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By Jo-Ná Williams
The podcast currently has 76 episodes available.
After 5 amazing years, we are saying goodbye to Artists Without DayJobs and hello to what's next! Thank you so much for listening, sharing, and supporting. We hope this show has served you well and we are so grateful for you. Make sure you sign up for our newsletter at jo-na.com to find out what's next. Also, stay subscribed to the show!
This episode is special because I am interviewing one of my dear friends, Jocelyn Chia about her journey from being a lawyer to a professional comedian. What I love about her story is the moment when she knew that comedy was her passion and she could no longer deny it so she took a major risk and it paid off. Such a compelling story. I think you're going to enjoy hearing it.
Bio: Jocelyn Chia is a bi-continental standup comedian, splitting her time between New York and Singapore. She has been featured on cnbc.com, and has been a guest comedian on the Howard Stern Channel of Sirius XM, and a guest host on MTV. She made her standup television debut on AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, hosted by William Shatner. She is also a two-time winner of the Moth Storyslams.
She won the 2016 Ladies of Laughter Competition and was a finalist at the 2017 New York’s Funniest competition at Caroline's. She has received the “Rising Star Award – Comedy” at the Asian American Television and Film Festival, and made her Comedy Central debut in 2018. She has performed in festivals such as the Boston Comedy Festival and the Women in Comedy Festival, and colleges such as NYU and Harvard University, and has opened for Doug Stanhope. You can visit her at jocelynchia.com
Register to receive the free replay at bit.ly/coronaworkshop You can find me at instagram.com/jwilliamsesq
Today I had the pleasure of interviewing actor, yoga teacher, and modern-day goddess, Amanda Gloria Valdes. What I love about her is how she has created a two-prong business and each part feeds the other and essentially created a non-traditional path to accomplishing her dreams. I think you're going to love this one.
Amanda's mission is to bring yoga to Non/traditional spaces and storytelling through acting. You can find her on IG @amandagloriayoga and us at @jwilliamsesq
Today I speak with one of my all-time favorite people in the world, Asha Santee. She's one of the few artists I've seen go straight into being a full-time independent artist and never look back. The story of her impeccable grind coupled with the beautiful way she listens to her intuition is so inspiring. When we spoke she'd recently recovered from a car accident which has major effects on how she viewed life and making sure she squeezed every drop from it. I hope you enjoy this incredible interview!
Bio: Asha “BOOMCLAK” Santee is a percussion kahuna with a propensity for infectious beats and the inevitable body roll. Born on September 3rd, this San Francisco native has been drumming since the tender age of 6, taking after her father who drummed for their local church In addition to drums, Santee is also a producer, vocalist, educator, and audio engineer. BOOMCLAK’s signature sticks and keys are an asset to several bands across the DMV such as The Peace & Body Roll Duo BOOMscat, The CooLots, Band of Roses, The Huda Asfour Trio and Grammy Award-Winning, Mya. Asha currently has three solo projects on all streaming platforms including her latest release, GINKGO. Offstage, BOOMCLAK can be found running her company, Note 2 Self LLC. Here, she designs and creates musically inspired clothing, accessories, and jewelry. In addition, she teaches kids and adults how to play the drums through Bangin’ with BOOMCLAK
You can find her on IG at @note2selfinc and me at @jwilliamsesq
Today Jo-Ná talks to Yvonna Kopacz, she is best known for her eight year tenure as Melissande Bauer on Guiding Light, Yvonna Kopacz Wright began her career as a model after entering a contest in Seventeen Magazine. She has appeared in various TV shows and movies, such as Cosby, Damages, Unforgettable, Perfect Stranger and more. She has had a recurring role on Blue Bloods as Detective Ava Hotchkiss and is currently appearing on Law and Order: SVU as Dr. Darby Wilder. Yvonna is also a beekeeper who is extremely passionate about educating others on the current situation of the honey bee. She takes care of her own hives, volunteers at kids schools and community centers teaching the youth about the importance of bees in our eco system. She started her first venture into entrepreneurship, selling hand-made beautiful beeswax candles, and would love to transform her 100 year old barn into a wellness and education center. Yvonna is also very dedicated to inspiring and uplifting women in her community and around the globe. She has hosted several retreats geared towards empowering women and helping them step into their higher purpose.
Today we talk to Johnny Tarajosu, a multimedia creative with mastery over many artistic disciplines. From motion graphics and animation to painting murals and video editing, Tarajosu works to improve each craft daily. Currently, Tarajosu ties his broad skillset together in his work as a Creative Director at a marketing agency based in Boca Raton. One of the things I love about this conversation is he talks about HOW his artistic journey took some pivots he wasn’t expecting and how GETTING a day-job actually helped him become a better artist and partner. It’s a new take on the experience of being an artist on this Podcast and I can’t for you to hear it.
Today we talk to Domonique Echeverria, she is a queer Latinx intuitive reiki healer, medicine woman, artist and muse. Originally from the Bay Area, Echeverria moved to New York in 2010 where she became a muse and mother hen to the underground fashion world, modeling for Givenchy, Gypsy Sport Chris Habana, and hosting parties for the top promoters in NY from Brooklyn to Uptown. After being mishandled by the psychiatric and medical world, Echeverria’s fate changed, surviving a suicide attempt in 2015 which left her psychically disabled. Disappointed with the lack of resources and education on alternative healing she founded Universal Mother, a healing collective curated to help others heal from trauma and remind them of the power and effectiveness of holistic medicine and energy work. Universal Mother is her battlecry to the world, gathering healers and mothers from all walks of life to empathetically guide people through their suffering.
Today we talk to Cee Smith, a Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor and Eco system builder. Investing in Woman and LGBTQ lead companies. With more than a decade of experience operating & scaling businesses, her expertise in media and business development are unparalleled.
She has combined her knack for team building with the hard business rules of identifying models, developing processes, and strategizing growth for dozens of ventures.
Her portfolio includes an array of businesses in the sectors of technology, film, entertainment and Retail.
As a member of Pipeline Angels, Cee shares their mission to change the face of angel investing by creating capital for women and non-binary femme social entrepreneurs who may not have support at their most critical stages.
Today we talk to Azin Mafi. She is an Iranian-born poet, writer and activist living in Los Angeles, California. As a refugee, writing is a means through which she negotiates the terms and conditions of forever being a woman in exile. She is currently working on a forthcoming book of poetry and can be found sharing her work at various venues across Los Angeles.
Her work is driven by memories, nostalgia, identity, and rebellion. Her poetry is deeply human, political and intertwined with the Western and Eastern worlds between which she finds herself. Much of her work revolves around the struggles of being a child of diaspora and her themes reflect her life. Poetry is an avenue through which she can approach the larger questions of justice and representation as well as the cultivation of human potential.
The podcast currently has 76 episodes available.