Losing a Parent Young: Carla Fernandez of The Dinner Party (Episode 163)
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Guest: Carla Fernandez, Author of Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life After Loss and Cofounder of The Dinner Party
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Losing a Parent Young: Carla Fernandez of The Dinner Party (Episode 163)
What does it mean to lose a parent at a young age — and how does that shape adulthood, identity, relationships, and grief? In this episode, Carla Fernandez, co-founder of The Dinner Party, shares what she’s learned from supporting thousands of people navigating early loss. Carla offers grounded, real-world insight into the emotional, social, and developmental impact of losing a parent young, and how community, storytelling, and shared grief can transform the healing process.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
• How losing a parent young affects identity and emotional development
• The best and worst things people say to someone in grief
• Does Carla believe in an afterlife?
• How Carla stays connected to her dad
• What happened when Carla received a medium reading
• Why early grief often goes unrecognized or misunderstood
• The long-term impact on relationships, attachment, and adulthood
• How community-based grief support helps people heal
• The origin and purpose of The Dinner Party
• What young grievers wish others understood
Carla Fernandez is an impact strategist, facilitator, and writer exploring how circles of people come together to shift culture when a new status quo is called for. Her first book, Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life After Loss, was published by Simon & Schuster, debuted as a #1 New Release on Amazon, and has been featured by NPR, The Guardian, and The New York Times. She is the cofounder of The Dinner Party, a national network of peer-support circles for young adults navigating loss, named on Buzzfeed as the #1 thing to do when grieving. Beyond her work in grief, Carla leads her Community Design Studio, partnering with foundations, governments, and impact networks to foster shared visions, map pathways to action, and rewire cultural narratives. She has been named an Eames Institute’s Curious 100, is a Senior Fellow with USC’s Annenberg School Innovation Lab, and a Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Scholar in Social Entrepreneurship at NYU. She divides her time between the Hudson Valley and Joshua Tree.
Follow Carla Fernandez: Website | Renegade Grief | The Dinner Party
Sponsors:
Forever Family Foundation Where science and spirituality work hand in hand to bring comfort to the bereaved.
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