Stark Conversations

In today's episode, I am talking to Alani Bankhead. Alani knows something about feminism because she has spent the last 20 years as a woman in a predominantly male profession, hunting spies, terrorists, and child sex traffickers. She was even assigned to be the senior bodyguard to a top Pentagon official. She understands how to level the inequity of the job force and how to use her femininity...

Today, I am talking to the former Chair of New Zealand's Labour Women's Caucus, Sarah Pallett. Sarah reached out to me after she read an article I published in the HuffPost. When she introduced herself, I almost fell out of my chair. I had read about Sarah, I knew her name, and I knew she served under New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. This was one hell of a feminist,...

Today, I am talking to the former Chair of New Zealand's Labour Women's Caucus, Sarah Pallett. Sarah reached out to me after she read an article I published in the HuffPost. When she introduced herself, I almost fell out of my chair. I had read about Sarah, I knew her name, and I knew she served under New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. This was one hell of a feminist,...

In this episode, I am talking to Samantha Martin, founder of the Femmish organization. Samanatha uses research to bring awareness around femme phobia- the systematic devaluing of femininity that people engage in when they police feminine qualities in others. This is an excellent conversation about how the world looks down on most things feminine and refuses to allow people assigned male at birth t...

Yes, October and Spooks have passed, but this conversation was too good to not visit again! Oh Friends,  This episode is a good one. It conjures up women dancing around bonfires, chanting, mixing positions, invoking curses and being gagged, bound, and hung.  The Salem Witch Trials.  I wanted to include this topic on Stark Conversations because this is the apex of women being accused of nothing mor...

Trigger warning: Sexual and gender based violence Today, I am discussing a recent paper published by Dr. Treena Orchard that explores the subjectivity of safety on one college campus. According to Dr. Orchard's research: 20 to 43% of women and 3 to 29% of men attending American universities have been sexually victimized. In some Canadian provinces, as many as 63% of female students have experi...

Today, on Stark Conversations, I discuss the devaluing of girls and women in the legal system with Jennifer Toon, the Project Director for Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance. A nonprofit led by formerly incarcerated women who envision a society where all women are spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically free from violence and harm in the criminal legal system.  Our conversation fo...

Today, I am talking with writer Christine Morrison. After working for Olay and Calvin Klein, Christine has become a writer with a mission and purpose to focus on fashion as it relates to our identity and well-being. She writes that she is "committed to exploring and exposing the grey areas that burden us all in fashion, beauty and wellness. Oft through the lens of aging."  Christine want...

Hello Friends, In Part 2 of Sexual Harassment, I take you with me as I reclaim my walks on the beach. This episode is a series of recordings I took when I decided it was time for me to go back to where the harassment occurred. I attempted to be candid and genuine in my thoughts and emotions. This is an exercise in understanding the pain and hurt that sexual harassment causes. Even the simplest act...

Hello Friends, Trigger warning: this episode is about sexual harassment.  This episode is a two-parter and a bit different than the others. This is just me talking about an incident of sexual harassment that occurred not too long ago that has left me with many thoughts, revelations, and emotions. Although I am still working through some issues, I wanted to discuss it now.  In this episod...

Hello Friends, Today I am re-releasing three conversations that I had two years ago with my daughter, Izzy. We recorded these conversations as a mini-podcast and released them on the Instagram account for my business Grace & Grit. However, I thought they were timely for this podcast. While attempting to raise a strong, confident daughter, I wanted to know three things from Z: What was somethin...

Hello friends and welcome back to another Stark Conversation. Today I am learning about a nonprofit in Morocco called Project Soar. It was founded by Maryam Montague. Maryam, a fierce feminist, shares with me how and why she started Project Soar. In doing so, she dives into the ways feminism has helped the girls in her community and highlights some of the issues they face. Specifically, Maryam spe...

Hello Friends,  Welcome back! This episode is Part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Martha Rampton. Today we are talking about waves 3 and 4 of Feminism. In particular, we discuss how the 3rd wave deconstructed the words slut and whore while reclaiming feminine sexuality and beauty which significantly contrasts with the 2nd wave.  We ponder the beginning of the 4th wave. Did it start becaus...

