Gabri Segui: Creating Space for the Conversations We Avoid
There are some conversations that most people spend their lives trying to avoid. Grief is one of them.
For Gabri Segui, grief wasn't something she chose to become an expert in. It was something she was forced to navigate after the sudden loss of her mother, Jennifer, in 2022. What followed was a journey through heartbreak, depression, healing, and eventually, community.
Today, Gabri is the creator and host of My Mom Died, a podcast and online platform dedicated to having honest conversations about loss. Through her podcast, poetry, and social media content, she's helping people feel less alone in one of the most isolating experiences a person can face.
"I found that there isn't a comfortable space to talk about it," Gabri explained. "A lot of the conversations around grief are really pretty and people try to make it really shiny in a way that it's just not."
That honesty is at the core of everything she creates. After losing her mother, Gabri found herself craving transparency. During her mother's hospitalization, she remembers desperately wanting someone to tell her the truth about what was happening. "I was just craving realness," she said. "I was craving somebody who would rip the bandaid off and tell me what was going on."
When she couldn't find the kind of conversations she needed, she decided to create them herself. The idea that would eventually become My Mom Died started long before the podcast launched. Gabri began sharing poetry online, posting deeply personal reflections about grief and the emotions that came with it. To her surprise, people responded.
"I just started posting my poems on TikTok," she said. "People took to them because it's that sense of transparency. Just, this is how I'm feeling." Those poems became a bridge to thousands of people who recognized pieces of themselves in Gabri's words. What started as a personal outlet evolved into something much larger.
"It's been seriously one of the most healing things," she said. "I kind of went into it to help other people, but it's been so healing for me."
Part of what resonates so deeply about Gabri's work is her willingness to talk about grief in all its complexity. Not just the sadness, but the confusion, the guilt, the anger, the loneliness, and even the joy that can exist alongside it. "I am a proponent that grief and joy really do coexist," she said. "Walking forward is just a matter of figuring out how to carry those things at the same time."
She often reminds people that grief isn't something that gets neatly wrapped up with time. "Grief is never going to go away," Gabri explained. "The grief and loss is something that you are going to carry for the rest of your life. It changes who you are."
While that reality may sound heavy, Gabri has found beauty in it. After losing her mother, she realized she wasn't supposed to become the same person she had been before. "You don't just watch someone die. You die too," she said. "You're not the same person ever again." But instead of viewing that transformation as something negative, Gabri sees it as an opportunity. "I've gotten to become this version of myself that I know my mom would be so proud of."
Gabri speaks often about her mother, Jennifer, and it is immediately clear that her impact extends far beyond her own family. "She was the best," Gabri said with a smile. "Not only how she impacted me as a mom, but my best friends who didn't have the privilege of having a great mom, who was their mother figure? Mine." Jennifer was a successful businesswoman, a devoted mother, and someone who made people feel cared for wherever she went.
When Gabri talks about her mother today, there's sadness, but there's also deep gratitude. "It's not lost on me that I am her," she said. "And that is so cool because if I'm half of the person that she was, I'm good to go." That perspective has become one of the most powerful parts of Gabri's story. Rather than allowing grief to close her off from the world, she's used it as an invitation to connect more deeply with others.
Her growing online community reflects that. The feedback she hears most often is simple: people finally feel seen. "People feel seen in a place that's so isolating and so individualized," she said. For someone navigating loss, that feeling can be life-changing.
Whether it's through a podcast episode, a poem, or a comment section filled with strangers sharing their own experiences, Gabri has built a space where people can say the things they're often afraid to say out loud. A space where grief doesn't have to be hidden. A space where people can remember their loved ones. A space where healing doesn't require pretending everything is okay.
When asked how she makes waves, Gabri's answer reflected the values her mother instilled in her from a young age. "Treat others the way that you want to be treated," she said. "When you treat people kindly and with respect in the way that you would want people to treat you, life is so much better and easier." It's a simple philosophy, but one that has shaped everything she does.
Through her vulnerability, honesty, and willingness to sit with difficult conversations, Gabri is creating ripples that extend far beyond her own story. She's helping people navigate some of life's hardest moments with a little more understanding, a little more compassion, and a reminder that they're not alone.
To learn more about Gabri Segui, listen to My Mom Died, follow her journey on Instagram and TikTok, and join the community she's built around honest conversations about grief, healing, and what it means to move forward while carrying the people we love with us.
This story was created by Making Waves Project as part of Paths to Healing, a collection of stories exploring the thoughts, struggles, emotions, and experiences that often go unspoken.
Mental health touches every part of our lives, yet many of the conversations surrounding it remain tucked away in our heads, hidden in journals, or shared only with a trusted few. Through honest conversations with people navigating different challenges, perspectives, and healing journeys, this series aims to create space for the topics we don't always say out loud.
Each story offers a different lens into what it means to be human. From grief and loss to burnout, self-discovery, and healing, these conversations remind us that there is no single way to experience life. Our struggles may look different, but many of the emotions behind them are deeply universal.
Through this series, we hope to encourage curiosity, compassion, and connection. By sharing stories openly and honestly, we can reduce stigma, foster understanding, and remind one another that we are rarely as alone in our experiences as we think we are.
If you have a story you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you. And if you are a brand or organization interested in partnering with us to tell meaningful stories, reach out at hello@makingwavesproject.com.
Follow along with Paths to Healing on our Instagram, and explore more stories at makingwavesproject.com/stories.
