More Changes

Survivors are the people who can adapt and change. They are also the ones who recognize that sometimes when a door closes, a window opens. Sometimes it's so easy to get wrapped up in staring at the shut door that you neglect to appreciate the breeze blowing in the open window. I refuse to let that be me.

For 15 weeks I ran a radio show called "Heart to Heart with Anna" on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness channel. It was an hour-long talk radio show and I had Guests ranging from congenital heart defect (CHD) survivors to parents of children with CHDs to nurses and doctors who work with CHD survivors to grandparents of children with CHDs. We had an extremely informative show where we discussed topics such as the genetics of CHDs, organ donation and transplantation, losing a child to a CHD and one show devoted to our theme for Season One entitled "You are Not Alone."

As the show was coming to an end, I reached out again to the 50+ Guests I had had on the show and told them that I hadn't been able to secure sponsors or advertisers. I asked them if they knew anyone who could help us save the show.

Jessica and Amy Cowin stepped forward and set up a fundraiser to try to save the show. Keeping Heart to Heart with Anna Beating was the title they gave to the fundraiser and they explained how we needed the CHD community to pull together to save the radio show. The fundraiser is still going on if anyone would like to donate.

The problem was that I was on a tight schedule with VoiceAmerica. To give me a little more time to raise the money, VoiceAmerica allowed three Encore Presentations and Noel Cipra of VoiceAmerica was even kind enough to run an article about our very last episode in the Voice America PressPass which demonstrated extra support.

Sadly, despite our best efforts, we didn't raise enough money to stay with VoiceAmerica. I had become accustomed to having my own sound engineers, an executive producer I could call upon if I needed to or the the general manager. They were always just a phone call or an email away. I started looking for an alternative. Completely ending the show wasn't the answer.

"Heart to Heart with Anna" has found a new home! You will find Heart to Heart with Anna on BlogTalkRadio and I'm thrilled. It means that I will now be my own engineer, producer and host, but thanks to Jessica and Amy, we have enough money for another year of "Heart to Heart with Anna." 

I'm taking a brief hiatus to learn how to work my studio and to figure out how to bring over all of my shows from VoiceAmerica. Change is difficult. Change is challenging, but change is good. I think that by focusing our energy on how to make our show the best it can be on BlogTalkRadio, it will be a change for the better for everyone!

Special thanks to Callie Rickard, Baby Hearts Press' graphic artist who came up with an entire array of possible logos for our 2nd season. Extra special thanks to the CHD community who came forward and voted for their favorite logo. We had over 160 people vote in about 36 hours and the winner was this precious little boy holding onto the heart-shaped balloon during a sunset. I told everyone that our theme for Season Two is "There is Hope! and one of my heart friends, Prossy Najiuma Amal, said, "New hope as the sun sets." I couldn't have said it better.

Meanwhile, I had the pleasure of being a Guest on Marie Biancuzzo's talk radio show "Born to Be Breastfed" with fellow heart moms, Nancy Sands and Amy Gerrish Bennett. You can listen to the show by going here: Born to Be Breastfed on March 31st at 5:00 p.m. CDT.  Marie Biancuzzo, RN debunks the myths surrounding breastfeeding a CHD baby.

"Heart to Heart with Anna" will begin airing on BlogTalkRadio starting April 1st at 2 p.m. CDT -- no fooling!

Please visit Baby Hearts Press at http://www.babyheartspress.com for resources for the congenital heart defect community.