This interview features Tamara Knox, who after surviving from domestic violence years ago, is now accomplishing her goals and dreams. Tamara identifies as a thriver in her community. In addition to being a Masters of Social Work graduate, Tamara (she/her) is an award-winning photographer, photojournalist, mother, published author, business owner, and public speaker. Tamara was significantly influenced by the late American photographer, composer, author, poet, and film director, Gordon Parks, particularly his statement, "my camera is my weapon for social justice.” It's with this spirit that Tamara chose photography and clinical social work to uplift her community. This shows up best through her upcoming book that shows the process of going from surviving to thriving for community members. Tamara uses trauma-informed photography and ethical storytelling to record, preserve, and share these thrivers’ stories. The book will be accompanied by an exhibit at the Russ Solomon Gallery, showcasing portraits of community thrivers and their accounts of changing their narratives. Follow her on instagram @focusedtmk

National Domestic Violence Hotline: * 800-799-7233 *

Hours: 24/7 Languages: English, Spanish and 200+ more through interpretation service Learn more.

Domestic Violence Resources Available in Sacramento County: https://www.saccourt.ca.gov/restraining-orders/docs/domestic-violence-resources.pdf

City of Sacramento Resources: https://www.cityofsacramento.org/Community-Response/DVresources

WEAVE Inc: https://www.weaveinc.org/

In today's episode, we meet and talk with Maureen Paley, who is a Financial, Life and Career Coach, the author of the “Financial Autonomy for Women: 30-Day Workbook” and the host of the “Financial Autonomy for Women” podcast. We met through Tami Hackbarth's bookclub for Rachel Rodgers book: We Should All Be Millionaires. She is passionate about supporting self-identified women find more clarity, confidence, and peace of mind in their lives. She practices strengths-based, trauma-aware coaching with no shaming, ever. She believes in and has benefited from the power of women supporting each other to Level Up their lives, finances and careers. Maureen is a Certified Professional Coach and an Accredited Financial Counselor®. She calls Sacramento home and, she is the human to the world’s best rescue doggo, Mabel. You can find ways to work with Maureen, including free downloadable resources, on her website at maureenpaley.podia.com and her Instagram: @maureenpaleycoach

Rhydell Paynter is our guest today on MYA and he’s the Chief Network Engineer for the government of Bermuda, but more importantly he’s also a cancer survivor, a proud father, husband and my big brother! He’s a community activist making a difference as a speaker, volunteer and mentor for the Bermuda Diabetes Association and a Prostate Awareness Group called The Daily Male, that provides support for men and their families by promoting men's health initiatives and helping those that are under insured or without insurance to receive screening and assistance with treatment.

 Yes, I’m continuing the family conversations this month friends, last month you met our sister Cecelia, and today you have the honor of meeting Rhydell. You’ll note already if you listened to the other interview, that running sophisticated networks and IT operations is a skill and a gift that both my siblings have – and I alas, do not. But today, the conversation with Rhydell and I are going to have will revolve more around our personal connection and relationship and his journey through being diagnosed and surviving prostate cancer, than the work listed on our resumes or Linked In, and he’ll be sharing more about his life journey thus far and how he’s helping to make a difference not just in our family’s lives, but in the lives of many others too.

Naria is a short story, or, novella, written and published by Richard Morgan in 2010, where readers and listeners can discover the wonders to be held in the misty mountains, as the protagonist, Naria, mourns her missing husband, Kalsh, and encounters the strange guardian, Seger. Adventures and mysteries abound in this tale of one woman's quest to protect the baby Prince from the dark forces at the helm of the wizard, Ashka.

This episode features chapters six through ten and the conclusion of the novella. Part I with chapters one through six is episode 63.

Naria is a short story, or, novella, written and published by Richard Morgan in 2010, where readers and listeners can discover the wonders to be held in the misty mountains, as the protagonist, Naria, mourns her missing husband, Kalsh, and encounters the strange guardian, Seger. Adventures and mysteries abound in this tale of one woman's quest to protect the baby Prince from the dark forces at the helm of the wizard, Ashka.

