Kume: Turning Point Diaries

This episode draws from a profound conversation I had on  Instagram Live with my storyteller father, Kewulay Kamara, back in April, about family history and community, and its relevance to the difficult times we are living in. He encourages us to celebrate change. Everything is going through changes and we need to learn to be comfortable with change and uncertainty. This is the time to have faith--to think beyond the current circumstances. "If you don't look beyond this point you are in, you will be living in fear. You will be doing things that are very small." I hope that you take this message with you into the new year and that you are fearless about your dreams and all that you want for yourself, your family, and your community. 

What happens when you get two Finahs in a room? They tell stories. This week's episode is a genuine conversation between our host and her storyteller father, Kewulay Kamara, about their dynamic relationship. They discuss significant turning points in their father-daughter relationship and the differences they see in those stories. Along the way, they uncover the hidden assumptions that underlie their narratives and disagreements. This episode reveals how we are all operating under hidden assumptions and how those assumptions can lead to conflicts in our interpersonal relationships. 

This week we have a fun, honest, and inspiring conversation with Sia and Tommy Tarawalie, a young African couple on the move. Sia and Tommy co-host Shifting Perspectives podcast, where they share their experiences growing up in West African households and challenge many of the beliefs and norms that they were raised with. In our conversation, Sia and Tommy reflect on their childhoods in urban and rural Sierra Leone, the transitions they had to make when they immigrated to the United States, and the values that they are passing on to their children. Along the way, they share the story of how they met and the traumatic conditions that have forced them to see new things and put a spotlight on their partnership. 

We can all gain something from reflecting on our upbringing and how it can affect us as we navigate life. So, let's dive in.

We have all heard the phrase “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”, right?  Well, making lemonade is not always the easiest thing to do. In this week’s episode, we have an inspiring conversation with Susan V. Wheeler about the lemons thrown her way and how she was able to use them to make her life sweeter. Susan is a life-long entrepreneur, mindset coach, author of 'The Lemonade Diet,' mom of four and grandmother of seven. 

She shares the circumstances that led her to marriage and motherhood, all before the age of 18. We discuss the debilitating accident that shattered her pelvis and broke her back but did not break her spirit. Her story encourages us to embrace change, face our fears, let things go, and live in our full potential.

In this week’s episode, we sit down with a Renaissance man, Erik Goldman. Erik is a musician, medical journalist, and editor and co-founder of Holistic Primary Care - News for Health  & Healing. He talks about the struggle of being authentic to himself and forging his own path over following his father’s wishes of him becoming a physician. In between, he shares his reflections on this current moment, and what his experience and narratives have been as a Jewish person in America committed to social justice. Erik’s story encourages us to engage with the stories we have received and to question them in an honest, but loving way.  

This week we have an invigorating conversation with Tyler Brewington, author and faith-based life coach from Los Angeles, California. In our conversation, Tyler shares how she navigated seasons of uncertainties, including unexpectedly being let go from her job, and harnessing the power of her faith. Her story encourages us to ask ourselves who we are independent of contrived self-worth based on titles and accolades.

Tyler's book, I Cried Oceans: A Journey of Faith, Hope, and Resilience, is available on  Amazon and her website. 

In this episode, I chat with Eric Abrego, an LA native working as a tech professional in NYC at LinkedIn. He shares his story of being raised by his grandmother in South Central LA, with an absent mother and incarcerated father. Through this experience, Eric developed an inner fortitude to survive life's vicissitudes.

Join us as we talk about resilience, inner fortitude, and finding home within ourselves.

In this week’s episode, guest Tylee Sewell takes us on a trip into nature from her native New York City to Virginia, Georgia, and finally Sacramento, California. She shares the path that has taken her from commercial graphic design to her current artistic medium as a landscape designer and horticulturist. In between, Tylee tells the scary story of how at almost the point of death she abandoned the pursuit of the American Dream to discover her love of the outdoors and growing things. Tylee’s life journey is a powerful story of freedom. 

We all experience aches and pains from time to time, but very few of us know what it's like to have that pain completely take over our lives. 

In this episode, we talk to David Koeppel about silently living with chronic pain and its impact on his life. David is the Associate Director of Communications at The New School in New York City, a novelist, and a former freelance journalist for the New York Times. As he soared to success in his career, he began to suffer from various forms of chronic pain. David’s journey is one of reclaiming life and finally feeling empowered to share your truth. Join us as we dive into David's story for the first time publicly right here on Kume.

In today’s episode, we chat with Michelle Kelley about her upbringing as an adopted Korean American and its salient influence on her personal and professional development. Michelle is a social media community manager as well as a certified health and life coach. In our conversation, Michelle talks about being forced to engage with her ethnic identity in college, reconnecting with her birth parents, and finding for herself what it means to be Korean and Korean-American. Michelle’s life journey is a powerful story of self-discovery.