Grief and Light™ is an award-winning podcast and platform born from the belief that grief is a natural part of being human, not something to "fix." It needs witnessing. Tending. Integration. Through deeply human conversations on grief, resilience, and post-traumatic growth, it helps people feel less alone while fostering a more grief-fluent, hopeful world, one conversation at a time.
Hi, I'm Nina
Grief-fluency is a life-affirming skill that most of us were never taught. I'm working to change that.
I'm Nina Rodriguez, a speaker, writer, podcast host, grief-informed guide, and founder of Grief and Light™, where I help people and organizations navigate grief, change, and life's inevitable disruptions with greater compassion, resilience, and agency.
My work sits at the intersection of grief, storytelling, and meaning-making. Less “how to move on,” more “how do we lean in, expand our capacity, integrate, and reclaim our agency."
After the sudden death of my only sibling, Yosef, in 2019, I went searching for conversations that could hold grief honestly, sans platitudes. When I couldn't find enough of them, I started creating them.
The conversations we avoid are often the ones we need most.
That search became Grief and Light™, an award-winning podcast and storytelling platform exploring grief, life after loss, and post-traumatic growth through deeply human conversations. Featuring more than 120 episodes with psychologists, physicians, researchers, filmmakers, authors, advocates, and people navigating profound loss, the podcast has grown into an ecosystem of speaking, writing, community, and creative experiences, all rooted in fostering a more grief-fluent, hopeful world.
Today, that work extends beyond the microphone. I speak and facilitate meaningful conversations, write about grief, post-traumatic growth, and identity, and create experiences that invite people to slow down, connect, and reclaim their agency after their lives have been flipped upside down.
I'm also the creator of felicitreza™, a bilingual podcast about the many ways humans pivot and reinvent themselves.
Before Grief and Light™, my portfolio career spanned a think thank focused on Western Hemisphere affairs, communications, fintech, and real estate. Most recently, I completed a Grief Care Professional certification course led by psychotherapist, Megan Devine, well known for her book It' OK That You're NOT OK. Looking back, every chapter taught me something about people, relationships, and connection. Today, those experiences inform everything I create, from keynotes and workshops to podcasts, essays, and community experiences.
Whether I'm behind a microphone, on a stage, around a dinner table, or facilitating a creative gathering, my goal is always to create spaces where people feel seen, heard, and less alone.
Writing
From personal essays to editorial features, profiles,
and thought leadership, my writing explores the human condition, real stories of resilience, and the humans behind them.
We're in this together
Beyond the Bio
👉 I'm fluent in English and Spanish.
👉 Paris and Puerto Rico are always a good idea.
👉 So is a full moon meditation on Miami Beach.
👉 If I weren't podcasting about grief, I'd probably be podcasting about culture and travel.
👉 My rescue dog, Louie, reminded me how to smile again after my brother Yosef died.
👉 Proud multipotentialite. Jane of all trades, always led by heart-centered curiosity.
👉 I will always say yes to a sunset.
👉 I've lived in Puerto Rico, Oregon, and Florida.
👉 I believe Bad Bunny gave us the greatest Super Bowl halftime show in history. I said what I said 😉
👉 Favorite quote and life philosophy 👇
"We're all just walking each other home."
~ Ram Dass
