When Work Doesn’t Fit and Grief Changes Everything with Chris Mamone

What happens when the life you built no longer fits — and then grief shatters the rest? In this episode, Regina sits down with Chris Mamone, who spent years navigating corporate sales, toxic workplaces, and the weight of being misunderstood. But everything shifted after the loss of his son, Caden. Chris opens up about:

• Growing up with both support and struggle — an encouraging grandfather and a controlling mother, childhood therapy, and feeling unseen.
• Building a career in sales and mortgages, only to collide with workplace bullying and toxic leadership.
• The grounding force of his marriage and the tough love that kept him moving forward.
• Losing his grandfather during the pandemic, and later his son, Caden — a stillbirth that became the most defining and painful experience of his life.
• How grief transformed his purpose, leading him toward grief coaching and helping others feel seen, heard, and understood.
• Why he believes quitting toxic jobs, investing in yourself, and refusing to conform are essential acts of self-respect.

 This is not just a story of loss — it’s about presence, courage, and the power of honouring the people who shape us, even after they’re gone.

Key Takeaways

• Childhood support and strain can coexist.
• Workplace bullying often hides behind high performance.
• Quitting can be a survival skill.
• Marriage as both anchor and mirror.
• Loss changes everything.
• Grief is not to be 'fixed.'
• Investing in yourself matters.

About:  Chris Mamone is an Acceptance Coach and the Founder of The Empowered Grief Journey Coaching Practice and Podcast. He helps individuals move from a place of pain into a place of hope and empowerment through their grief. Chris supports those navigating grief, loss, and trauma to rediscover self-acceptance and step into their personal power so they can create an inspiring future grounded in healing, truth, and purpose.

Connect at Website, Facebook, Podcast

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:06 Childhood, family dynamics, and a grandfather’s influence
• 5:08 ADHD diagnosis, therapy, and early challenges
• 9:53 Business and HR studies; first jobs in sales
• 12:13 Mortgage career and toxic workplace dynamics
• 19:02 When quitting becomes an act of self-preservation
• 26:27 Marriage, partnership, and tough love
• 36:36 Losing his grandfather during the pandemic
• 44:00 The stillbirth of his son, Caden, and its impact
• 52:30 Family conflict, grieving as a couple, and honouring Caden
• 56:25 Investing in coaching and what it taught him
• 1:02:13 How coaching shaped his grief journey
• 1:03:56 Grief coaching as vocation: listening, not fixing
• 1:06:42 Grief coaching and death doula
• 1:12:19 When condolences and the usual sympathies are not enough
• 1:17:09 Tools for Grief: Tarot and Exercise
• 1:24:44 Grief Counselling, podcasting and book anthology
• 1:29:30 Connecting with Chris
• 1:31:05 Tools/advice to help with grief that helped Chris
• 1:33:05 Closing