The Illuminate Podcast

Today’s guest is a hilarious, social justice minded mom of four, writer and psychotherapist  — Kristen Howerton . Her journey to motherhood was not easy and she became a mom of four in four years through both adoption and natural birth. You may know her for her book or social media “ Rage Against the Minivan .” (BTW, yes, she does drive a minivan now.)  In this episode, Kri...

Erika Welsh is one of the co-founders of Wild Friends. Wild Friends is a female-founded natural foods company that specializes in nut butters. They are a B-Corp (Certified Benefit Corporation) and through their company have a giveback program called Fuel Her Future where they donate 1% of their sales to programs that help to empower women and girls to chase their dreams. Additionally, they partner...

Kyle and Angie are two former special education teachers that founded the company, Finley’s, in 2016 when they saw an opportunity to make a big impact in the community. Finley’s is a pet treat company that creates paid employment opportunities for people with disabilities. They give 50% of their profits to initiatives that provide employment training, accessibility, health & wellness, and advo...

Tina Beauvais joins the podcast today! Tina Beauvais is one of the co-founders of Be Kind Live Kind and the Disability Inclusion Educator. She is on a mission to teach parents and children the best ways to include individuals with disabilities and special needs. Tina’s daughter, Noel, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 5 months old, is the motivation and inspiration behind all of the wor...

Amy Carver is the Program and Development Manager and RJ Heckelman is the National ReCyclery and Resource Manager at Trips for Kids. Trips for Kids is a national nonprofit organization with chapters in various parts of the country that provides transformative cycling experiences to promote healthy, recreational lifestyles, environmental awareness, and personal empowerment for young people of all c...

Farah Nanji is a DJ, journalist, TEDx Speaker, podcast host, and the founder of Regents Racing. As a teenager, Farah was diagnosed with Dyspraxia which is a developmental coordination disorder that affects 5% of the world’s population. Farah shares in this episode how she has never settled and allowed Dyspraxia to be a weakness of hers as she has created her own processes to become an entrepreneur...

Tracy Quisenberry is the founder and executive director of Icing Smiles. Icing Smiles is “a nonprofit organization that provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child.” They have cake artists across the country so they can serve children and families no matter where they are. Outside of Icing Smiles, Tracy is the mother of two and works a...

Molly Reeser is the founder and executive director of Camp Casey. Camp Casey is a nonprofit organization that provides cost-free horseback riding programs to children with cancer and life-threatening illnesses in Michigan. They offer four unique programs that they offer including horse house calls, cowboy campouts, outlaw outings, and their newest program Lone Star Getaways Molly started Camp Case...

Today’s guest is a woman who holds many titles — social entrepreneur, global health strategist, advocate for women and girls and former Miss District of Columbia. Sarah Hillware is a force who has overcome fear to take risks, escaped domestic violence as a child and is breaking down gender inequality. In today’s episode we talk about equity, equality, intersectionality, how she s...

Melissa Jones, founder of the Girls Positivity Club joins me on the podcast today!! Melissa grew up as an ordinary middle-class girl in Indiana who had loving and supportive parents. Over time, she lost her sense of self when she moved schools, when her dad was diagnosed with brain cancer, and when she stopped taking care of her body thereby losing any self-esteem and confidence she ever had in he...

Megan Myers is a fine artist and illustrator based in Bend, Oregon. She has her own art business, Megan Marie Myers Art, LLC. Her work is inspired by the outdoors and the connections that we have to both the outdoors and those around us. Megan hopes that her work serves as an entry point into people’s own imaginations and to think about their own relationships to nature, each other, and ours...

Some heroes wear capes, but today’s guest on the show is a quiet, local hero who has used her role as an educator and community leader to serve others. Most recently she has been working tirelessly behind the scenes serving an immigrant population on the eastern shore of Maryland as they face the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s guest is Amanda Ensor, a 17-year educator, who has used the power of educat...

Yuri Williams is the founder of the nonprofit organization, A Future Superhero And Friends. Yuri started the nonprofit after his mom passed away from cancer in 2009 and in this episode, he shares all about what his mom taught him and the kind, compassionate and giving traits that she passed on to him. His nonprofit is really unique because it isn’t tied to just helping one group or community, he r...

