INNERCALLING

Cat Bushera is a personal stylist and founder of Style by Cat . As a stylist, she partners with you to curate a wardrobe and personal style that matches your needs and personality perfectly. Cat has over 10 years of experience working in the fashion industry, from retail management to consulting to working behind the scenes at fashion events! Cat serves clients in the Washington DC metropolitan re...

What was it like to be gay when no one talked about it? How did you come to know who you were when no one around you even acknowledged it was possible? These are the questions I asked my guest today, Wayde Louviere — a respected queer elder and longtime pillar of the West Hollywood community who grew up gay in the Catholic Deep South in the 1950s and 60s, at a time when there was no language, no r...

“AI does not understand you, care about you, or know what it means to be human.” – Dr. Julie Carpenter “What worries me is how easily we stop trusting ourselves.” – Dr. Victoria Ranade Is Artificial Intelligence really helping us or is it actually reshaping our minds, relationships, and humanity? Can a technology that feels supportive, validating, and “human” actually be undermining our self-trust...

Hi innercallers! In this episode, Dr. Victoria and producers Carlisle and Western return for the third installment of our Book Club series, diving into Chapters 9–12 of Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish, which dives into the heart of Kristen’s Top Chef journey and the personal transformations that followed this victory! Dr. Victoria and Western are self-proclaimed long-standing Top Chef nerd...

Isabelle Du was my girl crush in high school. I admired how she went after her dreams with everything she had. When we graduated, I dutifully majored in biology and followed the pre-med path my strict Taiwanese father outlined while Isabelle went all out and pursued hers. In Asian culture, following your dreams is often looked down upon. We're told we'll fail, that we won't make money, that it bri...

Professor Dana Bridger and Luis Fabiano join me to talk about how Jiu Jitsu changed their lives—and mine. We explore fear, confidence, healing the nervous system from trauma, the power of community, its importance for women, and the surprising ways this sport teaches you confidence and to trust yourself again to step into your power. 0:00:00  Introduction: Jiu-Jitsu's Power to Change Liv...

Hi innercallers! In this episode, Dr. Victoria and producers Carlisle, and Western return for the second installment of our Book Club series, diving into Chapters 5–8 of Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish. We explore Kristen’s turbulent "messy middle", that intense period of young adulthood where ambition often outpaces experience. We discuss her rapid rise to executive chef, the ego and inte...

”In my darkest hour, I heard a voice inside me that said, ‘It’s not your time yet. I’m with you. All you have to do is listen to me and follow me.” - Dr. Victoria Ranade "Do all things in love. This is my spiritual practice and what all of us are called to do." - Dr. Victoria Ranade Sandra interviews Dr. Victoria in this episode. She talks about what it was like growing up first-generation Asian A...

“When we rest into presence, we discover a larger field of loving awareness holding all our fears, anxieties, and pain — our ultimate resource for healing.” - Bennett Crawford, LCSW Therapist and mindfulness teacher Bennett Crawford, LCSW, discusses how loving-kindness and self-compassion can become medicine for self-hate and the inner critic. He discusses how the inner critic often tries to prote...

“Women entrepreneurs, have the difficult conversation. Speak up. Be the loudest person in the room… Get in there. Just do it.” “When I’m following my inner calling, I find myself in amazing places that I didn’t expect.” In this episode, Dr. Victoria Ranade sits down with entrepreneur and leader Leslie Stirm to explore what it truly means to listen to your intuition and trust your inner w...

“There was this quiet voice inside me saying, Don’t give up. I used to ignore it. Now I know—that voice saved my life.” — Chris Kovacs, LCSW “Addiction took everything from me. But recovery gave me something I never had before—myself.” — Chris Kovacs, LCSW In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, therapist Chris Kovacs joins Dr. Victoria Ranade to share how addiction nearly took his life...

Pastor Carl Park of Great Commission Community Church joins Dr. Victoria Ranade for a heartfelt conversation about the countercultural love of Jesus — a love rooted in humility, faith, and radical acceptance. Together they explore what it means to live with compassion, courage, and inner freedom in today’s world. Thank you for being here! Chapters 00:00 Finding Light in Darkness 03:00 The Counter-...

