Can you provide a detailed biography of Brian D Smith's journey in grief support?

I’m Brian D. Smith—grief guide, life coach, certified grief educator, and host of the Grief 2 Growth podcast. My journey in grief support started the day my world shattered: in June 2015, my younger daughter, Shayna, went to sleep and didn’t wake up. She was 15. That loss changed everything about who I was and what I do.

I came into this with an engineer’s brain and a father’s broken heart. I dove into grief literature, afterlife research, near-death experiences, and mediumship—not to “escape reality,” but to understand it. Over time, people began coming to me for support because I could speak both “evidence” and “emotion.” I started writing at grief2growth.com, then launched the Grief 2 Growth podcast to interview mediums, NDErs, and consciousness researchers.

I later became a Certified Grief Educator, trained with experts like David Kessler, and began working one-on-one with grievers. Parents from communities like Helping Parents Heal and organizations like IANDS (where I serve on the board) sought me out because I’d “been there” and didn’t sugarcoat the journey. Out of my own healing, I developed my GEMS framework: Gratitude, Exercise/Sleep, Mindfulness, Self-care—practical anchors when life feels unlivable.

Now my work is a mix of:

1. Supporting individuals and families through coaching and education
2. Hosting Grief 2 Growth to share stories and evidence that consciousness continues
3. Speaking and serving on boards to help shift how we see death, grief, and meaning

At the core of my biography is this belief: We’re spiritual beings having human experiences. Death is a transition, not an ending. Love never dies. My mission is to walk with people from raw grief toward a life that’s meaningful again—without pretending the loss is “OK” or asking them to “move on.”

What part of my journey are you most interested in—my personal story, the research/afterlife side, or the practical grief-support tools I use with clients?