Christine Yu is the author of Up to Speed: The Groundbreaking Science of Women Athletes. She is a lifelong athlete and an award-winning journalist.

Writing for leading publications like The Washington Post, Runner's World, Vice, ESPNW, and much more, Christine's interests dive into the intersection between sports science and women athletes.

Resisting the belief of “shrink it and pink it” Christine shares her the research gap in women athletics and encourages listeners to support the well-being of girls and women in sports 🏃‍♀️

Founder of Make Love Not Porn, Cindy Gallop, joins Sparkle On to display why she is one of the most outspoken and innovative voices in sex tech. Business Insider named her one of 15 Most Important Marketing Strategy Thinkers Today, alongside Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin, and cited her as number 33 on their list of 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter. In 2009, her TED talk about her direct personal experience of dating younger men and technology’s impact on our sex lives went viral — announcing the launch of the social sex tech platform, which is pro-sex, pro-porn, pro-knowing the difference designed to promote good sexual behavior and good sexual values.

With her passion and purpose to have representations of real-world sex, Gallop expresses the impact Make Love Not Porn has to end rape culture, create closer relationships, and display the vulnerability in men. Gallop shares, “More men write us grateful emails than anybody else because we are something unique that men will find nowhere else on the internet, which is a safe space where men can be and watch other men being open, emotional, and vulnerable around sex.” Gallop and her team at Make Love Not Porn are changing the sex education landscape and the ways people claim their bodies on the internet.

Our host, Devi Jags, enthusiastically welcomes author and poet Olivia Gatwood to the show following the release of her debut novel, Whoever You Are Honey. An essential author for our hyper-digital age, Whoever You Are, Honey is a gripping, seductive, and prescient novel that dissects relationships between women and examines how striving for perfection and
desirability plays out in spaces where technology and power intersect.

Gatwood is also the author of two poetry collections, New American Best Friend and Life of the Party, and the co-writer of Adele’s music video for "I Drink Wine."

Knowing she always wanted to be a writer, Gatwood also explains how she turned to spoken word poetry as a way to advocate for the issues she cares about. Through capturing her experiences and others, she has received international recognition for her poetry, writing workshops, and work as a Title IX-compliant educator in sexual assault prevention and recovery.

Imani McGee Stafford is known for many of her titles, among the most notable being a WNBA player, a mental health advocate, a poet, a soon-to-be attorney, and a self-proclaimed unicorn.

Launching her basketball career at The University of Texas at Austin, she shares her experience as a student-athlete when she performed at a spoken word poetry show detailing surviving sexual abuse. Balancing the limelight with her story making headlines, Imani urges listeners to reclaim their narrative and remind them that their trauma is not their whole story.

Through her writing, advocacy, and playing basketball overseas, she has continuously used her platform to bring about positive change, stating that her goal is to be whom she needed when she was younger.

She leads with love and tries her best, and that shine is displayed throughout her entire episode.

In honor of the Summer of Sparkle and my birthday month, here's a BONUS episode!

Meet Taylor Hall, founder of Girly Pop Fitness — a women only workout community in LA, focused on empowering females through fitness. With plans to make it onto the global stage, you’ll want to join this community of women enhancing their strength and confidence together as soon as possible!

Her knowledge stems from not only being a certified personal trainer but also a lifelong athlete. Having suffered through 2 ACL tears, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and other issues that tend to affect women in sports, Taylor dives deep into the struggles women athletes face and why communities like hers are the key to overcoming them.

In this episode, Taylor explains Girly Pop Fitness, she discusses the challenges women face, and how the Sparkle On event on the rooftop of Neue House Hollywood will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

This episode of Sparkle On is like nothing we’ve ever done before. Allison Arjarun is a Mystic, Medium, and Intuitive Guide, and leads Devi and the Sparkle community through a powerful tarot reading.

Having hidden in the shadows by keeping her tarot practice a secret, and battling stage four cancer, Arjarun helps us discover what it means to embrace light and darkness to be our truest selves. Now, Arjarun is founder of a nonprofit supporting artists by nurturing their emotional well-being and providing financial assistance to help them thrive in their artistic pursuits. She helps us learn that our stories inform the art we put out into the world, and stepping into the light ignites healing for us all, no matter our differences.

Get your reading from Allison here: https://sweetspiritmystic.com/

Meet Natasha Moor, the global makeup artist and visionary founder of Natasha Moor Cosmetics, who is dedicated to cultivating kindness, power, and impact through the influence of cosmetics. Growing her beauty empire has not come without dark times. Joining Devi for another episode of Sparkle On, where Moor discusses her journey to discovering her artistry for makeup, the online criticism she faced as an Indian woman amid her divorce, and what it means to heal through the power of unleashing confidence for others.

Beyond cosmetics, she is a philanthropist with the "DO MOOR" initiative, addressing critical issues such as human trafficking and homelessness. Through her company, she endeavors to instill confidence and foster positive change across the globe.

Her products are in outlets across Sephora in Southeast Asia, natashamoor.com, and Amazon.

From the outside, Brandon Saho, former sports reporter and Cincinnati native, seemed to be living his dream. Interviewing world-class athletes and being the life of the party, no one could guess that he had been battling depression and suicidal thoughts since he was a teenager. But following losing the love of his life, losing three family members, and working grueling hours, Saho finally asked for the help he needed for years.

He checked himself into the Lindner Center of Hope where during his time, the idea of The Mental Game was born. The Mental Game is a mental health podcast with athletes, musicians, and entertainers to help break the stigma of asking for help. It features guests like Terry Crews, Kate Flannery, Kevin Gates, Jim O’Heir, and many more.

The Mental Game is just getting its start, and Saho dives into all the ways he’s getting his Sparkle back while battling depression. We talk about going sober, the University of Cincinnati and Xavier rivalry, and how breaking the mental health stigma starts with sharing one story at a time.

Best-selling author, Chelsey Goodan joins Devi on the show, dressed for the occasion — in hot pink and sparkles. Her book, “Underestimated: The Wisdom And Power Of Teenage Girls,” has gained national attention from Hello Sunshine, The TODAY Show and has been endorsed by Oprah’s Book Club, saying: “If you have a teenage girl in your life, you need to read this.”

As mentorship director of DemocraShe and her book, Goodan shares that “Teenage girls are a force that we must embrace… not squash, not dismiss, not judge, not change, not minimize, not control, and not fear.” says Goodan.

On the show, she talks about how listening and loving girls are the keys to everything — from letting their Sparkle shine, having a relationship without judgment, and helping young women create change in the world around them.

This episode is a must-watch for all parents, teachers, coaches, family, and friends who want to embrace their truest selves and help young women do the same.

Join Devi on a special episode of Sparkle, where she sits down with elite high school running coach, Trent Sanderson. As the founder of Team Prep USA, Coach Sanderson takes our audience on a journey through creating his high-altitude training camp in the heart of the Colorado mountains.

Producing dozens of high school All-Americans and two Olympians, Coach Sanderson, and Devi dive deep into the art of cultivating success at the youth level, mental health after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Sparkle origin story.

This episode encapsulates what it means to stay relentless in the face of adversity and the invaluable life lessons learned on the track. Tune in as we explore the impact that coaches of sports impart on athletes, resonating even years beyond their athletic careers.