Welcome to the Inner Calling Book Club!!!!! We’re excited to kick off our book club with Accidentally On Purpose by Kristin Kish, which is a memoir that’s as much about self-discovery as it is about food. Read along with us: join Inner Calling Creative Producers Carlisle and Western, and me, as we share our thoughts on Chapters 1 through 4. Kish is known for her brilliance in the culinary world an...

Have you ever thought of love as a form of energy or a frequency? In this episode, I sit down with communication expert Sandra Morse to explore the transformative power of love, as well as its profound connection to language. We talk about what it means to move from a closed system of fear and defensiveness into an open system of receptivity, forgiveness, and connection. Sandra shares how love can...

In this episode of Inner Calling, Dr. Nancy Wadsworth joins me for a candid conversation about the state of our democracy, the dangers of polarization, and the power of resilience. We explore how stories can unite or divide us, why conflict competence is essential for families and communities, and what it would take to address the deeper structural flaws in our political system. We also discuss lo...

Did you know your presence is healing not only to yourself, but to others? Presence is a quality of brightness, aliveness, and warmth we bring to ourselves, to others, and to the world—and when we offer it, it is incredibly healing. In this episode, Dr. Victoria chats with psychotherapist Bennett Crawford, LCSW, to explore what presence really means, how it differs from mindfulness, and how it can...

When was the last time you truly played? You might be surprised to learn that play isn’t just for kids, it’s essential at every stage of life. In this conversation, Dr. Victoria Ranade sits down with actor, playwright, and somatic psychotherapist Nick Sholley to explore the power of play in life. Together they unpack how play is vital to our mental health and well being. It sparks creativity, shar...

Lately, I’ve been facing an existential crisis around being a writer and artist—what it means to create in a world that doesn’t seem to value art, particularly with the rise of AI. The path can feel lonely and uncertain. To explore this, I invited artist Deng Ming-Dao to offer his perspective. In this conversation, we explore how to find your voice as an artist. Ming-Dao reminds us that art is not...

Research shows psychedelic medicine can profoundly affect depression, anxiety, trauma, and end-of-life suffering. By entering non-ordinary states of consciousness, people often find deep healing and transformation. At institutions like Johns Hopkins, studies on MDMA, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and mescaline reveal lasting shifts in mood, perception, and connection. For many, these states of insight an...

Deng Ming-Dao joins Dr. Victoria in an enlightening discussion on the fundamentals of Taoism. Together, they explore what the Tao (or Dao) truly means and how each of us can connect with our unique, personal Tao. Ming-Dao reminds us that the journey to self-acceptance, especially in our fast-paced modern world, is essential yet often challenging. Ming-Dao offers practical insights into maintaining...

Connie Tsang has done my make up for years and has always made me feel beautiful, yet still authentically myself. She has done make up for CEOs to politicians, from models to working women, from celebrities to the girl next door, and above all, she invites us to see beauty as a relaxed, powerful tool for self-expression. What I love about Connie is how she emphasizes every person is inherently bea...

In my twenties, I felt really lost and behind in life, but then in my thirties I discovered my life purpose. It turns out that everyone has a life purpose, including you, and that your life's purpose is deeply related to your natural strengths, gifts and passions. Here, I share a simple, evidence-based framework to help you connect with a life purpose that will give you great meaning, joy, and ful...

In this episode, I share why meditation isn’t just calming—it’s life changing. We’ve all heard it’s ‘good for you,’ but it’s not always clear why. So today, I’m breaking it down. Meditation helps you reconnect with your true self, heal your brain, and clear out the emotional residue that builds up over time within you to bring more clarity, alignment, and peace into your everyday life. It also hel...

This week, we talk about what an inner calling is. We also discuss the things that can disconnect you from being connected to your inner calling, including societal expectations and pressures, as well as the demands to make money and chase success. When we ignore it, we lose touch with our deepest truths. Dr. Victoria shares how the real adventure in life lies in listening to your inner calling an...

About the 101 series: I’m passionate about spirituality because it saved my life, yet there are so few resources that teach people how to engage with their spirituality in a meaningful way that isn’t tied to religion. In this series, you'll learn how to engage in your own spirituality as a vital part of wellness. By listening through the series, you will experience a greater sense of meaning, conn...