Creators and Guests

Leslie Johnston serves as the Executive Pastor of Global Events at Bayside Church. She also co-hosts the popular “Am I Doing This Right?” podcast alongside Morgan May Treuil, offering faith-based, honest, and fun conversations.

Alyssa Bethke is a mother of three children, Kinsley, Kannon, and Lucy, and a dog named Aslan. She and her husband, Jeff Bethke, live in Maui, and are bloggers, YouTubers, and hosts of The Real-Life podcast. Jeff and Alyssa are the New York Times bestselling authors of Jesus > Religion and It’s Not What You Think and Love That Lasts. They are passionate about encouraging and strengthening families at familyteams.com a program that brings families together with the idea of becoming a team.

New York Times best-selling author, speaker and podcaster. Flawed but funny, Annie F. Downs highlights the everyday kindness of a real and present God.

Brandie is co-founder of Home + Sort, riding her passion for tidiness and design into a thriving organizing business in California. In 2018, she and her sister Ryan took their OCD tendencies to the next level, turning a love for clean, functional spaces into Home + Sort—a brand that emphasizes both beauty and utility, believing that organization is an act of self-care HOME + SORT. Together, they grew the business quickly, garnering celebrity and high-net-worth clients and making waves in the organizing industry with their signature “function + style” aesthetic. This unique approach attracted media attention from HGTV magazine, Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, E! News, Forbes, and more HOME + SORT. In 2022, Brandie and Ryan debuted their primetime show Sort It Out on The Design Network. This was followed in 2023 by a collaboration with MDesign, launching products on West Elm, Target, and Amazon; in 2024 they released an organizational planner with Erin Condren—all driven by their warmth, humor, and real‑talk approach.

Candace Cameron Bure is an actress, producer, and New York Times bestselling author. She is beloved by millions worldwide for her roles as DJ Tanner in the iconic family sitcoms Full House and Fuller House, in romantic comedies, mysteries and Christmas movies, as former cohost of The View, and as a Dancing with the Stars season 18 finalist. Candace is both outspoken and passionate about her family and faith. She is the CEO of CandyRock Entertainment and the Chief Content Officer at Great American Media. Candace and her husband Val have been married for more than 26 years. They have three grown children and live in California.

Charles Metcalf is first a husband and a father. He and his wife, Abby Rose, have four beautiful children: Arlo Phoenix, Luna Rose, Jade October, and Blue Sunday. He currently serves as an executive pastor at Transformation Church, a dynamic and diverse faith community reaching people worldwide. Known for his inspiring teaching and his authentic and vulnerable approach, Charles has a passion for helping individuals discover their true purpose and live with confidence. With years of ministry experience and a heart for guiding others to embrace their God-given identity, Charles draws from personal revelation and biblical wisdom to deliver messages that resonate across generations. Charles has never shied away from expressing the fullness of what God has placed inside of him—as a husband, father, writer, pastor, composer, and designer—and he creates space for others to do the same. Charles enjoys spending time with his family, exploring creativity through art and fashion. As an avid cyclist, he is frequently seen on the trails around Tulsa, Oklahoma, and can often be found at his favorite local cafe, working on his next project.

CJ Alvarado is an award winning brand strategist and marketing veteran helping brands take new ground. His work includes grammy-award winning products used by MTV, Pixar, Sky Walker Ranch, John Mayer, Alicia Keys, U2 and many more. He is a champion for new ideas and future focused strategies. He was recognized as a 40 Under 40 business leader, has built and sold businesses and currently leads Bamboo Creative Inc., a brand strategy and digital agency in Sacramento serving clients such as History Channel, Stanford University, Yamaha and more.

Cristina Baker is an author and speaker, and her passion is to see people come to know the love and friendship that is found in Jesus Christ through the fellowship with the Holy Spirit. After a ten­ year battle with drug ad­ diction, Cristina had a radical encounter with the love and power of God and immediately answered the call on her life to minister the gospel. Cristina and her husband, Ryan, are founders of Power of Hope Ministries, which exists to preach the gospel, share the love of Christ, and teach the power of prayer to bring hope to people of all walks of life. Through media, social media, and itinerant ministry, Cristina’s and Ryan’s hearts are to serve people, teach sound biblical doctrine, and inspire others to search God’s heart through His Word and learn to love the Word of God. Their desire is to fulfill the Great Commission, serve others, and extend the love of God toward people who feel hopeless, rejected, and lost, so that they may find hope in Christ and know they are deeply loved and known by God. Cristina, Ryan, and their son, Evan, live in Dallas, Texas, with their three dogs.

After feeling the call to ministry in his home town, Atlanta, Georgia, Jason embraced the lifelong call to ministry at 20 years old. He and his wife, Stephanie, have been married for nine years and are parents to twins, Joelle and Jason. He has a vision for the future and isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo to make things better and has a vision to see the Church on Earth reflect the unity and diversity that will be in heaven. Jason is passionate about embracing technology and seeing the church adapt and improve its reach on people.

