being BALANCED podcast

If you could sum up Cara Snow on a t-shirt it would say "Run all the miles, pet all the dogs, fight all the injustice and then stop for wine." Cara is a long time champion for diversity in tech and avid runner and volunteer. A devoted Southerner, she now lives, runs and pets all the dogs in Portland, Oregon where she works for a business association and focuses on equity and inclusion work.

In this episode, Cara and I cut right to it and chat about the power and affluence that white women can use to support people of color and the difference between America's racial awakening and nightmare. This is episode is part one of our conversation.

Stay connected:

Erayna Sargent is the Founder & CEO of Hooky Wellness. After a personal battle with burnout proved that recovery could be as hard as the condition itself, Erayna founded Hooky Wellness to be a preventative mental wellness company helping hustle culture navigate burnout. Leveraging her 15 years of experience building consumer brands across companies like Nestle and Intuit, she uniquely blends design thinking and mental wellness, providing an approachable and innovative path to real results. 

Hooky is the mental wellness partner for the Kelley School of Business MBA program at Indiana University and provides burnout support programming for companies like Google, P&G, Accenture and Teach for America, helping employees better understand what burnout is and how to manage it within the workplace. Erayna has an MBA from Indiana University and is a member of the Mental Wellness Initiative at the Global Wellness Institute.

In this episode, Erayna shares the work that she's doing to tackle burnout and the recovery process. She details, how you can participate in hooky day and beyond and shares her recipe for wellness.

Stay connected:

Instagram: @HookyWellness + @Burnout_whisperer

www.hookywellness.com

Dr. Nicole Garner Scott is a highly sought after serial entrepreneur, finance expert, and money coach. She launched Amount Financial Services which positioned her as a thought leader, teacher, speaker and nationally recognized money expert. Through her company and digital financial membership platform (Common Wealth Membership), Nicole’s mission is to help communities of color eliminate poverty cycles by creating breathing room in their households and long term generational wealth assets. Dr. Nicole Garner Scott has served as a TEDx speaker and presented to Fortune 500 Companies and businesses including Google, Turner Broadcasting, CNN, Georgia State Capitol, The White House Entrepreneurship Demo Day, Essence, and a host of Universities, Churches, Women’s Empowerment Conferences and more. 

When she’s not working with individuals on personal finance, she lends her expertise as a consultant helping both established companies and startups forge meaningful connections with wealth positive individuals hungry for knowledge and adding her personal understanding of cultural sensitivities to provide true impact. Her clients include Charlie Finance, Freshbooks, Operation Hope, State Farm and more. A disruptor who is committed to normalizing money talks around the nation, Nicole uses her own story and experiences to empower others with tools to change their financial trajectories. She has appeared in Essence, Upscale Magazine, Rolling Out and more.

In this episode, we discuss the burden of financial strain on families, breaking away from money shame and how your finances impact your overall well-being.

Stay connected: @drgarnerscott & @amountfinancial

Cat Polivoda (pah-lah-VOE-duh) is a boutique thrift shop owner and fat activist. Cat owns Cake Plus-Size Resale in Minneapolis, Minneapolis and her inclusive space not only welcomes people of all shapes and sizes, she also leverages the in store connection to encourage body positivity and fat liberation! She is a co-host of Matter of Fat, a body positive podcast with Midwest sensibilities. In her spare time, Cat enjoys RomCom audiobooks, trampoline parks and traveling.

Ciji and Cat met in 2015 as fellows of the New Leaders Council (NLC) Louisiana and in this episode, their conversation tackles the impact of negative body talk on your every day life, how your time can be spent doing the things that you love instead of counting calories and how as a small business owner Cat is embracing a newfound flexible schedule in this season.

Connect with Cat!

Website: www.catinspired.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/catpolivoda/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PolivodaCat

Twitter: www.twitter.com/CatPolivoda

In this episode, Martine and Eileen share how to navigate balance as a business owner, embracing the positive aspects of disruption, why we should all be taking more naps and the importance of holding space during vulnerable conversations. 

Eileen Lee started her career as a management consultant at Accenture. After traveling for six years and working with Fortune 500 clients, she left corporate and started Venture for America, a national nonprofit and fellowship program for recent grads to launch their careers as entrepreneurs. Eileen is an operator and team, culture and community builder. Though her work environments changed, Eileen continued to observe challenges womxn face in both corporate and the startup world. Eileen is now co-founder of The Lola - a womxn's club and community.

