In a world of a lot of darkness, it is important to know of the many good people out there working to help others in some way, shape, or form each and every day. Today on Be The Good with Kate, I would like to introduce you to Suzanne Orlando, also known as The Anxiety Alchemist.

Suzanne is a psychotherapist and anxiety strategy coach. She has worked for many years in this field, and her passion is apparent!

She and her family live in New Jersey, and she also has rather accidentally, through her daughter taking riding lessons, been introduced to how equestrian work benefits those with anxiety. She now also works with therapy in the equine space in addition to her daily practice.

Suzanne found therapy through a personal trauma, and found how crucial therapy was to her life. While she explains school did not come ‘easy’ to her, when she started to do work toward becoming a therapist, it was a different story, and she became more and more passionate about this field.

Additionally, listen to Suzanne discuss the importance of finding your strengths, searching for what you enjoy, and working through the challenges you will come across along the way. At the end, Suzanne tells you about a free offer as well!

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform. A share and a review go a long way in reaching more people with good news.**

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Founder and Director of Sing Aphasia, Dr. Gillian Velmer, joins me today on Be The Good with Kate.  

Aphasia is a language disorder that can occur after a brain injury, often stroke. Gillian, a speech language pathologist, saw how music so positively affects patients with aphasia and is now bringing together people dealing with communication disorders through music and community.  

Gillian tells us how people often have trouble with speaking and writing when they have aphasia, but their intelligence is still just as strong as it once was. It is a devastating diagnosis, as so much of our lives revolve around how we communicate.  

How incredible is the power of music: We often hear about left vs right sides of the brain, but music actually is found across the brain. When people engage in music in some way, it lights up the brain. 

Listen as Gillian tells us more about the benefits!  

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform. A share and a review go a long way in reaching more people with good news.**  

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Because we need all the good news we can get.

Aaron Smith joins me from Chicago. And he has an incredible story of, as his company name states, Escaping The Odds.

While in jail for nearly a decade, Aaron had a complete mindset shift, and, with God at the helm,  is now an entrepreneur, podcast producer, and mentor working tirelessly to help change the narrative of the formerly incarcerated.

I learned so much listening to Aaron, and he takes the word "inspiring" to another level.

Always an ambitious person, education was a priority in Aaron’s home, but growing up in the south side of Chicago, Aaron, as he says "always knew what I was facing on the other side of my door". Crime, gangs, and drugs surrounded his home.

He would go to school but he also saw the ‘quick money’ people around him were making. He graduated with a business degree, but "that thing you feed the most is gonna grow." Being pulled into the high income rewards of selling heroin, Aaron was eventually indicted, convicted, and sent to federal prison.

But, Aaron explains that this was the best thing that happened to him.

He took his nearly ten years in prison to learn all he could about business, and now he is spearheading the initiative to change the narrative of the formerly incarcerated.

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform.**

Find more information on Aaron’s work and to reach out for speaking engagements:

Send in a voice message to say hi, share a story of goodness, or ask a question at any time.

Because we need all the #goodnews we can get.

The first episode of the new season of Be The Good with Kate is here!

She is a Brooklyn based director, choreographer, and teacher. Artistic Director of Combustion Collective. Director of NYTB’s Choreography Lab.

As with many artists, she is involved in a variety of outlets and projects, but Avital is not one to take a passive role. She leads, creates, discovers, and connects.

Avital’s main focus is the power of dance in a narrative way. She loves delving into how dance can be used to tell stories.

Listen to this episode to learn about many, sometimes more unknown, opportunities for artists, to be inspired to take the needed step out of your box, and for great advice for people trying to get their ideas out in the world.

Many great organizations come about to fulfill a need. Avital felt there were not enough spaces to dive into new works as a choreographer. To explore. She created Choreography Lab in 2013, a literal ‘lab for choreography’ here in NYC. It is a nonprofit within NY Theatre Barn with a mission to “expand and elevate the use of dance in contemporary musical theater".

