ReImagining Community with Garland

My Vegan Pivot: How Going Plant-Based Changed My Life Beyond Food (Awareness, Alignment & Intentionality)   Garland Fuller shares a personal pivot she initially hesitated to discuss: becoming vegan in 2019, prompted in part by a wider conversation sparked by Billie Eilish's statement about eating meat and loving animals. She emphasizes she's not telling anyone what to eat, but explains how researc...

Episode 5 - All At Once  In Episode 5, Garland Fuller shares the pivot that shaped where she is today: after thriving in a role that felt "made for her," she learned in August 2023 her position would be eliminated, while she was also juggling family responsibilities, perimenopause symptoms and medical gaslighting, and crises with close relatives. As her aunt—who felt like a second mom—became serio...

Off the Jungle Gym: When the Corporate Path Isn't Yours (Episode 4) In episode four of her five-part series, Garland explains why she stopped chasing the traditional corporate "ladder" and reframed it as a "jungle gym" where careers move up, sideways, and elsewhere—requiring personal ownership and intentional choice. After spending time around executives, she realized the lifestyle, priorities, an...

The Room Where It Didn't Happen: When Doing Everything Right Still Isn't Enough In episode three, Garland shares a "job trauma" story she calls "the room where it didn't happen," reflecting on a role where constant manager turnover, working away from headquarters, and being an outsider in a predominantly white, male-dominated environment contributed to feeling unseen and unsupported. After three t...

Episode 2 - Table for Two (Just Me and My Kid) Divorce With a 3-Year-Old: Starting Over, Building Your Village & Redefining Family  Garland In this "Table for Two" episode, Garland shares why she married young to understand the "illusion of marriage," how she realized after seven years that she and her partner weren't values-aligned, and the exact holiday moment she consciously chose divorce. She...

The first episode is about That One Time I Quit My Job To Travel   In episode one Garland reflects on leaving a stable post-college recruiting job at a San Francisco law firm after feeling a growing heaviness in Garland's chest and questioning a monotonous future, despite having a supportive boss and a full life outside work. Wanting travel and self-discovery after years of nonstop school and work...

It's Time - Pivot Series Intro Garland shares her internal struggle about opening up more personally and introduces a new "transition/pivot" series for women navigating change, reinvention, or a quiet sense that something is off.  She explains that pivots often happen when what you're doing isn't working anymore and moving forward may require hard choices or dismantling parts of your life. Garland...

What if college campuses weren't just a bridge to adulthood, but living third spaces that teach us how to belong before we carry those lessons into the wider world? In this solo episode of  Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller explores higher education as a powerful third space where identity, connection, and transformation unfold. Drawing on her experience as both a student and adjunct professo...

What if the most powerful space at work isn't in the boardroom or the break room, but in an employee resource group over lunch, during a heritage celebration, or even in a Slack channel? In this solo episode of Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller explores Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) as hidden third spaces that cultivate connection, flatten hierarchies, and build belonging inside organizatio...

What if the gallery, the stage, or the mural on your street corner became our new town square? In this solo episode of  Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller explores arts and culture spaces as powerful third spaces that spark creativity, foster belonging, and even strengthen civic engagement. From theater and visual arts to dance, film, and public murals, Garland shares how arts and culture func...

What happens when women gather without the male gaze? What shifts when women create spaces where honesty, safety, and creativity can thrive? In this solo episode of  Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller explores the history, impact, and future of women-only spaces —from all-girls schools and suffrage clubs to modern coworking collectives and healing circles. These spaces aren't exclusionary. The...

People are craving connection. This is urgent. In the closing episode of the Third Space Academy Solo Series , Garland Fuller brings the lessons full circle—loneliness, hybrid work, green spaces, personal story, and why intentional community design matters now more than ever. This finale is part recap, part reflection, and part call to action. With guided prompts, Garland challenges listeners to i...

We spend so much time cosplaying corporate —buttoned-up, polished, leaving parts of ourselves at the door—that we forget who we really are. In this vulnerable solo episode of Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller shares the personal journey that shaped her work in people, culture, and third spaces . From high school track meets to college leadership roles, to a two-decade career in HR and communi...

