The TCOM Podcast: All About How People Change

A new podcast co-production from the Praed Foundation and Actually Quite Nice.

Inspiration

In our line of work, we try to understand a lot about people, but there’s still a lot we don’t know about how people actually change.

 “All of us want to try to be the best person we can be, but we all start in different places, and we all choose a different definition of ‘better’”. – John Lyons, producer of shift, shift…Bloom!

There are all sorts of theories, therapeutic approaches, and interventions, but we don’t have a clear idea on what leads people to change to make their lives more fulfilling. The idea of this podcast is to collect stories from different people in different places with different experiences to understand how they’ve changed, and understand how they see their personal change processes.

Transformational Stories

The newly launched TCOM podcast, shift, shift…Bloom!, examines how people change, why they change, and how they sustain the changes that are most important to them in their everyday lives. The ten-episode first season features guests who consider themselves change makers and change embracers as well as those who identify as resistors of change — we’re all somewhere on that spectrum in different domains of our lives, aren’t we?

Conversations with host Kristen Cerelli explore the importance of mindset, personality, life circumstances, communities of support, and sources of inspiration on the process of transformation. In ten additional bonus episodes, Dr. John Lyons contributes his unique perspective, seeking to illuminate how change itself can be both deeply personal and beautifully universal.

About the Host

Kristen Cerelli sets the tone for shift, shift…Bloom!, anchoring interviews with a perspective gained from her work as a performer and from her training as a theatre artist and personal coach.

“Compelling guests from all across the world share their personal stories of change, and the ensuing interviews have been enlightening.” – Kristen Cerelli, host of shift, shift…Bloom!

Kristen crossed paths with Dr. John Lyons on their mutual “first day on the job” at the University of Kentucky. The two professors struck up a conversation, and although from very different worlds, they discovered a shared interest in the process of human transformation.

Kristen was part of the team that brought TCOM training videos to the California Department of Social Services. Kristen has appeared on stage in NYC, on television, and she has released two CDs of original songs. She holds an MFA from The New School and enjoys broadening her experience as a creative storyteller.

Where to Listen

EP17: You Can’t Outrun Your Sh*t: Andrea Ciannavei on Weight, Addiction and Writing Towards Healing – Shift Shift Bloom

📝 Shift Shift Bloom S2 EP 17 Show NotesThis is the story of a body—how it holds pain, how it hides it, and how it sometimes saves your life by refusing to keep going.In this episode, Kristen talks with Andrea Ciannavei: writer, activist, playwright, TV producer (Mayans MC, Boots), and end-of-life doula. Andrea is also someone who spent decades navigating addiction, trauma, rage, disordered eating, and a complicated relationship with the world—and her own body.From her early years in New Rochelle and the halls of the Actors Studio, to gastric bypass surgery, 12-step recovery, and a spiritual path paved with dogs, writing, and grief work, Andrea’s story is brutal, funny, brilliant, and deeply felt.In this conversation, Andrea shares:🍽️ How growing up in an Italian American family shaped her earliest experiences with food, shame, and visibility🩺 Why her gastric bypass was “a suicide attempt with a side of surgery”🚬 How addiction masked deeper emotional pain—and how 12-step work cracked things open✍️ How writing helped her integrate the past and develop her voice🌈 Why she became an end-of-life doula—and how death work is deeply linked to trauma recovery🧠 How trauma isn’t just a personal wound—it radiates outward like fallout🔥 Why healing is nonlinear and sometimes angry, and why she’ll never stop fighting for her own lifeThere are moments in this episode that hit like a freight train, and others that feel like a hand on your shoulder. If you’ve ever struggled with body image, addiction, loss, or the long arc of becoming — this one’s for you.🔗 Related Resources📘 Andrea’s Play: Pretty Chin Up Published by Playscripts, Inc.🎤 Andrea Ciannavei – IMDb📚 It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn – Book link💀 National End-of-Life Doula Alliance – Certification and resources🧰 The RISE Framework – A trauma-informed approach from TCOM🧭 TCOM (Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management) – Healing-centered strategies for helpers and systems💬 Favorite Quote“I was the biggest I’d ever been, and I knew I was going to die. And I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live—but I didn’t know how.”Andrea Ciannavei is a writer, actor, teacher, producer, and political activist.TV: Co-Executive Producer on Boots (Netflix/Sony), Mayans MC (FX Networks), The Path (Hulu), Last Men Out (National Geographic);  American Odyssey (NBC Universal), Copper (BBC America), Borgia (Canal Plus). Plays: The Winstons, one-act play commissioned by Hangar Theater, Deep Trees, The Hard Sell, 7 Captiva Road, and Pretty Chin Up which received a development production at LAByrinth Theater Company (Artistic Directors: Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz) at The…

1. EP17: You Can’t Outrun Your Sh*t: Andrea Ciannavei on Weight, Addiction and Writing Towards Healing 01:04:24
2. EP16: Run Towards Something: Mexican Immigrant "Abrahan" on Illegal Crossings and the Path to Citizenship 01:12:30
3. EP15: Raising Yourself: Mary Grace Lim on Immigration, Inheritance, and Forging a Voice 54:50
4. EP14: Holding On Tight and Healing through Entrepreneurship (Part 2) with Richie Barlow 59:17
5. EP13: Finding Light in the Darkest Places (Part 1), with Richie Barlow 57:25

The podcast launches today (Monday, February 14^th), with the trailer and first episode now available. The first episode features Jordan Constantine, a Senior Policy Analyst and Safe Systems practitioner for the IPH Center, who shares his gender transition journey.

shift, shift…Bloom! is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Soon, this will be available everywhere you get your podcasts. To further support the podcast or access exclusive content, you can become a member of shift, shift…Bloom!’s Patreon.

A new episode will be available every Monday, with the end of Season 1 occurring on April 18th. Bonus episodes for Patreon subscribers will first be available on Friday, February 18th and 9 more to follow weekly, finishing April 22^nd.

https://www.shiftshiftbloom.com/listen

Links:

• Website: Shift Shift Bloom…A Podcast About How People Change
• Patreon: Shift Shift Bloom is creating Podcasts About How People Change | Patreon

The show was created by host Kristen Cerelli and producer Tim Fall, in collaboration with Dr. John Lyons, director of The Center for Innovation in Population Health at The University of Kentucky, and founder of The Praed Foundation, supporting the development and dissemination of support system improvement strategies called Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management, or TCOM.