Culture Stew

Dr. Leigh Ann Simmons wants to give women tools to better advocate for themselves at every stage of their health journey. As a medical practitioner and researcher, Dr. Simmons has published extensively on health disparities and is a leading scholar in promoting behavioral interventions to improve equity in health care. Dr. Simmons is a professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis and co-director of the Perinatal Origins of Disparities (POD) Center at UC Davis. She is the author of an upcoming book that will help women advocate for their care and help healthcare professionals become better allies for women's health.

"At the roots of Collective Power is the idea that we can do more collectively than we can do individually."

On this week's episode of the Culture Stew, Maria interviews Kelly and Christine Wyche, co-founders of Collective Power, an organization founded with the purpose of assisting underserved communities facing the challenges of climate change, aging infrastructure, and unsustainable lifestyle practices. Together, they explore how to imagine new infrastructures for sustainable living, scaling from book clubs to broader communities.

We will get a sneak peak into their new book "Building Community with Collective Power: A Practical Tool," which outlines how you can bring this work to life in your own community. Find out more about Collective Power at https://www.ourcollectivepower.com/

How can the food we choose to eat, as well as the practices we use to source, prepare, and share our food, be a source of activism and liberation?

Karina Sanchez (she/they) is a holistic health and wellness practitioner and food justice organizer. She co-leads Veggie Mijas Chicago, supporting plant-based education, mutual aid, and community programming for Queer BIPOC communities. Karina is an herbalism apprentice with Urban Growers Collective, a yoga teacher through the Latina Sweat Project, and an energy healing apprentice at Verde Holistic Wellness Studio, where she studies Mesoamerican healing practices and facilitates trauma-informed, culturally rooted wellness offerings.

With over a decade of experience in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and community engagement, Kari brings a strategic and relational approach to systems change. In recent years, she has hosted workshops and community spaces that invite participants to begin decolonizing their relationships to food, health, and healing. Her work centers reconnecting people to their bodies, the land, plant medicine, and ancestral wisdom as pathways toward individual and collective liberation.

Ways to Connect With Veggie Mijas

• Follow on Instagram:

• National: @VeggieMijas

• Chicago: @VeggieMijasChicago

• Donate via the website to support programs, including community fridges, food access, and education.

• Purchase the digital cookbook, Manteniendo Nuestra Cultura, available on the Veggie Mijas website — a celebration of plant-based recipes rooted in culture and tradition.

• Partner or work with Veggie Mijas: they offer services and collaborations for individuals, teams, and organizations interested in plant-based education, food justice, and sustainable, equitable food systems.

In this episode, Maria sits down with Manny Hernandez and Elena Soboleva, co-founders of Scream Club™, to explore what it looks like to create spaces where people no longer have to hold it all in.

Manny, a men's coach and breathwork practitioner, and Elena, a personal brand expert and community leader for women entrepreneurs, are aware of the impact of societal gender norms on mental health and wellbeing. Together, they share how their own lived experiences led them to build a community that challenges norms around silence, emotional suppression, and rigid gender roles, inviting people to be honest about stress, anger, grief, and joy.

In our conversation, we explore the rapid growth of Scream Club, the power of collective release, and why building authentic, human-centered communities is not just healing, but necessary in a world that constantly asks us to perform instead of feel.

Scream Club is now in multiple cities across the U.S. and abroad, bringing communities together to release the stresses of their daily lives collectively as a group.

What does activism really mean? This season, we're centering the idea that justice and equity are not only pursued through protests, but also through everyday actions that shape how we show up for ourselves, our communities, and the world around us.

Whether it's teaching women how to advocate for their healthcare needs, buiding sustainable communities through homesteading, relearning ancient wisdom related to food, or collectively screaming over a body of water to promote mental wellbeing, our guests this season will demonstrate how activism takes many forms across disciplines and lived experiences. Each episode highlights how individuals and communities are redefining activism in ways that are creative, relational, and deeply human.

Buckle up and tune in!

In this episode of Culture Stew, host Maria Maroukian welcomes Judy Oyedele, founder and principal consultant of Joyedele Consulting. Judy is an organizational development practitioner and executive leadership coach with over a decade of experience helping leaders across sectors break out of the status quo and lead with clarity, ease, and strong boundaries.

Judy shares reflections on her upbringing as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants in Texas and how early messages around worthiness and faith shaped her identity and resilience. She and Maria explore the evolution of self-worth beyond external validation, particularly in academic and professional environments, and how redefining identity is a powerful act of liberation.

They dive into Judy's approach to culture change—one that prioritizes joy, justice, and human-centered leadership—and the challenges and rewards of coaching and podcasting. Judy also discusses her own podcast, Transformation Horizon, which amplifies stories of people driving change through organizational development and human connection.

Whether you're a coach, change leader, or just someone craving deeper joy in your work, this episode offers meaningful insights and actionable wisdom.

In this live and in-person episode of Culture Stew, Maria sits down with the dynamic Melanie Smith, founder of Moves with Melanie, a health and wellness company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. With a powerful blend of pharmacy expertise, fitness instruction, and integrative nutrition coaching, Melanie shares her personal and professional journey one that took her from a military childhood to pharmacy school to a life changing pivot into holistic wellness.

