The Skittle Squad Podcast

 Happy Pride, y’all—we’re back! Season 2 of the Skittle Squad Podcast is officially here, and we’re kicking things off with celebration, connection, and some unforgettable stories (including our trip to Alcatraz ). In this premiere episode, we’re joined by the one and only Alice Marie Gripp—educator, advocate, and fierce drag performer—who’s out here  changing  lives both on stage and in the class...

In the season 1 finale of The Skittle Squad Podcast, we take a look back on a wild ride through 13 powerful, hilarious, and heart-opening episodes. From finding our flow as co-hosts to navigating vulnerable conversations about mental health, business, and identity, we reflect on a successful first season. We’re joined by beloved community leaders David Fisher and Lee Manuel, two visionaries behind...

How the president of 𝐒𝐭. 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 is transforming advocacy by uniting activists, nonprofits, and allies—and why fitness fuels the revolution. In this powerful and uplifting episode of The Skittle Squad Podcast, we sit down with 𝐃𝐫. 𝐁𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧-𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡—educator, CrossFit coach, nonprofit founder, and president of St. Pete Pride, Florida’s largest Pride organization. Amidst a statewide assault on...

𝐖𝐡𝐲 "𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥" 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 Can you build unshakable financial security as an LGBTQ+ person in today’s volatile world? Dean Hershkowitz, a seasoned financial advisor and advocate for queer economic empowerment, joins The Skittle Squad Podcast to tackle the hard questions—from market crashes to marriage protections—with candor and...

𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦—𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘱 Meet 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐮, the visionary leader transforming Tampa Bay's LGBTQ+ business landscape one connection at a time. As President and CEO of the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber, Rene brings a powerhouse of experience from six different chambers across Texas and Florida to unite our sprawling seven-county region. In this insp...

𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 & 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐀 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐰 – How a Queer Artist Turns Heartbreak into Radiance (Nose Job Included!) How do you paint resilience in every color of the rainbow? Meet 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐮—the Filipino singer-songwriter and LGBTQ+ beacon who turned loss into lyrics, stereotypes into sparkle, and even turning rhinoplasty into radical self-love. In this vibra...

𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 – How Skincare, Holistic Healing, and Unshakable Resilience Can Transform Your Life Can adversity fuel your greatest comeback? In this powerful episode of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭, meet 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐧—a holistic health coach and skincare expert who turned a lifelong battle with acne into a mission to heal others. From corporate burnout to becoming a viral skincare gur...

From surviving COVID’s wreckage to photographing Drag Race royalty—how a Black queer artist from Plant City turned trauma into frames that set the standard. Meet 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 —Tampa Bay’s award-winning queer photographer, RuPaul’s Drag Race collaborator, and unapologetic voice for underrepresented performers. In this raw, riotous episode, Morgan reveals how he went from a novice with a camera t...

🔥 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲—𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. Meet 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 —co-host of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐆𝐚𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐌𝐍𝐅 88.5 FM, award-winning activist, and the literal reason The Skittle Squad Podcast exists. In this electrifying episode, the 24-year-old political science major proves that age is just a number when it comes to shaking up the status quo. 🚀 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭...

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢’𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯—𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘻𝘪𝘱-𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 🔥 What would Rockell do? 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬—𝐊𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑. Drag legend 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐥𝐮 (18-year drag veteran, 30-year professional dancer, and Tampa’s most unapologetic truth-teller) storms the Skittle Squad stage with stories that’ll make you laugh, gasp, and...

𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐀𝐧 𝐋𝐆𝐁𝐓𝐐+ 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐭, 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐔𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐉𝐨𝐲 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘯𝘰" 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘨 "𝘺𝘦𝘴". 🎨✈️🦩 Award-winning entrepreneur, travel disruptor, and comedic force 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 (𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭.𝐜𝐨𝐦) joins The Skittle Squad to reveal how she transformed anxiety into ambition, built Florida’s premier LGBTQ+ travel p...

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚’𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐭) 🎙️ "I’m the Beyoncé of Broadway Drag" – Meet 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐱𝐱 , Tampa’s fiercest performer and Watermark Award-winning queen! In this electrifying episode of ⁠ The Skittle Squad Podcast ⁠ , Veronica reveals: 🔥 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧: What it really takes to prep a drag show (hint: duct tape is involve...

🌈 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟐 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄: 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐛𝐢 𝐍𝐢𝐱 – 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 🌈 🎙️ "The world needs your messy, imperfect, glorious self." In this powerful episode, 𝐀𝐛𝐢 𝐍𝐢𝐱 — The Emo Cabaret producer, youth mentor, and queer icon—gets real about: 🔥 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞: From eating disorder recovery to creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ artists 🎸 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 (hint: "If you don’t know how t...

🌈 𝐒𝟏𝐄𝟏: 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 & 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞! Welcome to the very first episode! Join hosts David and Paul as they sit down with Claire Elisan, founder of 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐍𝐨 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬, to discuss: 🏳️‍🌈 Holistic mental health care for the LGBTQ+ community (it’s not just therapy!) 🏳️‍🌈 How Project No Labels has delivered 9,000+ affordable therapy sessions thr...