Advertise on podcast: Something Shifted with Sean Loots

For eleven years, Nova was there. Through hospital nights, panic attacks, and the quietest, hardest moments no one else saw. This is a deeply personal story about pet loss, the grief we don't always give ourselves permission to feel, and what it means to lose a companion who witnessed everything without judgment. It explores the unconditional bond between humans and animals, the impossible decisions that come with a pet's final days, and the quiet, holy nature of a connection beyond words. This is Rue's story about the dogs she's loved, and saying goodbye to one who knew her best. Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Celest Anthony spent four years watching her father disappear - piece by piece, hospital stay by hospital stay - before she said goodbye in 2025. This is a deeply personal story about anticipatory grief, the slow loss of a parent to chronic illness, and what it means to grieve someone who is still alive. It explores Churg-Strauss syndrome, caregiver identity, and the emotional complexity of standing in a doctor's room asking questions you never thought you'd have to ask. It's a story about love, faith, and the unexpected gifts that loss can leave behind. This is a story about losing a parent and discovering, slowly, who you are without them. Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Kojo Baffoe had a dream that shaped much of his life, until it didn’t. In this story, he reflects on what it means to lose something that once gave your life structure, meaning, and momentum. This episode explores loss, identity shifts, and the emotional process of letting go when the future you imagined no longer exists. It’s about the quiet aftermath of disappointment, and the slow rebuilding that follows when ambition no longer looks the same. A story about losing a dream, and learning how to keep going anyway. Listen to Your Footsteps: https://kojobaffoe.com/book/ https://kojobaffoe.com/podcast/ www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Marilize De Clercq had prepared for a life she was about to meet. A nursery ready, a name chosen, a future imagined. Then everything changed. This is a deeply personal story about stillbirth, grief, and the emotional reality of losing a child before birth. It explores pregnancy loss, faith in the face of unimaginable pain, and the question of how to keep walking when nothing feels certain anymore. A story about grief, love, and finding a way through darkness without staying there. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Jess Hinds became a mother while quietly struggling with overwhelm she couldn’t explain. That was until an autism diagnosis reframed her entire life. This episode explores late autism diagnosis in adulthood, neurodivergence in mothers, and the grief that can come with finally understanding yourself. It’s a story about identity discovery, self-compassion, and the moment language finally catches up with lived experience. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Richard “Harry” Harris played a central role in one of the most complex rescue operations in modern history: the 2018 Thai cave rescue. In this episode, Harry reflects on crisis decision-making, survival psychology, and the impossible choices made deep underground. It’s a story about risk, responsibility, and what it means to act when every option carries loss. A rare inside look at leadership under pressure and the cost of impossible decisions. Book: The Art of Risk by Richard Harris www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Kamini Pather built a high-profile career in food and media until her body forced her to stop. This story explores burnout after success, nervous system collapse, and what it takes to rebuild identity when achievement no longer protects you from exhaustion. A story about success, breakdown, and learning to live without performance as a survival strategy. Kamini's book All Dhal'd Up: https://likeharmony.co.za/shop www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Josh was 12 when his life changed. But the enormity of that moment took years to surface. This episode explores delayed grief, childhood bereavement, and how children process loss without the language to understand it at the time. It also looks at how creativity becomes a form of survival, and how storytelling can help us make sense of what we couldn’t process when it first happened. Listen to Josh's song "Life as a Fleeting Bird" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0EkW0sS6uYlfXB7InWl40o?si=40c3280ab1ed497c www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

What does it feel like to breathe freely for the first time at 40 years old? Tanya Bothma lived most of her life fighting for every breath. After years of chronic lung disease, she underwent a pioneering double lung transplant that changed everything; only to later face the reality of chronic rejection. This episode explores lung transplant survival, organ donation, chronic illness, and the emotional complexity of living with borrowed life. A story of resilience, medical reality, and extraordinary courage. This episode was originally recorded in 2024 while Tanya was on the waiting list for her second double lung transplant. In December 2025, Tanya received that transplant. Sadly, Tanya passed away shortly after. Her story lives on as a testament to courage, love, and the life-changing power of organ donation. This episode was first published in November 2024. https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/spear-reit-a-new-breath https://odf.org.za/ https://save7.org/ https://podcasthon.org/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Nicole Engelbrecht grew up in a home shaped by instability, violence, and survival. As an adult, she built a career telling other people’s darkest stories, until her own story began to surface in unexpected ways. This episode explores childhood trauma, identity formation, and the slow process of rewriting the narratives we build to survive. A story about survival, storytelling, and healing what was never spoken. Listen now at somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Conn’s life changed in a single moment when subtle symptoms revealed an aggressive brain tumour requiring emergency surgery. This episode explores brain cancer survival, identity fracture, and what happens when the self you know is suddenly interrupted by illness. A story about survival, uncertainty, and rebuilding identity after trauma. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

