Radiant Mix

This episode of Radiant Mix features Kellie Wagner, the Founder and CEO of Collective, an NYC-based diversity and inclusion lab that transforms company culture in the startup space. Kellie has a unique perspective as a biracial woman, overcoming immense loss and spending much of her youth bouncing between drastically different cultures. All this life experience planted the seeds for the important work she is doing now.  Her company, Collective, supports high-growth companies as they build diverse, equitable teams, and drive sustainable change.

Kellie Wagner has been featured in Forbes Magazine and is a sought-after speaker. Kellie holds a MFA from The New School, studied at NYU and sits on the Board of Directors for Experience Camps, a free grief camp for kids who have experienced loss.

On the podcast Kellie shares her personal story of strength and triumph, we talk about the effects of current day politics and families, holding companies accountable when it comes to equity and inclusion and she offers expert tips for employees of color to navigate the corporate world and elevate their game.

Show Highlights:

• Navigating life has a biracial child, who lost her mom at age seven, and then how her life unfolded thereafter.
• Kellie describes her life “shielded by this white bubble.”
• The real life effects of the Trump presidency on her family dynamics 
• Race, skin color and the plight of some mixed kids 
• The importance of accepting differences and setting boundaries
• The power of diversity and inclusion in the work place
• The truth about living with authenticity
• The mixed super power… “we can break down many misconceptions.”

Links:

Instagram: @Kelliemwagner

Collective: www.hello-collective.com

This week’s Radiant Mix episode is featuring Sebene Selassie, a celebrated meditation teacher, coach, and consultant. Sebene Selessie began studying Buddhism over 25 years ago and now teaches and practices all over the world. In this episode, Sebene drops some science and profound wisdom about the power of a spiritual path and community, self-care, insights on working through trauma, the art of welcoming challenges and the inside scoop on her upcoming book ‘Born to Belong.’ Want to shift your mindset just a little bit? Get inspired by Sebene Selassie.

Show Highlights: 

• What inspired Sebene to practice Buddhism 
• The beauty and challenges of being different
• Get a glimpse of Sebene’s immigrant experience growing up and trying to adapt to a culture that you don’t know anything about  
• The necessity of having a sense of belonging 
• The journey of realizing she is and we all are ‘Born to Belong’ 
• Reconciling individualism with the oneness of humanity 
• Looking inside yourself before you look to change the world 
• What it looks like to get involved in deep practice and commit to it 
• The truth behind intergenerational trauma 
• Methods of self-care, finding stillness and centering yourself 
• Methods of healing when dealing with physical challenges 
• Embracing your struggles as a beautiful experience 
• Finding joy within the circumstances of your life 
• Expert advice to kick-start a meditation practice

Links:

Website: SebeneSelassie.com

Instagram: @sebeneselassie

Radiant Mix welcomes the lovely Aileen Kyoko on the show with us today! Aileen is a multi-talented creative with a beautiful spirit. She's a playwright, actress, director, and producer, and she recently wrote a full-length play called The Year of the Solar Eclipse. Aileen is also producer and brand curator for The Wellness Expert, Randi Zin, of Beyond Mom. Listen in today, to find out more!

Aileen Kyoko was raised in the Philippines, traveled the world in her youth and is now a proud New Yorker. Her creative work derives from a passion to explore love and relationships. In today's podcast, she shares openly about her identity crisis, the importance of patience with self-discovery, the power of the arts and creative expression and using one’s unique voice for the greater good. Look out for the fresh, updated version of Aileen Kyoko’s play The Year of the Solar Eclipse the first week of December 2019 at The Wild Project.   Tune in now, to hear Aileen's story!

Show Highlights:

• An international perspective on one mixed experience
• Overcoming an identity crisis
• The importance of using your voice to educate others
• The life-changing power of the performing arts
• Vulnerability and what happens with love when things falling apart
• The vital role racial diversity plays for every aspect of creative projects…plays, film fashion and beyond

Links:

Instagram @aileenkyoko

The Wild Project: http://thewildproject.com/

"I was mixed before it was fashionable,” stated Tim Lounibos in this week’s episode. Tim Lounibos is an actor starring in the runaway hit series, Bosch, on Amazon Prime.  Tim, gained notoriety in the nineties when he was branded as part of 'an exciting new breed of Asian American actors with widespread mainstream appeal’. He took a break from acting for a while, and now he is back and working like crazy.

Tim Lounibos is of German, Irish, and Korean descent and like most mixed kids had to do some major soul-searching to embody his identity as Asian American. Tim is one cool, down-to-earth, compassionate actor who really cares about humanity, the power of the arts, inclusion and openly shares his inspiring personal story. In this episode, Tim chats to Hope about life, Hollywood, love, enlightenment, and his unique slice of the mixed experience. “Whatever I’m involved in, I push for diversity, I push for inclusiveness, whether it’s in front of scenes or behind the scenes. Anybody I speak with I try to enlighten and nudge….to get them to see the importance of that. For me, it’s not about just seeing Asian Americans on the screen. It’s about diversity, seeing a tapestry of who we are.” Listen in today to hear Tim’s empowering story. 

