Hear Where You Belong

Embark on an inspirational journey with guests from diverse backgrounds, sharing stories of triumph, resilience, and faith, reiterating the common human longing for belonging. From dreamers to doers, believers to seekers, uncover the extraordinary in ordinary moments and the purpose within every life. Open your heart, mind, and ears to resonate with stories reminding you of your significance, belonging, and purpose. Welcome home to 'Hear Where You Belong'.

Hear Where You Belong is a education podcast hosted by Dea Irby, THE Belonging Strategist, with 107 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dea Irby, THE Belonging Strategist hosts Hear Where You Belong, a education show with 107 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #106

  There Are No Wrong Notes — What 100,000 Business Phone Calls Taught Me About God | Ep. 106 with Tom Vander Well

  Aug 18, 202644 minS1

  At 14 years old, Tom Vander Well had a vision — standing in a pulpit, hearing God say: you are going to proclaim my word. He just had no idea what that would actually look like. In Episode 106 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast , host Dea Irby sits down with Tom Vander Well — CEO of Intelligentix, Amazon international bestselling author, speaker, actor, playwright, and host of the Wayfarer Blog and Podcast. Over thirty years, Tom has analyzed more than 100,000 business conversations across every industry imaginable — and discovered something nobody expected: Every great customer service principle traces back to Scripture. Tom opens up about preaching across the state of Iowa at 15, the six years of pastoral ministry that were — in his words — awful, and the divine appointment with his old mentor Chuck that redirected his entire life into business. He shares how God taught him spiritual truths through phone calls, collections teams, and corporate America. How a chapter-a-day blog he started in 2006 now reaches readers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. How his daughter told him his grandchildren and great-grandchildren will one day hear his voice and know him through those 5,000-plus posts. He also shares the Miles Davis story — and the three words that became his favorite quote and the most beautiful picture of God's grace he has ever encountered: There are no wrong notes. Because God redeems every single one. The wrong chord Herbie Hancock played on stage. The six years in the wrong pulpit. The divorce. The detour. All of it — redeemed. His parting word is the one he has been living for twenty years: Be faithful to what God calls you to do. Live for something eternal. And somewhere in Hong Kong or Singapore or China — someone reading a chapter-a-day blog is proof that faithful is enough. Find This Call May Be Monitored on Amazon Join the chapter-a-day journey at tomvanderwell.com ️ Find the Wayfarer Podcast on Spotify, Apple, and all major platforms

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  Episode #105

  "If You Have a Pulse, God Has a Purpose — Finding Your Gold Thread" | Ep. 105 with Jason Ward

  Aug 11, 202637 minS1

  What if every seemingly random moment of your life — the teacher who handed you a piece of paper, the girl you met in an ice cream shop, the photography class you never meant to teach — was never random at all? That is what Jason Ward discovered standing on a mountaintop in Oklahoma, coffee in hand, asking God: how did I get here? And God answered. In Episode 105 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast , host Dea Irby sits down with Jason Ward — creative director, photographer, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Storm the Beach Advertising. An Appalachian boy from Paintsville, Kentucky, and the first man in his family in more than a century not to become a coal miner, Jason spent more than twenty years chasing success in advertising, education, and business — only to discover that where he truly belonged was where God had been leading him from the very beginning. In this episode, Jason shares the piece of paper his seventh grade science teacher handed him that set his entire career in motion. The NASA letter that arrived on his birthday and launched his art career. The grad school door God tried to close politely — and Jason put his boot through anyway. The girl in a Fort Worth ice cream shop who brought him back to God. The photography class he was handed on a Friday afternoon that started on Monday whether he was ready or not. And the mountaintop moment where God showed him — in a single compressed vision — how every single thread of his life had been woven together with precision. He also introduces the concept that has been reshaping the way he helps people: the gold thread. The unique story God has been weaving through your life all along. And the black threads — the adversary's attempts to choke it out. His free 12-question AI quiz at jasondward.com will help you find yours. His favorite quote from a recent sermon stopped him cold: If you have a pulse, God has a purpose. And his parting word — the truth God dropped on him in the editing stage of his own book — is the one every creative, entrepreneur, and dream-chaser needs to hear: Your true calling will never be self-serving. This episode is for everyone who has been pulling a plow when God built them to run. Find Find Your Gold Thread on Amazon and Audible Take the free gold thread quiz at jasondward.com #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #FindYourGoldThread, #IfYouHaveAPulseGodHasAPurpose, #JasonWard, #StormTheBeachAdvertising, #GoldThread, #BlackThreads, #RacehorseNotAPlow, #TrueCallingNeverSelfServing, #AppalachianBoy, #NASALetter, #CreativeEntrepreneur, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #FaithAndPurpose, #GodWovenPlan, #FindYourCalling, #BelongingMatters, #YouWereBuiltToRun

