Question
Who is Brian D Smith and how has he transformed spiritual teachings?
Answer
I'm Brian D. Smith—grief guide, life coach, certified grief educator, and host of the Grief 2 Growth podcast. My daughter Shayna passed suddenly at 15 in 2015, and that loss completely redirected my life’s work.
My background is in engineering and entrepreneurship, so I approach spirituality and afterlife evidence with a researcher’s mind and a father’s heart. I’ve interviewed hundreds of mediums, NDE experiencers, and consciousness researchers, and I serve on the boards of Helping Parents Heal and IANDS.
Where traditional religion often asks for blind faith and fear-based obedience, my work leans into evidence-based spirituality: NDE research, mediumship, consciousness science, and lived experience. I emphasize that we are spiritual beings having a human experience, that death is a transition, and that love never dies.
Through my book and the Grief 2 Growth podcast, I try to “translate” spiritual teachings into something practical for grievers: tools for daily life, not just abstract beliefs. My GEMS framework—Gratitude, Exercise/Sleep, Mindfulness, Self-Care—helps people integrate spiritual ideas into how they actually live and heal.
What part of this transformation are you most interested in—grief healing, afterlife evidence, or moving beyond traditional religion?