This episode features chapters one through five, and PART II, Episode 64, will finish the rest of the story with chapters six through ten.

Cesar Figueroa is a Transformation Coach that I first met about 9 years ago when we were both teaching and training at a local gym in our area. Cesar and the other personal trainers would sometimes send their clients to my yoga classes to complement their sessions, and Cesar himself would come sometimes too!

Today, Cesar is the owner of Ceez Your Life, whose mission and purpose is to improve humanity by inspiring others to CEEZ their lives and dictate the outcomes of their own thoughts, actions, and reactions with the implementation of healthy habits.  He believes in a holistic approach to living a healthy lifestyle and specializes in empowering clients in all aspects of health and wellness which includes the social, emotional, spiritual, and occupational dimensions of life. He envisions one day being able to travel to other countries to conduct wellness workshops and inspiring change that lasts for generations.

You can follow Cesar on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/ceezyourlife/?hl=en or

Here: https://www.instagram.com/ceez08vf/

You can visit his website here: https://www.ceezyourlife.net/ or

Here: https://www.rep1well.com/

My big sister is amazingly accomplished, holding an E-MBA from Notre Dame, and working as the Chief Experience Officer for an Information Technology company in the metro Chicago area. In addition to being an executive business strategist, who was recently interviewed on another show about supplier diversity and cultivating community and generational wealth, she's also a client relationship expert, community volunteer and mentor, a DEIA advocate, and keynote speaker. She's also a proud Mom of two with her partner of 30+ years!

In this episode, I interview her to draw out some of her personal and professional stories, and we focus on what Cecelia does best, and that is, helping others. Whether it is in the c-suite, at home, in school, as a volunteer or as a Mom, she wears all the hats, and believes her ultimate purpose is to be in service to humankind.

James Kapicka is our episode 60 guest and he's a 21st century yogi who lives and works as a movement facilitator, yoga ambassador and Thai bodyworker with a passion for bringing people together to celebrate, learn and connect. He offers somatic based ceremonies, leads embodiment retreats and teaches yin yoga trainings to inspire personal freedom and support community connection. Through sincere and heartfelt guidance, James creates an environment that empowers students to trust their intuition and listen to their heart. This approach promotes curiosity, creative play and authentic expression, and allows for a deeply resonant relationship with self, others and our planet. You can follow along with James' adventures and events on Instagram, learn from his teaching videos on You Tube and explore his website, yogajames.com to see all his wonderful offerings.

Katie Blomberg is the Owner, Entrepreneur, Personal Trainer and Elevation Coach at her beautiful, sun-filled space called, her Elevated, in Sacramento, CA. A 40-under-40 Business Journal Honoree in 2021, Katie opened her Elevated to create a fitness studio for women that was welcoming, peaceful, aesthetically pleasing, and full of energy. A studio where clients wanted to be, that made them feel good, that didn’t feel like a gym, and created a community of wellness, support, and love. her Elevated, bloomed into so much more than just fitness, she's everything that wellness entails: mind, spirituality, healing, community, life celebrations, and more.  In this episode, learn about the journey Katie took to create this space of bliss, and personal vision of Shangri-la that she is happy to share with all of you. Follow her in Instagram for the latest events and updates, and visit her website herelevated.co for class details, registration and to learn more about everything her Elevated offers the community including, rental information.

Porter Singer is a musician, formerly known as Sirgun Kaur. We became known to one another through a mutual friend, musician Joshua Stoddard, who was also a guest on this podcast in March of 2021. In addition to being a phenomenal singer, Porter is an emotional guide, and the host of the Inspired Artist Podcast where she interviews spiritual creatives, and she is the founder of the Body Cello Method. This episode features her singing LIVE for us, and a beautiful conversation about finding our way home to ourselves through personal body practices and the human-to-human connections we all need to thrive. Find and follow her on Instagram, subscribe and listen to her music on YouTube or stream it on Spotify as Sirgun Kaur or as Porter Singer.