Amateur Activist with Isabela Herrera

This week the Amateur Activist is joined by David Hayward, better known as NakedPastor. David is a pastor turned full time artist who paints, draws, and fosters a community around the journey of deconstruction, self-discovery, and spirituality. In this episode David and Isabela talk about why he left traditional ministry 12 years ago, why he believes deconstruction is a way of life, the purpose of...

This week Isabela gets comfortable and honest and answers your questions.

This week the Amateur Activist is joined by Jessica Denise Dickson - enneagram guide, anti-racism educator, and embodiment coach. The Enneagram is an ancient spiritual tool to better understand ourselves and others. If you're unsure what the Enneagram is or want a deep dive into the nine types, Jessica has done a phenomenal episode here on Lady Preacher Podcast. In this episode, however, Jessica t...

This week the Amateur Activist is joined by Kevin Nye - author, advocate, father, husband, and a massive fan of Spider-man. Kevin recently released his first book Grace Can Lead Us Home: A Christian Call to End Homelessness, where he unites the various sides of who he is - a Christian, a minister, and someone working in homeless services. In his book, Kevin uses his experience with the unhoused to...

This week Isabela is joined by Elise Nesper. Elise has completed her Bachelor of Theology majoring in Biblical Studies with a language specialisation. She has also completed her Masters of Theology majoring in Biblical Studies with her thesis on the Gospel of John. Earlier in 2022, Elise created Speakeasy Theology, an online sacred and silly place for the thoughts that almost feel like blasphemy....

Happy Pride Month! We're continuing our celebration of Pride into August with our third and final episode of our Pride Month series. In this episode, you get to meet Father Shannon TL Kearns and Brian G. Murphy, the two halves of QueerTheology.com. Fr Shay is a transgender man who is a playwright, an Artistic Director, a speaker, a priest, and a theologian. Brian is an activist and certified relat...

Happy Pride Month! We're continuing our celebration of Pride into July with episode two of our Pride series. In this episode, you get to meet Bren. Bren is a writer and actor who is incredibly musical and creative. Isabela asks Bren a little about their story and journey to coming out and realising what they identify with under the umbrella term "queer." They briefly discuss the intersectionality...

It's the 1st anniversary of Amateur Activist and to celebrate, Isabela recorded and released a bonus episode. In this episode, the roles are reversed. Isabela is now the guest of her own podcast while Jeremiah (one of Isabela's best mates) interviews her and asks her 56 questions. Sit back, relax, laugh, and maybe gather some friends and give it a go answering these questions.  Credit for the...

Happy Pride Month!! We are doing a mini Pride series that will elevate the experiences and voices of queer folks over 4 episodes. This is the first episode and the Amateur Activist is joined by Karen Pack and Steff Fenton. Isabela met Karen and Steff while checking out New City Church, which they co-pastor with Joel Hollier in Glebe, NSW. In this episode, Karen and Steff share their stories and of...

This week the Amateur Activist is joined with friend and foster carer, Paige Copp. Paige is a 23 year old full time mom living in New Castle, Australia. Paige and Isabela continue the mini series on foster care and talk about Paige's journey and call to become a carer, dispelling myths about being a young, single mom, and share some insight on how important and vital community is to foster carers....

This week the Amateur Activist is joined by Dr Joel Hollier, researcher, writer, social worker, and pastor. Joel has degrees in both social work and theology, with a PhD in Behavioural Science. His research covers the intersections of trauma, faith, gender, and sexuality. He is the author of A Place at His Table: a biblical exploration of faith, sexuality, and the kingdom of God and teaches at the...

The Amateur Activist brings you another solo episode! On this week's episode, join in on a conversation around navigating friendships in your 20s. She covers all of the bases - from friendship breakups, investing in existing friendships, and how to make new friends. Enjoy amateur activists. 

This week, the Amateur Activist is joined by Kate Boyd. Kate is a writer, Bible teacher, and host of the Happy & Holy podcast. She helps believers who find themselves in the messy middle between loving the church and leaving it to more confidently walk the lines between doubt and certainty and faith and action with love and grace for all. She has travelled the world to interview and tell the s...

The Amateur Activist is joined by Cody Nesper for a little reunion. Isabela and Cody met in 2018 when Cody was Isabela's trainer at bible college and over the years he has become both a mentor and a friend. In this episode, Isabela asks Cody about his relationship with Jesus and the Church and how that relationship has evolved and changed over the years. Their conversation covers a range of topics...

The Amateur Activist is joined by ... herself. In this week's episode, Isabela provides some advice. She discusses the frequent questions and worries that people DM and ask like "how do you deal with burnout?" or "how do you navigate the online activism space?" Such important questions, especially after the last two years. Isabela doesn't attempt to erase worries from your mind or solve issues but...

The Amateur Activist is joined by Ellie Coburn to chat through her experience fostering and adopting. Ellie is a 25 year old photographer, writer and storyteller from San Diego, California who began fostering at 21 years old. Four years later, 14 foster placements, and now two beautiful children she’s adopted, Ellie and Isabela talk about her philosophy around adoption, her unlearning of the nucle...

Leané joins the Amateur Activist to talk about her move away from "traditional ministry" and into the space she feels God calling her to: politics. Leané and Isabela follow the timeline from 2018 until now, attempting to track Leané's journey from Brisbane to Sydney, through her time on staff at a Christian college, to now where she's currently employed as a Social Media & Policy Advisor to a NSW...

The Amateur Activist is joined by a dear friend living in Canada, Danii Zak Jernigan. Danii is passionate about chronic pain advocacy and wellness because back in 2017, she was hit by a car as a pedestrian while living and studying in Sydney, Australia. Danii shares her story about the accident, the timeline of healing and her “discovery” that she had chronic pain and damaged nerves. Isabela and D...

Charlotte is an award-winning singer and actor who has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She has worked professionally as a performer, producer, model and artist in Canada, England and Australia. She's acted in two films (Eurovision and Rocketman) with her most recent roles include playing Beth in Little Women (2020), the voice of the Commander in Tom Clancy’s video game Division Two (2019) and h...

Cait joins the Amateur Activist to talk about the beast that is purity culture, a subculture of evangelical Christianity that saw its peak in the late 90's early 2000s that promoted a biblical view of purity. It does this by discouraging dating & promoting virginity before marriage through things like purity rings and purity vows / balls. The impact of purity culture on Christians is felt deca...

Victoria joins the Amateur Activist to talk about tools they use to navigate the season of lockdowns and restrictions in 2021. As Sydney approaches almost 50 straight days in lockdown, Victoria and Isabela look back at the lockdowns of 2020 - what their mindsets were, the pressure they felt to be creative and handle it well and compare it to their mindsets now. They talk about the importance of co...

Isabel & Steph join the Amateur Activist to talk about their collective experience with OCD, how it presents in their lives, how they've learned to live with it & how their friends and family can support them on this journey. Isabel shares her experience of being recently diagnosed with OCD after having an overwhelming year, doing her research and finding the right therapist. Steph shares...