They were caught up in the Tim Murphy scandal. Now, they have a co-parenting podcast. - TribLIVE

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For Shannon Edwards and Jesse Sally, the road from separation to divorce was a very public one.

There were newspaper headlines and mentions on national news and comedy shows.

There were allegations of infidelity and threats.

And now, three years later, there is friendship and a new podcast on co-parenting.

Edwards, a forensic psychologist, and Sally, a sports medicine physician, have teamed up to create “You Mad, Bro?”

“We decided to take a negative experience and turn it into a positive one,” Edwards said in an interview Wednesday morning.

“We wanted to send a message you can do this effectively — no matter what the circumstances,” Sally said.

Edwards and Sally separated in 2016. In July 2017, as part of their divorce proceedings, his attorney sought to depose Tim Murphy, at the time a Republican congressman from Upper St. Clair. Edwards asserted that Murphy and Edward had a romantic relationship in 2016.

In September of that year, after the court file was unsealed, the relationship became public.

Murphy resigned his seat on Oct. 5, 2017, after serving in Congress for 14 years.

For a long time, as their divorce unfolded in the public spotlight, Edwards and Sally said it was difficult for them to move forward.

“It took us a long time to get here,” Edwards said. “It took me dragging him to co-parenting counseling.”

“Kicking and screaming,” Sally added.

But they both agreed that their first priority was their daughter.

“We had to figure out a way for [her], so we could be functional for her,” Sally said.

Their relationship began to evolve into one of friendship and respect through their counseling, Sally said. One of his friends noted how remarkable it was that he and Edwards could even be in a room together.

Sally took that to heart. When Edwards suggested a year ago that they could do a co-parenting podcast — which he initially resisted — he eventually came around to the idea.

They have posted six episodes so far. The first, “Started From the Headlines, Now We’re Here,” dropped on July 7.

The podcast was recorded in Edwards’ bedroom. Their producer said it had the best acoustics.

There is playful banter — both of them occasionally interrupting and calling the other out — as well as important tips for others going through something similar.

“We want to make it relatable,” Sally said.

In that first episode, he noted, “Our divorce was pretty nasty.”

“Everything happened in the public eye,” Edwards added.

They figure if the two of them could get back to a place of friendship, then anyone can.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, what happened to us can happen in family court on any given day,” Edwards said.

Both she and Sally say that the work they’ve put in to co-parenting has paid off for their daughter, who is now 10.

“She will never know what it’s like not to have two parents at a birthday party, or Christmas or at soccer games,” Edwards said.

That the two of them frequently have dinner or visit with each other gives their daughter a sense of relief, they said.

“I feel like that is a weight that has been lifted for her,” Sally said. “I can see her being much more self-confident.”

Their podcasts have garnered about 600 listeners so far and was recently nominated for City Paper’s Best of Pittsburgh podcasts award.

Episodes have covered co-parenting during the pandemic to how to get through a custody exchange to dating other people after divorce.

Sally said he is proud of the work they’ve done.

“I’m doing this with a person I really care about, for a child I really care about, in a quest to do something good for a community I really care about,” Sally said. “The fact we went through something so bad … it has become the biggest blessing from a definite burden.”

Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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