Free To Be with Lucca

In this conversation, I dive deep into the unpredictable journey of entrepreneurship with my friend and colleague Shatera Sangster, founder of Social Media Sidekick LLC. Shatera opens up about her path from rock bottom to breakthrough moments, highlighting the resilience, messiness, and patience required to build a successful business from the ground up. We talk about the importance of starting wherever you are, emphasizing that no one truly knows what they’re doing until they do it. This episode is a testament to the wild and freeing ride that entrepreneurship can be, and how taking the leap can lead to unparalleled personal and professional growth. 

Tune in to hear Shatera’s inspiring story and learn how to embrace the highs and lows of the entrepreneurial journey.

RESOURCES

• Learn how I support middle, high school and college students and educators through speaking at luccapetrucci.com
• Connect with Shatera on Instagram @shaterasocialmediasidekick
• Social Media Sidekick website
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok
• Spotify Playlist 1: Lucca's 2024 Faves
• Spotify Playlist 2: Song You Want Me to Blast

This episode was produced by me, Lucca Petrucci. 

In this solo episode, I dive into the profound impact of the words we speak to ourselves, especially when no one else is listening. Everything that follows the words "I am" has the power to shape your reality. But how are you speaking to yourself in those quiet, introspective moments of your day? Are you building yourself up, or are you tearing yourself down?

I explore the transformative power of self-talk and how the narratives we create can either lift us higher or hold us back. I’ll share insights for shifting from negative, self-defeating thoughts to positive affirmations that empower you to navigate life’s toughest moments with grace and resilience. We'll uncover how to speak to ourselves with the same love and kindness we would offer to a dear friend, and learn how to harness the power of "I am" to create a reality that supports your growth and well-being.

RESOURCES

• Learn how I support middle, high school and college students and educators through speaking at luccapetrucci.com
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok
• Spotify Playlist 1: Lucca's 2024 Faves
• Spotify Playlist 2: Song You Want Me to Blast

This episode was produced by me, Lucca Petrucci.

In this intimate conversation, B Genduso shares their experience becoming the most confident version of themselves as a high school athlete and leader. B is currently a senior at Century High School in Oregon and serves as the president of the Oregon Association of Student Councils. B is an incredible pole vaulter and will be a professional athlete one day. Their current goal is to amplify marginalized voices in high school sports and leadership. 

Intragenerational learning is alive in this conversation. I learn a lot from B's wisdom, and I know you will, too :) 

RESOURCES

• Learn how I support middle, high school and college students and educators through speaking at luccapetrucci.com
• Connect with B @bgenduso on Instagram
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok
• Spotify Playlist 1: Lucca's 2024 Faves
• Spotify Playlist 2: Song You Want Me to Blast

This episode was produced by me, Lucca Petrucci. 

I'm back with weekly episodes! To start this new chapter off, I'm sharing 2 principles that will help you connect to your authentic confidence on the daily. In this solo episode, I also share what jams are on repeat in my AirPods because music is life. I hope you feel supported on your life journey as you listen :) 

RESOURCES

• Learn how I support middle, high school and college students and educators through speaking at luccapetrucci.com
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok
• Spotify Playlist 1: Lucca's 2024 Faves
• Spotify Playlist 2: Song You Want Me to Blast

This episode was produced by me, Lucca Petrucci. 

In this episode, James Layman and I dive into: 

• The through lines that connects each of us together
• The life-changing wisdom his mom shared with him 6 weeks before she passed 
• What we can all learn from kids, Costco sample attendants, and death
• Being present to the glimmers (the opposite of triggers) in our lives 
• The journey of loving the parts of yourself that you’re nervous for others to see and love 
• And how we can all chose to be true change makers in our sphere of influence

James Layman is the Director of the Association of Washington Student Leaders (AWSL) and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Student Activities (NA4SA).  

He attended Eastern Washington University, focusing on Music Education, Psychology, and African-American History. He taught band and marching band throughout Spokane before joining the Association of Washington Student Leaders Team. 

He is a sought-after keynote speaker, curriculum writer, equity consultant, and program facilitator throughout Washington State and beyond.

RESOURCES

• Learn how I support youth through speaking and coaching at luccapetrucci.com/speaking.
• Connect with James on Instagram at @jsl122884
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok.

This episode was produced by Lucca Petrucci and mixed and mastered by Joel Yoshonis.

How can each of us lead greater impact for good with our resources, access, and privilege? This is the question Miles Palacios and I get curious about in this episode.

We also dive into:

• The importance of investing in youth and amplifying their voices and lived experiences.
• Why do we do what we do?
• Does injustice have to be personal to change?
• How self-leadership is self-care.
• Reframing open door policy to an empty office policy
• And the importance of questioning the self.

Miles Palacios (he/him/his) is an Oregonian born and raised. His partner, Sophia, and him reside in Downtown Beaverton with their small family of two lovely cats. He comes from a big family of four siblings and two parents who both worked in the public sector — his father Marty was a public school educator and administrator while his mother Debbie worked for the City of McMinnville.

From childhood, his parents always expressed to his siblings and him the importance of building foundations — systems of support for those around us. As a result, much of his life, career, and purpose has revolved around creating foundations and platforms that amplify those who need to be seen and heard the most. 

He is the Executive Director of the Oregon Association of Student Councils and the Director of Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District.  

