Episode 26

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Published on:

1st Jan 2023

Susan Koenig S3E26

In this New Year’s Day conversation with coach, attorney, and end-of-life doula Susan Koenig, she talks about what she has learned from a life as one of eight children raised on the edges of poverty, experiencing the deaths of several people close to her, and the joy that can be found by being attentive to life. Koenig also shares how we might frame our aspirations for the year ahead in this season of reflection and resolutions.

The fifth of eight children and raised a Catholic, Susan Koenig grew up in Little Italy in Omaha. She is an executive coach, attorney, author, and certified end-of-life doula. As an attorney, Koenig is the founder of the divorce law firm, Koenig|Dunne. Her book, Divorce in Nebraska, has been replicated in over 30 states. Koenig’s brother Tim died of AIDS in 1994. Her late husband, John, received a cancer diagnosis with a prognosis of death in two and a half years. With no options for surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, they embarked on a holistic healing journey of over a decade. Koenig shared her reflections in her TEDx Omaha talk, The Energy of Eulogy. Koenig has three grown children and makes her home in Little Bohemia with her partner, Kevin, and their two cats. Her word of the year for 2023: TRUE

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About the Podcast

Lives Radio Show & Podcast with Stuart Chittenden
Every Sunday at 9am on KIOS 91.5FM, Omaha's NPR affiliate, Season Three of Lives will tackle the big questions: What is a good life? Why are we here? How might we feel more connected? These and other big questions about how we live will be explored each week. Through intimate conversations, fascinating guests will share their spiritual, philosophical, artistic, and cultural approaches to exploring the wonders of our human experience. Join me as we delve into the practical and profound possibilities of living well.

While you wait for this new chapter of Lives to air, listen back to Seasons One and Two, featuring fresh voices and diverse perspectives on culture, community, business, and more. From the Midwest and beyond, fascinating guests share compelling stories spanning the fields of politics, business, media, community activism, arts and humanities, philanthropy, and more.

On air since January 2017, Lives Radio Show & Podcast initially broadcast on the community radio station Mind & Soul 101.3FM in north Omaha, housed at the Malcolm X Center, and more recently broadcast with 1st Sky Omaha.

About your host

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stuart chittenden

I believe that conversation enables us to live better and work well by building strong relationships as individuals, teams, and communities.

Driven by that belief, I founded Squishtalks to design and deliver conversation experiences and programs for small to Fortune 500 corporate clients and for a variety of non-profit organizations. I regularly speak and facilitate workshops on the principles of conversation and how their practice enlivens our potential. My belief in the profound power of conversation to awaken our humanity has led to me being selected to speak at three different TEDx events.

I am a British expatriate calling Omaha, Nebraska home since 2004. Before moving to America, I was a London-based lawyer working on major international transactions. In Omaha, as well as founding Squishtalks, I co-founded Gilbert+Chittenden with creativity expert Dan Gilbert, which is a creativity consultancy that helps individuals and organizations realize their best futures and apply design thinking processes to achieve innovative breakthroughs.

Among my community endeavors was the project: a couple of 830 mile long conversations. Inspired by John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, in an RV I adventured for four weeks along side roads and among small towns to talk with Nebraskans. Traveling through conversations, discovering the lives, cultures and stories of people I met, the project was a long hello to Nebraska.