Stay connected with The Lola:

Larissa C. Dubose is the Founder and Resident Wine Educator of The Lotus & The Vines. She is a Certified Sommelier, and market-savvy Sales Manager with over 10 years of experience in the Wine & Spirits Industry. Larissa has held several roles; from On-Premise Sales Representative, Patrón Portfolio Manager with Maryland-based wine & spirits distributor Reliable Churchill, to managing the wine distribution and sales as the Southeast Regional Manager of Napa Valley-based winery, The Hess Collection. Larissa is currently the Georgia, South Carolina, & Tennessee Senior On-Premise Manager for two Luxury California Wineries, where she manages the sales and distribution goals.

Stay connected with Larissa on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter, @LotusVineWine

Wines to add to your shopping cart:

Maison Noir Wines- O.P.P ( Other People's Pinot Noir) 

Theopolis Vineyards

Brown Estate Wines

La Fete du Rose

Tareia Williams is Senior Director of Communications for Turner Sports. She leads the content communications team which includes oversight of integrated, strategic and social media PR for Turner Sports’ premium sports content including the NBA, Major League Baseball, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, ELEAGUE and more. Additionally, Tareia leads PR efforts supporting all live events and special projects including the NBA Awards on TNT, All-Star Road Show and the annual NCAA March Madness Music Festival.

Tareia works diligently within the sports industry and the community. She was named to Rolling Out Magazine’s 2015 list of Top 25 Women in Atlanta. She is the founder of PoweR, an intensive bootcamp that allows PR students an opportunity to develop and execute real public relations campaigns while also building relationships with current PR professionals. Additionally, she serves on the sports task force of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) as Vice President of Digital and Socia and is a member of National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Tareia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in mass media communications with a concentration in public relations from Clark Atlanta University (CAU).

Stay in contact with Tareia:

After almost 20 years in beverage sales and marketing with the same organization, Dana decided to start Dana Michelle Strategy + Consulting with the ultimate goal of helping people and organizations be successful. Dana is married to Scott Roberts and a very proud bonus mom to a 16 year old, Kaitlyn, and dog mom to rescue puppy, Buoy.

In this episode, Dana shares the self-care tactics that help her maintain balance, explains how she's productive without a to do list and passionately shares how COVID-19 has impacted her beloved restaurant and hospitality industry.

Stay in contact with Dana:

www.danamichelleconsulting.com

Instagram: @danammoody, @danamichelleconsulting, @buoy_barks

Christina is a wife and mother of three. She was born and raised in Indiana and now lives in Atlanta where she began her career in event planning and nonprofit management. Throughout the course of her career Christina’s love of technology and passion for helping others led her to work with organizations such as Women in Technology and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) which empowers women, girls and young professionals to purse careers in tech. 

When Christina isn’t working the Atlanta tech scene she can be found traveling with her family and working as a content creator for major brands. Christina is also known for devoting a large portion of her time raising awareness of infertility and its many struggles. In all things Christina is an open book sharing about her life and the things she loves and hoping to inspire and encourage others.

In this episode, Christina shares lessons learned during her fertility journey. What is means to believe that "real life is enough" and advice to women that are dealing with the increased uncertainty in 2020 and their personal fertility journey.

Stay connected with Christina:

Instagram: @christinanrodriguez

Twitter: @ChrissyRodATL

Pinterest: 1ChrissyRodriguez

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/chrissyrodriguez

In this special episode, three moms share how they are keeping their kids occupied this Summer, preparing for an unpredictable school year and navigating life at home with a child who has learning differences.

Meet the Moms:

Deanna Anderson - Small business owner, community volunteer and runner. Founder of Moms Making it Together an online community for moms to share, support and smile. Join the Moms Making It Together community on Facebook & Instagram and read the blog.

Ericka Smith - Mom of two boys, a 10-year-old and a 14-year-old. One of her sons has a learning difference and she's an avid advocate for those who have learning differences to have a voice. She's also a lead ambassador for early childhood education. In her interview she shares how the impact of COVID-19 has affected her family. She also does a deep dive into the conversations that are taking place in her home during a heightened awareness of systemic racism.

Edwina Bernita Robinson - A full-time working, single mom of one and holds graduate degrees in Corporate Governance and Compliance. She is also the founder of Hot Mom Fitness & Wellness where she is dedicated to empowering women, especially moms through cultivated experiences that feed the mind and body. Edwina is a certified barre and yoga instructor. In her spare time, of which there is very little, she likes to tickle her son and make funny Tik Tok videos with him that they almost never post. Connect with Hot Mom Fitness on Instagram.