David McClain
David McClain is the co-founder and co-host of Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death, a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss, and finding a way forward. Alongside co-host Jamal Jones, David brings honesty, vulnerability, and even humor to conversations often avoided by men, particularly around grief, healing, and identity after losing a spouse.
The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023 at Jamal’s daughter’s 13th birthday party. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative, blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.
David’s perspective is shaped by the life and legacy of his wife, Nillani Thomas McClain. In the summer of 2021, Nillani was diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable form of uterine cancer. Despite undergoing an emergency hysterectomy and several rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer returned. On August 25, 2022, just days before her 51st birthday, Nillani passed away. She and David had been married since 2006 and were raising two daughters, Miela and Kerah, together at the time of her passing.
Through storytelling and shared experience, David now helps others find a voice for their grief, and a path toward hope.
Jamal Jones
Jamal Jones is the co-founder and co-host of Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death, a podcast that brings raw honesty, healing, and resilience to the forefront of conversations around grief, fatherhood, and identity after loss. Alongside co-host David McClain, Jamal opens up a space where men can talk candidly, without shame or stigma, about what it means to rebuild life after everything changes.
Jamal’s story began long before the podcast. In 2014, his wife Janice was diagnosed with stage three triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of the disease that doesn’t respond to traditional treatments. At the time, the couple was raising three young children, Xia, Jackie, and Tahir, while navigating the grueling realities of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. After a brief remission, the cancer returned and metastasized. In 2017, after a three-and-a-half-year battle, Jamal lost his wife and partner. He became a widower and single father overnight, faced with the overwhelming task of guiding his children through their own grief while confronting his own.
Throughout his journey, Jamal leaned into his faith, his family, and the belief that his experience wasn’t meant to break him, but to shape him. His guiding philosophy became simple but powerful: Don’t let doubt take residence. That mindset carried him through the darkest chapters, ultimately leading him toward healing and new beginnings.
Jamal eventually found love again with his wife Jordan, whose partnership brought renewed hope and strength. Together, they nurture a beautifully blended family that includes Xia, Jackie, Tahir, and their youngest daughter, Samona. Their home is filled with love, laughter, and the legacy of those who came before.
Getting Back Up was born from the real-life friendship between Jamal and David, two men who met by chance and connected through shared loss. Today, Jamal uses his voice to help others find theirs, proving that even after unimaginable pain, joy and purpose are still possible.