Out of Queeriosity

*Content warning: mention of child abuse, assault, abortion* In this episode we speak with Di Ciruolo. From childhood to motherhood, Di takes readers through very personal experiences creating a safe space for trauma survivors. In this episode, we chat about her book and the experiences it explores as well her journey to motherhood and parenting neurodivergent kids.  Family did you know...

In February we held a Pride and Joy Parents event that centered on supporting our LGBTQ+ kids in having healthy intimate relationships. This goes beyond talking about safe sex and into consent, red and green flags for parents to look for, and conversation prompts to have some great deep dives on the topic between a straight parent and queer teen. The event was so powerful, we knew we had to make i...

Hey fam! I am so excited to introduce you to our next guest, Ursula Benward. She has been a counselor for almost 20 years now and uses her lived experience as a queer, Native woman with ADHD, OCD, trauma, and neurodivergence to inform her practice. She is originally from the Navajo Nation. Speaking with Ursula was one of those experiences that simultaneously felt new and inspiring, while also feel...

Our podcast host. and feature in this episode. is Elena Joy Thurston.   Elena Joy Thurston is an inspirational LGBTQ+ speaker, trainer, author, and founder of the nonprofit Pride and Joy Foundation, which is dedicated to reducing the rate of suicide and homelessness in the LGBTQ+ community. Elena inspires her audiences to learn how emotional intelligence can improve company morale and pr...

Amy Porter ( pronouns are she/they so you will hear us use them interchangeably in this episode and in the show notes ) is an educator, achieving Bachelor's degrees in Education and Music, and is a passionate Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Advocate. Conventionally unconventional, she and her wife built their own family and are mothers to two young children. Amy is a self-proclaimed “research nerd....

    In this episode of Out of Queeriosity, we sit down with Meghan P.  Meghan has been a part of our network of parents for a while now but in this episode, we sit down to get granular on her experience raising her nonbinary child, her path to advocacy and getting comfy speaking up publicly for her child and other LGBTQ+ youth.  If you resonate with this conversation, we invite...

    Queers in the Country  was a three-day meetup for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC nomads and local Kentuckians in April 2022.  It was sponsored and hosted by The Stonehouse at Silver Creek , as well as Georgia-Pacific CoPilot Victron Harvest Hosts Aeropress MOON VanMade Gear Poppy & Rod Follow Pride & Joy Foundation , as well as Queers in the Country to learn more about our future...

Hey, fam. So about a year ago, Pride and Joy Foundation began a survey to find out what employee benefits could a company offer that would have the biggest impact on LGBTQ+ families. We've had almost 300 People respond. About 70% identify as LGBTQ+ themselves, and about 30% identify as family members. The number one response so far by a longshot, is extensive mental health coverage, which employer...

Hey fam! I am so excited to introduce you to our next highlighted speaker from the Pride and Joy Summit, Kalyela Josephs, also known as "Coach K".  Kalyela “Coach K” Josephs is an Inspirational Speaker and certified Life and Performance Coach who uses holistic strategies to improve the well-being of others. Her tried and true formula of human energy management , resilience , and life’s purpos...

 I’m so excited for you to hear from Dr. Lynyetta Willis. She spoke at our Pride and Joy Summit about addressing Intergenerational Trauma in our families, as well as in our individual lives. She shares an incredible framework for identifying intergenerational trauma and dealing with it. It’s also available on her website and the link is in our show notes, so don’t stress about taking notes if...

  Arielle and our founder, Elena Joy, discuss aspects of self-love that are unique to the LGBTQ+ community. Hey fam!  I hope you’re enjoying our season of showcasing the incredible speakers at the Pride and Joy Summit from May 2021.  This episode is sponsored by Queers in the Country, a 3 day meetup in April for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC nomads, hosted by a queer-owned venue in rural Ke...

The next speaker from our Pride and Joy Summit from May 2021, is Dean Rasmussen.  Dean is a transman, hailing from Canada, and was on our planning committee for the Summit.  Dean was in charge of our Gender Identity track, which was a powerful experience for everyone involved.  When Dean agreed to also speak for his track, I was overjoyed.  Because in the months we had been wor...

One of my favorite quotes is that “If you’re going to be in a long-term relationship with someone, you’re going to attend thousands of mini-funerals.” This speaks to the idea that over time, people change. Their old self dies and we get to fall in love with the newest version of them. I love to turn this around and apply it to ourselves. If we’re going to be in an authentic relationship with ourse...

Hey fam!   The next speaker we are showcasing is Bree Pear, CEO of the clothing and social impact company Only Human. Often touted as a queer influencer that creates real impact, Bree is well-known for curating events, social content, and even clothing that drives the needle for social change. She's also an author in our book, Thriving in Business: Strategies for the LGBTQ+ Entrepreneur. Avai...

This episode features Rocio Sanchez, pronouns she/they. I’m literally not even sure how we met, my earliest memory of Rocio is from my first few days on TikTok in the height of the pandemic and watching them do the simplest TikTok to crazy ridiculous results. Then I noticed that Rocio took those results to LinkedIn, and broke them down so we could all see how they achieved that success. With their...

We kick off this season with the opening keynote from our Pride and Joy Summit, a queer conference we sponsored in May 2021. The keynote was given by Barry Brandon (pronouns he/her/they), more popularly known as The Queer Indigo. If you’re on  Instagram  or  TikTok , chances are you’ve seen their trademark, super-human and badass videos They've been inspiring people from all over th...