The 10 Ninety Podcast

In this episode of The 10 Ninety Podcast, Mason sits down with Dawn Simmons and her daughter, Katie Derouen, from Louisiana. Dawn and Katie lost three members of their family—Lindy Rae Simmons (20), Christopher Simmons (17), and Kamryn "Kam" Simmons (15)—in a 2021 head-on collision caused by a wrong-way drunk driver, John Christopher Lundy. Dawn shares what she remembers from the night of the crash, the extent of her injuries, and what it was like waking up in the hospital and learning her children were gone. Katie walks through the unthinkable reality of identifying each of her siblings at different hospitals, navigating chaos, confusion, police reports, and the long hours of not knowing who survived. Together, they talk about grief timelines, survivor guilt, community support, faith, anger, and the complicated "what if" spiral that follows catastrophic loss. They also discuss the differences between a mother's grief and a sibling's grief, how holidays and birthdays have changed, and how losing three children at once creates a grief experience unlike anything they'd ever imagined. Dawn and Katie now speak across the country—at schools, hospitals, recovery programs, and safety trainings—sharing their story to help prevent impaired driving and to honor the legacy of Lindy, Christopher, and Kamryn. Their work through the Simmons 3 Foundation continues to impact thousands of students and families. It's a heartbreaking conversation and a powerful reminder that life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% what you're going to do about it.

In this episode of The 10 Ninety Podcast, Mason talks with Tara Jackson about losing her brother Robert at a young age and how that loss has shaped her life over the past two decades. Tara opens up about the long-term reality of grief, the impact on family relationships, and the constant balance between remembering and moving forward. Mason and co-host Sarah Chippendale join the discussion as they explore cultural differences in how we support one another through pain, the stigma around mental health, and the importance of getting help when life feels overwhelming.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you're going to do about it. In this crossover with Chronically Unbalanced, Mason, Sarah, and Megan sit down with Holly O'Malley, who grew up as "Summer's little sister" in a town that never forgot a fatal car accident. Holly talks about Sundays at the cemetery, losing her mum at 11, watching her dad slowly die from brain cancer, and what it does to your sense of self when grief is all you've ever known. This episode is blunt, darkly funny at times, and painfully honest about not wanting to be here—and staying anyway.

In this episode of The 10 Ninety Podcast, Mason travels to Australia to sit down with his friend Craig Lithgow for a raw, honest conversation about grief, terror, and learning how to live after unthinkable loss. Craig shares the story of surviving the car accident that killed his partner and her two children, and what it's been like to carry that pain for nearly three decades. Mason and Craig talk about what happens after the casseroles stop coming—the loneliness, the anger, the "programming" that tells you to toughen up and move on, and how burying feelings only makes things worse. They explore the difference between trying to feel better and actually getting better at feeling, the role of the body in grief (fitness, breath, meditation), and what real friendship and presence can do that no diagnosis or label ever will. This conversation is about finding people who can sit in the dark with you, learning to complete the experiences that broke you, and slowly building a life that still has love, meaning, and connection in it.

In this episode of The 10 Ninety Podcast, Mason talks with Coop (Michael Cooper) and his wife Annalise Cooper from Australia about losing both of Coop's parents, Faye and Neil Cooper, just five months apart after Faye's double lung transplant. They walk through the brutal hospital moments, the decision to remove life support, and the shock of Neil's stage-four cancer diagnosis that came before they'd even finished paying for the first funeral. Together they talk about anger, feeling robbed, raising their two girls without their grandparents, men learning to talk about grief, and the small things that help—music, therapy, quitting drinking, and letting other people in. This conversation is a raw, honest look at love, loss, and how you keep moving when life refuses to let up.