Maile Navarro

Founder & Storyteller

Maile Navarro is a writer, podcast host, and grief-healing creative whose work bridges the space between heartbreak and hope. After losing her nine-year-old son, Kingston, to brain cancer, she turned her grief into purpose—creating The AfterWords Project, a storytelling platform devoted to love that outlives loss.

Through her writing, podcast, and advocacy, Maile explores what it means to rebuild a life from the ashes: to laugh again, believe again, and keep loving even after goodbye. Her voice blends honesty, humor, and faith, inviting others to see that connection never ends—it only changes form.

Her oldest son, Jaden, known musically as Jden Ray, carries forward that creative lineage through his art—reminding her that expression, in any form, is how we survive and stay connected.

Beyond her creative work, Maile is the founder of Thrive Advocacy Collective, a family-centered advocacy service helping parents navigate medical, educational, and end-of-life systems with compassion and clarity. She also leads The Live Like Kingston Foundation, a nonprofit that supports families of children battling cancer and provides grief resources to those who’ve lost a child.

When she isn’t writing or recording, Maile is raising her daughter Zuma in Southern California and continuing Kingston’s legacy of compassion, curiosity, and light.