YOU Better!

Join Kiesha Garrison and Ben Shimizu of Canine Cornerstone for this episode featuring many lessons about love, connection, and relationships we can glean from people who are intuitive enough to communicate well with animals. Ben enlightens about the deep connections between pets and their owners and uses his life story as an example of how our human lives impact the animals in our care and how our...

Calling someone resilient is usually meant as a compliment.  And for many years, Kiesha hoped to be more resilient.  But her experience of pushing past fibromyalgia pain, weathering the negativity directed at Black women, and also learning more about how we inherit trauma from our ancestral line, has caused her to rethink her expectations around what it means to "bounce back" and press forward. Ep...

Kiesha met Nyah Peyton in LuvvNation, an online community founded by NY Times Best-selling author,  Luvvie Ajayi Jones.  Together, Nyah and Kiesha co-host Sunday Souls Sessions in LuvvNation, a monthly event about mind, body, and soul wellness discussions in a safe space.   Arkansas native Nyah is a college student who also happens to be the author of the book In Favor of Everything Right, publish...

In this episode, Kiesha shares her thoughts about some of the faulty ways we think about self-development and then is joined in conversation by Les Alfred, the founder of Balanced Black Girl, an online wellness community and podcast focused on health, wellness, and self-care from the perspectives of Black women. Together they talk about the self-development trap - this seemingly endless pursuit of...

In this episode, Kiesha heads over to Australia (virtually!) to connect with Phill Nosworthy to indulge in mutual curiosity about how it feels to grow and how you compassionately guide yourself when you find yourself at the edge of growth.  The two discuss the idea of slowing down to move at the speed of wisdom so you can do less, better. And they also talk about how to tackle that gap between all...

Kiesha and A. Jade Smith met on the internet 20 years ago and bonded over a shared connection to the phrase "Happiness takes courage."  The two come together for a conversation that begins with discussing the idea of the purpose in our lives…and then Jade reflects on how her journey found her looking for purpose and value of her life through things such as finances, jobs, and relationships outside...

Detroit native and Morehouse Man, Mark Hatcher, sits down with Kiesha to share his life story.  He talks through his journey from his premature birth to his mother's guidance which provided inspiration for how he moves with purpose and how he fathers his elementary school aged daughter Maris Mays.  He also celebrates the goodness that was poured into him on the campus of historic Morehouse College...

Kiesha and Yaribel became fast friends after finding one another frequenting the same online spaces, cheering for the same authors and generally being in community with each other digitally.  In this episode, the two dig into a conversation about identity and community and how we can be impacted by genuine and connected love from others who live in alignment with our purpose and vision.  Yaribel s...

What happens when you feel like your environment does not properly reflect love back to you?  On this episode of YOU Better! Charles E. Sims Jr. reflects on his melancholy filled childhood and his journey to seeing himself as a “60-year-old late bloomer.” This self-proclaimed prisoner of hope also shares his learnings about self now that he is experiencing the ultimate safe space with his boyfrien...

In this episode, we talk about what it looks like to go on a healing journey towards self-love.  Kiesha is joined by a dear friend who has made her life’s work about helping others understand and get to “the work.” Her name is Tira Feierstein, and she is a writer, artist and spiritual thought leader who is passionate about helping other woman feel less alone on their journey. Through her artful ex...

So many people have the experience of feeling like they are in the wrong profession. But they stick it out for years even when that work environment is so bad it feels like it’s going to break them. We have gotten so used to sacrificing our selves in the name of survival, that it is hard to even imagine what another kind of existence could look like. This episode's guest, Sukie Jefferson, is someo...

Given that most YOU Better! episodes will involve interviews with other people about their life stories, it's only fair that Kiesha  start with a bit of sharing about herself as well. So, for Episode 1, she's starting with “Why.” She then highlights some of her motivation for creating this show and the joy that teenage Kiesha would feel about her using her gift for gab in this way.  And finally, s...

In this introduction, Kiesha shares what the podcast is about and what you can expect from the weekly episodes. Write to theyoubetterpodcast  at gmail.com to submit a question for the show.  Follow Kiesha on Instagram at @kiesha_garrison To book Kiesha to speak or host a conversation, visit https://kieshagarrison.co To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org