Michael Allio is the founder of The L4 Project. He also appeared on season 17 of the Bachelorette. In 2017, Michael's wife Laura was diagnosed with stage 2B triple negative breast cancer -- just seven months after welcoming their first and only son, James, to the world. On this episode of How We Got Here, Michael describes how he and Laura met and reflects on their life together before and after her diagnosis. He also talks about holding space for both hope and grief while caring for someone else and how caregivers are affected by toxic positivity. Michael and Chris discuss their decisions to share their experiences with caregiving and loss publicly. Michael explains how Laura's legacy lives on through The L4 Project and the ways his organization helps children living with cancer tell their stories.
Find out how you can support The L4 Project.
This season of How We Got Here is sponsored by Anthem.
How We Got Here Podcast
Whether we’re in it or bearing witness to it, caregiving impacts everyone and profoundly shapes our purpose and identity. How We Got Here is a podcast that enriches our understanding of what it means to give and receive care by talking to people about the circumstances that introduced them to caregiving and how these experiences changed them.
Meet the Hosts
Affectionately known as “The Bow Tie Guy” to a vast network of family caregivers, Chris MacLellan is the Founder and CEO of The Whole Care Network™ and the author of “What’s The Deal with Caregiving?” Chris brings his signature soothing style to How We Got Here.
Christina Best is a writer and editor, and she is currently the editor-in-chief of Caregiving.com. Christina is committed to creating opportunities for caregivers and those that support them to connect and share stories and information.
Bill Odman, the “OD” in ODVOX Productions, is a full-time professional podcast producer and voice-over talent living in the American Midwest. Bill brings a varied and successful background spanning more than 35 years in information technology, management, health care, and performance to voiceover and podcast production projects.
Bill is an Executive Producer for and the “voice” of the Whole Care Network (WCN). You can hear his work on such podcasts as “Healing Ties 2.0” (WCN) and “Your Future Self” (WCN), “PodPourri” (The Ehlers Group), and upcoming podcasts from Caregiving.com, as well as the audiobook Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences (available on Audible and iTunes).