Balancing Stories

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 49: Interview Extras – Baby Names, Bike Shops, Social Media & The Patriarchy

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Welcome to Balancing Cultures Interview Extras! The stuff that is too good ⁠not to share but ⁠didn't fit in the episodes⁠. Including tangents from ⁠Jane (ep. 40)⁠, Meredith (ep. 45)⁠, Ashlee (ep. 41) ⁠& Ella (ep. 47)⁠.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 48: Uncovering My Confidence – Third Culture Kid Adaptability in Workplace Culture

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Third Culture Kids are often adaptable.

But adaptability can be both a help and a hindrance.

Elizabeth Skinner says, moving every 2-4 years gave her the instinct of assimilation. In school, this helped her adapt to each new environment. But once she was old enough to choose life for herself, she was still following other people’s lead. In the workplace, she felt off balance and took years to uncover her core values and what she wanted from life.

In this episode, we hear about international life, and how Elizabeth took her TCK adapting skills from anxiety inducing to confidence boosting.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 47: Contemporary Composing – In Search of Inspiration, Connection & Equity

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When I say composer, who do you think of? Do you think of powdered wigs and tailed coats? Maybe you think of modern composers and the sound tracks to blockbuster movies. Either way, who is the person you think of? A man? A white man?

Ella Jarman-Pinto is neither of those things and she is here to make more room for marginalized people in the world of composing. She grew up surrounded by music, both parents in the jazz scene encouraging her to test and try and create music without risk of wrong. Being told Everything you create is valid.

Along the way, Ella lost her passion to create but a little boy named Marvellous John helped bring her back. Now she has a drive to change the face of composing and boost equity along the way.

Content warning: there is mention of pregnancy loss in this episode around the 20 minute mark.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 46: I’m Ready to Talk About My Uterus – A Story of Periods, Pregnancies, & a Hysterectomy

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I am ready to talk about my uterus.

What I didn’t realize along the way was how much the culture around me influenced how I spoke or didn’t speak about things, how those influences made me feel about my own body, and how all of it impacted my actions.

From lack of conversations around periods

To my limited education about my own biology

To concern for my career if I spoke about family planning

To silence around pregnancy loss

To accepting medical gaslighting

To questioning my own intentions while seeking medical support

To a final sense of relief when doctors confirmed my pain was real

My story includes a lot of topics that are taboo and triggering. I know some listeners have faced or are still facing these challenges. I appreciate all of you who have messaged me to share your stories after the last uterus episode. I hope the continuation of my story is helpful for someone out there.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 45: Intuitive Health & Holistic Lifestyle – Coaching, Education & Small Changes to Find Balance

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Health is about all the small choices we make through the day, the habits we hold and the values that drive them.

In this episode, Meredith Keith-Chirch of M for Health is here to talk about intuitive health and holistic lifestyle choices.

After getting to know Meredith, and a great tangent about living car free, we discuss how important is it to look at our health outside of cultural expectations and social norms to find our individual balance. We touch on friend, family and work pressures, the benefits and flexibilities of routine, and how it all starts with one small change.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 44: The Power of Introverts - Quiet Leadership & Thriving in an Extrovert’s World

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I’ve always been told I’m an extrovert.

I’m a podcast host. I’m the one who stood up at the end of birth class and said “I need mom friends”. I’m the teacher who volunteers to teach sex ed and yells vagina to break the ice. Even back in high school I loved being on stage for plays and at university, I was the editor of the student humor magazine.

But, over the last year and a half, with pandemic inflicted solitude, I have found more and more opportunities to embrace my introvert side. It was always there, none of us are 100% Extrovert, but I had been convinced that my extrovert side was more valuable.  However, despite the world showing favor to the loud and social, we need people from both sides of the spectrum.

In this episode, you’ll hear from Faris Khalifeh who encourages us to see the benefits in the balance and the power of quiet leadership. Show notes are on balancingcultures.com and while you’re there: sign up for the newsletter and find links to support with buymeacoffee and patreon.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 43: We Need to Talk About the Uterus – Advocating for Women’s Health: Periods, Fibroids, Hormones & More

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Those born with a uterus, and the systems around it, are balancing cultures.⁠ We balance the culture of awkwardness around our own bodily functions to the point that we accept the lack of conversation, knowledge and care.⁠

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In this episode, I chat with Karen Mannion about our personal experiences with fibroids and explore the larger topic: A need for more conversations for the sake of our health and future generations. ⁠

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Listeners who follow Balancing Cultures on social media know, since this interview was recorded, I ended up having surgery and removing my uterus. I will make an episode in a few weeks to follow up. ⁠

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For now, here is a chat between two uterus owners trying to challenging cultural norms.⁠

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 42: Learning to Read – How Culture Shapes our Introduction to Literacy

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Ann Heiliger is back to take us from board books to emerging readers. BUT this is not just about learning to read. Ann is our deep dive guide, through the frustrating to the motivating, with book recommendations and a few laughs thrown in the balance it out.

In the first half of this extra-long episode, we look critically at the US with comparisons to Finland. We discuss the gap between academic standards and the cultural pressure to be exceptional, causing a race for success.

In the second half, we look at Ann’s personal story as a mom of twins who learned to read this year in two very different ways. Did her teaching skills come in handy? Listen to find out.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 41: Balancing Social Media – Discernment, Boundaries, Authenticity, & Protecting our Mental Bandwidth

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There are so many things in life that are good to a point: Ice cream, sunshine, socializing and the topic of today… Social Media

There is no denying that social media helps entrepreneurs and writers gain exposure and make connections but we still need to balance between useful and too much.

For this conversation, I invited Ashlee Gadd to join me. She went viral with her collective motherhood blog Coffee and Crumbs but she has also felt low lows of social media overload. Today, we start with the social media love story that pushed her into the spotlight. Then we explore how, over the years, she’s used discernment, boundaries, and authenticity as a part of her balancing to protect her mental bandwidth.

FULL SHOW NOTES with links on Balancingstories.com

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Episode 40: Celebrating One Year of Podcasting – Behind the Scenes of Balancing Cultures

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We It has been one year since my first episode "aired" in May 2020. In what I thought was the middle of the pandemic, I pushed through with my pre-pandemic plans of starting a podcast.

In this episode, I hand the interviewing reins over to my mom so I can reflect on: Why podcasting? What inspired the name? How I developed the logo? How do I know the guests? How do I balance? What have I learned? My advice for others. What's next? The Newsletter! Sign up on Balancingcultures.com