The Make Meaning Podcast

Many religions report waning interest among young adults, and leaders ponder what it will take to engage young people in spiritual life. The God Squad - truly, rabbis who rock - is an effort by some pretty cool young rabbis to create musical, community-gathering opportunities to bring young Jews together in spiritual ways.

What if every student aged 18-25 pursued a year of service? What might they learn about being a part of something bigger than themselves? For Andrew Stein, it was a transformational time that defined purpose and set the direction for his career as Executive Director of City Year Detroit. As a City Year corps member right out of college, Andrew learned about serving a community, which revealed a ne...

Was there ever a time when you loved learning for learning's sake? Has that stayed with you, inspiring you to specialize in your field, create, innovate, broaden your world view, or discover new connections and relationships? Learning doesn't stop once school's out. Our firm, Your People, LLC, specializes in working with schools and universities, promoting their efforts to prepare today's youth to...

Breaking bread or preparing a meal together can remove barriers and build powerful connections. And when it's Detroit teens embarking on a culinary adventure together in a safe space where they can question, explore, learn and engage with mentors, it could be the first step toward becoming future decision makers, thought leaders, changemakers. Tune in to this week's episode of the Make Meaning pod...

This week on the Make Meaning podcast, Lyndsay Edmonds, founder and owner of Harless and Hugh Coffee and the Public House, both in Bay City Michigan, talks about what it means to create "third spaces" for people to gather. Inspired by time spent in Southeast Asia, Lyndsay has developed an appreciation for people, their differences and similarities, and the community spots that cultivate connection...

We love entrepreneurs who carefully craft their brand story and create visual components to inspire. Julie Silver, founder and president of Michigan Associates of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine, is a great example of this. She's our guest on this week's Make Meaning podcast, sharing stories about how her brand evolved over time, how she dared to make a career pivot to follow her heart and so...

What do public radio, the Clinton Administration, and clothing stores have in common? How does a person who hates shopping and dislikes the fashion industry become the owner of four successful retail clothing and accessory shops? Most of all, what is the key to pursuing purpose and making a difference through connections and relationships?

This week on the Make Meaning podcast, Lynne pays homage to Mary Oliver, an American poet who has had a significant impact on her life. Oliver does a beautiful job capturing the profound in the quiet occurrences of nature and finding meaning with her observations of the natural world. As a visionary, she received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and Lannan Literary Award for lifetime achiev...

In this episode of Make Meaning, Lynne Golodner interviews Jacqueline Drake, a former healthcare worker who combined her passion for fine arts with her knowledge of intuitive and meditative healing to open a healing art gallery in Franklin, Michigan. Serendipity brought her to the perfect location for her gallery, but her pursuit for higher purpose turned it into the "safe, sacred place" where "ar...

This week's Make Meaning guest, Kelli Dobner, Chief Advancement Officer at Samaritas, talks about culture, community, and connection to a higher purpose, and how she successfully rallies some 2,000 employees around a cause and a vision. It has something to do with taking chances and dressing up like a rock - you have to be all in, if you want everyone else to be!

Cindy Eggleton is CEO of Brilliant Detroit, a program dedicated to building school readiness and success for families with young children. The organization started with one house and has expanded to seven houses, serving more than 800 families in the city of Detroit. Cindy is an admirable leader, most recently recognized as a Crain's Notable Woman in Nonprofits, one of Skillman's 50 Detroiters Mak...

Lionel Bradford is president and executive director of The Greening of Detroit, a nonprofit devoted to creating sustainable growth for a healthy, urban community through trees, green spaces, food, education, training and job opportunities. Lionel has a bachelor's degree in urban forestry from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and began his career as a forestry technician with the U.S....

Rev. Faith Fowler is both the pastor of Cass Community United Methodist Church and the Executive Director of Cass Community Social Services, a nonprofit agency that provides food, housing, medical/mental health and employment programs for people living in areas of concentrated poverty. She has held these positions since 1994. In addition to her work at Cass, Rev. Fowler has served as a board membe...

