Why can't we stop scrolling? And what happens when we mistake watching other people improve their lives for actually improving our own? In this episode, GiGi Meier sits down with nonfiction author and digital wellness advocate Heather Henderson, whose ten years inside Big Tech—at Google, Uber, and Visa—gave her a front-row seat to the technology shaping how we think, work, and live.

Heather shares the story behind her new book, Reclaim: How to Stop Scrolling Through Your Life and Start Living It, exploring addictive design, the dopamine loop that keeps us coming back, and the phenomenon she calls Growth Theater—the illusion that consuming self-improvement content is the same as growing. Her takeaway is unforgettable: "You can't consume growth. You have to grow through it."

But this conversation goes far beyond digital wellness. Heather reveals what it's really like recruiting software engineers for Google and Uber, why imposter syndrome workshops exist even at the highest levels of tech, the psychological cost of layoff culture, and why AI could actually make some young professionals more valuable. She also opens up about how technology has personally transformed her experience living with hearing loss—and shares the Google Bus moment that changed how she viewed technology forever.

Plus, practical strategies for reclaiming control without abandoning technology altogether: the First 10 Minutes Rule, the One-to-One Rule, the Digital Self-Audit, and understanding your personal red, yellow, and green attention dials.

Tune in for a fascinating conversation about escaping digital autopilot, the five human needs driving our habits, and how to actually live your life instead of scrolling through it.

Find Heather here:

Website:

https://www.iamheatherh.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/iam.heatherh/

How to find GiGi:

Website:

https://www.gigimeier.com/

Free Bonus and Deleted Scenes:

https://www.gigimeier.com/freebies

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/authorgigimeier

Substack:

https://gigimeier.substack.com

The Cougar Den Facebook Reader Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/authorgigimeier

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@gigimeier

What if you landed a traditional publishing deal for an entire six-book series—before writing a single manuscript? That's exactly what happened to authors Sabina Berlin, Lindsay Flanigan, and Cambria Williams, and in this episode, GiGi Meier sits down with Sabina and Lindsay to share the wild story behind Holiday Magic, a young adult romance series where every holiday brings a new love story and just a touch of magic.

These three friends created interconnected standalone novels—from Fourth of July treasure hunts and Labor Day romance to Christmas heartbreak and second chances—filled with hidden Easter eggs, unexpected connections, and plenty of romantic complications. Sabina and Lindsay reveal how they pitched an entire series to a publisher, what it really takes to collaborate with your best friends (the supportive parts and the occasionally frustrating ones), and whether more Holiday Magic books might be on the way.

Along the way, Sabina shares how an unexpected stop in a small airplane inspired a novel she wrote in just six weeks, while Lindsay explains how her daughter's experience being called "weird" inspired her fantasy series. Plus, they uncover some incredible real-life coincidences—including a ghostwriting project that reunited Lindsay with a piece of her family's history, and the terrifying emergency landing that connected these two authors long before they ever met.

Tune in for a fun, inspiring conversation about friendship, collaboration, and the magic of saying yes to big creative risks.

Find Sabine here:

Website:

https://www.sabineberlin.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/lindsayflanaganauthor/

Find Lindsay here:

Website:

https://authorlindsayflanagan.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/authorsabineberlin/

How to find GiGi:

Website:

https://www.gigimeier.com/

Free Bonus and Deleted Scenes:

https://www.gigimeier.com/freebies

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/authorgigimeier

Substack:

https://gigimeier.substack.com

The Cougar Den Facebook Reader Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/authorgigimeier

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@gigimeier

What do you do when life hands you circumstances you never would have chosen? In this episode, GiGi Meier sits down with Christian inspirational author Russ Hedge for an incredibly moving conversation about faith, cancer, perspective, and the power of choosing how you live.

Russ shares the story behind his book Life Happens and Then You Choose, and why his cancer diagnosis pushed him to publicly share a journey he once would have kept private. He opens up about four years of treatments, setbacks, surgeries, and unexpected miracles—including a devastating turn this summer when doctors discovered another brain tumor, leading to brain surgery and later the removal of part of his small intestine after two additional tumors were found.

Through it all, Russ talks about learning to hear God in the quiet, accepting help when you're used to being the one helping everyone else, and living with uncertainty without letting fear steal the time you have. He also explains why encouraging other people actually helps him through his own hardest days—and shares the incredible full-circle moment ahead: traveling to New York as a keynote speaker at a cancer conference while TWO of his books appear on a Times Square billboard.

From scaling back six weekly podcasts to two after a difficult summer, to his upcoming anthology Intentional Perspective: Finding Joy When Life Gets Messy, Russ's story is a testament to faith, resilience, and the choice to keep showing up.

Tune in for a conversation about hearing God in the quiet, refusing to live afraid of what might happen, and why "life happens and then you choose."

Find Russ here:

Website:

https://www.russhedge.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/rhedge1/

How to find GiGi:

Website:

https://www.gigimeier.com/

Free Bonus and Deleted Scenes:

https://www.gigimeier.com/freebies

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/authorgigimeier

Substack:

https://gigimeier.substack.com

The Cougar Den Facebook Reader Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/authorgigimeier

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@gigimeier