In this episode, Ale Alvarenga shares her story from growing up in Brazil to building a new life in Montreal. She opens up about what it means to start over in a new country, rebuild a sense of home, and stay close to faith and community while far from family and friends.

She talks about growing up as a pastor’s daughter, studying in the U.S., and choosing Canada with her husband Ale also reflects on living with bipolar disorder and ADHD, and how she’s learned to spot her own patterns, build routines, and find balance. 

A book that helped her on that path is Empowering Books for Women with ADHD, by Estelle Rose.

It’s an honest, thoughtful conversation about finding home and learning to live, not just survive.

In this episode, we cover: 

Iranian-American therapist, writer, and activist Atash Yaghmaian joins Arrivals to discuss her debut memoir, My Name Means Fire. Set during the Iranian Revolution and the eight-year Iran–Iraq War, Atash shares a story of survival through sexual abuse, a mother’s superstitious rituals, and the brutality of war. The conversation moves between her outer life and her interior world, where color-named parts speak, offering a rare, compassionate look at living with dissociative identity disorder (DID). We discuss stigma, how writing helped recover memories, leaving Iran at nineteen, and building a life in New York.

Pre-order the book here: My Name Means Fire

Dr. Alicia Castillo Holley is a leading figure in venture capital and angel investing, with more than four decades of experience.

She has invested in over 90 companies, co-founded more than 15 businesses and three non-profits, and is known for her strategic focus on post-seed rounds in life sciences, climate/energy, and disruptive technologies. In 2020, she launched Wealthing VC Club, an investment group built on transparency, flexibility, and post-investment support.

She also helped shape the VC landscape in Latin America, founding Chile’s first entrepreneurship center and the country’s first seed capital fund, while training MBAs and professors on venture capital.

Alicia holds degrees from Universidad Central de Venezuela, Babson College, and the University of Western Australia. She has lived in six countries, lectured in more than 30, and is now based in Silicon Valley.

Sonia Troiani Doulton has lived in four countries since leaving Italy in 2005, navigating life as an outsider while raising three children. She began her career in film as a casting director before shifting into psychotherapy, where she now specializes in psychedelic-assisted therapy. In this episode, Sonia shares how culture shock in London, working with refugees, and community experiences like Burning Man, shaped her approach to healing. We talk about belonging, motherhood, and her mission to guide women through transformational retreats, circles, and psychedelic journeys.

You can connect with Sonia here: https://soniadoulton.com/

Chapters

00:00 Sonia's Early Life in Italy

03:12 The Journey to London and Career in Film

05:34 Transition to Psychotherapy

07:59 Cultural Identity and Belonging

09:12 Challenges of Migration and Community Building

11:28 The Impact of Language and Cultural Differences

13:35 Exploring the Refugee Experience

16:09 The Call to Psychotherapy

22:13 Journey of Self-Discovery and Healing

23:18 The Search for Meaning in Life

24:27 Cultural Identity and Language in Family

26:45 Relocation to New Zealand: A New Chapter

28:32 Transitioning to San Francisco: A New Opportunity

29:22 The Impact of Burning Man on Personal Growth

37:00 Exploring Psychedelics: A Personal Journey

41:24 Psychedelic Therapy: A New Frontier

43:01 Preparation and Integration in Psychedelic Experiences

48:46 Finding Community and Belonging in San Francisco

53:18 Navigating Life as an Immigrant

53:18 Reconnecting with the Feminine Principle

56:40 Resources for Psychedelic Exploration and Feminine Empowerment

In this episode, Heidy de la Cruz, podcaster, writer, and speaker, talks about her award-winning show The American Dream in the Eyes of Immigrants. Inspired by her Dominican-American upbringing and her family’s path to citizenship, Heidy has recorded more than 140 conversations with immigrants and children of immigrants, giving voice to stories that are too often left untold. She also helps women entrepreneurs and busy moms who wish to start their podcasts with her digital products and 6-week course. 

We explore how podcasting can be both a business and a calling, what it means to raise bilingual kids, and why the word “opportunity” comes up again and again when people define the American Dream. From navigating language barriers to creating safe spaces for immigrant voices, Heidy shares how storytelling can shift perspectives, challenge stereotypes, and build community.

We discuss:

• How Heidi's immigrant background shaped her identity and experiences.

