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I love people and I love hearing their stories. I want to know who they are, how they got there, what didn’t go as expected, and what they did about it. That passion and curiosity led me to create “Totally Unexpected!” A podcast featuring interviews with guests who inspire me. Whether it’s the mom next door, the enlightened academic, or the maverick healer, I am here to learn about their unique contribution to our world. I’ve had my own fair share of unexpected twists and turns; a permanent ...
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Of Mystics & Poets: A Tale of an Empowered Judaism Chavie and Tonia connect over their shared upbringing as daughters of Chabad emissaries in Texas, reflecting on how empowering it was to carry so much responsibility from a young age. Chavie asks how Tonia maintained her creative spirit as a teenager, within a system that often values conformity, a…
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Facing My Fear of Being Alone Simi Polonsky, co-founder of The Frock NYC, joins Chavie to reflect on her journey from a stable and joyful childhood in Coogee Beach, Australia to navigating the loss of her first husband, Shua, at just 31. Chavie and Simi explore whether hardship must always be the catalyst to “doing the work, and how Simi’s return t…
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Food is Your Friend - Reframing Trauma to Heal Your Body Chavie and Lisa begin by bonding over their shared experience as podcast hosts and reflecting on Chavie’s participation in Lisa’s program. Lisa traces her path from personal trainer to certified health coach, eventually pursuing a Master’s and Doctorate in Social Work and launching a holistic…
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Motherhood of Choice: Infertility, Adoption, Race & Everything in Between Chavie and Malka begin the conversation by reflecting on their shared experience of marrying young and expecting to have children right away. They discuss the harsh reality of infertility, the emotional toll of repeated interventions, and the pivotal decision to stop and cons…
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Beyond the Surface: How To Heal & Restore Our Skin Chavie begins the conversation by sharing her struggles with skincare and the transformative experience that led her to Linda, forming a deep friendship along the way. Linda reflects on what it was like to be born in Hawaii, grow up in Washington State, and move to Japan with her family for middle …
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Rabbi Chaim’s Story: Mentorship, Growth, & Therapy Chavie begins the conversation by asking Chaim about his childhood, growing up under the Rebbe’s wings in Crown Heights. He shares how idyllic it was to live in the Rebbe’s presence and how it permeated every aspect of daily life. He also reflects on some of the negative influences he absorbed as a…
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Nurturing Your Creative Soul Mina and Chavie begin by reminiscing about their high school days together in Chicago. Mina reflects on how her parents nurtured creativity in each of their children, inspiring her to explore photography and writing. She then shares the earth-shattering moment when, at just eight years old, she learned her brother passe…
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Interior Design: It Starts from Within Brochie talks with Chavie about pausing her interior design business after having twins, which created an "empty space" for her to explore a new approach to design. She shares how she discovered Human Design, which focuses on identifying one's unique gift to share with the world and the most natural way to do …
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Finding Your Voice Through Fashion Chavie and Michal compare notes on growing up outside mainstream religious communities, and speaking Yiddish and Hebrew, respectively, as their first languages. Michal shares how she developed a passion for education early on and always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Chavie and Michal then discuss how although t…
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Hashem, Challenge Accepted! Sheva and Chavie begin by discussing the value of dark humor as a coping mechanism for navigating life’s painful moments. Sheva reflects on her childhood, growing up in the desert of Tucson, Arizona, on a beautiful 10-acre property raised by her hippie parents. After being expelled from high school, she attended a school…
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Parenting Teens & Ourselves Shaina and Chavie start off by reflecting on Shaina’s upbringing on Shlichus (Chabad outreach) in 1970s Los Angeles. They explore how the unique challenges of her childhood and teenage years pushed her to grow up before she had the tools to manage her emotional and mental health. As a young parent, Shaina was determined …
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Faith & Fashion Aligned In this episode, Chavie and Sheva dive into the intersection of fashion and spirituality. Sheva shares her journey from being a fashion-forward teen with limited resources to founding a spiritually-driven fashion magazine that empowers Jewish women to embrace their essence. She reflects on transforming mivtzoim, (Jewish outr…
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The Complex Emotional Lives of Our Teens Sarah and Chavie begin by discussing how Sarah started journaling as a young child, which ignited her love for self-expression. They explore the tendency for kids to box themselves into labels and emphasize the importance of letting them know it’s okay to have fun and embrace who they are. The conversation s…
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What Is Emotion Code? Moshe shares his journey with Chavie growing up as a shy introvert in a large family and developing a debilitating anxiety with many physical symptoms that went unexplained for years. Life took a dramatic turn when his wife had a seizure and was diagnosed with a brain tumor, propelling him into a journey of healing and self-di…
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A Mother & Daughter's Adoption Journey Chavie and Shoshana begin with an account of Shoshana's challenging childhood before she found a fresh start with the Bruk family in Bozeman, Montana. Shoshana shares what it was like to be the eldest of her new siblings while integrating into an observant Jewish household and community. Wanting to fully commi…
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Does Astrology Align With Traditional Judaism? In this episode, Mendel tells Chavie about his first encounter with astrology on a random night in Brooklyn. A man read his chart and he was fascinated by how accurate the reading was. That set him on a journey to learn everything he could about astrology and the human psyche. Mendel also shares about …
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Recap of the Events of October 7th Chavie and Chana begin by connecting over their shared Chicago connection and their mutual appreciation for living in the mountains. Chana shares how she immediately felt at home in Tzfat, Israel after attending seminary there. They also bond over embracing a variety of personal and professional talents, rather th…
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Sex-Ed in Traditional Orthodox Communities Chavie and Elisheva begin by discussing the challenges and benefits of creating free content on social media. Elisheva shares how her love for words started at a young age and how she always aspired to be a therapist. She eventually specialized in relationships and sexuality after noticing that very few we…
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A Coffee Date with G-D Sara Miriam Smith has a master's degree in special education and is the author of, "Are You My Mother?" Chavie and Sara Miriam talk about how they met on social media and then became friends in real-life. They discuss how hard parenting is and that instead of beating ourselves up when we make mistakes, we should believe in "o…
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Introducing: Totally Unexpected! with Chavie Bruk
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Introduction to my new podcast: Totally Unexpected! I love people and I love hearing their stories. I want to know who they are, how they got there, what didn’t go as expected, and what they did about it. That passion and curiosity led me to create “Totally Unexpected!” I've had my own fair share of unexpected twists and turns; a permanent infertil…
…
continue reading