The first in-person lab since pre-pandemic is coming up on March 23rd. Link to more information below!

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Send in a voice message to say hi, share a story of goodness, or ask a question:

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Suzie Hicks “Climate Chick” creates climate-focused media and education and is an absolute force of an advocate.

You absolutely have to hear from Suzie– especially if you are someone with varied interests and feeling like you don’t know how they could possibly all fit together. They can!

Suzie felt pulled to fight climate change in a big way. Now she is at Columbia studying climate science, as well as being fully invested in media, entertainment, and education for climate awareness and environmental justice.

In undergrad, Suzie created an entire arts festival focused on mental health, she has worked at NPR, done an internship with the New England Aquarium doing presentations for thousands, created a CollegeHumor-esque show about sustainability for her university, and recently wrote a children’s book….she seems to create wherever she goes, going above and beyond expectations.

Suzie currently works with PBS as well, and I am a bit obsessed with what she did in California to connect PBS with the LA region’s schools to help kids throughout the pandemic. Incredible examples of identifying a need, pivoting, and fully diving in to help to the best of your abilities. Be inspired by hearing from Suzie, both in this story and throughout the episode!

Suzie loves getting people involved who thought they didn’t have a voice– “because they actually do”. And, she stresses, “science is really cool, and it can change the world”.

I mean, how has one 20-something done ALL of this and more already?

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do follow/subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform!**

Because we need all the good news we can get.

Note from Suzie: “I’m living on Lenni Lenape land right now, and the work I do would not be possible without the tireless work of BIPOC organizers.”

Today’s guest on Be The Good with Kate is Ashley-Lauren Elrod, who absolutely encompasses the word ‘multi-hyphenate’ as CEO of Visionary Woman Productions, actor, director, coach, and more.   

I love this from her bio: “Faith-filled visionary. I help performers and creative beings create authentically, act audaciously, and book mindfully. “  Each of these aspects of her world influence the others. She comes at her work from a variety of perspectives given her diverse background. Part of why she created her own production company is because she loves helping artists see that they can do more than one thing and be more well-rounded.  

Ashley-Lauren certainly keeps a lot of balls in the air at once. "But I wouldn't have it any other way," she says. She has been a multi-faceted artist since she was a child.   

Two details that I have been seeing through so many of my guests: First, that whatever we learn throughout life, whether seemingly related to our careers or not, comes back around to contribute to our growth and inform us in some way. Second, how the arts do SO much for a child’s confidence, how they interact with others, and overall growth.  

In between our conversation and this episode airing, Ashley-Lauren was on set as the lead in a film! So go ahead and follow her to be kept up-to-date on her latest happenings:  

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do follow/subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform!**  

We need all the #goodnews we can get.

Welcome back to Be The Good with Kate, where we are all about people doing good in the world while following their passions. Good for their own souls and for others.

The founder of Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service, Rodney Smith Jr., started mowing lawns in Alabama as a way to give back— he now runs a nationwide nonprofit empowering youth to make a difference in their communities.

I do not know how he found the time to chat with me today, but I am certainly grateful he did. Interestingly, this ended up being one of the shortest episodes, yet it is SO rich and full. Rodney has such an obvious passion, and he is so clear about his mission and his motivation.

See a need, do something about it. That is the most simplistic yet powerful way to describe this episode.

In 2015, Rodney saw an elderly man who looked like he was struggling to mow his lawn, so Rodney offered to help. Just a few years later, he has 3000 kids taking part nationwide in his 50 Lawn Challenge (see their great posts on Instagram), he has been on every major news outlet, and he has traveled the United States 10 times giving kids free lawn care equipment in every single state (plus two more tours of the US giving out Christmas gifts to kids in need!)..

From the start, and then even more so since the start of the pandemic, he has been able to offer kids a chance to get outside, do something to help others, and interact safely with other members of the community. And each helps those members of the community who need assistance .

If you have a child who wants to get involved, listen at the end as Rodney tells about what he's up to over the next couple of weeks to help give more kids access to lawn care equipment for free.