Jarret Alan Schlaff is cultivator, engineer, and organizer (CEO) of Pingree Detroit, a worker-owned, community-based manufacturing company co-founded in January 2015. In Pingree's Detroit workshop, Detroiters and U.S. veterans are paid a living wage to handcraft bags, urban utility boots, and accessories using luxury-grade leather upcycled from the American auto industry. Jarret Schlaff lives on D...

Crosby Noricks is the founder of PR Couture, the industry-leading platform for fashion and lifestyle communicators, as well as a brand strategist and business coach. Known as "the fashion publicists' most powerful accessory" by The San Diego Union-Tribune, Noricks was named one of the top 50 game-changers in PR by PR News, and as a top marketing innovator by iMediaConnection. Over the last decade,...

Stephen Payne, also known as Farmer Steve, is the resident farmer and garden teacher at Sacramento Waldorf School in Sacramento, California. He has a degree in Business Marketing from Central Connecticut University and 10 years of experience in organic farming, with another five years of experience as a market garden business owner. Stephen came to SacWaldorf in 2001, where he lives on the propert...

An ordained Episcopal priest who leads a congregation in Bellevue Washington. Rev. Josephine Robertson has a Master's of Divinity and has spent nearly 25 years as a true spiritual geek. In 2017 she founded Crazy Whole Life, a resource for spirituality and more for modern humans.

At first glance, Kacee Must's Citizen Yoga empire looks like a typical yoga company. But look deeper and you see its focus is building community and connection as a way to prevent suicide. Kacee became an entrepreneur to honor the memory of her sister, Miya, who ended her own life in 2007. By providing a space where people feel included, welcome, and accepted, Kacee's built a spiritual company. In...

Brenda Meller is the Owner and Marketing Consultant at Meller Marketing (www.mellermarketing.com), which provides marketing and social media support for individuals and businesses, specializing in LinkedIn. She has been leveraging social media to propel her personal and professional efforts for over ten years, and now blends this experiences with her marketing expertise to help clients achieve the...

When Kerry Shaffer began rowing, in her mind there was no other end game than to compete and stand on the podium at the Olympic Games one day. After competing in four world championships, Kerry retired from competitive rowing and is now an excellent role model for the up-and-coming club athletes at the Detroit Waterfront River Association. Listen to this week's Make Meaning podcast conversation wi...

Noreen Ehrlich, a savvy former Wall Street CFO and global entrepreneur, developed her latest venture as a success and business relationship coach. Her insights and her devotion to helping people break through to new levels of consciousness and success are inspiring. She's a powerful lady, who helps her clients bring their inner power into the light and inspire others. Listen to this week's Make Me...

Amy Haimerl is the founder of the Shady Ladies Literary Society, an event series that pairs up emerging women writers, scientists, chefs and bartenders for unforgettable evenings. Amy is also a professor of journalism at Michigan State University and author of Detroit Hustle, a memoir about rehabbing an historic home in Detroit. Amy joins Lynne on the Make Meaning Podcast to tell us about teaching...

Karen Dybis is everywhere, writing about the pulse of Michigan and Detroit. With 20+ years of writing and publishing, Karen specializes in writing about little-known local gems, stories, innovations and inspirations. This week, on the Make Meaning podcast, Lynne Golodner chats with Karen about why storytelling is so important in business today.

Burners Without Borders Detroit provides people experiencing homelessness supplies to survive the cold. This week on the Make Meaning podcast, I chat with Doxie Kaltz, lead community organizer for BWB Detroit. Hear Doxie building community and seeing the humanity in everyone:

DCFC (Detroit City Football Club) was founded with the motto "Passion for our city, passion for the game." David Dwaihy, one of five founders, joins Lynne Golodner on the Make Meaning podcast to talk about the Detroit-proud soccer club, how he gains a sense of purpose building community around soccer in Detroit, and what its like balancing his roles of math teacher, soccer player, entrepreneur and...