Episode Details

In this episode, I sit down with Shay Martin for an honest and deeply human conversation about what it looks like to keep living after loss. At just 25 years old, Shay’s husband, Tanner, was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. What followed was years of navigating treatments, uncertainty, and learning how to hold onto hope while facing a reality neither of them expected so young.

Along the way, Shay and Tanner shared their journey online, building a community of hundreds of thousands of people who followed their story, drawn to their honesty, their love, and the way they chose to keep living fully, even in the hardest circumstances.

In 2025, Shay became a mother to their daughter, AmyLou. Just weeks later, Tanner passed away, leaving Shay to navigate grief, motherhood, and a completely reimagined life all at once.

In this conversation, Shay opens up about what grief actually feels like beyond the moment of loss, how it changes over time, how joy and sadness can coexist, and what it means to carry love forward instead of feeling like you have to move on. We talk about what helps (and what doesn’t) when someone is grieving, how to support people in hard seasons, and how to keep becoming when life looks nothing like what you planned.

Whether you’re navigating loss, heartbreak, or simply a season that didn’t turn out the way you hoped, this episode will meet you there.

Connect with Liv:

Instagram: @twentysomething_podcast

TikTok: @twentysomething_podcast

YouTube: @TwentySomething-OliviaBurnett

Connect with Shay:

Instagram: @tannerandshay

Podcast: Grief Witnessed