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Taylor Ortiz Hirschman

President and Founder of Ben's Way Forward, a nonprofit honoring her late brother Ben Ortiz, and a Senior Sales Director at PadSquad.

Aug 24, 2026

Dead on Earth

Dead on Earth

I'm Still Here

Aug 24 · 43m

Karith McDowellHOST
5:19
feelings or experiences surrounding his death that you want to share with us
Taylor Ortiz HirschmanGUEST
5:25
Yeah, so like I said, Ben was always a really kind of a deep feeler.
Taylor Ortiz HirschmanGUEST
5:30
He...
Taylor Ortiz HirschmanGUEST
5:34
He had a lot of emotions and he really kind of carried the burden of others on his shoulders, honestly.
Taylor Ortiz HirschmanGUEST
5:42
And I think with that sort of depth in his soul, I think it makes life harder for him sometimes.
Taylor Ortiz HirschmanGUEST
5:49
And so we found out a few months before he died that he was struggling with an addiction to Adderall.
Taylor Ortiz HirschmanGUEST
5:58
And it's something that he had been prescribed when he was, you know, a teenager and, you know, basically like not turning in your homework on time.

19 MINS LATER

Karith McDowellHOST
25:04
How has his death impacted your relationships with your siblings and your parents?

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