on living a life of purpose amidst the unknown.
Scott is not only a successful professional, but he has committed himself to moving the field of congenital heart disease forward for patients and their families. Colleagues and friends, Jessica and Scott talk candidly about what it means to make a difference in the world around them.
You can learn more about Scott here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-leezer-6562bb13?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com
Please subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Episodes launch each Thursday. Thanks for joining us!

Thursday May 05, 2022
Pursuing Our Dreams When Life Throws Us For a Loop w/ Morgan Motsinger
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
How do we hold the tension of dreams and a life we did not expect? Morgan shares her story of entrepreneurship and motherhood, including caring for her daughter with a rare disease. Jessica and Morgan talk about how to pursue dreams, start businesses and find their way to create alongside motherhood and caregiving.
Morgan Motsinger is a social entrepreneur, speaker, and interior designer of Annika Interiors, a firm that has niche expertise in designing special needs spaces. As a mother of three (one beautiful daughter with special needs) Morgan is a four-time entrepreneur including Co-Founder of Lot 35 Homes and Sweet Bee Coaching, she brings her extensive expertise on both a personal and professional level to each client partnership and project.
You can learn more about Morgan here:
https://www.morganmotsinger.com/
https://instagram.com/annikainteriors
https://instagram.com/sweetbeecoaching
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong

Thursday Apr 28, 2022
What Really Matters with Dr. Christina VanderPluym
Thursday Apr 28, 2022
Thursday Apr 28, 2022
Today Jessica is sharing time with Dr. Christian VanderPluym, a pediatric cardiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital who has dedicated herself to improving the lives of patients with complex heart disease. She currently serves as the Medical Director for the Ventricular Assist Device Program, Director of Cardiac Antithrombosis Management program, and acts as Co-Director of the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center.
In this powerful and poignant episode, Jessica and Christina discuss the challenges that come from caring for some of the sickest children. They discuss how to make care more sustainable for families and how to hold the tension of hope and honesty in difficult situations. You will get a glimpse of how a physician’s work impacts her personal life and how her patients influence how she lives and what she believes.
This episode is a must listen for parents and physicians caring for children with complex illness and equally important for those looking to see life through a new lens and understand more fully the gift of each day.
You can learn more about Dr. Vanderpluym here:
https://www.childrenshospital.org/directory/christina-j-vanderpluym
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com
Please subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Episodes launch each Thursday. Thanks for joining us!

Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Test Your Limits and Run Your Race with Rick Muhr
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Today’s podcast is a special edition in anticipation of the 125th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 18th. Jessica sits down with marathoner and coach, Rick Muhr to talk about testing your limits and running your race.
Rick has been a runner for 45 years and a coach for 26 years, coaching more than 10,000 runners for the Boston Marathon. He is the founder of The Marathon Coalition whose runners have raised more than $65 million for Boston area charities.
He was selected to participate in the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay because of his coaching and fundraising efforts.
Rick has completed 32 marathons and has a personal best of 2 hours 33 minutes 13 seconds. He has qualified for the Boston Marathon in all 32 marathons. Rick has been ranked 5th in the United States at 100K (62 miles with a time of 8 hours 41 minutes 47 seconds.
Rick is a military veteran, endurance motorcyclist, and cancer survivor.
You can follow Rick on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rick.muhr
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com
Please subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Episodes launch each Thursday. Thanks for joining us!

Thursday Apr 07, 2022
Seeing a Need and Leading Change with Liz Pumala
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
Today Jessica talks with Liz Pumala, founder of Matthias Academy, a nonprofit adult day program in southeast Wisconsin. Matthias Academy serves adults with mild to severe disabilities, specialized medical needs, behaviors and mild to severe autism from Illinois and Wisconsin. Liz and Jessica talk about seeing a need and stepping forward to make a change. They also discuss the beautiful lessons we all can learn from children and adults with disabilities.
Elizabeth Pumala lives a life guided by unfilled needs around her. As a former Adaptive Physical Education teacher for children and adults with special needs, Liz saw a need in the special needs community early on in her career that needed to be changed. Life for her students continued long after public education, however, the opportunities for them did not.
You can donate to Matthias Academy here:
https://www.matthiasacademy.org/donation
You can follow Matthias Academy on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MatthiasAcademy/
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and
The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com
Please subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Episodes launch each Thursday. Thanks for joining us!

Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Living a Non-Linear Life with Bruce Feiler
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Today Jessica sits down with New York Times Best Selling Author, Bruce Feiler
Jessica and Bruce discuss Bruce’s book, Life is in The Transitions about how we can master change at any age. Jessica and Bruce tackle the idea that our lives are actually not supposed to be linear. They talk about where we got this idea and how transitions are a hallmark to our life as a human. They talk about how each human spends most of their adult life in transition. They discuss the pandemic, our cultural polarity and how we might rethink our lives and embrace transition and our life challenges to see that they connect us as humans.
“Galvanized by a personal crisis, he (Bruce) spent the last few years crisscrossing the country, collecting hundreds of life stories in all fifty states from Americans who'd been through major life changes - from losing jobs to losing loved ones; from changing careers to changing relationships; from getting sober to getting healthy to simply looking for a fresh start. He then spent a year coding these stories, identifying patterns and takeaways that can help all of us survive and thrive in times of change.”
You can sign up for Bruce’s insightful newsletter here:
https://brucefeiler.bulletin.com/subscribe
You can follow Bruce on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/brucefeiler/?hl=en
You can follow Bruce on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BruceFeilerAuthor/
You can follow Jessica on Instagram @jessmlindberg and The Heart Strong Collective @theheartstrong
Jessica Lindberg www.jessicalindberg.com
The Heart Strong Collective www.theheartstrong.com
Please subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Episodes launch each Thursday. Thanks for joining us!