Stories in Harmony

How did John Oates, one of the most successful musicians in rock history and one-half of famed duo Daryl Hall & John Oates, find his voice as a writer?

And how did giving up most of his possessions, starting fresh in a cabin in Aspen and reinventing himself factor into all of it?

In this in-depth conversation, we discuss how John manifested his visions and how he let go of many of his rock star proclivities during a time of personal growth and transformation that led him to an even richer life outside the glare of the spotlight.

Sit back and enjoy as John Oates shares his story with us.

Show notes:

John Oates’ website 

John Oates on Instagram

Get your free Step-by-step guide to creating your most powerful brand story.

Work with Laura to share your story in a bigger way, build community & grow your business through the Share Your Magic Mentorship Program.

GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR INTUITION & CREATING A SOUL-ALIGNED, CONSCIOUS BUSINESS WITH MEL NAHAS

How can synchronicities, carving out a space for yourself and a bit of good fortune turn into a thriving, soul-aligned business?

How can you use human design to help you get where you want to go with more joy and ease?

These are questions I explore with Mel Nahas, cofounder of Conscious City Guide, an online platform that produces, promotes & tickets experiences for the conscious community.

Born in Indonesia and raised in Australia, Mel came to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music industry. She ended up pivoting and embarking on a mission to expand consciousness through events & experiences as co-founder of Conscious City Guide.

During our conversation, Mel shares about her entrepreneurial journey, challenges she’s encountered and overcome along her path & how she uses tea ceremonies to connect with her inner compass & guidance. We discuss the nature of consciousness and how it reconnects you to yourself, your community and the planet, and her mission to bring consciousness into the mainstream. We also talk about a recent trip Mel took to Egypt and some amazing synchronicities that happened while she was there.

Sit back & enjoy our conversation!

Show Notes:

Conscious City Guide: https://consciouscityguide.com/

Follow Mel Nahas on Instagram @nahaste

Get your free Step-by-step guide to creating your most powerful brand story.

Work with Laura to share your story in a bigger way, build community & grow your business at www.lauraferreiro.co

Scott Hamilton Harris is considered one the foremost building contractors in the U.S. and a “triple threat” who’s an expert in design, architecture & building. He’s built and restored numerous luxury homes and commercial properties, including building famed eco-friendly and sustainable homes for celebrity clients such as Ed Begley Jr. and Hollywood directors, renovating Los Angeles landmarks as well as co-founding the Building Construction Group in 2005.

When Scott was just five years old, he became fascinated by how things were built and put together. He started taking apart & rebuilding common household items and secretly visited building sites as a teenager to see how they did things and to get ideas of how they could be done better and as an attempt to improve a difficult childhood by creating a beautiful living environment for his family.

Scott is an incredible example of how, when you decide to follow your passion, you can create a thriving career getting paid to do something you love and living out your dharma, or your higher purpose in life.

He also uses intuition to help clients build their dream homes and as an effective way to gain new clients, which he tells us all about in this conversation. We also talk about how a synchronicity that was a wrong number ended up leading to a multi-million dollar client and much more.

Resources:

Scott Hamilton Harris at the Building Construction Group: http://www.buildingcgroup.com/content/about/bios/scott-harris/

Follow Scott Harris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scott_harris_building/

Get Laura's free Step-by-step guide to creating your most powerful brand story: Website: https://www.lauraferreiro.co/

Work with host Laura Ferreiro to amplify your story, build community & grow your business through the Share Your Magic Mentorship Program: https://www.lauraferreiro.co/share-your-magic-mentorship-program/

How do you build a brand and a business through effective storytelling? And why is storytelling the magic dust in your business? Today I sit down with fellow brand messaging and storytelling strategist Taji Torrilhon about how to use stories to connect with your ideal audience and build your brand. We also discuss dealing with imposter syndrome and how perfectionism can hold you back from accomplishing your goals. We offer some of our favorite tips for using your brand values and memorable instances in your life to create compelling brand stories that set you apart and make creating content straightforward, easy, and dare we say fun!

Taji is a trauma-informed Business Mentor and Story Coach and two-time Moth Story winner. She lives with her wife of 25 years and their son in Los Angeles. In 2022 she co-founded CO(OP, a community of sexual trauma survivors.

Topics we discuss:

- Why brand storytelling is the magic dust in your business.

- What it means to be a trauma-informed business coach.