Maria and Melanie explore:

• How growing up as a "military brat" shaped Melanie's go for it mindset

• The realities of burnout in the healthcare system and the bold decision to walk away

• Why her retreats offer a rare mix of structure and radical freedom for women

• How imposter syndrome and racialized beauty standards show up in the wellness space

• The power of building inclusive, body-positive, and evidence-informed spaces for healing

Melanie brings humor, honesty, and a no nonsense approach to helping others thrive emotionally, spiritually, and physically. This episode is a must listen for anyone navigating burnout, craving more authenticity in wellness, or searching for a place where they truly belong.

Learn more about Melanie's work at mymoveswithmelanie.com

This episode of Culture Stew dives deep into the intersection of race, mental health, and systemic change with special guest Dr. Monnica T. Williams, a renowned clinical psychologist, professor, and leading researcher in racial trauma and mental health disparities. Dr. Williams joins Maria to explore the profound impact of racial injustice on psychological well-being—and how culturally informed care can lead to healing and transformation.

Together, they discuss the history and ongoing harm of structural racism in mental health systems, the promise of psychedelic-assisted therapies for BIPOC communities, and the responsibilities practitioners hold in advancing equity in clinical settings.

Key topics:

• Understanding and addressing racial trauma

• Culturally responsive clinical practices

• The role of psychedelics in mental health treatment

• The intersection of research, advocacy, and clinical care

About our guest:

Dr. Monnica T. Williams, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical psychologist and Professor at the University of Ottawa, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities. She directs the Behavioral Wellness Clinics in Ottawa and Connecticut, and her research—spanning over 200 publications—focuses on BIPOC mental health, racial trauma, and cultural competence. She has been featured in NPR, CTV, CBS, the New York Times, and more.

Learn more:

• Website: monnicawilliams.com

• Certification Program: racialtraumahealing.com

• Anti-Racism Training: EB Training Solutions

• Retreat Video: YouTube

Connect with Dr. Williams:

• X (formerly Twitter): @DrMonnica

• Instagram: @drmonnica

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/monnicawilliams

Listen & Subscribe: Find this episode and more at https://msmglobalconsulting.com/category/culture-stew-podcast/ or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman returns to Culture Stew to dive even deeper into the emotional, cultural, and systemic layers of anti-racism, leadership, and psychological wellness. A renowned clinical and consulting psychologist, Dr. Abdulrehman shares insights from his groundbreaking tools like "Bias Outside the Box," his ongoing research, and his work as founder of tesbias.com and livingwithracism.com.

We explore the intersections of social justice and psychological health, the realities of DEI work in both Canada and the U.S., and the personal narratives that shape his mission. From challenging Canada's polite silence around racism to launching the Celebrate Everything campaign, Dr. Abdulrehman is redefining how we create inclusive communities and healthier organizations.

He also shares about his new book, Developing Anti-Racist Cultural Competence, his latest research findings, and his publishing venture: Leading with Diversity Press. This episode is a rich conversation about knowledge, discomfort, transformation, and what it takes to build systems rooted in empathy and truth.

Key take aways:

• Discomfort is Necessary Real inclusion requires leaning into discomfort, not avoiding it.

• Bias is Human—but Action is Key We all have biases. The goal isn't guilt, it's growth.

• Inclusion Isn't Always Comfortable Psychological safety doesn't mean avoiding tough conversations, it means creating space for them.

• Data Doesn't Replace Humanity Evidence matters, but empathy and context are just as crucial.

• CelebrateEverything Inclusion should be joyful and year-round not just during heritage months.

• Innovative Tools for Tough Problems From tesbias.com to Developing Anti-Racist Cultural Competence, Dr. Abdulrehman offers fresh, practical ways to tackle bias.

In this episode of Culture Stew, host Maria Morukian interviews Paolo Gaudiano, a dynamic voice in the DEI space whose journey to this work is anything but traditional. With advanced degrees in aerospace engineering and neuroscience, Paolo brings a deeply analytical lens to a field often led by personal stories and emotion. As the founder and Chief Scientist of Aleria and author of Measuring Inclusion: Higher Profits, Happier People Without Guesswork or Bias, Paolo is on a mission to make inclusion measurable, actionable, and undeniable.

Throughout the conversation, Paolo shares his personal backstory from growing up in Italy and confronting cultural misunderstandings, to discovering how his lived experiences and scientific training could converge to reshape how organizations approach equity. He talks about the importance of understanding exclusion not just inclusion and how centering those experiences can reveal the hidden gaps in our workplaces and systems.

This episode explores how data and narrative can work hand-in-hand to foster more inclusive environments, and why those in positions of privilege have a unique opportunity and responsibility to drive real change.

Listeners will take away:

• A deeper understanding of why inclusion needs to be visible to be measured

• How Paolo's interdisciplinary background shapes his data-first DEI approach

• Practical strategies that connect inclusion to business outcomes

• Why it's time to move from good intentions to evidence-based action

Remember to review and comment to send us your feedback!