If you are a history buff, then the next two episodes of Stark Conversations are for you. We are getting a lesson about the 4 waves of feminism with Dr. Martha Rampton! This episode is a two-parter because you simply can’t fit the history of feminism into an hour. In fact, we could barely fit it into two hours. So I am sitting down with Dr. Martha Rampton from Pacific University, who wrote a fabul...

Oh Friends,  This episode is a good one. It conjures up women dancing around bonfires, chanting, mixing positions, invoking curses and being gagged, bound, and hung.  The Salem Witch Trials.  I wanted to include this topic on Stark Conversations because this is the apex of women being accused of nothing more than being women.  Because there was no chanting, no curses cast, no b...

Friends,  This episode is one where we get to be students of Dr. AnaLouise Keating as she helps us understand the kaleidoscope of views that make up Feminist Theory. Dr. AnaLouise Keating is a wealth of intellect. She is one of those and/both spirits. She lives in the in-between, the gray spaces of life. Her work is proof of this.  I was drawn to her because of how she approaches feminis...

You know the moment when the vulnerability pays off? When you get the ask, and relief floods your system? That was the gift that Jodi Bondi Norgaard gave me. I have followed this feminist for years, quietly liking her posts, pursuing her website and admiring her work. Jodi says the things I am thinking. She speaks them with matter-of-fact wisdom that only comes from thorough research. When I asked...

Hello Friends! We are changing things up here and going in a different direction. We are still amplifying women's voices but taking things a little deeper by exploring the very movement that has given women back their power so that they can tell their stories and raise their voices, Feminism. Join Heather as she explores feminism from its roots to its present-day perceptions in all facets of life....

This is our last Beauty Conversations and, of course, we saved the best for last. In this episode, we discuss fashion, clothing sizes, and our bodies. Then at the end, I interview my sweet niece Maggie, who, although eight years old, maybe the wisest of us all! There is a trigger warning. This may not be the episode for you if you have body concerns or issues. Here are some time codes for you to t...

We are continuing our talk about beauty culture and my new book, Her Story: A Heartfelt and Hilarious Conversation About Why Beauty Milestones Should Be Options and Not Expectations.  Today we are talking about hair. Why we choose the styles we do, how hair helps us express who we are and what we are living through, and how hair can help us cope. 

Join the conversation as host Heather interviews her mother, Bops, and daughter, Z, about the beauty culture topics she writes about in her new book, Her Story- A Heartfelt and Hilarious Conversation About Why Beauty Milestones Are Options and Not Expectations. In today's episode, they discuss their relationships with makeup and why we equate it with professionalism in the workplace. For more info...

Hello! I am taking a break from my regular podcast to do a bit of book promotion. I wrote a book, and it comes out on Friday, November 4th. It's called Her Story: a Heartfelt and Hilarious Conversation About Why Beauty Milestones Are OPTIONS and Not EXPECTATIONS! It's a guidebook for parents and tween girls about the history of beauty culture.  In this mini-podcast series, I sit down with my mothe...

Meet Marcie Marie. A joyful, wise spirit whose honest stories and insights about her time in a Texas prison have taken TikTok by storm. Marci is blunt, authentic, and determined to use her story as a way to advocate for prison reform. Follow her @marcimarie114.

Jules Weldon and Stace Pierce are the Co-Presidents of O.M.E. Gear, an innovative outdoor gear company. They have won multiple awards and competitions, but their story lies beyond the company—it's one filled with entrepreneur angst, hardships, mistakes, misogyny, and triumph. These two inspirational souls are determined to use their success to benefit others. This is Jules and Stace, A Salty Perse...

Jules Weldon and Stace Pierce are the Co-Presidents of O.M.E. Gear, an innovative outdoor gear company. They have won multiple awards and competitions, but their story lies beyond the company—it's one filled with entrepreneur angst, hardships, mistakes, misogyny, and triumph. These two inspirational souls are determined to use their success to benefit others. This is Jules and Stace, A Salty Perse...