Homeless to Lawyer

 Meiyoko Taylor is a distinguished and acclaimed celebrity life and transformation coach acknowledged as one of the Top 23 Innovative Coaches for today's leaders by Business Insider and has earned the well-deserved title of "The Trajectory Changer". With expertise in transformation coaching, mental health advocacy, and entrepreneurship, Meiyoko has dedicated the past decade to guiding high-profile figures, entrepreneurs, and professionals on a journey to bid farewell to burnout, reclaim their time, and construct lives overflowing with purpose, freedom, and profound fulfillment.

 This episode of "The Homeless to Lawyer Podcast" will discuss the role that coaching can play in helping their clients overcome failure, define what success means for them individually and find their gifts and purpose in life.

Jennifer Lynn Robinson, Esquire is a professional speaker and the CEO of Purposeful Networking. Her expertise is in strategic networking, communications, leadership, resilience, and workplace relations. Jennifer gave a TEDx talk in June 2020. She is a media contributor who has been featured both locally and nationally. Some of her media coverage includes Cheddar, CBS, NBC, PHL17, FOX, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Chicago Tribune, and Philadelphia Magazine. Jennifer is also a contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine. She began teaching Business Communication at The Wharton School in Fall 2022.

This episode discusses Jennifer's journey from being a successful litigation attorney to having to overcome a devastating accident that caused a traumatic brain injury. Jennifer discusses the challenges of having an invisible disability and finding a new passion after losing a well-established career and identity that she had worked her entire life to attain. Jennifer has become an inspiration and motivational Keynote Speaker and most recently a beauty queen where she won the world title and was crowned Mrs. Classic Universe 2022-2023. Be prepared to be moved and inspired by this accomplished and resilient guest. 

 In this episode, we meet Katherine Gilmore Richardson who is serving her first term as Councilmember At-Large for the City of Philadelphia. Gilmore Richardson is the youngest woman ever elected citywide and the youngest African American woman ever elected to Philadelphia City Council. She is focused on addressing the city’s ongoing recovery from Covid-19, upskilling and reskilling our workforce, supporting local, small, and minority-owned businesses, and addressing climate change and environmental justice.

 Councilmember Gilmore Richardson also created Philadelphia’s first Apprenticeship Guidebook. The Guidebook includes information about application requirements, training programs, career fields, and pay and benefits for over 20 apprenticeship programs in Philadelphia. The hope is that the Apprenticeship Guidebook will allow young people who are unable or uninterested in attending college to have the opportunity to learn an essential skill that will enable them to earn a liveable wage.  

 Gilmore Richardson previously served as a staff member for Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown for 11 years in roles ranging from Constituent Services to Chief of Staff. A lifelong Philadelphian, Gilmore Richardson is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls and West Chester University. She is a Riddge Avenue Church of God of Prophecy member and a proud life member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Gilmore Richardson resides in Wynnefield with her husband and three children.

Elizabeth Fortuner is currently the Outreach & Marketing Specialist for a statewide program called, Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness. Elizabeth has a vigorous understanding and background in informing and training local school districts, county welfare agencies, and higher-ed institutions of their responsibilities to children and youth experiencing homelessness and/or in the foster care system which falls under the two federal educational laws, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act. In this episode, we discuss the important work that Liz is doing to support children experiencing homelessness and how her journey of 18 years in the Foster Care System and experiencing periods of homelessness has inspired her to improve our lives using the very important McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Amber Monet is a filmmaker, Founder, and CEO of Daphne Pictures and is the documentary director on the life of the famous gospel icon, entitled "The Legendary Marion Williams," currently airing on Amazon Prime. This episode of the Homeless to Lawyer Podcast discusses Amber's challenges as a creative woman of color, how she was able to get experience in the media space when she came into the industry as a trained professional dancer, and how she was able to get a documentary made in terms of financing and finding a distribution channel.  Amber lastly discusses how she got her documentary on the streaming platform of Amazon Prime and the next steps in her career.  

