Grit & Gravitas

It’s Okay to Shed Old Narratives

Our latest Grit & Gravitas guest, Melissa Miller, founded a business at age 21 that became more than a company. For years, her stationery design company, madetokeep was her creative outlet, her livelihood, and her identity.

As madetokeep celebrates its 20th anniversary and Melissa evolves into her next ventures, The FAVOUR Agency and the STAGES Foundation, our co-hosts enjoy a candid conversation about creativity, entrepreneurship, perfectionism, and learning when to let go.

Melissa’s refreshingly honest story is full of business vitamins for anyone ready to shed old narratives and step into what’s next. “I finally feel the identity and the purpose and the completeness,” Melissa says.

Her advice to her younger self? “Never quit. Lean into your purpose and path forward. Everything happens for a reason. You have to go through all this junk to get where you want to go, but you'll get there. Continue to have faith and visualize. Do good, be good.”

Melissa also shares how the STAGES Foundation is opening new doors through her upcoming signature event, Belmont Bourbon Bash, a premier race-day celebration of bourbon, culinary craftsmanship, fashion, and community impact. Learn more at https://www.belmontbourbonbash.com/

When Art Feels Like Home

Theatre Harrisburg’s story is Harrisburg’s story.

This Tuesday’s Grit & Gravitas features special guest Lorien Reese Mahay, Executive Director of Theatre Harrisburg, as the organization celebrates 100 years of creativity, resilience, and community.   

Founded by a group of women in the basement of the Harrisburg Library, Theatre Harrisburg has spent a century bringing people together through productions built by local hands and local talent. Lorien shares what makes community theatre so powerful and reflects on her unexpected path to Harrisburg, stepping into the role on the very day the theatre reopened after COVID. 

As Lorien opens up about stewardship, imposter syndrome, and listening before leading, tune in for business vitamins and a beautiful reminder that art gives us a place to belong. Theatre Harrisburg is presenting Godspell through May 10 and “Follies” & Festivities: A Theatre Harrisburg Centennial Celebration in Two Acts. Learn more at theatreharrisburg.com.

Your Financial Head Start: Five Moves to Make Before Graduation

Recently, Team G&G took our show on the road to Shippensburg University for a live, interactive podcast focused on one thing students don’t get enough of: financial clarity. Today, we’re excited to share that conversation!

Cohosts Anne Deeter Gallaher and Anne Carnathan are joined by fellow SHIP alum Jessica Whitmyer of Members 1st Federal Credit Union and SHIP Finance Professor Lee Fortenberry, CFP, for a conversation built around five essential moves—understanding your credit score, using credit cards strategically, knowing your student loans, building a simple budget, and taking advantage of compound interest early.

This is a topic most of us were never prepared for—discussions about money, debt, and what it really takes to build a life. Join us for a candid, real-world look at the financial choices that shape your future, and the freedom that comes with getting them right.

Students and young people ready to start out on your own, this one’s for you.

Seeing Who You Serve

What happens when a part-time job turns into a 20+ year mission and a leadership role you never planned for?

Today on Grit & Gravitas, Anne Deeter Gallaher and Anne Carnathan sit down with Cheryl Cuddy, CEO of Vision Resources of Central Pennsylvania, whose career began in medical assisting and evolved into something far bigger. What started as screening children’s vision while raising her own family grew into a calling rooted in patient care, purpose, and impact.

From early childhood screenings to low vision rehabilitation, Cheryl shares how her team helps more than 5,000 people each year maintain independence and quality of life, and why leadership means never getting too far from the people you serve.

“If I ever lose sight of what I’m doing, I go sit in the low vision center and watch someone regain their independence,” says Cheryl.

Listen for business vitamins and inspiration in a conversation that brings an often unseen impact into focus.

 

I’m Nervous and I Do It

It’s podcast Tuesday, and Anne & Anne are excited to introduce a guest who embodies resilience, grit, and grace: Dr. Ivy Buchan.

From saving for college at age seven to working multiple jobs and writing checks to pay her way through school, Ivy has always taken ownership of her career and life journey.

She said yes to opportunities before she fully understood them and built a 20+ year career in nonprofit strategy by doing the work and learning as she went. Today, as Principal of Invoke Nonprofit Consulting, she helps organizations navigate governance, fundraising, and strategy. But what stands out most about Ivy isn’t just what she’s built, it’s how she built it.

Ivy's advice is simple: “If you want something bad enough, you will figure out how to do it.”

