The Celebration

Today, I talk to minister Rachel-Yvonne McIntosh, who encourages us to see all parts of our lives as opportunities. She shares with us her journey from singing six-year-old to the minister she is today. Along the way, we discuss faith, social media, and the relationship between money and religion. Rachel-Yvonne is a minister, preacher, singer/songwriter, and coach for Women in Ministry. She specia...

Ash Couture is an entrepreneur, business coach, instructor, founder of Rich Girl University, and owner of Pink Halo Hair Boutique. Pink Halo Hair provides premium virgin luxury lace wigs and hair extensions, while Rich Girl University is an online school with a mission to teach women how to make money and create a life they love. On this week’s episode, Ash and I talk about overcoming adversity, t...

Sadiya Sassine takes over as host for this week’s episode to answer some of your questions from the past few months. We discuss what to do with your business ideas, what it means to be a good boss (and what to do if you don’t have one), as well as general questions surrounding relationships, discipline, and structure.

Jimanekia Eborn is a Queer Media Consultant, Comprehensive Sex Educator, and Sexual Assault & Trauma Expert. She is the host of Trauma Queen - a podcast mini-series for survivors of assault and our allies. The podcast focuses on uplifting voices in all communities and exploring our collective journey to healing. Jimanekia has worked in mental health for the last 10 years, which is where she saw th...

This week’s episode is a replay of a working session with creatives, entrepreneurs, side hustlers and folks from the non-profit community discussing strategies to maximize their success. We talked about using social media and Facebook ads to build a targeted audience, connecting with their supporters online, and sustaining an income while following their passion. From starting a podcast to buildin...

This week I’m joined by Janna Hall, a Richmond, VA native and CEO of Leap Innovative Group, a digital marketing and brand development agency. Janna began her career in digital marketing when she relocated to New York City in 2011, working at agencies and large non-profits. In February 2016, Janna decided to bring her experience to her hometown by starting her own company to provide strategy develo...

On this week’s episode, we talk about creativity! Each and every single one of us are creatives, and we are continually expressing ourselves in unique and wonderful ways. We discuss the relationship between creativity and vulnerability, and how getting lost in the process of creating is often more important than the product. There are so many different ways to express your creativity aside from tr...

This week, I am joined by Antoinette Chanel, a powerful storyteller, educator, and podcaster. With a unique background that includes over a decade of work in higher education, marketing, and public relations, Antoinette is can translate, map out, and put in motion tangible plans to help you and your organization reach its goals. She is the founder of the podcast, the Midday Reset (@themiddayreset)...

This week, I’m joined by Sarah “with an h” Ogdie, a social worker and lettering artist based out of downtown LA. She prides herself on being authentic, bold, interdependent, and deeply invested in modeling intersectional, queer, millennial, feminine leadership. In January, Sarah left her job as Program Director (and former Interim Executive Director) of Community Tampa Bay after 8 years. Last year...

On this week’s episode, I celebrate the 3 Year Anniversary of the Live and Online: Expression Session. To mark this milestone, I’m taking us back to the first ever Expression Session episode, featuring Wally B. If you’re a regular listener, I’m guessing you’ve heard Wally and his nonprofit Heard Em Say mentioned many times. This is the interview I did with him back in July 2016. Wally B. is an ord...

This week, I’m joined by Matthew ‘Cuban’ Hernandez, a poet, speaker, and performance coach from Jacksonville, Florida. He has toured as far as Abu Dhabi and nearly every major city in the United States and Europe, performing, teaching and coaching poetry. Matthew is the author of 3032, and is currently fundraising to provide 3,032 copies of his book to incarcerated youth in the Greater Los Angeles...

This week, I’m joined by Farzana, a friend and colleague of mine who, at the time of the interview, was conducting a research project about driving in Los Angeles. This is a unique episode, because Farzana mainly interviews me about the topic at hand. We talk about liminality (or the in-between places), the stresses of and issues with transportation and infrastructure in L.A., and my own journey f...

