Le vital corps Salon

During this episode, we discuss how she came to love opera and explore the impact of the word “diva,” including the meaning, the myth, and the potentially harmful impact of that label. We chat about the glamorous and not so glamorous sides of running a jewelry business. Plus, Sara opens up about several deeply personal topics like handling bullies and being victimized in the workplace, being your own self-advocate, and surviving emotional abuse at home.  

I hope you delight in Sara's story of how she became the (jokingly) the “Mistress of Specialized, Unnecessary Knowledge.” Oh, and if you want a visual reference while you're listening to our conversation, check out Songbird Sara Jewelry on Instagram. You can find all of the ways to connect with Sara in the link + resource section below. 

• Connect with Sara: Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
• Carmen
• Iggy Pop and the Stooges
• Joseph Cornell
• Gaslighting
• One Love Foundation (nonprofit) and the 10 unhealthy relationship behaviors
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Connect with Le vital corps Salon: Twitter | Facebook
• Sign up for the Le vital corps Salon newsletter (sent twice monthly and includes news about podcast episode releases, helpful health + lifestyle information)
• Contact Kara

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Alice has participated in two historic flybys, which are billions of miles away. (The irony that I usually walk upstairs to work is not lost on me.) She's now the second guest who has graced this podcast from the space exploration community. 

Of course, we're going to talk about space exploration in this episode, but we're also going to talk about what has needed to work well among a team of Earthlings for it all to be possible plus the lessons that Alice has personally learned along the way.

According to Alice, there are many ways to be involved in space exploration, including how to communicate with a spacecraft, the aspects of project management, and leading a diverse team. In fact, Alice shares openly about creating a safe environment for all team members to flourish, including the importance of excellent communication, listening without prejudice or agenda, and respecting and trusting your team's diverse expertise.

When it comes to Alice’s journey, it took a lot of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. She shares how she overcame self-imposed barriers and grew her self-confidence. Alice also shares one of the scariest moments she has ever faced at work and what she learned from it. 

• Connect with Alice: Twitter
• New Horizons NASA mission
• Live stream of Alice doing check of “autonomy”
• Johns Hopkins University 
• Nicole Stott on LvcS
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Today, we discuss Claire's passion for sustainability, which happens to be a primary value at Hunky Dory. It’s the driving factor behind everything they do at the restaurant. As Claire explains, you don't need to be a scientist to create sustainable, effective processes. Inviting people to Hunky Dory's brand of activism in a non-preachy way is what she and her staff strive to do. We also take on the high and low points of adulting, creating a sense of inspiration by way of her food and drinks, and focusing on the human experience within the hospitality industry.  

We recorded this conversation a few weeks before New York City would become a pandemic hotspot and effectively shut down, including Claire's restaurant. So far, Hunky Dory has pivoted and is hanging on. So, if you're near Crown Heights in Brooklyn, please grab some grub to-go. For you far-flung folks who dig Claire's low-waste hospitality initiatives, find the link below for Claire's GoFundMe campaign. 

• Connect with Claire: Website | Instagram | Hunky Dory on Instagram | Outlook Good on Instagram
• Hunky Dory (restaurant)
• Help Our Hunkys (COVID-19 Go Fund Me to help the team)
• How Bad Are Bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee (book)
• The Organic Manifesto by Maria Rodale (book)
• LvcS convo with Sharon Rowe, Founder of Eco-Bags
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Kat holds an MFA in Metals from SUNY New Paltz and has over ten years of experience with CAD, 3D printing, and other fabrication technologies.

Today, Kat is going to teach us all about 3D printing technology, the medical and educational applications of 3D printing, and digital design and fabrication. All extremely fascinating topics! 

Plus, we'll learn how she landed her dream job at the intersection of art and engineering. We'll hit on how she navigates some of her work obstacles and manages burnout. She poignantly shares about recognizing when opportunities arise and the importance of saying Yes bravely.