Kara Stout is a writer, wife, and new adoptive mom living in Los Angeles, California. Kara writes prayers and devotionals on her social media and has also written devotionals for Her True Worth, a women’s online ministry. Kara has her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Arizona State University and her master’s degree in counseling from Loyola University Chicago. After walking through a personal medical crisis and the loss of both of her parents to cancer, her life radically changed, and her complete dependency on God for strength and peace became a non-negotiable. Her hope is to encourage women in their faith, pointing them to their Great Comforter and Greatest Companion.

Kevin A. Thompson is a husband, father, and Married Life Pastor at Bayside Church in the Greater Sacramento Region. The author of multiple books, including, Friends, Partners & Lovers and Fearless Families. Kevin is passionate about seeing families thrive. Originally from Arkansas, Kevin has been a frequent guest on Focus on the Family, Family Life, and featured in the New York Times. He writes at kevinathompson.com and changetheodds.com. He and his wife, Jenny, along with their two children reside in Auburn, CA.

Marissa Phillips is a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Texas A&M University dance team alumna, raised in Texas. She appeared on Netflix's America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and married her college sweetheart, Braden Leschber, in an elegant destination wedding in Tuscany on June 3, 2025.

Mark Clark founded Village Church, a multi-site church with locations in multiple cities across Canada and online around the world, that seeks to reach skeptics and challenge Christians. He is now one of the Senior Lead Pastors at Bayside Church, California. He is the author of The Problem of Jesus (Zondervan, 2021) and The Problem of God (Zondervan, 2017) winner of the 2018 Word Award for Evangelism. His new book, The Problem of Life releases February 2025. He is also the host of The Mark Clark a podcast. He has been the subject of several articles in Christianity Today and Outreach Magazine voted him one of the Top 25 Leaders to Watch. He has three beautiful daughters with his wife, Erin.

Meghan Ryan is an author and hype girl for people getting out of their comfort zones so they don’t miss the best part of life. A Florida beach girl born and raised, she currently lives in Charlotte, NC and works as the Promotional Copy Writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries. Her passion is for helping people find and live out their God-given callings. She’s worked in ministry on college campuses and internationally. When she’s not surrounded by friends, you can usually find her reading a book, doing something outdoors or teaching a Pure Barre class. Her first book releases in 2024 and you can connect with her on Instagram @meghanmryan and at alwaysmeghan.com.

Melinda Watts is a Christian recording artist, author, speaker and mentor. She strives to empower others to live a whole, beautiful, inspired life under the banner of God’s never ending grace. As a former high school teacher, Melinda shines through her community work that she founded, Glam Camp for Girls Inc. Glam Camp is a national leadership and mentoring camp for teen and tween girls across the country. In her free time she enjoys traveling, reading, leading worship, and empowering others. Imperfect but inspirational, she uses her writing to encourage others to see the tangible grace of an ever present and loving God. A two time Stellar and Dove Award nominee, Melinda leads worship across the country in various churches and conferences. Her prophetic ministry through music is embraced by vast audiences of diverse backgrounds and cultures. Currently based in Sacramento, California Melinda lives with her husband William and two children, Lyric and Honour Smile. On a personal level, Melinda is very passionate about homeschooling and mothering her two daughters. When she's not leading worship or touring, Melinda focuses her extra moments hosting empowerment camps for girls through her foundation, Glam Camp for Girls.. She enjoys traveling around the country mentoring and inspiring young women.

Ray has a rich and varied background as a university and graduate-school professor, speaker, writer, and founder of Thrive Communications. He is also the founding pastor of Bayside Church in the Sacramento region, which he describes as “a church for people who don’t like church.” Bayside has grown into one of the largest churches in the nation.

Reece Weaver is a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and University of Alabama Dance Team alumna who was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She has been featured on Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and married her college sweetheart, Will Allman, in April 2024.

Ryan is co-founder of Home + Sort, channeling a deep passion for order and style into the business she started with her sister Brandie. Since their 2018 launch, Ryan has been instrumental in shaping the brand’s mission: marrying beautiful design with practical organization and helping clients experience organization as self-care HOME + SORT. Home + Sort’s “function + style” signature earned them clients in celebrity and high-net-worth circles, along with features in HGTV magazine, Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, E! News, Forbes, and more HOME + SORT. In 2022, Ryan co-starred with Brandie in the show Sort It Out on The Design Network. Their brand continued to expand with a 2023 product collection via MDesign at West Elm, Target, and Amazon; then in 2024, an organizational planner launched in collaboration with Erin Condren—reflecting their flair, approachability, and forward-thinking vision.

Trauma-informed and licensed professional therapist, Tabitha Panariso guides readers through the life and death of Jesus as a path through the pain of rejection, compassionately offering strength and healing in her new book Loyal in His Love: An Invitation to Be Held by Jesus When Others Let You Go (on sale January 14, 2025). Throughout Loyal in His Love, Tabitha bravely shares her personal journey of rejection accompanied by the fear and shame that followed – tragically Tabitha was abandoned by her dad at the age of 5. The book reveals the lasting effects of rejection on the mind, body and soul; the physical and mental healing power of forgiveness; and what happens when we begin to share our rejections out loud.