Empowering Appalachia

Hiiiii y'all! We are back! Tune in to hear from East SM, who joined us in 2021 to discuss what empowerment is to her. She mentioned in the first recording that she was writing a book and that book is now born! I hope you'll tune in to hear about her writing journey and to hear how you can find her book!

East's author website where you can find all things her book: https://theartisteast.com
You can find her on Instagram @East_s.m._author
If you're curious about East's divination artistry work, find her on Instagram  @AppalachianAllegories.https://www.instagram.com/appalachianallegories/

To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Support the show(https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

Hey y'all! 
I know the podcast has been a little quiet. We are working on lining up some awesome interviews. Please join us and tell your story! 

Find us at [email protected] 
To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Support the show(https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

Ever been curious about energetic work? Meet Angeyln Nicholson, a trauma therapist and metaphysical healer who has been working for the last several years in Knoxville. She discusses her work creating energetic safety via grid work and individual healing modalities. We discuss empowerment and the draw to Appalachia and the ways that independence can be woven with asking for support and help. 


To connect with Angelyn or to check out her services or products more:
https://colorofkismet.com

To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Support the show(https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

Welcome to episode 5 of the podcast! Kristy shares her story of growing up in Scott County, Tennessee, and finding that in order to be empowered, she had to lean into the struggle. Coming from parents who didn't have formal education, she had to find her own way through the formal education system (aka academia). She discusses her experience as a mother, therapist, wife, daughter, and sister. She tells us her love story about leaving Appalachia in order to feel like she belonged before returning back. She hopes you will lean into the struggle, knowing that you belong. No matter what. No matter who you love.

If you want to touch base or ask Kristy questions, here's her email address:

[email protected]



To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

Welcome to Episode 4 of this second season, y'all! I know it's dropping a day early but we believe in the power of numbers and 2/22/22 is some powerful stuff. I can't wait for you to hear about Porsche and her work as a doula and as a founder of Knoxville's Black Doula Collective. She discusses her joy in empowering birthers (people who birth) and her challenges being a doula in covid times. Porsche discusses her own empowerment in helping others find education about how to educate women about the decisions they can make for their reproductive health.

Connect with Porsche on Facebook & Instagram @soulsisterswellnessandbeauty
You can follow the Black Doula Collective here on Facebook.
You can follow them on Instagram @KnoxvilleBlackDoulaCollective
Email them at [email protected]
Here's a recent article about their work: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/health/2021/06/18/knoxville-black-doula-collective-pregnancy-maternal-infant-mortality/7638660002/

To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

Happy February y'all! February 2022. Listen in this week for a conversation with Taylor, a nonbinary queer human who has found empowerment through finding their worth outside of the work setting. They discuss how that journey went, where they have found empowerment, and how their work as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) has been interwoven and at odds with worth.

Trigger warning for mention of ABA therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis) which I understand some folks have experienced as a form of abuse. Other folks in community feel it has directly impacted their lives in beneficial ways. I don't have enough knowledge to weigh in a professional opinion here so I'm linking you to a couple articles, if you want to follow up. Article 1  and Article 2.

If you want to be in contact with Taylor, you can do so at: 
@johniejools on Instagram
Email: [email protected]


To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

Y'all! It's 2022! It's season 2. Welcome to our interview with Sean Bryant, badass social worker, human, and founder of Bryant's Bridge, a transitional house for LGBTQIA Youth in the area. Sean has been a social worker for many years and considers this house their life's work. Sean discusses their story and how they came to understand their own mother as an inspirational figure as a person who "stands in the gap" of care for others and how this translates to the work Bryant's Bridge is doing now.

Check them out online: https://www.bryantsbridge.org
Here's their Facebook
You can also email them at [email protected]

To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Hey y'all! We are back! We are launching Season 2 with this episode. Because you gotta start 2022 with Season 2 for the beauty of the number synchronicity.
In this episode, I interview my bestie and soon to be yours, Dr. Bree Conklin. Dr. Bree is an LCSW, with a Doctor of Social Work, and has recently opened the second animal sanctuary and therapeutic care farm in the United States. She talks to us about her own grief journey, her passion for making sure all humans feel belonging, and about finding the beauty and care of the mountains so comforting that she and her husband moved here after a life born and raised in Pensacola, Florida. She and her husband, Lyle, now live  in Knoxville with all their dogs (6) and their carefarm animals. You can find more about the Starlight Carefarm here:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starlightcarefarm?lang=en

IG: https://www.instagram.com/starlightcarefarm/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/starlightcarefarm

Website: thestarlightfoundation.org

To support the podcast: 

• First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!
• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Welcome to our first December episode where you'll hear this conversation with Savanna Lusk, who reached out about bringing awareness to folks in Appalachia who don't feel like they have all their shit together. She reminded me that everyone is in a different stage of learning and getting and being empowered and that its important to tell everyone's story, no matter where they are in their journey.

Trigger Warning: Religious trauma & mention of suicidality

Want to reach out to Savanna, you can find her on Facebook @SavannaLusk or via email at [email protected]

• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Image credits: Savanna Lusk
Image description: Savanna (on the right, with her wife, Hannah, and their dog Diesel on their wedding day. Not pictured but honorable mention, Tigger and Rowena the cats. 

Music credits to the band Tellios.  You can find them on Facebook at Tellios.bandcamp.com

Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)

I hope y'all are ready to hear me discuss books, the importance of seeing yourself reflected in story, and generally welcoming you to a couch conversation with my wife, Stacey. Stacey is a high school English teacher, super cool LBGTQ human, and avid reader. She talks about her love of books, who empowered her as an adult, and the want she had as a kiddo for seeing herself reflected in literature.

Trigger warning: Mention of LGBTQIA suicide. 

• You can contact Stacey at [email protected] or at [email protected]
• Books Stacey referenced:   
  • The God Box by Alex Sanchez (LGBTQ youth and religion) 
  • "It's Okay to Be Different" by Todd Parr 
• If you are or love an LGBTQIA youth, please head over to The Trevor Project to read about how vital support is at preventing suicide in our youth.https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/estimate-of-how-often-lgbtq-youth-attempt-suicide-in-the-u-s/
• "The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey of LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 19.0% of LGBTQ youth ages 13–18 and 8.3% of LGBTQ youth ages 19–24 reported attempting suicide in the past year. Applying these rates to the estimates of LGBTQ youth living in the U.S. results in an estimated 503,073 LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13–18 and 209,917 between the ages of 19–24 who attempted suicide in the past year, for a total of 712,990 LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13–24."

It's our last week of Giving November. Please support the podcast in anyway you can. Monetarily, you have options. See below. If you can't do that, please share our episodes with a loved one.
Please head over to our Bonfire to order  your very own Empowering Appalachia Fundraiser Shirt

• Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! 
• Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia
•  You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia 
• Send us an email @ [email protected] 
• Facebook @ Empowering Appalachia
• Instagram @ Empowering.Appalachia

Image credits: Christina Perkins 

Music credits to the band Tellios.  You can find them on Facebook at Tellios.bandcamp.com