Also, I wanted to give a massive shout out to the entire HVAMC team who immediately answered the call for more protective face shields for health care workers at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

• Connect with Kat: Website
• HVAMC
• SUNY New Paltz
• MediPrint
• Woodstock Farm Sanctuary
• Polylactic acid (PLA)
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Eileen is an avid open source contributor focusing on the Ruby on Rails framework and its dependencies. If you are wondering what that means, don’t stress. We’ll break it down without overwhelming the non-techies among us. Eileen is passionate about scalability, performance, and making open source communities more sustainable and welcoming.

While Eileen lives and breathes tech, we covered much more than 1s and 0s in this episode. She describes how she gets into the flow state and her approach to organization. We also explored topics surrounding social media and not falling down the email inbox rabbit hole. 

So, many people have been thrown into the role of working from home in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also discussed some of the disadvantages and advantages of working remotely. Think of this episode as some mental spring cleaning for your soul. There's a lot of practical advice that you can apply to your work and life. 

• Connect with Eileen: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | GitHub
• Ruby on Rails
• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (book)
• Ink & Volt planners
• Derek Sivers’ “Hell Yeah!” (blog post)
• Patti Wilson LvcS episode
• Need2Know (email)
• Kelly Lyndgaard LvcS episodes: Episode 30 | Episode 67
• Sharon Rowe episode
• General Assembly
• Nintendo Switch
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Dipti believes in theater as a powerful lever for social transformation. From that place, she created HONOUR: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan.

HONOUR has given Dipti a powerful platform to advocate for women's rights and engage others on wide-ranging issues pertaining to inequity and gender. We talked about how she’s created awareness around feminism and what she’s learned from the women who have been sex trafficked. 

These are just the accomplishments of Dipti’s creative pursuits. She also has a doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology and worked as a research scientist in the field of prostate cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for 10 years. 

Dipti is an energetic force of nature and persistently walks her creative talk with such discipline. She’ll also share the importance of not sitting around and waiting for opportunities to arrive. We also talk about acting, writing, and playwriting for social change. 

• Connect with Dipti: Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter
• HONOUR: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan
• La Mama in NYC
• Dipti’s comic book
• Gone with the Wind: Movie | Book
• Dipti’s boutique skincare line
• Apple Screen Time
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information) 

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Before founding Gracias, Deana was co-founder at strategic consulting firm, Agency of Trillions, which was acquired by Indiegogo in 2017. Deana is also an advisor to female-founded, travel startup, Allcall, and co-founder of CO, a co-working space in Rhinebeck built on a co-operative, community ownership philosophy. 

Deana really takes us to school, today. We take on democratizing cryptocurrency and generating financial empowerment for young women and teens. Oh, and if the terms Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are new to you - have no fear, Deana breaks things down in a very, easy-to-grasp way. I promise. 

Deana shares her experience as a non-tech startup founder - including some of the highs and lows of tethering to her "idea baby."  Also, we explore mindsets around money and generational wealth as well as scarcity and abundance.

• Connect with Deana: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Podcast | Gracias on Instagram
• AllCall
• Supermoney
• Silk Road (bitcoin)
• Hudson Valley Current
• Ethereum
• Bitcoin Billionaires Ben Mezrich (book)
• Dr. Julianne Holt-Lundstad on Le vital corps Salon
• Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown (book)
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Additionally, Dr. Holt-Lunstad has an adjunct professorship at Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. 

Dr. Holt-Lunstad’s research is focused on the long-term health effects of social connection. In this episode, we dive into the many areas of Dr. Holt-Lunstad’s work, including the fraying of our social fabric, the impact of social (dis)connection on our physical and mental health, and the current cultural stigma around loneliness.  

We dig deep into these topics. We unpack what it means to feel alone versus experiencing social isolation. We discuss how political divisiveness has led people to feel less connected to their communities, friends, and family. Dr. Holt-Lunstad does offer ways in which we can mitigate the fraying of or repair the fabric that brings us together by investing in social relationships and helping others.