Show Highlights:

• Growing up mixed with a GI father and Korean mother
• The power of humor and how it saved his family from abuse in the home
• His secret to having a strong sense of innate confidence
• Tim’s life-changing moments that helped clarify his identity
• How to overcome shame.
• Navigating microaggressions without anger, but as an opportunity to enlighten
• The state and plight of Asian American cinema in Hollywood.
• Tim’s observations on race, diversity, and inclusion 

Links:

Tim on Instagram: @timlounibos

Tim on Twitter: @timlounibos

We are excited to introduce, Eric Smith, the CEO and Co-Founder of Easy Star Records. The New York-based independent record label Easy Star Records has built an international roster of progressive reggae and dub artists over the past twenty years. Eric Smith and Hope McGrath, both biracial, have been friends for even longer than that time frame.

Eric Smith and Hope McGrath, both biracial, have been friends for more than twenty years. In today's episode, we get an inside scoop of old friends talking about growing up in the 70s and 80s with white moms and black fathers, the drastic difference between growing up mixed in the suburbs vs. the city, music, Obama, parenting, raising second generation mixed-kids, and more. Tune in now for more!

Show Highlights:

• Growing up as a city kid vs. suburban kid and being mixed in New York

• What life is like living with two realities.

• The beauty of being mixed is in flowing seamlessly through different worlds.

• Segregated schools and it's effects

• The history of Easy Star, with its rich cultural mix.

• The mixed perspective on Obama

• Educating ourselves to be mindful of our biases.

Sharing our truth is not always easy, but sometimes it's really important. And laughter really does make the world go round. This week we're talking to Katie Malia, the self-proclaimed, ethnically ambiguous performer and writer from LA, and also the creator of the short-form scripted comedy web-series Almost Asian. Katie dares to be different and her show is a really fascinating perspective of the mixed experience, consisting of funny little vignettes of what life is like from the perspective of the mixed Asian woman. So, get your laugh on, and listen in to what Katie has to share on the show today.

Through her Almost Asian web series, Katie has been featured in the Washington Post, Fast Company, and the Huffington Post. Almost Asian was also an official selection for the thirteen Film Festivals and a really exciting development is that the web series is expanding into a half-hour comedy program, with Margaret Cho on board as executive producer. On the show today, Katie and Hope talk about many different aspects of the mixed life and they also tell some crazy personal stories. Tune in now to witness some mixed-chick therapy.

Show Highlights:

• Katie explains how much having a mixed race community means to her.
• Katie discusses the use of the term 'ethnically ambiguous' and why she hates it.
• It's really annoying to have to go into a whole dialogue to explain your identity.
• Katie shares about her unique background and how she coped with her identity crisis.
• The evolution of one's identity is really important, but it takes work.
• What inspired Katie to create Almost Asian.
• Mixed kids all go through feeling that they don't belong.
• What white privilege means to Katie.
• Katie goes for humor with a broader message, a powerful punch, and social commentary.
• How Katie manages to nurture her creativity.
• Self-reflection and the importance of coming from a place of love 
• Awareness is central to self-reflection.

Links and Resources:

Book: Mixed Race Amnesia by Minelle Mahtani

Where all the episodes of Almost Asian live online: www.almostasian.com  

Instagram: Almost Asian Series

Twitter: @iamalmostasian

Radiant mix blog: www.radiantmix.com 

We're also on Instagram and Facebook at Radiant Mix. Please take a moment to give us a review

Do you think it's okay to openly share your opinions about other people's personal lives on social media? Today's interview is with the celebrated actor, Malik Yoba. He is quite dynamic and open, with a strong social media following where shares with deep compassion on things that matter to him. When Malik decided to share on Instagram about his Malik personal love life, which happens to be an interracial relationship, he received a wide range of comments, both positive and negative. Listen in to find out his reactions and response to the push back.

Apart from being an accomplished actor, Malik Yoba is also a writer, director, producer, musician, activist, educator, and entrepreneur. In today's episode, he has an interesting conversation with Hope about race and modern-day interracial love, and also about life, activism, love, and the power of manifestation. Tune in now!

Show Highlights:

• Malik talks about his initial reaction to the negative comments via Instagram and his take on inter-racial relationships
• Malik talks about his dating past, his unique family upbringing, his compassion for black women.
• The importance of living a self-directed life of purpose.
• Malik uses the arts as his weapon of choice.
• Learn some tips for manifesting what you want.
• What does being a changemaker truly consist of?
• Malik offers us all an important question to think about...Have you done something today to serve and give back to your community?