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  Episode #104

  They Walked 2,770 Miles Across America — and Were Never the Same Again | Ep. 104 with Rick & Jane McKinney

  Aug 4, 202641 minS1

  What happens when God tells you to put the sole of your foot down from one end of America to the other — and you say yes? Rick and Jane McKinney found out. 2,770 miles. Twenty miles a day. Six days a week. Six months. From Santa Monica Pier to the steps of the Supreme Court. And the biggest transformation? Not in the thousands of people they met along the way. In them. In Episode 104 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast , host Dea Irby sits down with Rick and Jane — church planters, world travelers, authors, and lifelong misfits who have spent their entire lives taking the road less traveled and watching God show up every single time. In this episode they share the prayer that changed the way they see every human being they meet. The woman named Evelyn who pulled over on a scorching Oklahoma day and became a lifelong friend. The tattooed motorcycle accident victim named Joe — and the woman who climbed into a ditch in her Sunday dress to pray with him. The neighborhood everyone warned them to avoid — where they received the warmest reception of the entire journey. And the baptism on Rick's last Sunday that was eighteen years in the making. Their book And So We Walked tells hundreds of stories from across America — and their ministry Road Less Traveled has been living out Robert Frost's famous words ever since. Rick's favorite quote says it all: I took the road less traveled by, and it has made all the difference. Jane's is Romans 8:28 — the verse she trusts no matter where God leads them next. And their parting word is the most tested advice they have ever given: You can't go wrong saying yes to God. Find And So We Walked at rickandjanemckinney.com #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #RickAndJaneMcKinney, #AndSoWeWalked, #WalkingAcrossAmerica, #TheRoadLessTraveled, #IslandOfMisfitToys, #MisfitsForGod, #JustSayYes, #Romans828, #BeingJesusToSomeone, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #FaithAndAdventure, #YouCantGoWrongSayingYesToGod, #BelongingMatters, #JoeInTheDitch, #MinistryCouples, #GodUsesMisfits, #EveryPlaceTheSoleOfYourFoot

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  Episode #102

  He Spent Years Dreaming of Belonging to the Writing World — Then He Wrote His Way In

