I Know Lonely Podcast by Only7Seconds®

In preparation for Global Loneliness Awareness Week (GLAW), June 10-June 16, 2024, we decided to bring on guest, colleague, and friend Jillian Kornmeier, who is the executive director for The Coalition to End Social Isolation and Loneliness (CESIL) in addition to the Foundation for Social Connection (F4SC).

In this episode, Jillian discusses ways in which we can promote socially healthy communities, the influence of technology and ...

*The following story contains content around suicide & mental health struggles that may be sensitive to some viewers.

Meet Lorie, the final storyteller of season 2 for the I Know Lonely Project. Whewwww, we know all of these have been incredible, but this last one is one you don’t want to miss.

When her story took a different direction than she expected, Lorie found herself alone at the darkest point in her life. A friend reach...

Meet Abbi Hamlin, our season 2 storyteller for the I Know Lonely Project this month. As a middle school athlete, Abbi struggled with a severe eating disorder. Through her journey, she shares about the power of friendships in her story and how connecting with the right therapist changed her healing journey.

Now, Abbi works as a sports nutritionist specifically with women and she gets to use her story to share hope and healing w...

Meet Tyler Bjork, our season 2 storyteller for the I Know Lonely Project this month. Understanding the deep hurt that comes from bullying and feeling unseen, Tyler shares his story of loneliness. His story explains how where we feel seen, where we feel accepted and where we feel belonging are often the places we can be the most authentic. For him, that was spaces like theatre, choir, and performing arts and getting involved in Spec...

Meet Tyler Bjork, our season 2 storyteller for the I Know Lonely Project this month. Understanding the deep hurt that comes from bullying and feeling unseen, Tyler shares his story of loneliness. His story explains how where we feel seen, where we feel accepted and where we feel belonging are often the places we can be the most authentic. For him, that was spaces like theatre, choir, and performing arts and getting involved in Spec...

Meet Kevin Berthia, the first storyteller of 2024 for season 2 of the I Know Lonely Project. As a survivor of 22 suicide attempts, depression and a battle over mental health has always been a deep part of Kevin’s story. His journey hasn’t been an easy one, but Kevin lives life with hope. Kevin shared something really powerful in his podcast, he said “I think that we don’t understand the void that we each fill in that world. There’s...

Meet Kevin Berthia, the first storyteller of 2024 for season 2 of the I Know Lonely Project. As a survivor of 22 suicide attempts, depression and a battle over mental health has always been a deep part of Kevin’s story. His journey hasn’t been an easy one, but Kevin lives life with hope. Kevin shared something really powerful in his podcast,  he said “I think that we don't understand the void that we each fill in that world. Th...

As Only7Seconds has heavily shifted our focus to youth, we wanted to bring on one of our partners to share a perspective on why youth belonging is critical to making change in the youth loneliness epidemic.

Our guest today is Erich Boltz from The Center For Educational Effectiveness (CEE). CEE develops and delivers quality surveys, data tools and services that catalyze community, district, school, and individual growth.

For more o...

It's quite fitting the first story we share after our announcement about our focus shifting to youth & young adults over the next 3 years is a story from a teenager! Meet Apuroopa Kavikondala. As an ambitious high school student, Apuroopa is a 5x self-published author and mental health advocate. In her story, she shares about her experience with friendships and some of the lessons she's learned so far. One of the bigges...

Mike's story this month shared about the rich friendships he had and we wanted to bounce off of that topic by bringing on a friendship expert to talk about how we can build better friendships. In this bonus episode, Luke chats with speaker, author, and friendship coach, Kat Vellos about how we can have more meaningful friendships. Whether you are struggling to take the relationships you have to a deeper level or struggling to f...

Each story we share holds a special place in our hearts because each of these humans are absolutely inspiring and incredible, but I think we all agree that this month's story is an extra special one. Meet Mike Elvasky. Mike is 100 years old and we had the honor of hearing his story and gaining some of the wealth of wisdom he has to share. Whether it was his time serving in World War II, his many years as a farmer and orchardist...

A near fatal car accident changed everything for 12 year old Kelly. After losing the use of her right arm, Kelly shares her story living with a physical disability. From being bullied in high school, to being told she’d never be able to reach her dream as a photographer with one arm, to losing mobility in both arms for extended parts of her life (not just once, but twice!)- her story will keep you on the edge of your seat, but over...

Meet Kelly Lemon, a one-armed photographer and business woman and our second storyteller from SEASON 2 of the I Know Lonely Project. A near fatal car accident changed everything for 12 year old Kelly. After losing the use of her right arm, Kelly shares her story living with a physical disability. From being bullied in high school, to being told she’d never be able to reach her dream as a photographer with one arm, to losing mobilit...

Coming from a childhood of adversity, Chris shares how he began striving for success by pursuing money, position, and relationships. But it was only when he gained understanding for the value of his story and the impact of healthy connections that he felt he was able to truly find success.

Chris mentions 5 Questions that were pivotal in helping him discover his story and we want you to be able to utilize those too! Download this FR...

Meet Chris Cruz, our first storyteller of SEASON 2 of the I Know Lonely Project. If you have followed along with Only7Seconds over the past year, we release a story every month of the school year in video & podcast form.

Coming from a childhood of adversity, Chris shares how he began striving for success by pursuing money, position, and relationships. But it was only when he gained understanding for the value of his story and t...

Have you heard that loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day? Not only has Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad been a pioneer in the research around loneliness and the importance of social health, but she is the academic researcher who led that study. More recently, she has served as the lead scientist on the historical advisory on social connection and loneliness released by the U.S Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy.

We are...

It's our last episode of season 1! We thought it would be fitting to wrap up our first podcast season and our anniversary month with a bonus episode with our founder, Kristin Wall. In this episode, Kristin shares what inspired the initial vision of Only7Seconds, why she knew loneliness and isolation conversation was so necessary, and her perspective of the growth of Only7Seconds over the past 4 years. She also shares some of he...

Meet Lyndsey Sprinkle, this is her story. When 15 year old Lyndsey experienced a near-fatal car accident, she was forced to start over, back to the basics of learning to walk and talk again. Due to the extent of her injuries, she began to get into hardcore pain management and before she knew it, addiction took over. After years in the cycle of addiction and drug dealing, she reached a point of desperation. While she's walked th...

During this bonus episode, Luke sat down for a conversation with Abraham Sculley. Abraham is the founder and CEO of Speaks 2 Inspire, an educational consultant, mental health advocate, best-selling author, podcaster, and storyteller. His personal struggles with depression in college inspired him to use his platform to spread mental health awareness. In this episode, Abraham shares a bit of his lived experience with depression and h...