Life doesn’t come with a map and we’re on a journey to figure out what makes a life worth living. Behind The Village invites you to join a collective journey to understand how to live with intention and joy. Together, we learn, unlearn, and reimagine: from mental health to work-life balance, relationships to creativity. Welcoming, real, and full of discovery - join us as we chase honest answers and build a happier life, one conversation at a time.
Caregiver Burnout and the Break Nobody Takes | Carolyn Harris, LaToya Hillson & Terri Gortnar
Terri Gortnar was told her three year old daughter wouldn't see her tenth birthday. Six weeks later, she found out her son had the same disease.
This episode is about what happens to the person doing the caring. Terri is a mom of two children with CLN2 Batten disease and the co-founder of the Canadian CLN2 Foundation.
She's joined by Carolyn Harris, Respite Coordinator at Empower Simcoe, and LaToya Hillson, a Certified Child Life Specialist on the Paediatric Advanced Care Team at SickKids.
Together they get into the parts of caregiving nobody warns you about. The paperwork. The career you quietly grieve. The friends who stop calling because they don't know what to say.
We also talk about the thing most caregivers won't say out loud, which is that they need a break and feel guilty for wanting one. Carolyn says caregiver guilt is the single biggest reason families don't access respite care. Terri had to learn that letting a nurse into her home didn't make her less of a mother.
Right now 1 in 4 Canadians is a caregiver, and that number is on track to become 1 in 2. If it isn't you yet, it's someone you love.
Carolyn Harris - Empower Simcoe
Website: https://www.empowersimcoe.ca/ (https://www.empowersimcoe.ca/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empower_simcoe/ (https://www.instagram.com/empower_simcoe/)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerSimcoe/ (https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerSimcoe/)
LaToya Hillson - SickKids
Website: https://www.sickkids.ca/ (https://www.sickkids.ca/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sickkidstoronto/ (https://www.instagram.com/sickkidstoronto/)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sickkidsfoundation (https://www.facebook.com/sickkidsfoundation)
Terri Gortnar - Canadian CLN2 Foundation
Website: https://canadiancln2.org/ (https://canadiancln2.org/)
Cure for Claire: https://cureforclaire.com/ (https://cureforclaire.com/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cureforclaire/ (https://www.instagram.com/cureforclaire/)
Follow Us
Website: https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/ (https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/)
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/behind-the-village-podcast/id1763310022 (https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/behind-the-village-podcast/id1763310022)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/11fe4qRCPB22ybBg2wDznK (https://open.spotify.com/show/11fe4qRCPB22ybBg2wDznK)
Newsletter: https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/ (https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/)
Chapters
00:00 Intro
03:24 Diagnosis Day and a Rare Disease
09:24 Losing Your Career and Your Identity
18:22 Anticipatory Grief and Caregiver Burnout
29:18 What Respite Care Actually Looks Like
45:59 The Silence After Loss
54:34 How to Actually Support a Caregiver
Hey! We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode, send us a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/behind-the-village-podcast/voicemail)
8 Oct 2026
The Horror Movie Formula That Explains Our Fear of Death | Lauren Andrew
Lauren Andrew looked up how horror writers build fear, then realized the exact same formula explains why we're so afraid of dying.
This is Lauren's second time on the show. Last time we got into AWAKE and the work she and Amanda Kelly are doing on sustainable cremation. This one goes somewhere more personal.
We talk about the difference between fear of the unknown and what she now calls an intolerance of uncertainty, and why the people most afraid of death are almost always the ones who've had the least contact with it.
She also tells the story of being seven or eight years old at her grandfather's open casket, incense burning, nobody explaining anything to her. And what happened a year later when her little sister buried her hamster in a bedazzled shoebox and got it completely right.
If you've ever wondered what a death cafe is, why green burial is growing, or how to bring this up with your parents without it being weird, this one's for you.
AWAKE Ashes
Website: https://www.awakeashes.com (https://www.awakeashes.com)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awake.ashes (https://www.instagram.com/awake.ashes)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awakecanada (https://www.facebook.com/awakecanada)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awakecanada (https://www.linkedin.com/company/awakecanada)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@awakecanada (https://www.youtube.com/@awakecanada)
Who are we
Behind the Village is a podcast about how to live a life worth living. Real conversations about mental health, personal growth, and finding fulfillment.
Follow Us
Website: https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/ (https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/)
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/behind-the-village-podcast/id1763310022 (https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/behind-the-village-podcast/id1763310022)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/11fe4qRCPB22ybBg2wDznK (https://open.spotify.com/show/11fe4qRCPB22ybBg2wDznK)
Newsletter: https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/ (https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/)
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:41 Fear, uncertainty, and the formula behind both
08:42 Green burial and what changes when people show up
12:08 What a death cafe actually is
17:10 Her grandfather's funeral and what kids understand about death
23:47 Grief as a rock in your pocket
27:26 Preparing before you need to
24 Sept 2026
How to Show Up for Someone Grieving | Carol Richardson & Terri Gortnar
Most of us freeze when someone close to us is grieving. Carol and Terri know what actually helps, because they've lived it from both sides.
Carol Richardson left a VP role at Adobe to pursue her passion for flowers. Terri Gortnar was working in project management alongside Carol when both of her children were diagnosed with CLN2 Batten disease, a rare terminal illness.
Together they founded Compass Rose Floral Design, to help people create a lifetime of memories through unique floral arrangements.
We get into anticipatory grief and what it's like to mourn someone while they're still here. Why the flowers at most funerals were chosen for a reason that stopped existing a century ago.
And the thing Terri wishes more people understood, which is that "let me know if you need anything" puts the work on the wrong person.
Compass Rose Floral Design
Website: https://compassrosefloraldesign.ca/ (https://compassrosefloraldesign.ca/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compass_rose_floral/ (https://www.instagram.com/compass_rose_floral/)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Compass-Rose-Floral-Design-100092233083534/ (https://www.facebook.com/p/Compass-Rose-Floral-Design-100092233083534/)
Who are we
Behind the Village is a podcast about how to live a life worth living. Real conversations about mental health, personal growth, and finding fulfillment.
Follow Us
Website: https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/ (https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/)
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/behind-the-village-podcast/id1763310022 (https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/behind-the-village-podcast/id1763310022)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/11fe4qRCPB22ybBg2wDznK (https://open.spotify.com/show/11fe4qRCPB22ybBg2wDznK)
Newsletter: https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/ (https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/)
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:35 Fifteen Years of Friendship
04:12 A Terminal Diagnosis and Anticipatory Grief
10:20 Leaving Corporate to Build Compass Rose
17:25 Designing a Funeral for a Child
23:29 The History Behind Funeral Flowers
30:41 How to Show Up for Someone Grieving
Who has been a guest on Behind The Village
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Cole Mendez
Jacob Thompson
Kevin Keddy
Tom Stoate
Kate Waugh
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
25,756
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 76 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
92
Social presence
91
YouTube
72
Engagement
32
Contact Behind The Village
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