IN THE UNKNOWN with Alyonka

Courtesy of Dana Maloney

Growing up on the East Coast with a highly achieving older brother, Dana Maloney never felt good enough.

She was diagnosed with chronic migraine syndrome which resulted in social anxiety. By the age of 22, her migraines became so bad she spent 90% of her time in bed.

Without a light at the end of the tunnel, her husband asked that they make a change. So they moved to California where she would meet a therapist who would challenge her deeply ingrained belief system and response to pain.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy not only saved her but it changed her life. Through the experience of learning this new language, Dana was able to find tools which would help her control some of the pain she was experiencing.

It was working and because of that she finally saw the light. She found hope. 

Without giving away too much of this conversation, Dana's career trajectory is quite remarkable. Her chance meeting with a therapist named John Kim aka The Angry Therapist, further pushed her into trusting in her own unique skills and beliefs, which eventually led her to becoming a therapist in her own right.

To this thought process, she added her own unique approach by choosing to Disrupt the too-clinical, too-expensive therapeutic model.

She called herself and her business: Good Enough Therapist. Beautifully ironic after all the years she saw herself as less than, she stands on the foundation that we all encounter this thought process and feeling.

For me, this was a DREAM conversation. Not only did I learn SO much from Dana, I was able to share some of my deeply painful and personal experiences. She is also a firm believer (as am I) in early emotional intelligence and it's need in the educational system.

She is an overall BADASS. I feel you'll think this too.

Courtesy of Dana Maloney

• Why we believe that we're not good enough + how to break this habit
• The tools to start believing in being good enough
• The benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy and why it works
• Non-traditional therapy. The advantages of getting OFF meds
• Why having a chip on your shoulder can be beneficial **
• Pain + Trauma and their ability to manifest into physical ailments
• Practicing KINDNESS on ourselves
• Testing reality: why distortions aren't our truths
• We dive into a lengthy conversation on social anxiety + exposure therapy
  • Also, why illness breeds social anxiety
• Why at times, we can feel like a burden | FULL DISCLOSURE: I get pretty personal about my story here.
• Education System, Therapy for Kids (wait 'til you hear about Kamochi) and why it's important to NORMALIZE feelings
• We speak about neuroplasticity and our amazing brains
• How and Why Dana became a BADASS Therapist **
• The power of Power-Posing
• How + Why Social Media is "fucking with us" and what to do about it
• And then, a pretty big dive into Kim Kardashian + Lena Dunham **
• Plus much more...

Courtesy of Dana Maloney

Courtesy of Corinne Foxx

Yes, let's just get this out of the way BECAUSE SHE'S SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. Corinne is the daughter of Jamie Foxx. Okay. Moving on. I first heard of Corinne when I came across an article she wrote for Refinery29. In it, she used my favorite phrase: speak your truth. As an Ambassador for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, her role does not require her to speak about her own struggles. However, her feeling was one that if she was going to wear her part proudly, she had to be authentic. So she wrote about her truth: her anxiety.

Which leads me to another article she wrote and warning readers of the pitfalls of fame: the 'world in sheep's clothing' as she calls it.

What I found most interesting about Corinne is that in the age of social media influencers, she is more than just a face and a name. She is SMART. And she knows it. Which is incredible because she chooses to use her platform to talk about important issues from which we could all benefit.

Simply put: she's refreshing. And so was this conversation. I hate to sound like an old 30 year old, but for 24 she is way ahead of the game. She's got her head on straight, knows what she wants, and knows how to attain it. With Corinne's pedigree and the environment in which she was raised, one could easily assume otherwise, which is a huge testament to her parents. 

She is Intelligence + Beauty. Her confidence contagious and her kindness infectious. Her ability to speak so openly about something that is still plagued with stigmas is brave, inspiring, and immensely important. I am especially impressed by Corinne's ability to grab the reins of her life and to steer in the appropriate direction, even if it takes trial and error. We could all use a boost of her mantra:

Much love to you C for Speaking Your Truth <3

Courtesy of @corinnefoxx

• The Truth and Reality of growing up "in the industry"
• The normalcy of her upbringing
• How to read people's intention and energy, and why she's extra cautious
• The importance and privilege of an Education and why she believes that it should be accessible to all people
• The world of Influencers and why it can be isolating and lonely
• The importance of working with socially conscious brands
• Deglamorizing Fame and how to avoid stepping in to the industry for the 'wrong' reasons
• Why it's SO important to share your truth
• Re-framing our minds to understand that there is no such thing as perfect - we all have shit in our lives
• Importance of her work as a NAMI Ambassador
• Deep dive into her Anxiety:
  • how + why it started
  • where + how she asked for help
  • the trials + errors of finding the tools that work best for you
  • the science behind panic attacks
  • the tools that work for her now + treatment
  • finding power in your own ability to help yourself
• Mental Health + it's many stigmas | how can we make a change
• Female Body Image
• Modern Day Feminism + the importance of Women supporting other Women
• Her Mama as her Female Role Model
• Flaws, flaws, flaws
• + more

@_alyonka

UF Photos

I first met Ricki around 2006. We were both visiting friends at Michigan State University. The first thing I noticed about Ricki was that she was beautiful. In my mind, it seemed as though Ricki had her shit together. She had this sexy raspy voice. She was opinionated and unapologetically herself. She gave off an air like she didn't give a shit about what others thought of her. To me, that was the kind of freedom I could only dream of.