• Connect with Dr Holt-Lunstad: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Google Scholar Articles
• Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review
• Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review
• Testimony before the US Senate Aging Committee
• Science (journal)
• Jingmai O’Connor on LvcS episode
• Blue Zones by Dan Buettner: Website | Book
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Last year she and her husband, Mike, with their band, The Mammals, toured small folk music venues for a month in Australia as a duo with their two kids, organized two community music festivals back in Upstate NY, and recorded a new full-length studio album due out next summer.  

Ruth is a dedicated folk musician and artist, but also works hard to study, shape, and share the musical, environmental mission of the Ashokan Center as the Director of Arts & Communication. This is where Mike and Ruth host their two annual folk music festivals, the Winter Hoot and the Summer Hoot each year. 

In this episode, the lessons that Ruth shared extend far beyond the scope of folk music. We talked about balancing your ambition beyond your craft, whatever your craft that happens to be. We also talked about leveraging patience and impatience as well as the importance of learning all sides of the business you are in. We also take on some mindset topics like how the power of music evokes emotion and how to connect with other humans in a meaningful way. 

• Connect with Ruth: The Mammals: Website | Facebook | Patreon | Hoot (both winter and summer): Website | Facebook | Ruth on Instagram
• Woodstock Youth Theater
• Bard College
• Jay Ungar
• Ashokan Farewell (song/theme for Ken Burns’ Civil War series)
• Lynn Hardy
• The Balfa Brothers
• Newport Folk Festival
• Peter, Paul and Mary
• Kingston Trio
• Odetta
• Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (video)
• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (book)
• “My Baby Drinks Water” by The Mammals (song)
• Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm on LvcS
• Fred Rogers: Fred Rogers Center |  The Good Neighbor, Maxwell King (book) | Won’t You Be My Neighbor (documentary)
• Katharine Hayhoe on LvcS
• Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas (movie)
• Pete Seeger
• Tao Rodrieguez-Seeger
• Crooked Still (band)
• Chris Merenda (performing artist)
• The Restless Age (band)
• Jingmai O’Connor on LvcS
• Aja Schmeltz on LvcS
• Good Work Institute
• Ashokan Center
• The Fantastic Fungi (documentary)
• Wild Earth
• James Hansen (climatologist)
• Youth Empowerment and Sustainability Summit at Ashokan Center
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

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Leah co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim the ancestral connection to land for People of Color (POC). As co-Executive Director, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs - including farmer training for Black & Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system.

Leah has been farming since 1996, holds an MA in Science Education and a BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a Manye (Queen Mother) in Vodun. The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by a growing list of national organizations. Her book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land is a love song for the land and her people.

In this episode, we cover insightful and significant topics related to farm, including farming tech and positive contributions of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). Leah also recollected on being a nature-connected, bullied youth and how her experiences laid the foundation for her work in farming many years later. We also talked about food justice, including what it is and what we can do as individuals to support farms that are certified food justice by the agricultural Justice Project. Finally, we talked in-depth about solving racism in the food system, which is connected to everything. 

Admittedly, I sometimes fear talking about racism in such a public way because I’m conscious of my own incompetence and white privilege. I want to acknowledge some of my gaps in this conversation and how Leah demonstrated what a graceful teacher she truly is. 

• Connect with Leah:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
• Soul Fire Farm
• The Food Project
• Karen Washington
• Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman (book)
• Freedom Farmers by Dr. Monica White (book)
• Black Food Geographies by Ashanté M. Reese (book)
• Agricultural Justice Project
• Fairness for Farm Workers Act
• Reparations Map
• Southern Reparations Loan Fund
• Cornell West
• Kickass Theme Music: “Things Are Getting Better” Written by Rishi Dhir. Performed by The High Dials.
• Stay in the loop about future Le vital corps Salon episodes or with Kara: Twitter | Instagram | The List (sent monthly-ish including helpful health + lifestyle information)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.