  Jul 21, 202634 minS1

  What do you do when you have been a lifelong lover of books, a dreamer of worlds, and a quiet carrier of stories — but you are convinced you do not belong among the authors whose work fills your shelves? If you are T.A. Thompson, you stop waiting. You sit down at your keyboard. And you write your way in. In Episode 102 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast , host Dea Irby sits down with T.A. Thompson — novelist, storyteller, avid reader, and insurance professional by day, world-builder by night. T.A. is the author of The Mark , an adult dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world where a geneticist's dark experiment caused everyone on earth to die around age 22. The oldest person in the world is Alexandra — a 25-year-old lone wolf who does not belong anywhere, and whose journey toward community, accountability, and belonging is the heart of the whole story. T.A. opens up about what it felt like to write in isolation for years — just himself and his keyboard, occasionally dragging his daughter in to be his sounding board every fifteen minutes after emailing her a new chapter. He talks about the terrifying process of beta reading — soul-crushing feedback and all — and how it made the book better. He shares the moment he finally overcame his fear and hit publish on Amazon, and why that step felt like putting his baby out into the world for strangers to judge. He also gets honest about anxiety, the struggle to connect in networking rooms, and what it actually felt like to finally have conversations with other authors and realize: I belong here too. His favorite quote comes from his own book — spotted by his editor and now the line that stops everyone cold: We own our messes and our mistakes. It's how we earn the right to own our victories. And his parting word is one that hits differently when you have just spent time in a world where nobody lives past 25: Cherish every moment. Cherish the people you have. Because it doesn't last forever. This episode is for every dreamer who has a story inside them and has not yet found the courage to put it on the page. Find The Mark by T.A. Thompson on Amazon now Arcing and Liber Animarum also available #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #TAThompson, #TheMarkNovel, #AdultDystopian, #SelfPublishedAuthor, #WriteYourWayIn, #WeOwnOurMesses, #BelongingThroughStorytelling, #CherrishEveryMoment, #AuthorCommunity, #KDPAmazon, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #ImaginationOpensDooors, #DystopianFiction, #BelongingMatters, #FirstTimeAuthor, #StorytellerPodcast, #OwnYourVictories

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  Episode #101

  Her Late Grandmother Showed Up in a Dream at 2 AM and Said: Write Our Story

  Jul 14, 202634 minS1

  What would you do if your late grandmother showed up in a dream at 2 AM — not fuzzy, not vague, but fully present, her voice, her face — and looked you in the eye and said: write our story? Brigid Kennedy got up, made a pot of coffee, and started writing. In Episode 101 of Hear Where You Belong Podcast , host Dea Irby sits down with Brigid Kennedy — author, speaker, and violin teacher — whose journey into writing began with a calling she never expected and felt completely unqualified to answer. What started as one woman's decision to honor her family's history became Lost: The Lost City of Incan Gold — a sweeping historical fantasy series inspired by her real-life ancestors. Her great-grandfather was an Irish treasure hunter who married a woman in Peru in 1910 before disappearing into the Amazon. He never came back. And for generations, the wound of that unanswered question fractured everything. Until Brigid wrote the ending her family never got. In this episode, Brigid opens up about watching her family's history slip through the fingers of every generation — the unlabeled photographs, the half-remembered stories, the aunts and uncles who almost had the right name but couldn't quite remember. She shares what happened when she hit the same wall her family always hit — the moment her great-grandfather vanished — and how her grandmother kept pushing her through it. She talks about becoming the first Kennedy to return to Ireland since her great-grandfather left, standing on the cobblestones he ran on as a boy and feeling the full weight of it. She reveals the treasure her family actually found — now sitting in the Museum of Gold in Lima, Peru. And she shares why a New York Times bestseller told her: you didn't write fantasy. You wrote a reclamation. She also talks about the violin discipline that carried her through six to eight hours of daily writing, the editor disaster that made her book stronger, and the YouTube series where she reads every chapter herself — complete with the real family photographs. Her favorite quote, written right on the cover of her book, is the one that will stop you in your tracks: The fates do not punish. They prepare. This episode is for everyone who has a calling they have been ignoring. For every woman who feels guilty taking time for herself. And for anyone who has ever felt lost — without history, without roots, without the ending the story deserved. It's not about finding the time. It's about recognizing what matters enough to make the time. 💛 📚 Find Lost: The Lost City of Incan Gold and all of Brigid's content at BrigidKennedyBooks on all platforms 🎬 Watch An Author's Dream on her YouTube channel #HearWhereYouBelong, #YouBelong, #BrigidKennedy, #LostCityOfIncanGold, #TheFatesDoNotPunish, #FamilyReclamation, #AncestralHealing, #HistoricalFantasy, #WriteOurStory, #AnAuthorsDream, #IrishPeruvianHeritage, #GrandmothersDream, #TreasureHunterBlood, #NewEpisode, #ChristianPodcast, #BelongingThroughRoots, #FamilyLegacy, #AnswerTheCalling, #MakeTheTime, #YouAreNotLost

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