Safe Space Convos

If we have learned anything this past week in Los Angeles, it's that anybody can be a hero! In response to the wildfires ravaging our hometown of Los Angeles, we wanted to sit down with Eddie Herrera Jr. Formerly an incarcerated firefighter and now a free man working for Cal Fire, Eddie has had an incredible journey of overcoming pain and shame, through hard work and dedication. He shares with...

We made it! Our final episode of 2024! We wanted to close the year out in the same way we started it: a cozy, silly and honest couch chat. Today we talk about some of the lessons and practices that 2024 brought for both of us. It sounds serious, but we're really just hanging out, laughing and reflecting on self worth, self care, and how fricken important it is to take care of your body and nervous...

Today we have the pleasure of talking to Brian James. At 16 years old, Brian had already found himself wrapped up in a life of gangs, drugs and incarceration, following a childhood surrounded by addiction and abuse. By 17, he was sentenced to life in prison. Over the following two plus decades, Brian continued to seek validation and acceptance in violent and self-destructive places, furthering his...

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Randall Ellis, who got out of prison in 2021 after 40 years of incarceration, 33.5 of which he served in the SHU and solitary confinement. At the time of his incarceration, prison policy allowed for inmates to be kept in the SHU for decades, even when they had NO disciplinary infractions throughout that time. After decades of isolation and deprivation, R...

This week we got the chance to sit down with Nick Tirado! As one of the creative minds behind the Anti Recidivism Coalition's social media page, Nick has traveled a long, hard road to get where he is today. From living in an abusive household, to experiencing childhood homelessness, parental addiction and being forced to provide for his younger brothers in dangerous neighborhoods as a teen, Nick b...

This week we decided to have an honest conversation about the journey we're on and the pressures we feel. After being asked the question, "what are your goals for this podcast?" many times over, we decided to take a step back and reflect on our intentions and the lives we're working to create. We discuss the thoughts and worries that trip us up, hold us back, and occasionally throw us off course,...

Our next guest needs no introduction because… she’s our mommy! In today’s conversation, our mom opens up about parenting alongside an addict, supporting her son through his incarceration, and the depths of grief following her experience with losing a child. Despite it all, our mom has held onto unwavering faith and a deep belief in the power of God and goodness. She's a spiritual warrior and a sur...

Today we decided it's time to make things a bit more personal. As we've begun to delve deep into conversations with others on the podcast and learn about their lives and lessons, it's gotten us thinking about where we're at in our own lives, and the lessons and perspectives that we've gathered so far. We have a lot of laughs and even a lot of tears in this conversation, so if y...

We are so honored to have gotten to interview Zach Skow for today’s episode, someone that we’ve admired from afar for a very long time. Zach is the founder of Marley’s Mutts dog rescue and The Pawsitive Change Program, which pairs shelter dogs with incarcerated people for training and rehabilitation. Well over 1,000 incarcerated people have graduated the Pawsitive Change program to date, which boa...

Welcome to a conversation that we are beyond honored to be having with Lamont "Tory" Stapleton. Tory is an incredible human, and today we wanted to talk to him about his program with the incarcerated population, Between the Lines. Tory started going into prisons sporadically as a volunteer starting in 2014, but years later when he coincidentally ran into a formerly incarcerated student o...

What an absolute pleasure it was to sit down with today's guest, Shea Simmons. We initially found Shea from a viral video on TikTok and immediately knew we needed him on the show. Shea lost his three youngest siblings, Kamryn, Christopher, and Lindy, in a car accident involving a drunk driver in 2021. His honesty regarding his struggle with addiction, the loss of his beautiful siblings, and hi...

Yay! We’re so happy to have our tiny but mighty friend Lisa Small on the show this week. Lisa currently serves as the Senior Director of Youth and Transformative Justice at Liberty Hill, a foundation committed to funding community organizers who fight for justice and equity for all. Lisa has dedicated her work to uplifting female and female-identifying youth, and is committed through her work and...

