Brian D. Smith knows grief from the inside. When his daughter Shayna passed suddenly in her sleep in 2015 at just 15 years old, Brian’s life was shattered. But in the wreckage, he found something unexpected – a calling.
Since then, Brian has become a certified grief educator, life coach, mental fitness trainer and author, working one-on-one with people who have suffered loss of every kind – helping them move from surviving to truly living again. He is also a certified creator on John Edward’s Evolve Plus platform, where he brings his unique blend of grief education and spiritual perspective to a wider audience.
Brian is the host of the Grief 2 Growth podcast, which has helped hundreds of thousands of people find hope after loss and writes regularly on Substack at grief2growth.substack.com, where he explores grief, healing, consciousness and what it means to live a meaningful life after loss. He serves on the Board of Directors of Helping Parents Heal, one of the world’s largest organisations supporting bereaved parents and on the Advisory Board of IANDS, the International Association for Near-Death Studies.
Brian’s approach is warm, honest and grounded in real experience. He doesn’t offer easy answers or empty comfort. Instead, he walks alongside grieving people with compassion and practical wisdom, helping them discover that while loss changes everything, it doesn’t have to end everything.
In After the Storm: Where Healing Begins, Brian brings that same spirit to honest, heartfelt conversations about grief, healing and what comes next.
