The Powerful Vulnerability Podcast is a new project where Dr. Ashley Abaie and her co-host, Catherine Russler, bring to light and tenderly hold people's most vulnerability stories. It is a depository for shared wisdom. It is a project designed to empower each other through shared storytelling. And we hope it will help us all remember each other's humanity and value.
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability! Today we are joined by Rosen Klepel. Rosen was born in Bulgaria and spent most of his early youth in an orphanage there. At age 12, he was adopted by a missionary couple, Duane and Joyce Klepel. He was then raised in Lake Elmo, MN until as a young adult he joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and became a missionary. He has two brothers and three sisters who are also serving the Lord as missionaries in Thailand. Rosen has always had a heart for children at risk such as girls that are trafficked and boys in orphanages.
Now, Rosen and his wife, Oksana, are part of the Leadership Development team for YWAM that provides training, retreats, debriefing, member care and life coaching for missionaries and leaders in the field. They are full time missionaries based in Ternopil, Ukraine where they support the exhausted troops in the midst of the war and work on sustainability projects, as well in discipleship and hospitality ministry with locals and visiting missionaries. Rosen and Oksana believe that people are God’s biggest treasure and that is why they are so passionate about investing in them.
For anyone interested in learning more or supporting Rosen and Oksana's work in Ukraine, their website is Missionary (https://rosenandoksanaklepel.com/) (Scroll down to "tax free donation" all the way at the bottom)
13 Feb 2026
Episode Ten: Interview with Sabrina Howard
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability! Today we are joined by Sabrina Howard. Sabrina is the founder of the All Hands in Autism Foundation, a nonprofit that empowers families to move beyond surviving to thriving. As a recently divorced single mother of four children, all diagnosed on the autism spectrum, Sabrina’s story is a testament to the power of resilience. Her journey began with the profound challenge of each diagnosis. But rather than being defined by devastation, she became a resourceful, self-taught therapist and homeschooling pro to meet their diverse needs.
She also transformed her own struggle to find resources into a powerful shared mission; Her All Hands in Autism Foundation guides families through the initial shock of a diagnosis and equips them with the tools for success. Her Facebook Group called “No Limits Autism Group” provides parents with community, and she hosts the Sabrina Leanne Podcast, where she discusses all things autism. Her work is driven by her belief that every parent can become a powerful advocate for their child and find a path to truly flourish.
30 Jan 2026
Episode Nine: Interview with Sarah Collins Prince
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability! Today we are joined by the lovely Sarah Collins Prince. Sarah is a Christian pastor, author, community developer, life coach, and speaker. Sarah and her family are Americans and have been living in the South African township of Ocean View for 16 years. They are the founders of the NGO ‘Ubuntu Football,’ which aims to develop teenagers to be citizens of significance in South Africa. Sarah is the author of her memoir, “Anguish to Awakening,” on the story of their family intersecting with special needs and community, and she is currently writing her second book. The focus of Sarah’s life is to work with people in the intersections between spirituality, healing, growth, and empowered living in a holistic way that brings true action and life.
22 Jan 2026
Episode Eight: Interview with Dr. Tiffany Tajiri
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability. Today we are joined by the incredible and magical Dr. Tiffany Tajiri, a board-certified clinical psychologist, Air Force veteran, musician, and performing artist. She spent years working at the highest levels of government mental health, serving as a supervisory psychologist and clinic chief, before stepping away to fully answer a deeper calling.
Today, she creates at the intersection of psychology, movement, music, and spiritual embodiment. She is the creator of Freedom Rhythm, a neuroscience-informed movement experience that transforms emotion into energy through dance, rhythm, and creative expression. Her work is rooted in the belief that healing and self-actualization don’t come from suppression or perfection, but from reconnection—to the body, to creativity, and to inner truth.
She is also the author of Born to Create and Peace After Combat, and a singer-songwriter with music published on major streaming platforms. Across everything she does—writing, movement, music, and teaching—her mission is to help people break free from conditioning, reclaim their creative power, and remember who they were before they were taught to shrink.