• Parenting in a bilingual household and its unique challenges.
• How Heidi's career journey led her to the medical field and podcasting.
• Common themes in immigrant stories are often overlooked in most media outlets.
• Heidi's advice for aspiring podcasters.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

05:53 Navigating Bilingualism and Cultural Identity

10:00 Career Journey and Podcast Genesis

14:32 Exploring Immigrant Stories

18:29 Common Threads in Immigrant Experiences

21:29 Defining the American Dream

24:26 Achieving Podcasting Success

26:18 Changing the Narrative on Immigration

28:18 The Attainability of the American Dream

31:38 Words of Encouragement

33:34 Empowering Others Through Podcasting

36:14 Future Aspirations for the Podcast

This episode features Sharon Harnoy Pilcher, a world-record-holding skydiver turned mental performance coach, who shares what it takes to make clear, conscious decisions under pressure.

Sharon’s story spans growing up in Israel, competing at the highest levels of skydiving, leading elite teams, and building a coaching practice that helps people refine their mental operating system to align with their values and purpose.

We explore the connections between a high-performance mindset, immigration, and finding a professional path that feels authentic. Sharon offers practical tools for rewiring unhelpful patterns, explains why most decision-making is emotional rather than rational, and reveals how to build the mental resilience to handle high-stakes moments.

The episode closes with a very special meditation you can return to anytime you need grounding.

Learn more about Sharon’s work at divinginwards.com.

Nikita Mandhani is an independent journalist and filmmaker based in India. She spent seven years at the BBC making short documentaries, launching social-first formats, and building new ways to reach underserved audiences. Before that, she worked at The Washington Post in Washington, D.C., and earned her master’s in journalism and documentary filmmaking from Northwestern University.

In this episode, Nikita shares her journey of growing up in India, moving to the U.S. to pursue a career in journalism, and ultimately deciding to return home. We discuss how migration, gender, and identity influence her work and worldview, including her own family's untold story of becoming refugees after the partition.

She reflects on the emotional cost of immigration, the cultural shocks of moving and moving back, and how she finds grounding through joy, travel, and curiosity.

Nikita has reported from across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the U.S., and brings a global perspective to the stories she tells. Outside of journalism, she’s a voracious reader, a beginner scuba diver, an indoor climber, and a regular yoga practitioner.

You can find links to her work mentioned in the episode below, especially recommended if you’re drawn to stories about migration, culture, and what it means to belong:

Why I made ‘Between Two Cultures,’ our series on the daughters of immigrants

Video series - Between Two Cultures

The Pain of Familial Separation

“This Is Not America. This Is Dearborn”

Born in Lebanon and raised across multiple countries, Zeina Lubus became fluent in five languages and learned to adapt quickly. Her life has been defined by bold pivots, from studying Biology as an aspiring Pharmacist to graduating in Performing Arts, and later transitioning into Compliance and now a Product Manager.

Today, she’s a Principal PM at Dun & Bradstreet, where she builds tools that transform global news into real-time insights for risk and compliance teams. Just two years ago, she shifted from managing MENA documentation specialists to leading innovation on the tech side—moving from user to builder.

In this episode, Zeina shares how each chapter of her life has been guided not just by resilience but by deep faith. Her story is full of courage, reinvention, and spiritual grounding, reminding listeners that real success is not just about grit, but about walking forward in faith, even when the path is unclear.

In this episode, Ella Musina shares her path from Uzbekistan to the US, reflecting on her multicultural upbringing, immigration experience, and the bold transitions that shaped her life. A seasoned software engineer with a career spanning Google, Apple, Thermo Fisher, and AI startups, Ella also leads a spiritual practice as a psychic and tarot reader.

We discuss the integration of these two worlds, tech and intuition, as she opens up about embracing her spiritual gifts after years of hiding them. Ella also discusses her move to Arizona, her reflections on American culture, and how she balances a demanding career in tech with the deep, healing work of Celestial Lights.

The conversation ends with a powerful tarot reading that offers personal insight and clarity, marking a first for the podcast.

You can learn more about her psychic work here: https://www.celestiallights.net/

Denise Soler Cox is an award-winning activist filmmaker, Top 100 podcaster, and international speaker whose work transforms how we think and speak about culture, identity, and belonging. A former stay-at-home mom turned storyteller, Denise has spoken on over 400 stages, including two TEDx talks, and partnered with leading brands like Microsoft, Amazon, and LinkedIn.

Her podcast The Self-ish Latina was named a “Featured Host” by Apple Podcasts North America and with listeners in 32 countries. Denise’s work has been featured by NBC Nightly News, Forbes, CNN, and PBS, and she was honored with the 2023 MPI President’s Award. She is an alum of the Stanford Latino Leaders Entrepreneur Program, a NALIP Fellow, and the 2018 Bridge Builder Award recipient from the Virginia Hispanic Chamber. Her debut book What Will They Say? will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2026.