- How to deal with imposter syndrome.

- Why perfectionism is holding you back from achieving your goals in marketing and in life.

- Tips for using your brand values and memorable instances in your life to create compelling brand stories.

Resources:

Follow Taji Torrilhon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tajitorrilhon/

Get Laura's free Step-by-step guide to creating your most powerful brand story: Website: https://www.lauraferreiro.co/

Work with host Laura Ferreiro to amplify your story, build community & grow your business through the Share Your Magic Mentorship Program: https://www.lauraferreiro.co/share-your-magic-mentorship-program/

Musician, visual artist and social activist Trish Hosein, also known as TRISHES, was raised in Trinidad until she moved to Southern California when she was in elementary school and her life changed forever. Her upbringing and the strong sense of self that was instilled in her by her parents helped give her the confidence to pursue a career in art and music, even though she didn't see many people who looked like her as a woman of color doing what she aspired to do when she was growing up.

Now a confident and prolific artist in many mediums, Trish discusses her journey to becoming the incredible artist she is today, the good causes she supports, how she got involved with them and how easy it can be for anyone to get involved in causes they're passionate about. We also talk about how the encouragement of just one person can change the trajectory of your entire life.

TRISHES’ music has been featured on NPR, MTV India, and VH1 India and she’s performed at festivals including SXSW, Tune In Tel Aviv, Linda Perry’s Rock N Relief, Pyramid Yoga Festival and more. She was nominated for Best Music Video at the South Asian Film Festival two years in a row, including a nomination for her directorial debut for “Gaslight.”

Resources:

TRISHES website: https://www.trishes.com/

TRISHES on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trishesmusic/

TRISHES Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/trish_hosein_how_colonialism_and_capitalism_taught_us_we_can_only_do_one_thing?language=en

Website: https://www.lauraferreiro.co/

Work with host Laura Ferreiro to amplify your story, build community & grow your business through the Share Your Magic Mentorship Program: https://www.lauraferreiro.co/share-your-magic-mentorship-program/

Annika Rose is a gifted singer/song writer from Los Angeles. Annika started singing in YouTube videos when she was just eight years old, and ended up signing to Simon Cowell’s record label with a girl group in her pre-teens. After being dropped from the label and navigating some of the perils and pitfalls of the music industry at a very young age, she’s building a thriving career as an independent artist.

Annika’s story is unlike anyone else’s. Her mother identified as a lesbian when Annika was a teenager, divorced her father and ended up marrying Annika’s much-younger manager. Meanwhile, during pandemic lockdown, Annika was taking a mental health walk one morning on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles and got hit by a truck and ended up in the hospital. Also, her father was diagnosed with a serious illness and ended up moving in with Annika’s mother and her new wife who cared for him along with Annika.

Through all of the ups and downs of these rollercoaster experiences, Annika maintained tremendous optimism, learned valuable life lessons and became more determined than ever to make music on her own terms.

She’s releasing singles including “Bruises” and “In My Head” as limited collection audio NFTs and creating accompanying videos and virtual experiences.

Hear all about it in our conversation!

Annika Rose’s website: https://www.annikarosemusic.com/

Annika Rose on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annikarosemusic/?hl=en

Annika Rose on Tik/Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/music/bruises-by-annika-rose-7147048073783626542

How do we stay balanced and grounded in a world where there are so many challenges and distractions?

In this episode I talk to Roger Joseph Manning, Jr, an incredible musician who was one of the founding members of ‘90s alternative rock band Jellyfish and is an integral part of Beck's band as well as The Lickerish Quartet. He's performed on records for the likes of Morrissey and Johnny Cash, and has even written songs for Ringo Starr. Roger also happens to be the husband of one of my good friends. While we could talk about music for days, our conversation delves into different realms where we discuss how we approach life, spirituality, health challenges we've encountered and overcome, the lessons we’ve learned from them, the invitations they've presented for self-reflection and a whole lot more.

Roger is one of those rare souls who proves the old adage, “Still waters run deep.” Soft-spoken and humble, he gets deep on spiritual teachings, the human experience and how listening to and performing music can be a transcendent and cathartic experience. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

The topics we discuss:

- The role music plays in our culture and how it has evolved over the years

- How life’s challenges (health challenges and otherwise) are an invitation to for self-reflection and to explore a deeper part of yourself

- The role of spirituality and how Roger falls out of balance if he doesn’t nourish the spiritual side of himself

- How being a successful musician is not only about being talented but also having a good business sense and marketing yourself

- Working with Beck, Morrissey and other renowned musicians

- Roger’s role in The Lickerish Quartet and his solo project

- The role of the ego, the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and how the unchecked ego can tell us stories that are untrue, preventing us from being present and genuinely connecting with others.