Freedom Rhythm – Emotion-Focused Movement (https://iamdrtiffany.com/)
26 Dec 2025
Episode Seven: Interview with Emily Barnhardt, LCSW
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability! Today, we are joined by Emily Barnhardt. Emily is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a consultant with the Bridging Families™ Institute at Crossnore Communities for Children, a child welfare nonprofit in North Carolina supporting children and families across the foster care continuum. In her role, she helps lead the expansion of an innovative professional foster parenting model rooted in trauma-informed, family-centered practice and focused on reimagining how families experience the foster care system. Emily holds a BA in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Throughout her social work career, Emily has worked across clinical and community settings, including roles supporting survivors of human trafficking, sexual and domestic violence, and coordinating multidisciplinary response teams to build collaborative, trauma-informed systems of care. She frequently speaks on topics she cares deeply about, from training National Guard service members on supporting sexual assault survivors to leading college and high school workshops on boundaries, healthy relationships, and violence prevention. In this episode, Emily joins the conversation in a personal capacity to share her own lived experience with grief and loss – not just the loss of loved ones, but the many ways grief shows up across our lives and lives in our bodies over time. Rather than speaking from a professional role, Emily speaks as someone who has intimately known grief, continues to navigate its complexities, and is learning what it means to live honestly and gently alongside it.Emily references a few resources in her remarks. If you are interested in learning more about The Dinner Party, please visit www.thedinnerparty.org. If you are interested in the somatic work that she describes, you can find Dr. Hillary McBride's book, The Wisdom of Your Body anywhere books are sold
26 Dec 2025
Episode Six: Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Fulgaro
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability! Today we are joined by Dr. Elizabeth Fulgaro. Dr. Fulgaro is an award-winning author and songwriter. As Dr. United States of America 2026 she is spreading her message, “It’s all about healing hearts.” Dr. Fulgaro has personally experienced how devastating self-deprecating thoughts and inner wounds can be. She is passionate about facilitating inner healing and longs for each person to embrace her innate, priceless value and choose to courageously become more fully who she is. Dr. Fulgaro has written 9 books and developed more than 250 song prayers focused on soul care, emotional healing, healthy relationships, abuse recovery and financial capacity building. Her doctoral research shows listening to her song prayers daily helps increase resilience and emotional well-being. Dr. Fulgaro is also a certified financial planner and professional financial coach. A special emphasis of her work is with military and veteran communities. She and her husband have three adult children. In her free time she enjoys long walks in the countryside, needlepointing, and visiting European foreign exchange connections who have become family.https://www.youtube.com/@UCOoUcdksg9V0Ycnmz9KCSOA
27 Nov 2025
Episode Five: Interview with Dr. Kaitlin Swanson
Welcome back to Powerful Vulnerability! Today we are joined by one of Dr. Ashley's best friends in the whole world, Dr. Kaitlin Swanson. Dr. Swanson graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of William and Mary in 2009 and with her doctorate in psychology from Rutgers University in 2016. Dr. Swanson spent her career as a school psychologist for at risk middle schools. Dr. Swanson now lives in New Jersey with her husband of nine years, Jon. She has been battling ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) for over nine years and has become paralyzed, losing her ability to walk, work and speak. Dr. Swanson communicated with us today with the assistance of her eye-gaze communication device, the Tobii Dynavox, and her voice clone from ElevenLabs. Join us as she shares about her disease, her coping strategies for when life is not how you planned for, and her words of wisdom.If you would like to join us for the 2026 Seaside ALS United Walk, you can find registration and donation information here https://secure.alsmidatlantic.org/site/TR?fr_id=1272&pg=entry
20 Nov 2025
Episode Four: Interview with Alagie Jammeh
Welcome back to the Powerful Vulnerability podcast! Today we are joined by Alagie Jammeh. Alagie is a political asylee. His uncle, who was the president and dictator of his native Gambia for 20 years, threatened Alagie after he expressed support for human rights while in the US for college. He previously worked as the 2020 Almami Cyllah Human Rights Fellow at Amnesty International USA as well as in think tanks and on Capitol Hill. He holds a Master's from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, focusing on Security Policy and Conflict Resolution, and a Bachelor's in Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Alagie is a native speaker of Mandinka, Wolof, and Jola, and also speaks Foni, Fula, and some French and Arabic. Alagie lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and three-year-old son, and is an avid fan of Manchester United, the LA Dodgers, LA Lakers, and New England Patriots. Listen in as he describes growing up in The Gambia, studying in California as an international student and all the life lessons he learned along the way!
13 Nov 2025
Episode Three : Interview with Charles Halley
On today's episode of Powerful Vulnerability, Dr. Ashley And Catherine are joined by Charles Halley. Charles is a husband, father of two and teacher. He has spent the majority of his adult life in service and standing in solidarity with people groups around the world. He talks with us today about his experiences in South Africa and India and working with genocide survivors in refugee communities of Palestinians and Rohinga peoples. Charles references some resources and organizations in his interview that can be found below:Books:“Christ in the rubble’ - Munthar Issac“On Palestine“ - Noam Chomsky/Ilan Pappe“The Hundred Years War on Palestine” - Rashid KhalidiSocial Media:@wearethepeace@middleeasteye@aljazeeraenglish@msrachelforlittles@Jewishvoiceforpeace@wizard_bisan1Podcasts:Across the DivideLet’s Talk PalestineRethinking PalestinePalestine This WeekChrist at the CheckpointDonateSanad Initiative - supporting Gazans as well as Palestinian refugees in Cairofor giving details message them at their ig page @sanad_palestineChristian Mission to Gaza- providing meals to Palestinians affected by the genocidehttps://www.cm2g.org/take-action
13 Nov 2025
Episode Two: Interview with Dr. Ashley (Part II)
In episode two, we are continuing our interview of Dr. Ashley about her memoir, Coming Free. If you recall, we left off last episode where Dr. Ashley’s visa to stay in Ukraine was denied. Today, she will tell us how she survived two abusive marriages and the wisdom she gained in rebuilding.You can find Coming Free on Amazon at https://amzn.to/479hp10
13 Nov 2025
Episode One: Interview with Dr. Ashley (Part I)
Welcome to the first episode of The Powerful Vulnerability Podcast, with your hosts, Dr. Ashley and Catherine Russler. In our inaugural episode, Catherine interviews Dr. Ashley on the first half of her book, Coming Free. Listen in for deep wisdom that sets the stage for this incredible, new podcast. We are so glad you are on this journey with usYou can find Dr. Ashley's book, Coming Free, on amazon at https://amzn.to/479hp10
13 Nov 2025
Powerful Vulnerability Trailer-- Official
The Powerful Vulnerability Podcast is a new project where Dr. Ashley Abaie and her co-host, Catherine Russler, bring to light and tenderly hold people's most vulnerability stories. It is a depository for shared wisdom. It is a project designed to empower each other through shared storytelling. And we hope it will help us all remember each other's humanity and value.
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