Casey Crouse and Trevor DeWitt are on the show today. Back in June they started a project called One Thousand One City and completed this September. One Thousand One City started as a project aimed at connecting the city of Indianapolis by running 1000 miles through its neighborhoods in 100 days. The goal is to meet its citizens, listen to their stories, and share what they have to say. When the w...

Allyson Mitchell is the executive director of the Indiana Recycling Coalition. The Indiana Recycling Coalition is a nonprofit in the state of Indiana that was founded in 1989. They focus on the education and advocacy to inspire the Indiana community, businesses, institutions, and governments to encourage waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting. Their mission is “to strengthen the circula...

AJ Wiley is a graphic designer and illustrator who specializes in outdoor work. AJ majored in graphic design at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He recently launched a design brand, Kumawave, with his brother Justin. Through their brand they design and sell stickers and t-shirts that are focused around nature and the outdoors. The Kumawave brand partners with environmental nonprofit organizatio...

Laura and Phil Wentworth are the Founders of a nonprofit called Lot 25 . Phil is the Foundation Director has 15+ years of experience working in Belize, Phil is vested in the culture and community. Laura serves on the Board of Directors and also has 15+ years of experience working in Belize. Twelve years of teaching experience, primarily in early childhood education. Laura served as a Head Start te...

Michael and Tempa Kohler are the cofounders of the non-profit organization, Special Kneads and Treats in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Michael and Tempa have two kids, Bradley and Ashley. Their son, Bradley, was born with Fragile X Syndrome and when he was 22 years old and aging out of the county supported programs, they were trying to find a job for him. When they realized there weren’t many options, t...

Today’s guest is a warrior, sister, mother, wife, Cystic Fibrosis advocate, community builder, and a courageous inspiration to so many.  Jackie Bessette shares her beautiful and messy journey of being the spouse to someone with Cystic Fibrosis. In this episode, she walks through what it’s like to go through two double lung transplants, birthing her baby with her husband on FaceTime and not in the...

Charlotte Simpson joins the podcast today! Charlotte Simpson is a retired guidance counselor and solo traveler from Indianapolis. After losing her husband of 31 years, she decided to begin traveling solo and seeing the world. Charlotte traveled to all 50 states with her husband and since he passed away she has traveled around the world.   Charlotte started her Instagram page The Traveling Bla...

Carrie Rickenburg is the Director of Donor Relations at Wheeler Mission Ministries in Indianapolis, IN. Wheeler Mission is the largest homeless shelter in the state of Indiana – they provide Addiction Recovery, Residential Program, Emergency Shelter services to the Indianapolis community. In this episode we talk about how the onset of COVID affected Wheeler Mission and how they operate, how...

Mark Tabb joins The Illuminate Podcast today! Mark is an author and has written his own books as well as been a co-author for over twenty books. Mark has worked with so many incredible people to co-author their books including YouTube stars Cole and Savannah Labrant, Olympian Lopez Lomong, actor Alec Baldwin, Superbowl champion Ben Utecht, and so many more! He was the co-author of the New York Tim...

Debra Des Vignes joins us today on the Illuminate Podcast. Debra is the Founder of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop . The nonprofit works to improve the lives of Indiana offenders through creative writing and expression. Debra began her career in the News industry and moved to working in the Nonprofit sector before starting the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop. She is the author of Sunday Sweet...

Blu Robinson is the founder of Addict II Athlete as well as a mental health counselor. Blu struggled with addiction early on in his life but when he found a passion for mountain biking he found the power in replacing his addiction with a new love and passion for endurance sports and the Wasatch Mountains. He shares that he found himself “erasing addiction and replacing it with a more excellent way...

Today’s guest is an 11-time mom. Elizabeth Friedland has been a foster mom to 11 children. One of her foster children became Elizabeth’s adoptive child. In this episode Elizabeth talks about what it has been like to be a single woman fostering children and the journey to adopting her son, Jack, in an open adoption. Elizabeth dives into the joys, challenges and realities of fostering, where there a...