Faces of Fortitude: Behind the Lens

In this episode, I am joined by my friend, TEDx speaker and healer, Manav Khanna and his 15 year old daughter who is the creator of the youth-led platform DETOXIMIND - which provides a safe-space for teens and young adults struggling with mental well-being.

This is an emotional and tender segment, where we speak to Krishnni about her darkest moments of suicidal ideation and how she has been inspired to turn her experience into a project that not only provides support for herself, but others like her. 

Please visit their website to learn more and to become involved. 

https://www.detoximind.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/detoximind/

This months Behind the Lens podcast episode is LIVE - and we welcome Tracy & Maggie - mother and daughter with 3 family suicides between them. 

Tracy and Maggie join us to share their story of grief, loss and resilience - we discuss how the losses affected the trajectory of their lives, and how having a similar narrative helped bring them closer in their grief.

This month I am so happy to welcome Megan - who sat for her portraits a few years ago in Los Angeles. Megan and her siblings lost their father, a single dad - to suicide. Megan bravely unpacks more of her story in today's episode and shares the heartwarming story of how their community really came together to make her and her siblings feel loved and not alone in the wake of their horrible loss.

In this episode we are happy to welcome Sarah Climaco, to share more of here story since doing here portrait session. In this episode we discuss her mother and here history with mental illness, how she survived such a scary time - and then ultimately how she has and is processing the suicide of here mother.

This months episode of Behind the Lens our guest is mother of two and suicide loss survivor, Annu Sangha. We met Annu first in August when she became our newest Face in the project, having her photo shoot. Now Annu is back to share more of her story. She wanted to share the difficult moments and her trajectory, in the hopes that it could possibly help someone else going through something similar. 

Thank you Annu for sharing and thank you everyone who has listened. 

Annu IG: @anew_puma

Pennie had her first Faces of Fortitude session in 2018. She returns to the podcast to share more of her story of suicidal ideation and incest survival. Pennie is a TEDx speaker, author or Brave and Unbroken and Founder of the Soul Fire Weekends. 

https://penniesaum.com/

Todays episode we go BEHIND the Lens of the Faces of Fortitude shoot with Isabel Aceves, who became a Face of Fortitude in 2019 during a shoot in San Diego. Izzy is the owner of Wellness Bae Radio - and umbrella company for The Wellness Latina and Healing with Izzy. She is a Staff Sgt in the US Air Force and is a suicide attempt and rape survivor. 

In this episode she talks about her trauma, how it has affected her life, and how she is doing now.

https://linktr.ee/wellnessbaeradio

Welcome Back! After a 6 month hiatus for some self reflection and personal growth, I'm back. Its time for a much needed REFOCUS on how I extend my energy and engage with the world. This is a transitional episode. Short and sweeet - I explain where I have been, whats been happening, where I am NOW and wheree we are going as a community going forward. 

Thank you for listening and Happy Spring!

Rosie O'Donnell is a comedian, producer, actress, author and television personality. She can currently be seen on Season 2 of Showtime's The L Word: Generation Q

In this episode Rosie & I talk about her re-emergence on Tiktok where we met, her history with the media, the REALLY exciting projects she has coming up, I even find out a few of her favorite snacks. As a bonus, in true Rosie fashion, she even had a few questions for me.

I am so grateful to Rosie for taking the time to be on my little queer podcast. She is a great reminder that vulnerability and authenticity are superpowers to be celebrated.

Cover photo of Rosie by Eric McNatt

As some of you may know I came out as Transgender in April of 2020 and then June of 2021 I started taking Testosterone. In many ways this past year+ has been an evolution of sorts. Its been easily one of the most difficult times in my life but also the most rewarding and liberating.

I would not have been able to weather any of this without a close circle of loved ones. In this episode I interview August & MB, Nina, Marlow and my partners Chey and Ryan, and we talk about how and why they showed up for me in the ways they did, and what advice they would have for anyone who has someone close to them going through the same thing.