Green space isn't decoration—it's medicine. In this solo episode of Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller explores how outdoor and nature-rich "third spaces" restore wellbeing, invite belonging, and spark creativity. From morning walks to community gardens, we unpack why designing with nature is not a nice-to-have—it's a leadership mandate for healthier teams and communities. Research on social c...

We're not robots. We don't show up to work as just one version of ourselves—and in today's hybrid and remote landscape, engagement and wellbeing don't always align. In this solo episode of Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller explores why flexibility gets people in the door, but connection is what keeps them in the room. From Gallup's paradox of remote work (higher engagement, lower wellbeing) t...

Loneliness is rising, even as our world feels more connected than ever. Half of Americans report feeling lonely on a daily basis , and burnout continues to affect nearly two-thirds of U.S. employees . In this solo episode of Reimagining Community , Garland Fuller unpacks what this means for leaders, organizers, and anyone invested in building spaces of belonging. From the People–Place–Program fram...

We're back for our quarterly check-in! This episode, Garland, Marissa, and Allison get real about how 2025 is treating them—emotionally, creatively, and professionally. The crew dives into the words of the year they each picked, how those intentions are holding up (or, in some cases, getting a remix!), and the rituals keeping them grounded in these all-over-the-place times.   From Topple-inspired...

In this energizing episode, Garland Fuller dives into a radically authentic conversation with Bahni Turpin—acclaimed actress, community leader, and founder of the SoLA Food Co-Op in South L.A. Bahni shares her journey from artist to changemaker, breaking down how lived experience and community theater opened her eyes to food injustice and inspired tangible solutions. From her roots in New York to...

We've reached the end of an incredible first season of  ReImagining Community ! In this special finale, Garland Fuller and Marissa Garza look back on the moments that shaped the season, the conversations that challenged and inspired us, and the powerful ways our community is growing. More than just a recap, this episode is about honoring the stories, connections, and impact that have come from bui...

In this episode of ReImagining Community , host Garland Fuller sits down with diversity, equity, and inclusion expert Farzana Nayani for a conversation that's equal parts insightful and action-driven. Farzana shares her journey into human-centered consulting, breaking down how personal growth fuels impactful leadership. They explore the Know-Heal-Lead model, the power of empathetic leadership, and...

Welcome back to  ReImagining Community , the podcast where we highlight the Black and Brown changemakers shaping our communities through bold ideas, collaboration, and intentional action. Your host, Garland Fuller, is here to bring you powerful conversations that inspire action and impact. This week, we're sitting down with Ronda Jackson—a powerhouse entrepreneur, community builder, and advocate f...

How do we create spaces where multicultural identities can thrive? In this episode of  Reimagining Community , host Garland Fuller sits down with Jennifer Taylor , a leader with over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate who has dedicated her career to fostering belonging and amplifying diverse voices. Jennifer unpacks the complexities of navigating cultural identities in professional a...

In this solo episode of  ReImagining Community , host Garland Fuller takes on a topic that's all too real: fear. Whether it's fear of failure, ridicule, uncertainty, or even success, these invisible barriers keep too many of us from stepping into our power. Garland shares her own journey of pushing past these fears, breaking down how embracing community and collaboration can make all the differenc...

In this episode of  ReImagining Community , host Garland Fuller sits down with Eugenia Chien, a strategic planning powerhouse with over a decade of experience shaping how communities connect and engage online. From launching Muni Diaries to leading initiatives at PopSugar and Meta, Eugenia has seen firsthand how digital storytelling can strengthen communities, amplify voices, and foster meaningful...

Embracing Transformation: Words of the Year and Building Community in 2025 In this episode of Reimagining Community, host Garland Fuller dives into a vibrant and thought-provoking conversation with Marissa Garza, her systems strategist and podcast producer, and Allison Weiss, founder of CRE Recruiting. Together, they explore the transformative power of words, rituals, and intentional community-bui...