Links and Resources:

You can follow Malik on Instagram at MalikYoba

Today we're talking to a Mama who does not sit still! We're really excited to have Julie Young, a lawyer, turned non-profit executive, join us on today's episode. Julie is the founder of DreamMaker 3D, an organization that provides resources, connections, and inspiration for creatives and nurtures future leaders. In today's episode, Julie talks about her experience of growing up as a Korean adoptee raised with a white, American family. She discusses the challenges that trans-racial families face and she talks about getting in touch, and awakening to her Asian-ness. Listen in to find out more. 

DreamMaker 3D has just produced their very first TIDE Film Festival, in Brooklyn. The festival highlights movies that are written, produced and directed by people of color. Julie also founded The Phenomenal Girls Club, a really awesome kids club that fosters learning, leadership, and friendship for girls of color. She's the creator, producer, and host of the web series Not Your Average for KoreanAmericanstory.org. and she's creator and co-producer of her own podcast, $6.99 Per Pound. Julie is married to an African-American man and they're raising two beautiful mix-kids. Tune in now to get Julie's story.

Show Highlights:

• Julie talks about her childhood. 
• Awakening and getting in touch with her Asian-ness.
• Julie talks about her feelings about being an adoptee.
• Julie's Mom has learned so much about accepting and loving diversity and multi-cultural things.
• The thinking, when Julie was growing up, was to assimilate everyone of different races and cultures.
• What raising mix-kids is like for Julie.
• Julie and her husband have been educating their kids about their heritage since they were very young.
• Navigating the private school experience.
• Opening the eyes of those with implicit bias and becoming aware of our own implicit bias. 
• What the Phenomenal Girls Club is all about and how Julie came to starting it.
• Julie talks about her groundbreaking TIDE film festival.
• Julie's story is all about compassion. And her mission is to break down individual and then systemic bias.
• Why Brooklyn is the place to be for Julie.
• Julie loves to shadow box!

Links and Resources:

TIDE Film Festival website: www.tidefilmfestival.org 

To get more involved, email [email protected].

Follow Julie on Instagram @DreamMaker3D

Welcome to the very first episode of the Radiant Mix podcast, with Hope McGrath. Hope has a blog called Radiant Mix, and with the podcast she will be celebrating and talking about the bi-racial, multi-racial, and multi-cultural life and experience and she will also be sharing some really wonderful stories around this theme. On the show today, Hope discusses some of the fears she's had around bringing the stories that she intends to share on the podcast to light, and she also explains what motivated her to launch the podcast. Listen in today to find out more about Hope's belief in the radiance of the mixed experience, and how she intends to make the world a better place.

Hope's father is from Burundi, a small, Central African country near Rwanda. Her mother is American, with Italian and German/Jewish heritage. Her parents got married in the 1960s when racial mixing was still quite taboo. So, Hope comes from what is now known as 'The Loving Generation', which is a label for kids with one black, and one white parent, who were born after the 1967 case, Loving vs. Virginia, where the US Supreme Court overturned Virginia's ban on interracial marriage. 

Although there is so much beauty to be found in mixing races and cultures, it's not without its challenges. Hope is living a multi-cultural life as a Brooklyn mamma raising a second-generation mix-kid, and she's also an auntie to a mix-kid. Her intention for Radiant Mix is to ignite positive change and maybe even open some eyes with the stories she will be sharing. Listen in today to find out more about Hope McGrath and her aspirations for the podcast.

Show Highlights:

• The fears that Hope has around putting her stories out for public consumption.
• Why Hope eventually decided to launch Radiant Mix.
• For Hope, it's really all about radiating our light.
• How Hope managed to put her fears behind her.
• Hope talks about herself and where her family comes from.
• Where Hope discovered the title 'The Loving Generation'.
• Racial tension reached a fever-pitch in America recently, and this took a toll on Hope and her family.
• Hope hit her personal limit and decided to use her unique voice to aid in supporting anti-racism work through sharing a mixed perspective when the US president referred to Haiti and African nations as sh*thole countries.
• How Hope's hippy Mom inspired her to take her own path and expand minds and hearts, with her anti-racism work.
• When Hope grew up in Long Island, they were the only mixed family that she knew of in the area and the only mixed family attending the local public school.
• It was really hard for her to fit in while growing up.
• Hope has chosen to raise her daughter in a very different environment to the environment that she grew up in.
• Hope is doing her part, with Radiant Mix, to heal the racial divide.
• We all need to evolve from our judgment, bias, and prejudice.
• Why the conversation around racism has to continue.

Links and Resources:

The documentary The Loving Generation 

Hopes website: www.radiantmix.com 

Join Hope on iTunes and subscribe to her newsletter!