Hard Turn is the podcast that dives into life’s biggest decisions and transformative moments. Hosted by Kelly Koopmans and Mary Nam, this weekly show features compelling stories from guests who have navigated life-altering experiences like retirement, sobriety, health challenges, and career changes. Along the way, Kelly and Mary share relatable anecdotes, insightful advice, and personal reflections, offering listeners inspiring stories and meaningful conversations. Whether you’re facing a turning point or just curious about how others have tackled theirs, Hard Turn offers stories and insights you won’t want to miss. Join Kelly and Mary as they explore what it means to take life’s next Hard Turn.
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
20%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchHard Turn is the podcast that dives into life’s biggest decisions and transformative moments. Hosted by Kelly Koopmans and Mary Nam, this weekly show features compelling stories from guests who have navigated life-altering experiences like retirement, sobriety, health challenges, and career changes.
Hard Turn is hosted by KOMO. The show has published 28 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "Trauma to Triumph: Jere's Hard Turn to Success" (17 December 2025, 38 minutes), "Rick Rizzs: Love and Baseball" (10 December 2025, 37 minutes), and "Preparedness is Love" (3 December 2025, 35 minutes).
Hard Turn publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 33 minutes across 28 episodes.
Booking probability for Hard Turn is 20%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Hard Turn requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Hard Turn's contact route on record: verified email.
KOMO hosts Hard Turn, a society podcast with 28 episodes published.
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
Episode #12
<p>Join us for a powerful conversation with Jere Stille, a former Boeing executive and author of the memoir, When Left Turns Go Right. Jere shares his incredible life story, beginning with a very difficult and traumatic...
Episode #11
<p>Legendary Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs opens up about the season of a lifetime, the moments that shaped him, and the love that carried him through his greatest heartbreak. From the highs of an unforgettable...
Episode #10
<p>Beth Hartsoch shares the story of her husband Jake's unexpected death during a solo mountain scramble. She emphasizes the crucial role that advance planning played in the immediate aftermath of the emergency...
Hard Turn
<p>Happy Thanksgiving! Join Kelly and Mary for a special bonus episode of Hard Turn. The hosts kick off the holiday by discussing their perfect Thanksgiving foods. They then reflect on Season 2 guests, highlighting...
Episode #9
<p>Kelly and Mary talk to Suzanne Allbee about the massive emotional and logistical challenge of decluttering, downsizing, and dealing with inherited belongings. Suzanne shares the personal "hard turn" that launched her...
Episode #8
<p>In this raw and profoundly honest episode of Hard Turn, hosts Kelly Koopmans and Mary Nam sit down with Chezik Tsunoda, a mother who transformed her family's deepest tragedy into a mission for change. Chezik shares...
Episode #7
<p>Kelly and Mary sit down with Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes to explore the unexpected pivot that defined his career. Before leading a major police department, Barnes was a public school history teacher. He shares...
Episode #6
<p>Kelly Koopmans and Mary Nam sit down with Katie Denniston for an astonishing story of resilience. While 23 weeks pregnant with her second child, Katie was diagnosed with a five-centimeter tumor on her brain shortly...
Episode #5
<p>Nicholas Ford shares the "hard turn" moment in his life when his son, Aloysius, was diagnosed with Down syndrome just five days after birth. Nicholas describes the initial shock as planning a trip to Italy but...
Episode #4
<p>Get ready for a midlife glow-up. Hosts Mary Nam and Kelly Koopmans welcome Alicia Erickson, known on Instagram as the Midlife Maven. Alicia shares the pivotal moments, her "hard turn," that led her to quit alcohol...
Episode #3
<p>Join Mary Nam and Kelly Koopmans for an emotional interview with Stephanie Juarez, who shares the 30-year-old cold case of her sister, Erin Marie Gilbert. Erin vanished from the Girdwood Forest Fair in Alaska back in...
Episode #2
<p>An emotional and powerful interview with guest Emily Cantrell, a survivor of the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting. Kelly Koopmans and Mary Nam dive into her "hard turn,” the moment her life changed...
Episode #1
<p>Welcome to Season 2 of Hard Turn, the show that explores life's most challenging moments and the incredible human spirit that gets us through them. In our season premiere, hosts Mary Nam and Kelly Koopmans sit down...
Hard Turn
<p>Life doesn’t always go the way we plan. Hard Turn is about the moments that knock us off course, and the people who find a way through. In Season 2, co-hosts Mary Nam and Kelly Koopmans return with powerful, deeply...
Episode #13
<p>Do you have information you think more people should know? Kelly spoke to Joel, a med student who has learned about outdated practices within the healthcare field and how it is disproportionately affecting minority...
Episode #12
<p>Are you trying to unpack a traumatic childhood while parenting your own kids? Mary talked with Emma, who found a way to begin healing her generational trauma as she parents her own children. Emma shares with us how...
Episode #11
<p>How do you build something new when the world shuts down? Kelly heard the story of Caitlin and Yonder Cider, which started in early 2020. Caitlin shared how Yonder Bar began out of her garage when everyone was still...
Episode #10
<p>Is your career coming to an end? Mary spoke with former Seattle Sounders player Brad Evans about how he came to the decision to end his professional soccer career and what he is doing now. Brad shares the...
Episode #9
<p>Are you struggling with grief? Kelly talked to Mandy, a grief counselor, about her own experience with grieving the loss of her mom and how she helps others to understand and manage their own loss. Mandy shares some...
<p>Kelly shares her own personal hard turn – in September of 2024, her husband Michael passed away from cancer. Kelly shared Michael’s diagnosis earlier in the season and wanted to share with listeners about their...
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