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The Resilience Formula: How to Handle Life's Biggest Changes with Perspective and Humor | Nina Sossamon-Pogue

  • Aug 5
  • 3 min read

Life rarely goes according to plan.


Careers change. Dreams don't always work out. Injuries happen. Layoffs happen. Relationships shift. Sometimes the path you imagined disappears, and you're left wondering what comes next.


In this episode of Laugh or Death, I sit down with Nina Sossamon-Pogue—former USA Gymnastics team member, Emmy Award-winning television news anchor, tech executive, author, and keynote speaker—to talk about resilience, navigating change, and why perspective may be the most powerful tool we have during life's toughest seasons.



After missing the Olympic team, suffering a career-ending knee injury, rebuilding a successful television career, experiencing public setbacks, and eventually reinventing herself once again, Nina has learned that resilience isn't something you're born with—it's something you build.


Listen to the last half of the episode to hear Nina's practical TIPS Framework for navigating change. She explains how putting difficult moments into the larger timeline of your life, focusing on what you can control today, surrounding yourself with the right people, and paying attention to the story you're telling yourself can completely change how you experience adversity.


We also dive into something that's at the heart of this podcast: humor.


Whether it was laughing with teammates during elite gymnastics, surviving the pressure of live television, or finding moments of levity during difficult seasons, Nina shares why humor doesn't minimize hard things—it simply helps us carry them.


If you've ever felt like life isn't going according to plan, this conversation will remind you that setbacks don't have to become your identity. They can become the beginning of your next chapter.


In this episode, we discuss:


  • How to build resilience during major life transitions

  • Why perspective changes everything during difficult seasons

  • The TIPS framework for navigating uncertainty

  • What elite athletics taught Nina about pressure and performance

  • Lessons from an Emmy Award-winning career in live television

  • Why humor helps us navigate stress instead of avoiding it

  • The importance of co-regulation and leaning on the right people

  • How your internal story shapes your future

  • Why setbacks are chapters—not your entire story


Whether you're navigating a career change, personal setback, leadership challenge, or simply feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty, this episode offers practical tools you can start using today.


If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could use a little more perspective during a difficult season.



Links:


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If you enjoyed this episode and want to build your own humor habit, make sure to follow the podcast and share it with someone who could use a little more levity in their life.


To learn more about Paul’s work, book him for speaking engagements, or explore the science behind humor and resilience, visit: 👉 https://www.paulosincup.com You can also dive deeper into the tools discussed in this episode in Paul’s book: 👉 The Humor Habit

All Links For Paul: https://stan.store/PaulOsincup 


Guest Socials & Website:



Episode Minute-By-Minute:


  • 01:10 Meet Nina Sossamon-Pogue

  • 03:45 Missing the Olympic team

  • 05:55 Reinventing your identity after setbacks

  • 06:30 Humor in elite gymnastics

  • 09:00 Behind the scenes of live television

  • 14:35 The Mardi Gras newsroom story

  • 18:00 Reinvention and career changes

  • 20:10 The TIPS Framework for resilience

  • 21:55 T — Put it on a Timeline

  • 27:00 I — Isolate what you're actually facing

  • 28:15 P — People and co-regulation

  • 33:25 S — The story you tell yourself

  • 35:00 Humor as a resilience tool

  • 37:45 Final thoughts

  • 39:15 Where to connect with Nina



 
 
 

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