Grow There With Cheria

Dana Gaydon—brand and lifestyle photographer and founder of Modern Joy Studio—takes a seat with Cheria for a conversation about confidence, identity, and the stories we carry about ourselves.

Dana shares how dealing with a lifelong struggle of “not good enough” quietly shaped both her personal life and her 20-year photography career. She looks back on an experience that forever helped her challenge those beliefs, reduce anxiety, and show up more fully in her work, relationships, and everyday life. Together, Cheria and Dana explore the connection between self-perception, creativity, personal style, and growth, reminding us that some of our biggest periods of growth happen when we learn to see ourselves differently.

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Dana Gaydon is a brand and lifestyle photographer, creative director, and visual strategist who helps entrepreneurs and thought leaders translate who they are into imagery that attracts aligned opportunities. Known for her colorful, personality-driven approach, Dana blends photography with tools like archetypes, color psychology, and personality frameworks to create visuals that feel both strategic and deeply authentic. Her work explores the intersection of identity, visibility, and self-trust and how showing up as your fullest self can transform the way you lead, create, and connect.

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Special guest and friend of Cheria's, Taylor Hughes, shares his story of walking away from an organization and identity he had so deeply tied himself to after realizing its values no longer aligned with him. The loss of stability and certainty forced him to ask a difficult question: What do I actually want?

With his creativity and a restart, Taylor rebuilt his relationship with storytelling, leadership, and purpose allowing him to find a more authentic way to create and connect.

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Taylor Hughes has spent more than 25 years making a living on stage, becoming a highly sought-after keynote speaker known for helping leaders become voices people actually listen to.

Blending powerful storytelling with real-world experience, his talks have impacted audiences around the world.

When he’s not delivering keynotes, Taylor can be found performing his signature style of comedy and magic across the globe.

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Jesus Chavez spent years building a career focused on performance, discipline, and ambition which was shaped by an immigrant-family work ethic and a deep drive to succeed. But as his leadership responsibilities grew, so did his awareness that achievement alone doesn’t really teach you how to lead people.

Jesus reflects on how feedback from trusted teammates, parenting his daughter, and leading younger teams challenged him to grow past productivity and into empathy, communication, and trust. It’s a thoughtful exploration of what happens when leadership stops being about proving yourself—and starts becoming about really understanding others.

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Cheria and amazing guest, Piera Gelardi, delve into a perspective we don’t often prioritize in the workplace: play.

While many of us associate growth with pressure, performance, and constant output, Piera challenges that assumption by inviting us to consider what becomes possible when we reintroduce curiosity, creativity, and lightness into how we lead and live.

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Piera Gelardi is a creative entrepreneur and author that discusses how early experiences with play can shape how we show up as adults and how, over time, those instincts are often times suppressed in pursuit of professionalism. To learn more about Piera's philosophy on play, her book "The Playful Way" is out now.

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What began as a personal interest in functional movement unexpectedly led Kim Nicol into teaching, facilitation, and eventually leadership coaching. Through experiences studying anatomy, massage therapy, and Reiki, she discovered her real gift. That gift is helping people shift how they relate to themselves with greater compassion and awareness.Cheria and Kim have a conversation discussing the value of “low-risk” exploration, why learning outside traditional business environments strengthens leadership, and how one person believing in you can change the trajectory of your growth.

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Cheria sits down with her aunt, Mary Brown, President and CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation, for a conversation about legacy, advocacy, and what it truly means to serve a community over time.

For Mary, the journey began decades earlier at just six years old when the death of a neighborhood child with a blood disorder left a lasting impression.

Years later, a simple encyclopedia search led Mary to what was meant to be a short-term role at a sickle cell camp. That “temporary” position evolved into a 40+ year commitment to building programming, advocating for families, and expanding access to equitable care across California.

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Grow There With Cheria is back!

Cheria is joined by Juliana Arthuso, Senior Art Director at Ollie, for a thoughtful conversation about the intersection of work, health, and identity. Juliana shares about a time when a concussion forced her to slow down which had disrupted her relationship with productivity and challenging long-held beliefs about performance, self-worth, and success.

Some topics Cheria and Juliana cover in this episode:

• How unexpected life events reshape how we work

• Why empathy and flexibility matter in workplace culture

• The tension between doing more and being present

• What supportive leadership looks like during hard seasons

• How growth can come from listening to your limits, not pushing past them

Sometimes in order to grow you need to pay attention to what actually sustains you over time.

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Jeff Gelfuso, SVP & Chief Design Officer at Qualtrics, opens up and gives us a candid look at how sudden personal loss shifted his perspective on life and leadership. From stepping into new family responsibilities to rethinking the things that really matter at work, Jeff shares the lessons that helped him grow during one of the most challenging seasons of his life.

Some topics Cheria and Jeff explore:

• How life changes shape leadership behavior

• The importance of presence and trust in team culture

• Why curiosity remains essential in a rapidly changing tech landscape

• How empathy leads to better decisions and better outcomes

If you’re leading teams or leading yourself through a transition, this conversation will help you reflect, recalibrate, and keep growing.

Cheria sits down with one of her favorite former bosses and dear friend, Rachel Russell, to take an adventure through how creativity, community, and grief can shape the way we grow.Rachel opens up about her transition from working with children and families at Camp Laurel to launching her own business, Stitch and Flourish, a creative venture born from resilience and her own self-discovery. Together, Cheria and Rachel reflect on the power of relationships, the courage it takes to start over, and how someone's passing can fuel deeper purpose.

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Cheria sits down with one of her favorite former bosses and dear friend, Rachel Russell, to take an adventure through how creativity, community, and grief can shape the way we grow.

Rachel opens up about her transition from working with children and families at The Laurel Foundation to launching her own business, Stitch and Flourish, a creative venture born from resilience and her own self-discovery. Together, Cheria and Rachel reflect on the power of relationships, the courage it takes to start over, and how someone's passing can fuel deeper purpose.

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