RESOURCES

• Standford University's research on belonging.
• Building a Bridge of Love: Be An Actionable Ally to the LGBTQIA+ Community Virtual Workshop on October 11.
• Learn more about my youth speaking on my website at luccapetrucci.com/speaking.
• Connect with Miles on Instagram at @miles_palacios93.
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok.

This episode was produced by Lucca Petrucci and mixed and mastered by Joel Yoshonis.

In May of 2016, I graduated from Fresno State as a curious and nervous newly out gay man. 

7 years later, on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 I led the keynote address at Fresno State’s 10th Annual Rainbow Graduation as a confident queer human who has so much freaking love for the LGBTQIA+ community and belief in all that is possible for them in their lifetime. 

It was a dream come true to share my story and an important message about authenticity with nearly 200 undergrad and graduate LGBTQIA+ students, parents, families, professors, university leaders, city officials, and community members. 

I am so excited for you to experience this true full circle moment in this episode! 

Last December, I experienced the deepest depression of my life. In this solo episode, I share the small, slow, and challenging steps I took to move through sadness, anxiety, and apathy into hope, joy, and excitement for life again.

Today, 4 months later, I now know, I was experiencing the death of an older version of myself. I was shedding beliefs, ways of thinking and being, and opinions that no longer served me to create space in my life for my highest potential and more love and abundance. 

In our lifetime, we experience many cycles of life, death, and rebirth, just like a flower does through the seasons. This is a normal part of growing into the most authentic and expressed version of yourself. 

I talk about this topic because I really wish someone told me everything I express in this episode. It would have helped me move through one of the darkest moments in my life more easefully. 

RESOURCES

• Podcast: On Purpose with Jay Shetty featuring Meghan Trainor 
• Book: Heart Talk; Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life by Cleo Wade 
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok.

This episode was produced by Lucca Petrucci and mixed and mastered by Joel Yoshonis.

My mentor, teacher, and friend Susanne Conrad and I have a conversation about the good, great, hard, and uncomfortable path to accessing more personal freedom and compassion in your life.  

We also discuss: 

• How to love yourself and also love those who've hurt you, and remain hopeful they can change
• How to envision a future for yourself when you feel hopeless
• Why vision work is life changing and how we're making it more accessible to all, especially our youth 

I share some of the earlier steps in my understanding of what was authentic about me and my process to accepting these parts of myself. There was lots of testing and trying, patience, and curiosity. I also talk about the very first time I kissed a boy. 

Susanne Conrad is the Founder of Lightyear Leadership and is one of the few global women leaders and entrepreneurs in the personal development and leadership space. She was the co-developer of lululemon's renowned leadership culture and served as Director of Possibility at lululemon from 2007-2017. Susanne has over 30 years of experience transforming tens of thousands of lives across the globe and revolutionizing culture at hundreds of organizations, including Toms, Kit and Ace, Earls Kitchen + Bar, and imagine1day.

Susanne trains, develops, and certifies leaders around the world. The Lightyear Leadership programs she leads alongside educational leadership programs in Mozambique and Ethiopia create a unified force for positive transformation among students, teachers, government ministers, and community leaders.

She’s a storyteller who will restore the things that make you peculiar and empower you to be who you came to be. She demonstrates powerful inner listening and has a deep connection to a higher power. Susanne sees the best in all people and their full potential, no matter their background or walk of life. She has the ability to challenge and gently coach people through hard things, and is an agenda-free champion for people's goals, vision, and success.

She is the author of Get There Now: Transform Yourself and The World Through Laughter, Listening and The Power of Choice. 

RESOURCES

• The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)
• Lightyear Leadership's FREE Power My Future course 
• Connect with Susanne on Instagram at @susanne_conrad.
• Lightyear Leadership's Instagram: @lightyearleadership 
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok.

This episode was produced by Lucca Petrucci and mixed and mastered by Joel Yoshonis.

This episode is with my college mentor, my amazing friend, and educator Mellissa Jessen-Hiser. We met when I was 19 at Fresno State, 11 years ago. We have a conversation about the power we each have to create affirming, nonjudgmental, and inclusive spaces wherever we go, especially for our youth. We also talk about the process of breaking the mold you were never meant to fit in and stepping into the freedom of who you truly are. 

Other topics we dive into are:

• The difference between listening to understand versus hearing to convince
• What the both/and life is and how to live into it to access more freedom and authenticity 
• Significant self-acceptance moments in our lives
• The fat liberation movement

Mellissa Jessen-Hiser has long been a storyteller, having written her first poem in a Hello Kitty diary in 1988. She earned an MFA in creative writing from Fresno State in 2020 where she focused on essaying about the things we inherit and the things we pass on. Mellissa is an educator, working as the Director of the Central Valley College Corps in the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning at Fresno State. Additionally, she holds an M.A. in international human rights from the University of Denver. Raised in Fresno, California, she lives there with her spouse, Darrin, and child, Samuel. 

RESOURCES

• CliftonStrengths Assessment 
• Standout Assessment 
• Activists and leaders Mellissa refers to: Sonalee (@thefatsextherapist), Sonya Renee Taylor (@sonyareneetaylor), Ericka Hart (@ihartericka)
• Connect with Mellissa on Instagram on @calimj. 
• Connect with me @lucca_petrucci on Instagram or TikTok.

This episode was produced by Lucca Petrucci and mixed and mastered by Joel Yoshonis.