Grit & Gravitas

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.

Building a Life of Discovery

Some businesses begin with spreadsheets.

This one began with a birthday dream.

 

In this episode of Grit & Gravitas, we sit down with Lutricia Eberly, founder and owner of Complete Safaris, whose love of adventure and global roots transformed a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Kenya into a purpose-driven business.

 

Lutricia shares how listening, learning, and surrounding herself with truth-tellers shaped her entrepreneurial journey and why building the right team matters before taking the leap. She also explores what makes travel truly meaningful: curiosity, connection, and thoughtful experiences that go beyond the destination.

 

With Complete Safaris, Lutricia makes extraordinary experiences feel effortless so clients can fully step into wonder. This episode is for the dreamers, and for anyone holding an idea that feels just a little bigger than practical. Whether it’s starting a business or taking the trip of a lifetime you can do it.

 

As we close out our final episode of 2025, we’re looking ahead to bold goals, fresh adventures, and big plans for 2026. Here’s to dreaming bigger, saying yes more often, and building lives filled with discovery.

Unexpected Hope: Saying Yes in the Hardest Season

Despair, no light ahead, feeling hopeless? In this Christmas episode, Toni Lynn Mark, Resource Development Director for The Salvation Army Harrisburg, shares her journey through a season of enduring to experiencing unexpected hope. “We get a deck of cards, and we have a hand to play. I have nothing but jokers. You only get to play the hand you have, and I have a hand I hate,” she says.
 
If you’ve ever felt like you’re in survival mode, your job is uncertain, the way forward isn't clear, or your spouse chooses another path that doesn't include you and the children, this episode is for you. With total authenticity, Toni explains how saying Yes to hard things, stepping into the unknown, and trusting in God's plan led her to discover there's strength in vulnerability.

Toni’s story is an invitation to sit with uncertainty and trust that showing up even when we feel empty is sometimes the holiest work we can do. 

G&G LIVE: Writing, Resilience, & Country Music

In a special, 1-hour live edition, today's podcast is an alumni celebration for Anne & Anne as they take Grit & Gravitas on the road to their alma mater, Shippensburg University, and feature special guest and SHIP alum, Lee Adams Kuhn. "Love on Tour" is Lee's just-released fictional tale about the country music industry featuring love, lust, business, and betrayal! 

Broadcasting to a packed room of students, professors, deans, donors, and G&G fans, Anne, Anne, and Lee deliver business vitamins on setbacks, resilience, the writing process, surviving in country music, and finding your balcony people. "The heart of our podcast is connections and relationships," says Anne Deeter Gallaher, and this episode illustrates the power of connecting students with industry experts who can be their balcony people. Don’t miss this special bonus episode, complete with a Q&A!

Finding Magic in the Challenges: Sara Elerman’s 13-Year Journey at Members 1st

What perception do you hope to leave?” asks Sara Elerman, Regional VP at Members 1st Federal Credit Union, as she joins Anne & Anne to share her leadership journey.

From arriving in the U.S. as a 17-year-old immigrant working in retail to becoming a respected regional leader, Sara’s story is defined by grace, accountability, and growth. Guided by mentors and fueled by a willingness to be coachable, the feedback she received, she says, “transformed my life, and my family’s.”

In Episode 102, Sara opens up about: the difference between work-life balance and work-life harmony; why showing up is the competitive advantage in a digital world; and why challenges are often where the magic happens.

If you’re starting out, navigating transition, or leading at any level, Sara’s story is a powerful reminder to show up, speak up, and lift others up.

The Luxury of Listening

Talking is easy. Listening takes intention. In this episode of Grit & Gravitas, Anne & Anne explore how emotional intelligence (EQ) fuels strong leadership and healthy workplaces. They unpack what it means to understand people, navigate conflict, and choose words that connect instead of divide.

From reading between the lines to balancing intellect with empathy, this conversation delivers business vitamins that every professional needs: practical wisdom, emotional awareness, and the reminder that growth begins when we truly listen. Because it’s not what happens to you that defines success, it’s how you respond.

“I’ll walk into anything, and I’m going to listen, and we’re going to find a way through it if that’s what we want to do," says Anne Carnathan.

Tune in for a grounded, insightful conversation on why listening isn’t a luxury at all, it’s leadership in action.

Purpose in Every Pour: Nour Coffee’s Mission to Change the World

In this episode of Grit & Gravitas, Anne and Anne sit down with Kait Gillis, Owner of Nour Coffee, and Sara Firestone, VP, Community and Public Relations, Members 1st Federal Credit Union, for a conversation that blends business with deep purpose.

 

Inspired by her daughter, Nour, who has Down syndrome, and driven by the reality that over 70% of people with disabilities are unemployed, Kait built a workplace where individuals with neurodiversity and typically developing peers work side-by-side, serve the community, and find belonging. 

 

“I couldn’t change who Nour is because Nour is a perfect, beautiful angel, but I could try to fix the world for her a little bit,” Kait shares. With a strong financial relationship and support from Members 1st, Nour Coffee has become a true third space, sourcing from local, small businesses and now Kait has launched a nonprofit, Nouri’s Place, to foster social connection and family resources.

 

The conversation covers growth and grit beginning with Kait's path from Wall Street to workforce inclusion, to business vitamins about staffing and product standards that match the mission. You’ll also hear about recognition from PA Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro, and Kait's invitation to join PA's Workforce Development Board. As Members 1st proudly watches Nour flourish, Sara says, “I have the good fortune of seeing the good that’s happening in our community every day.”

 

“I think as more folks are exposed to the benefits of employing somebody with a disability, the timeliness, the desire to work, the never calling off, never showing up late—it’s really beautiful,” says Kait. 

A Quantum Leap: From Nonprofit to Banking

Ellen Kyzer, VP, Client & Community Relations Director, PNC Bank, shares her non-traditional journey from a nonprofit career to banking in today's Grit & Gravitas podcast. "True growth comes from being uncomfortable; from pushing that boundary," says Anne Carnthan, co-host. And it's hard to go there willingly. "Let's not focus on the successes; growth happens in the failures," says Anne Deeter Gallaher, citing Jon Taffer's story at the Harrisburg Regional Chamber VIBE event. Ellen loves helping the institution come to life by investing in people. "I was mid-career, and in my heart, I believed that if I did this job well, I would be able to do more good by supporting this work in the community," says Ellen. Tune in for some big career business vitamins: say yes to hard things; learn about finances and bonds; sometimes you have to dig in and grit it out!