KELLY CERVANTES is an award-winning writer, speaker, and advocate known for her blog Inchstones, and USA Today bestselling books, Normal Broken: The Grief Companion for When It’s Time to Heal But You’re Not Sure You Want To and The Luckiest: A memoir of Loe, Loss, Motherhood, and the Pursuit of Self. She has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Cosmopolitan, and Fortune as well as featured on MSNBC, NY Times, and CNN. She sits on the boards of CURE Epilepsy and The Undiagnosed Diseases Network Foundation and hosts CURE Epilepsy’s podcast, Seizing Life. Born and raised in the Midwest, Kelly resides in Maplewood, NJ, with her family.

DAVID FERRUGIO, host of the acclaimed DEAD Talks Podcast with over 1 million followers, transforms his personal tragedy into a powerful exploration of life's most difficult moments. After losing his father in the World Trade Center on 9/11 when he was just twelve years old, Ferrugio has spent decades channeling his grief into meaningful conversations with celebrities, experts, and everyday people about death, spirituality, and the afterlife. 

Ferrugio is a podcast host, speaker, and author exploring one of humanity’s most universal yet avoided experiences: death. His father’s loss propelled him into a lifelong pursuit to understand grief, identity, and meaning—work that has led to hundreds of deeply personal conversations through DEAD Talks. Known for asking the questions most people avoid, he brings together perspectives from philosophy, spirituality, psychology, and lived experience to help others navigate loss and uncertainty. His work is grounded in a simple belief: when we face death openly, we learn how to live more fully.