What does optimism actually mean, and can it be learned? In this episode, astrophysicist-turned-author Sumit Paul-Choudhury explores the psychology and science of optimism, drawing on research, history, and lived experience. This conversation looks at hope, meaning-making, and the role optimism plays in navigating uncertainty and loss. A story about choosing perspective, even when life does not make it easy. www.somethingshifted.co.za Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

Healing is like peeling an onion. The final episode of this season is a story about love, although it's not a traditional love story. It's about love addiction, the fear of not being loved and the kind of love that can keep you alive. It's about a mother's love, facing your greatest fear and learning to love yourself through it all. Sara-Jayne shares her complex family background, the trauma of being abandoned and adopted at 7 weeks, and her struggles with addiction alongside her partner's relapse. Through it all Sara-Jayne Makwala-King emphasizes that the opposite of addiction is not soberity, but rather connection. SJ is a journalist and author and has written two books about her life story. 'Killing Karoline' and 'Mad, Bad Love'. Both are available online and in all good bookstores. QUOTES: 'My biggest fear had just happened, and yet I was the one that had told him to go. I’d facilitated that. So that was the quake - the worst thing in the world that could happen to me as I exist is happening, which is that I am a single parent, and it’s all on me.' 'You feel as if it must be personal, and it isn't. If somebody's not ready to get well from addiction, there's nothing you can do. I am powerless over another person in their addiction.' https://www.instagram.com/seanloots https://www.instagram.com/thisissjking Killing Karoline: https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9781920601959 Mad, Bad Love: https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9781990973567 RECORDED AT LATITUDE PODCAST STUDIO: https://www.staylatitude.co.za/latitude-podcast-studio/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

My plan was to visit The Chaeli Campaign HQ. But life happened. So instead, I picked up the phone and spoke to the CEO, Zelda Mycroft. Zelda shares The Chaeli Campaign's mission to drive social justice and inclusion for people with disabilities. Highlighting the crucial role of advocacy in changing how society views and supports those with disabiliities, we speak about initiatives such as inclusive education and adaptive sports. Listen to how Athletics South Africa came to include wheelchair athletes to their rulebook because of the advocacy work done by The Chaeli Campaign. This episode forms part of Podcasthon 2025, using podcasting for good and raising awareness for charitable causes. QUOTE: "Inclusion can't be learned; it has to be lived. That is central to all the work that we do, seeing challenges as opportunities and inviting others along for the journey." WEBSITE: https://chaelicampaign.org/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/seanloots https://www.instagram.com/chaelicampaign/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify

What if your life suddenly changed course, not by choice, but by force? In this episode, host Sean Loots introduces Verity, a woman who decided to rewrite her life after a personal lifequake. Through courage, creativity, and deep self-reflection, Verity learned that we always have the power to author a new chapter, no matter how messy the last one was. Sean guides this conversation on transformation, resilience, and the small but powerful shifts that can lead to a completely new sense of self. In this episode, Verity Price tells a story filled with twists and turns. From losing her dad at 24, to walking the Camino de Santiago in his honor, writing a letter to the future, and even following a man to America. Verity went on to sell 2,000 copies of an album before it was even recorded, and in 2021, she beat 35,000 people to become the World Champion of Public Speaking. QUOTES: "I was shaken to my core. We had a week with him, and it was really rough because he was paralyzed. So this very verbal father that I'd had could just look at me with his eyes, and he was totally paralyzed from the stroke." “The biggest lesson I learned from that was that your ego often has one idea of what your life should look like and your soul has another.” "I cried so much while rehearsing them and hoping they could hear how much I love them, and my speech that I won with was literally saying, "Your life is a book. If you're not enjoying the read, pick up your pen and write a different story." https://verityprice.com SONG: "Forever In Me" https://open.spotify.com/track/2fWW1fHiJSkoyIcfF21hxB?si=0cb2a306e91d4104 https://www.instagram.com/veritypricespeaks RECORDED AT LATITUDE PODCAST STUDIO: https://www.staylatitude.co.za/latitude-podcast-studio/ Listen to Something Shifted: The Soundtrack on Spotify