The man, the myth, the legend! We are so honored and grateful to be interviewing Franky Carrillo Jr today: exoneree, dad, LA County Commissioner and future California Assembly member for the 52nd District. Franky spent twenty years in California prisons for a 1991 crime that he did not commit, and was exonerated in 2011 after two decades of optimism, resilience and following his intuition. We chat...

If we’ve learned anything in our lives, it’s that while we don’t always have control over the circumstances, we do get to make decisions about how we show up. In today’s episode, we talk about some of the ways that we’ve moved through adversity and pain, whether it be finding like-minded community or channeling your rage and heartache for change. While it’s not always the easy choice to find the s...

We’ve shared some details about our older brother Ryan’s life, his wrongful conviction, and his tragic and early passing, but this is an episode we truly never thought we would record. A couple of weeks ago, a few videos caught fire on social media, which propelled Ryan into a lot of people’s lives unexpectedly. With that came an immense amount of love, but also a fair amount of questioning around...

Happy Thursday! In today’s episode, we talk about how growing up straddling two worlds has shaped us, how we relate to others, and our goals with this podcast. We know so many people can relate to the feeling of not knowing where you belong, but maybe not feeling like you fit in perfectly anywhere is just an opportunity to build a bridge. Love you!

We’re back for part 2 with the man of the hour, Jared Villery! If you missed part 1, Jared was our brother’s best friend in prison who also helped litigate his case from behind prison walls. He was recently released from custody after serving 21 years, and has come to lovingly share his story with us! On today’s episode, we talk all about his release from prison, what he learned about humanity fro...

Safe Space is growing up, people! We have our first guest! In today’s episode, we speak to our chosen brother and friend, Jared Villery. Jared was our (real) brother Ryan’s best friend and lawyer while incarcerated! After spending 21 years in prison for something he also did not do, Jared is finally free and has come to tell us all about his experience in the system, how he started practicing the...

I think we all know there’s a lot going on with the collective right now! So in response to that, today’s episode is a short and sweet life update, briefly filling you in on our New York trip and talking about how wild it is to be a human in this world. We discuss the idea of “sonder”, how pulling on your own thread can help to unravel the collective cloth of suffering in the world, and also have...

Happy Thursday, beautiful people! Sharing Ryan's story last episode was so cathartic and important, but like with any long story, we felt like there were a few things we missed that matter to mention. Consider this a little follow up, if you will! In this week's episode, we continue the conversation around him and his journey incarcerated. We also dive deeper into some of the current advoc...

If you’ve followed us on Instagram for even just a few days, chances are you’ve seen our brother Ryan posted somewhere along the way. We've shared bits and pieces about Ryan's wrongful conviction, his death, and our grief journey as a family, but we haven't felt ready to dive deep into what happened until now. It wouldn't be possible to explain his whole life or the extent of our b...

Spirituality can be an uncomfortable subject to speak openly about! Everyone has their own belief systems, as they should, and we hope our take encourages open mindedness and tolerance of others - whether you have zero connection to spirituality or you are heavily invested in your faith journey. We talk about some of our personal sticking points with religion, what opened us up to the concept of s...

Our first video episode and we chose such a light topic - grief! We recently experienced the 5 year anniversary of our brother's passing and we had some thoughts and memories to share about who he was, and our experience moving through grief. We sprinkle in plenty of laughs too because how the hell does anyone get through life without laughing?? Love you guys.

Humans spend a lot of energy not wanting to be confined or defined by anyone else, but isn't it strange how much we put ourselves into boxes without even realizing it? Today we talk about letting ourselves become new versions of who we are as often as we want, and not playing small to appease anyone else or to feel "safer". We also talk about the trap of dating to land someone, versu...

Today we're chatting about tough scenarios that are all too common in life, and how we think we would navigate them. Do you tell your friend if you know she is getting cheated on? Are you ever allowed to hook up with a friend's ex? Is it our job to elevate other women whenever we get the chance? We shall see