Find Your Spark

April is Second Chance Month, a time to raise awareness of the collateral consequences of incarceration.

In this episode, Mari discusses the importance of providing services and opportunities to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and calls listeners to question the assumptions they make about people, in order to combat recidivism and cultivate more compassion throughout communities.

In this episode, Makayla reflects on the past year at SPARK. With her 1-Year "workiversary" approaching, Makayla discusses how her life looks completely different than it did the year prior and emphasizes how much can change in just a year's time.

Listen as Makayla celebrates the opportunities and contentment that her role at SPARK has brought her and then wraps up with a hopeful message about her future.

In this episode, Jena shares some personal insights and experiences that have allowed her to navigate relationships, conflicts and life with greater ease.

Understanding separate realities gives us greater understanding and empathy towards others in that it opens our eyes to everyone's individual experiences.

Listen as Jena shares stories about hamburgers and soap - two stories that otherwise may have been minuscule moments but rather opened Jena's eyes to greater understanding and compromise.

In this episode, Stephanie reflects on a session she attended at SXSW EDU on humanity and AI. In her mind, there are two major differences between the capacity of human beings and that of AI: 1) original, new thought and 2) the capacity to feel. While AI is extremely useful for everyday life, it is reliant upon information that already exists in the form. Humans, on the other hand, have access to ideas that don’t yet exist in the form, making us a conduit for true innovation. We also have a built-in biofeedback mechanism that alerts us to how we are using our minds – our feelings. If robots have you feeling stupid or irrelevant, tune in to hear how your system design is actually quite spectacular.

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad discusses the subtle yet powerful ways our SPARK communicates with us in everyday situations. From that random urge to call an old friend to picking up on vibes in a room, he explains how our inner compass is constantly working to guide us.

This week on the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Mari discusses the importance of recognizing the important role we each play in the lives of others and how to cultivate positive relationships with the individuals we work with.

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla sits down to reflect on what she’s learned so far during her time at SPARK. Through this intimate discussion, Makayla shares her understanding of thought through personal experiences and a story that puts into perspective how one thought can shift your entire experience.

In this episode, the entire SPARK team sits down together to reflect on 2024 and uncover what they are hopeful for in 2025.

The rarity in which the team gets to be together in person is not lost on us during this episode as the laughs exchanged and genuine happiness in experiencing togetherness blossoms through the reflective conversation had.

2024 brought many highs and many lows while truly proving to all of us at SPARK that the universe has a plan that’s greater than our own. We’re optimistic for 2025 to bring with it exactly what we need as a team and what we need for The SPARK Initiative as a whole.

In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Jena reflects on her less-than-ideal start to 2025. Through her reflection, she shares a story about her son who recently tried out for the track team and despite making the team, had a lot of insecure thinking about his first meet. As the episode unfolds, Jena gives some advice to her son that she later discovers she can apply to her own mindset.

At the conclusion of the episode, Jena poses the question, “Have you ever missed out on an opportunity or an experience because you let your thinking get in the way?”

Looking at life from a perspective of opportunity rather than worry opens new doors and presents experiences you may have missed out on otherwise.

In this episode, Stephanie has the pleasure of speaking with our long-term partner in Norway, Elin Henriksen. Elin is a 4th grade teacher, coach, Certified SPARK Facilitator, and all around wonderful human being. In this conversation, she reflects upon a recent insight into trusting our inner wisdom, our SPARK. Through a range of metaphors including surfing, ski-lifts, and Indiana Jones, Elin’s presence and storytelling provide Stephanie with the perfect reminder that such trust is not misplaced. Tune in to explore how you can rely more upon your own SPARK.