Resources:

Roger Joseph Manning Jr.’s website: https://rogerjosephmanningjrofficial.com/

The Lickerish Quartet website: https://thelickerishquartet.com/home

Roger on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogerjosephmanning/?hl=en

It’s not every day you come across an artist as bold and self-aware as Jaguar Jonze. The rising Australian singer/songwriter and visual artist born Deena Lynch grew up in a traditional Asian household where expressing herself through music and art were discouraged.

To live up to her family’s expectations, she pursued a career as a financial analyst. But she quickly discovered that she wasn’t happy on this path that left a vital part of herself unexpressed and unfulfilled. So Deena took the courageous step of being true to herself and pursuing her art.

In our chat, Deena tells us how she found the courage to choose to the path of an artist after being raised in a family that frowned upon this, the importance of community and connection, and how storytelling and art are the most powerful ways we can create genuine connection.

We also discuss how Deena uses somatic therapy to release trauma stored in her body and to help dismantle complex PTSD she experienced, and how it helped inspire her gorgeous album “Bunny Mode.” We also hear how Deena bravely came forward to publicly share her experience of sexual harassment in the music industry, and how opening up about it has helped unlock conversations about changing the conditions in the industry that made this possible.

Deena also offers tips for finding courage and self-confidence and using creativity to express your truth in a productive and cathartic way.

The topics we discuss:

- How Deena found the courage to pursue a career as a musician and artist after working as a financial analyst and growing up in a conservative Asian household

- Tips for breaking out of your comfort zone

- How somatic therapy can help release stored trauma and grief from the body

- Jaguar Jonze’s new album “Bunny Mode”

- Why sharing your story is valuable and can help build community around you that makes it easier to take risks.

- How Deena found her voice on her advocacy journey speaking out against sexual harassment in the music industry.

- The importance of storytelling for building and connecting with your audience.

Resources:

- Jaguar Jonze's website: https://jaguarjonze.com/

- Jaguar Jonze on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaguarjonze/?hl=en

Welcome to Season 2 of Stories in Harmony, hosted by journalist, marketing strategist and founder of Story Harmony, Laura Ferreiro. With a new name and a new focus, Stories in Hamony features stories and life lessons from people from all walks of life.

I believe that all of us want to connect with one another on an emotional level and to be seen and heard, and sharing stories is one of the most powerful ways to do this. My hope is that Stories in Harmony will offer you comfort, inspiration and insights that will help you on your own journey.

We’ll also have episodes with marketing and brand storytelling tips for artists, creatives & entrepreneurs. It’s going to be fun, so sit back and enjoy the new season, and remember to like, subscribe & tell a friend!

Scottish-born singer/songwriter KT Tunstall burst onto the music scene in 2005 with her breakthrough hits “Suddenly I See” and “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.” While her career has since blossomed and she has become a multi-award-winning artist, with an Ivor Novello and BRIT awards under her belt as well as Grammy and Mercury Prize nominations, her confessional, down-to-earth charm has remained the same. As she approaches her seventh studio album, she talks about the ever-shifting face of the music industry, how to support artists while touring is off the table, her environmental activism, and how journaling and exploring her own spirituality has opened her mind and helped her stay grounded.

TOPICS DISCUSSED

· How lockdown has changed touring life and how crucial it is to support grassroots venues

· Advice for anyone worried about their favorite artists

· How streaming has radically changed the music industry and the harsh reality of trying to survive as a musician

· The causes she’s supporting through her new single, “Wash Ya Hands”

· How moving to LA helped her heal

· How exploring nature has helped her stay grounded during lockdown

· KT’s “soul, body and mind” album trilogy, and her latest musical endeavors

· How journaling and exploring spirituality has influenced her creativity

· Why it’s important to “zoom out”

· Her environmental activism

· What it’s like touring with Hall & Oates

· Finding the silver linings of lockdown life

RESOURCES

KT Tunstall’s Patreon

Listen to “Wash Ya Hands”

WaterAid

War Child

Cape Farewell

Reverb