On this week’s episode, we explore ways through which we can celebrate failure. When we are taking risks, envisioning, creating change, and putting ourselves out there, creating a healthy relationship with failure is really important. When we try something new or strive to live our best life, we are inevitably setting ourselves up to experience moments where we stumble or fall short, and the minds...

Next week marks the 3-year anniversary of the Live and Online: Expression Session. Each month, we have been honored to have internationally recognized poets and spoken word artists join us as features. To celebrate, this week’s episode is a compilation of poetry shared by some of our pasts features. I really enjoyed putting this episode together for you and reminiscing on the powerful poetry that...

I am so excited to share this week’s episode with you! I had the honor of interviewing my good friend and phenomenal applied theater artist, educator storyteller, and writer, Ramy El-Etreby. Ramy and I had a deep conversation on creativity, the power of storytelling, and the way narratives shape our perspectives. We also talked about Ramy’s solo play, THE RIDE, which is currently running at the Ho...

Today, our guest is Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, who works in film and entertainment as both a creative and a gamechanger in the world of representational diversity. We talk about whiteness and white supremacy, race and racism, forgiving ourselves and others, call-out culture, and the importance of emotional stamina. This was a deep and vulnerable conversation where Fanshen and I dialogued and worked t...

This week, I talk to a guest from past times: writer Mitch del Monico! We talk about communicating, especially with people we disagree with. This is especially important in divisive times, in which disagreements can lead to relationship rupture. Mitch recently wrote a book addressing this phenomenon, called Politically Divided, which we also talk about. You may recognize Mitch from a previous epis...

My guest this week is coach and facilitator Tasneem Noor. We talk about understanding and following your intuition, the difference between faith and religion, and Tasneem’s own experience publishing her book, The Faith Connector. We also tackle the question of what authenticity actually is, and finally examine how a combination of authenticity and intuition can help you achieve your goals. Warning...

This week’s episode is a replay of a ‘Social Media for Entrepreneurs, Side Hustlers and Creatives’ Q&A session that I hosted a while back. It’s a great one for anybody interested in making an impact and income while doing what you love. Especially if you’re looking to use social media to build a brand, business and community. A lot of awesome questions were asked that I bet you have too. They rang...

This week’s episode, with special guest Nurjahan Boulden, is so important and powerful. Nurjahan was 21 years old when she was shot with an assault rifle in an attack that killed the man next to her. That one night changed the trajectory of her life. Even as she moved on to become a teacher and mother of three, PTSD and complications from the bullet wound continually threatened her future. 13 year...

We’re joined today by the talented Ameerah Sanders, who spoke with me about her own struggle with depression, self-acceptance, and her journey to becoming a professional comedian. I appreciate how Ameerah spoke openly and from the heart. While we did share a lot of laughs (especially since Ameerah is a hilarious comedian), we also took the conversation to some very deep and very real places. You’l...

What?! It’s my Birthday! Each year, as a way to intentionally reflect, I share a special birthday edition of T.H.E. Celebration. This year has seen so many blessings come my way, and I am so grateful for them. Even those challenging days, when I lay awake at night worrying what my next move should be, brought opportunities for growth. Ultimately, 31 has been a great ride. To jump into a 32nd year...

This week, my guest is the awesome facilitator Andrea Hodos. In Andrea’s own words, we talk about “Jewish things” – what Judaism means to her and how it came to inform her life. We talked about her specialty, which is creating meaning and building empathy by putting things (and people!) in relation to one another, and also about Passover (specifically, what it means to her and her family)! Andrea...

This week’s episode is a special compilation of poetry from the past Live and Online: Expression Sessions. It brings together the free writes that participants created and shared during our time together. If you are looking for your poetry and spoken word fix, this episode is for you. The Live and Online: Expression Session is a monthly writing workshop that brings together writers, creatives, and...

On today’s show, I interview NBC’s talented Nadjah Nicole. We talk about inspiration and purpose (a usually interconnected duo) as well as the practice of staying true to yourself and your community. Nadjah Nicole, a previous contender for NBC’s Emmy Award winning TV show The Voice, is a Delaware native. She was introduced to 10 million viewers during her 10 week run on the show, and is a talented...