Follow Rodney:

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We need all the #goodnews we can get.

Today’s episode we celebrate you: the listeners and the guests. We look at what we have overcome this year, what we have done for ourselves and for others, and inspiration from the guests of Be The Good thus far.

Notes to assist if you are working through your year review I mentioned:

   -Brian Patacca’s What did you overcome within:

I found that breaking down my year by each month and above category made me feel more accomplished and proud of the still-tumultuous-and-changing-by-the-day year we’ve had.

The episode also revisits each of the prior episodes of Be The Good, with a brief dose of inspiration for each marvelous guest. I love them all and am so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to chat with me and to share their stories and inspiration with us all. (Do I say ‘inspiration’ a lot? YES. And I don’t think that’s changing anytime soon ;) )

I am one of those people who LOVE Christmastime, but I know it is also a time of a lot of varied emotions. My wish for you is to find merry moments of love and joy with people you care about–whether in person or virtually– and enter the new year with a mindset of hope.

Here’s to being the good in the world each day, in any way, shape, or form.

**If you are enjoying these episodes, please subscribe & review over on Apple podcast–many thanks!**

Love what you hear from one (or many) of the guests mentioned here? Find all the episodes here:

Because we need all the #goodnews we can get.

See you in January, and thanks for listening!

Never disregard the impact of care, love, and going the extra mile. Even all these years later, my kindergarten experience stays in my heart and mind. It was so filled with joy, and this stems from the teacher: Mrs. Joy Mackzo, who taught at Bloomsbury Elementary School for 32 years.

Do you recall your kindergarten days? With a teacher who cared as much as Mrs. Maczko, it is impossible not to. And to recall it with memories of happiness, fun, and bright colors all around.

So please indulge me this episode as we take a bit of a stroll down memory lane, and I hope you are inspired to keep in the forefront of your mind just how important the sometimes seemingly ‘small’ gestures of going the extra mile truly are. Enjoy some funny and touching stories about kindergarten, retirement, and moving during my chat with Joy Maczko.

Oh, and she brought photos so you may want to check out the YouTube video if you are used to only listening;)

FYI: FL background noise means birds chirping (unlike NYC’s car horns), so yes, that is what you are hearing!

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do follow/subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform!**

Website: www.katecherichello.com/bethegood

Apple podcasts: Be The Good with Kate Cherichello

We need all the #goodnews we can get.

This week’s guest on Be The Good with Kate is a self-starter and go-getter focused on alignment and giving back in all she does. April McKenzie-Griswold is CEO and Founder of Next Level Coaching & Consulting, helping people align in their personal and professional lives. Additionally, her work with the New York Foundling as the Senior Manager of Special Events helps her align the mission of the organization through various events, fundraising, and programming. She is nonstop, somehow finding the time to chat with me between her two careers– both of which she loves, puts her whole heart behind, and is so obviously very passionate about.

From the above, you get the idea that  ‘alignment’ indeed comes up often in our chat, and I love that. Other great words that stand out in our conversation include ‘intentional’, ‘mission’, ‘support’, and ‘mindset’. Also, the reminders to be proud of ourselves and celebrate our own accomplishments along the way is so important!

With over 20 years in the nonprofit world, April talks of always choosing to work with organizations where she is very attached to their missions. In 2020, she took the plunge to create her own business, going through all the necessary education, prep, and the list goes on, and Next Level Coaching & Consulting came to be.

April told herself at the start of 2020 she would be a different human being by the end of the year–Get this: she did not know what that was going to look like, but put it out into the universe anyway. AND at the end of 2020, she looked at the year and said YES I accomplished my goal.

What do I and don’t I want in my life? Listen and be inspired by April’s words and story.

**If you enjoyed this episode, please do follow/subscribe and share on social, YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform!**

Website: www.katecherichello.com/bethegood

Apple podcasts: Be The Good with Kate Cherichello

Follow April:

Email: [email protected]

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We need all the #goodnews we can get.