“I’m nervous—and I do it,” she says.

So many business vitamins in this episode. Don’t miss the last two advice-packed minutes.

 

How to Stay Curious, Courageous, and Engaged

As we celebrate Women’s History Month and the week of International Women’s Day, Grit & Gravitas is marking the moment with a conversation about curiosity, courage, and the power of listening. Anne Deeter Gallaher and Anne Carnathan sit down with Ashley Walkowiak, Executive Director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Women, who is leading the most comprehensive look at women’s issues in Pennsylvania in more than a generation.

Ashley’s path to this work is deeply personal. After surviving sexual violence as a teenager, it took years before she felt ready to disclose and begin processing her trauma. Over time, that experience helped shape her commitment to public service and to creating systems that better support victims and families.

She also shares a defining early moment in her career when curiosity pushed her out of her comfort zone. Her advice today reflects both her personal and professional journey: stay curious and listen well.

“It’s easy for us to take experiences and put them aside to get through the day instead of processing it, working on it, and integrating it into the fullness of who you are as a human being,” Ashley says.

Follow the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Women on Facebook and Instagram: @pawomen.

Cure the Clutter with Carolina Harvey

In this episode of Grit & Gravitas, Anne & Anne sit down with Carolina Harvey, founder of Cure the Clutter and host on A&E’s Hoarders, for a conversation that goes far beyond tidy closets.

Carolina started her business in 2008 after becoming a mom of two and feeling called to serve her community. A mathematics major by training, she still looks at spaces like solvable problems. From downsizing families to overwhelmed professionals to messy churches and business offices, what sets Cure the Clutter apart is the listening, care, and compassion Carolina and her team bring to every client and space.

“My goal is to give you your time back. When you have a clean and organized space, then you’re getting to do what you want, not what you have to,” says Carolina.

Desperate for some organization in your life? Join us as we talk about Carolina’s five daily habits anyone can adopt to reduce clutter and regain control, including being one-task minded and scheduling your hardest work for when you are at your best.

If your home, office, or calendar feels heavier than it should, this conversation will deliver business vitamins and practical tips to make your life lighter.

Mattering in the Next Season of Life

In this episode of Grit & Gravitas, Anne & Anne tackle the question we often avoid: how do we plan for purpose, relevance, and meaning as our roles change?

Inspired by a recent Wall Street Journal article, they explore what happens when titles fade, influence shifts, and the world moves on. When your business card disappears, what anchors your value? How do you stay intentional when your network, identity, and sense of being needed evolve?

The challenge for listeners: work backward. Define how you want your life to matter by starting at the end. What do you want your name to mean when it’s mentioned? What legacy are you building now?

This episode offers business vitamins for anyone navigating what comes next, at any age.

Exercise, Excuses, & Quitter's Day

Five years ago, we recorded our first episode of Grit & Gravitas with a simple premise: progress starts when you do. That idea feels even more relevant in a culture obsessed with resolutions, trends, and arbitrary dates that supposedly predict when people will fail.

“New Year’s resolutions bug me, and Quitter's Day bugs me. I don’t want to wait for anything for today to be the day,” Anne Carnathan says.

In this episode, Anne Deeter Gallaher talks about returning to swimming by simply showing up—no research, no preparation, no audience. Anne Carnathan shares why she started personal training with a friend, both to make her workday less solitary and to support someone she cares about.

Anne Deeter Gallaher sums it up: “If you wanted to, you would. I finally got to the day where I wanted to.”

Today’s business vitamin is simple: whether it’s starting a workout, making a phone call, reaching out on LinkedIn, or launching a business, the hardest part is beginning. We can do hard things—and we should.

Every Loan Has a Story

In this episode of Grit & Gravitas, Anne & Anne sit down with Leanne Via, Senior Loan Originator with Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, to talk about the human side of mortgages and why lending decisions shape far more than finances.

Leanne shares her unexpected path into the mortgage industry, how helping her own mother led to a 23-year career, and why every loan carries a family story. We discuss today’s housing realities, from rising interest rates and limited inventory to the increasing age of first-time homebuyers, and why “not now” does not have to mean “never.”

This conversation offers business vitamins for every season. Whether you are thinking about buying a home, building long-term wealth, navigating financial decisions, or exploring a new career path, there is something here for you. From owning versus renting to the power of trusted guidance and community, this episode is a reminder that the most important decisions are also deeply personal.

Because for Leanne, this work is simple. She gets to change lives every single day.