 Marc Zucker, Esq. is a prominent Philadelphia Attorney, and partner in the law firm of Weir Greenblatt Pierce, LLC. Marc focuses on complex commercial litigation and serves as a private arbitrator and mediator in commercial matters. Marc Zucker is currently the 96th Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association which has over 10,000 members and is the oldest association of lawyers in the country. In this episode, we discuss Chancellor Zucker's journey within the legal profession to his current positions in leadership, and how he manages to succeed professionally and personally with the support of his wife Karen, a magisterial district judge. We discuss the many changes the legal industry has undergone since the Covid pandemic and the opportunities and challenges that these changes present especially for young lawyers. The discussion turned to the division within the country and how such a large organization balances the competing needs of numerous members who have different value systems, politics, and ideologies. Lastly, we discuss the alarming rise in antisemitism and the work that he is doing at the community level to better educate the public about the danger these harmful ideals present. 

This episode focuses on the meteoric career of this young, dynamic, and brilliant award-winning journalist who is the author of a thought-provoking new book called "The Case for Cancel Culture". We discuss Ernest Owens's rise from student journalist at the University of Pennsylvania to becoming one of the most prominent freelancers in the country while speaking out about issues related to race and sexuality as an openly gay Black Man. We discuss the pushback he received from speaking out about racism in the gayborhood in Philadelphia and how standing up against injustice made systemic changes that are benefitting LGBTQIA+ individuals of color today. A journalist who is creating a media empire using an adversarial style that calls out those in power and holds them accountable for their words and actions while also providing opportunities to the next generation of journalists of color. Ernest Owens is a young man to watch.

 Ernest Owens is an award-winning journalist and CEO of Ernest Media Empire, LLC. He is the Editor at Large for Philadelphia Magazine and President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. He hosts the hit podcast "Ernestly Speaking!" and is an author of the upcoming book "The Case for Cancel Culture" to be published by St. Martin's Press, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, in February 2023. As an openly Black gay journalist, he has made headlines for speaking frankly about intersectional issues in society regarding race, LGBTQIA, and pop culture. In 2018, he launched his growing media company which specializes in multimedia production, consulting, and communications. 

  Reverend Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a daughter of Detroit, is a Black queer preacher, teacher, and activist. Rev. Naomi currently serves as the Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs for the City of Philadelphia. In this role, she serves as a public-facing leader, liaison, and subject matter expert for the Mayor's Office on local and national matters that impact diverse communities of faith.

  Rev. Naomi is an Intergroup Relations Facilitator and Adjunct Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University.

  In, 2021, Rev. Naomi founded Salt/Yeast/Light, an organization that develops spaces and spiritual; education, disruption, reflection, transformation, and public action. 

  This episode discusses the work that Reverend Naomi does in the religious space with an emphasis on having the sometimes difficult conversations around racial justice, LGBTQ+ issues and how to making lasting and systemic changes in a world that seems unable to answer the question about whether "Black Lives Matter"?

Rich Cedron is a 35-year Union Carpenter, Diabetes Advocate, and President of the Friends of Marconi, the lead plaintiff in the Christopher Columbus statute case, which had been fought since the Summer of 2020 after the social justice protests over the death of George Floyd. The Philadelphia Historical Commission voted to remove the statute to the objections of some in the Italian American community who see Christopher Columbus as a representative of the achievements of Italian-Americans and others in the community who see him as a divisive person engaging in the destruction of indigenous people. This conversation discusses the challenges of balancing the needs of one community to maintain what they perceive to be their heritage while respecting the voices of groups who believe those traditions have harmed them. We also discuss the importance of young people learning union trades as a path to economic prosperity. Lastly, discuss Rich's struggle with Diabetes and how he has learned to survive and thrive through this illness that impacts millions of Americans. 

* This podcast episode discusses sexual matters and nontraditional relationship dynamics. Listener discretion is advised. 

Malloy Hanfling is a licensed clinical social worker and Ph.D. Student of Human Sexuality at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has a private practice called Courage to Grow Counseling, focused on serving LGBTQ2IA+ individuals and couples. Mallory also runs a group for a population she refers to as "fireflies" or currently referred to as "late-in-life lesbians."

This conversation will focus on educating listeners about the meaning of “LGBTQ2SIA+”, why it's important to society to expand our definition of sexuality and gender beyond our traditional understanding, Mallory's own journey as a firefly after being married to a man, and how her TikTok about "fireflies" went viral. We discuss some of the challenges that people within the LGBTQ2SIA+ community struggle with and why creating a more accepting and supportive world benefits all of us.