Meet Us
We’re Stephanie Carter and Jennifer Handt—business partners turned foxhole friends and accidental experts in what comes after everything changes, when back-to-back life upheavals redefine everything. In 2020, Jennifer’s young son was diagnosed with a rare, fatal disease. In 2022, Stephanie’s husband, Ash Carter, suddenly passed away. In the wake of these big, obvious losses, we realized something bigger: Not all losses are headline-worthy, but they all deserve recognition.
At A Loss was born from that truth. We cover the full spectrum of loss—catastrophic, subtle, and everything in between. Job changes, identity shifts, infertility, pet loss, pandemic fallout—if it changed your life, it counts. Through our weekly newsletter and forthcoming book, At A Loss: Your Playbook for Moving Forward When Loss Sets You Back, we help readers name their losses, reset expectations and take small, meaningful steps forward, all while asking for the support they need. No platitudes, no pity—just a real-world guide to facing what’s gone and finding what’s next.
We’re not therapists; we’re fellow travelers. And we believe everyone deserves a loss sherpa.
Hi, I’m Stephanie.
The most meaningful role I’ve ever held is as the wife of Ash Carter, the late U.S. Secretary of Defense. When Ash died suddenly in 2022—just hours after the unexpected loss of our friend Leslie Jordan—my world changed in an instant. I found myself navigating a surreal, seismic kind of loss that reshaped everything I knew about my identity, purpose and forward motion.
Professionally, I spent 25 years in growth equity, raising over $1 billion and building teams across investor relations, marketing and investment research. In 2020, I founded The Verse Media to explore how Gen Xers and before can shape their second half with more agency and less noise. That’s where my writing partnership with Jennifer Handt began—first through events and newsletters, and now in this book. Together, we’ve interviewed thinkers and doers across disciplines to make transformation feel less isolating and more doable.
Today, I’m committed to honoring Ash’s legacy while forging my own. I advise The Exchange, a series of conferences established to extend Ash’s work in innovation and national security; serve on the International Council of Harvard’s Belfer Center and the board of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy; and recently led the effort to endow a professorship in Ash’s name.
I am a proud grandmother to Ash’s two namesakes, and I can’t live without Swedish Fish. I have a poorly behaved dog named Rex, a deep love of LeBron James and the Grateful Dead, and a growing capacity to notice the glimmers—the small, steady lights that follow even the darkest chapters.
Hi, I’m Jennifer.
I am a professional writer, content strategist, and co-founder of The Verse Media, a platform for grown-ups navigating the mess, meaning and momentum of midlife and beyond. What began as a biweekly newsletter grew into a curated conversation on how we reset and reimagine when life does not go as planned. It’s also where my creative partnership with Stephanie Carter began—first through writing, then through interviews with thinkers and doers across disciplines, and now in this book.
I’ve spent my career helping brands clarify their story, shape their voice and connect with their people. Then came my own defining story: ten years of infertility and pregnancy loss, followed by the birth of my second son via surrogacy, and—when I thought the hardest chapter was behind me—his diagnosis with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare, fatal, degenerative disease. The diagnosis not only further shook my sense of security in motherhood, but also introduced me to the disorienting terrain of anticipatory grief.
I write from this edge—where love and loss coexist—always seeking to find moments of clarity in chaos. I am passionate about reshaping how we talk about loss in the context of caregiving, and how that shapes our identity. And never one to accept adversity sitting down, I founded Charlie’s Cure, dedicated to fueling research and finding a cure for my son. I am a leader in advocacy for early detection, education and treatment access for Duchenne.
I live in Connecticut with my two sons, my husband and a panoply of demanding pets. I am a devoted fan of Yacht Rock, well-written love stories and the Boston Red Sox—and I remain committed to finding unexpected beauty and telling the truth, even when it’s hard.