Episode 18

Nine Years Without My Dad: The Story Behind LBee Day and Finding Strength in Grief

Published on: 27th August, 2025

Nine years.

That’s how long it’s been since my dad died.

Nine years of breathing around a space that never refills.

Nine years of being a parent without my favorite example of maternal energy.

Nine years of mothering, leading, starting a business, and still, on some days, needing to remind myself that “different” is just that—different, not broken.

Welcome to an episode that will mess with your pause button.

It’s about love, loss, empathy, and the complicated math of moving forward when someone who powered your entire operating system just isn’t here anymore.

(Spoiler alert: Siri has nothing on my dad’s emotional support iPhone.)

This is the story I didn’t know if I’d ever share with a mic.

I’ve written about this.

I’ve skirted around it in essays, offered tiny slices in speeches, and let it simmer in my private thoughts. But speaking it out loud? That’s a whole other layer of irreverence and vulnerability.

Qualities my dad basically trademarked.

Mentioned in this episode:

Build Your Better course

Build your better course - https://stan.store/elletwo/p/build-your-better

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About the Podcast

Different, not broken
You’ve spent your whole life feeling like something’s wrong with you. Here’s a radical thought: what if you’re not broken - just different?

Welcome to Different, Not Broken, the no-filter, emotionally intelligent, occasionally sweary podcast that challenges the idea that we all have to fit inside neat little boxes to be acceptable. Hosted by L2 (aka Lauren Howard), founder of LBee Health, this show dives into the real, raw and ridiculous sides of being neurodivergent, introverted, chronically underestimated - and still completely worthy.

Expect deeply honest conversations about identity, autism, ADHD, gender, work, grief, anxiety and everything in between.

There’ll be tears, dead dad jokes, side quests, and a whole lot of swearing.

Whether you're neurodivergent, neurotypical, or just human and tired of pretending to be someone you’re not, this space is for you.

Come for the chaos.
Stay for the catharsis.
Linger for the dead Dad jokes.