I saw her again around 2014. We were at a house party and started talking about eating issues. I was battling with my own and she was a survivor. She spoke to me about how she found a way to love herself. At that moment, she felt like the only person in the world who understood me. But I wasn't ready to hear her. That's how things work with these things. You're never ready for Recovery, until you're ready for Recovery. 

Ricki was the first person I emailed once I launched this platform. I had followed her through social media, secretly admiring her bravery to speak about the traumas which have shaped her. She wrote about losing her Mother to cancer at a very young age. She wrote about her struggle with anxiety and depression. She wrote about her body and her negative relationship with food.

She felt heavy - emotionally - so she decided to Break The Weight. And that's what she's all about. That's how her business started. Yes, she will help you lose weight. Yes, she will get you back on track - feeling great about your body and loving yourself, but Ricki is more than that. She digs deeper. As she puts it

She's there to change the way we feel about food, by changing how we feel about ourselves. 

I can't stress enough how important this conversation was to me, and how important it will be to you. It's so much more than our physical weight that weighs us down. I tease her at the end for making our time together feel like a therapy session, but it's true. It was as if a weight was lifted off of me after speaking with Ricki. I think you will feel this too.

Courtesy of Ricki Friedman

• How she coped with losing her childhood
• How to find yourself as a woman
  • especially one who has suffered tremendous loss at a young age
• How grief manifests in our brains
• How grief manifests in our bodies 
• Skills for overcoming unbearable grief
  • How Ricki found herself by being alone in the wilderness
• The fear of letting anyone in
• The patterns of going for the Emotionally Unavailable Man
• The tools she used to finally achieve SELF-LOVE
• How to hit rock bottom again, and again, and to pick yourself up quicker
• How Break The Weight started | The Lulu story
  • Loosing 100 pounds of physical + emotional weight
• How she found her purpose
• Why 10,000 steps can change your life
• Why her weight loss program is successful
  • and why it's different than others
• Why it's taboo to "want to look good" and how to break that
• The importance of learning to LISTEN to your body
• and more...

Courtesy of UF

We both attended Detroit Country Day School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan - we both admit that we were raised in an affluent and privileged community which gave us a warped sense of the realities of the world.

When we were in high school, Sarah was a year older than me and a 'cool girl'. I remember that I didn't feel 'cool enough' to be in the midst of her circle of friends.

So when I found myself writing her an email asking if she would be a guest on my podcast, I immediately went back to my 15 year old self, and started feeling fearful that she would deem my initiative child's play, and would turn me down.

In fact, my self-esteem was (is?) so low, that I figured she wouldn't respond at all. That couldn't be further from the truth. She responded with an immediate yes - which resulted in my feeling like a total asshole - and once we connected on Skype, it was as if the silly insecurity I felt in high school, no longer existed. She is a true badass and a kind woman.

If you haven't realized already, she opened Y-7 Studios aka "The Original Hip Hop Yoga Studio" with her husband Mason, which now has five locations in New York and one in Los Angeles...and they're growing. Forbes named her a 'millennial CEO', which we discussed at length, while I dissected her thoughts on what it takes to be a female entrepreneur. There's a lot to learn here for anyone who is looking to start their own business, or needs that extra boost of confidence to stand firmly behind whatever idea they're looking to push. 

Beyond business, this conversation is important because we dive into the importance of self-awareness and personal growth. Sarah talks of how she evolved from being a woman who used to take every piece of criticism to her core, to a woman who speaks her truth and champions flaws, most importantly, encouraging other women along the way.

Courtesy of MissBish.com

• the tools + skills you'll need to start a business
• how to find your own voice to make changes to those things which no longer serve you
• why competition amongst women sets us back + how to change your perspective on this, if you find yourself competing with others
• why she champions women
• finding balance in a relationship
  • deep communication is the key to a healthy marriage, especially when your life partner is also your business partner.
• why she feels that the word millennial is a compliment
• how to create a brand that works and feels authentic
• how + why Y-7 started, what makes it work, what she's learned along the way, and the one thing that is still the hardest part of the business to get right
• proper education vs. life education
• flaws, flaws, flaws and why she champions her flaws
• body image
• why it's important to support other women
• + much more

Steeped in her belief of not being good enough, her workaholic tendencies left her unbalanced in all aspects of her life. She was stripped of her family + friends, her femininity, her authenticity and her voice. So she embarked on a journey to find herself.

In an attempt to reconnect with the women in her life, she launched The Untitled Female Project, an online open forum where women can explore the essential and universal questions of gender, identity, and the human condition. However, what she discovered soon after launching the project was just how deeply these questions affected all people--not just women. 

Through the Tell Your Story Podcast, Alyonka encourages her guests to #TellYourStory, #SpeakYourTruth, and #ChampionFlaws. Through these intimate, unfiltered conversations, she hopes to uncover her guests' experiences, successes, and failures that will encourage others to live their own authentic lives, and to create awareness that there is a lesson in every story.