Swiping Sunday

In this episode I'm able to share Ankit Sinha's story, which has traveled across the globe. Ankit grew up in Dubai and decided to go to college in Boston, found work in Manhattan, tried living in Tokyo, and eventually made it back again. But, upon his arrival, he was greeted with some absurd efforts by his university to help "acclimate" him as a foreigner in America. He shares what it's like to grow into foreign places, how he found and kept friendships, and the harsh truths that he had to face when being forced to leave the US. He even shares the process in which he used to make his toughest decisions, and then admits how it failed him.

In this episode, I finally sat down to reflect on the past year of my life. I walk through the ways in which I've been able to transfer pain to progress, admit the embarrassing thing I used to wish for on every birthday, grazed the surface of my struggles living in Manhattan, and share with you how Swiping Sunday started and how it's impacted my life so greatly. I have always been one to feel everything very deeply, but I never actually went deep enough to figure out why. Being in quarantine, along with some other factors in my personal life this past year, forced me to understand and take ownership for my life. I struggled and I stressed, but ultimately, I feel I progressed. And I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.

In this episode, I sit down with Arianna Tong to discuss the trouble with dating apps, taking ownership and responsibility for your own feelings, and the importance of relationship check ins. Ari was once the spokesperson for Flutter Dating, a new kind of dating app that's main goal is to provide community style dating and be inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community, specific religions, and other groups that are typically underrepresented. Ari grew a huge community through sharing her research, advice, and relatability in her dating tip TikTok videos for the company. We both share how we've come to realize the importance of relationships outside of our romantic ones, as well as how to ensure we don't fall into traps of romanticizing sometimes impossible realities. Ari shares the scientific research behind why we have so many matches but never as many dates, as well as how to stop the toxic cycle that stems from dating apps as a whole. She also gives us proven methods on how to deal with conflicts with your significant other and so much more.

In this episode, I sit down with Gabriel Prado, cohost of the podcast Two Twenty-Somethings, to discuss his journey from Brazil to the U.S and back again. Gabe is 24 years old now and he opens up about the struggles he faced when coming here for college and chasing his dream to play volleyball, adjusting to the culture, having no home for the holidays, and what has kept him going throughout these past few years of life-changing scenarios: his approach. Throughout the episode you can see how motivated and dedicated Gabe is to his own future, his positive mindset, and contagious energy that he shares with the world. His clear approach to everything that he encounters in life is something we could all learn from. Gabe always seems to have a story, and while they all start off simple, they end in with valuable pieces of wisdom

In this episode, I sit down with Lara Wyatt, cohost of the podcast Two Twenty-Somethings, to discuss our experiences with social media. I'm 26 and Lara is 20, so we were introduced to very different social media platforms at very different times in our lives. I reminisce about MySpace’s “top 8,” while Lara reminds me of the Snapchat “top friends” that used to get us all into trouble. And I made my first Instagram post in college, while Lara was just 14 years old. But, together we realize the realities of social media that fall on all of our shoulders, from FOMO and comparison, to connections and communication. We discuss whether or not we believe social media has made our interpersonal skills better or worse, as well as what we personally struggle with most. This is the start of a conversation I want to dive deeper into on future episodes. After you listen, let me know what you think; does social media hold more pros or cons?

In this episode, I sit down with Paige Michelle, a 33-year-old single mom who found fulfillment through living by Human Design and mastering her understanding of herself. The self-discovery she experienced between being fired from her waitressing job and creating a multimillion-dollar business, ended up changing her life and her outlook on dating. We discuss how vital it is to live based on your specific needs and desires, rather than the world's generalized ideas of them, and ensuring you're aware of your emotions in order to prevent yourself from projecting them onto anyone else. Paige shares her argument to the "if he wanted to, he would" trend, how she makes sure she stays in control, the importance of communicating without expectation, and the masculine and feminine roles that she believes can subconsciously sabotage us.

In this episode, I sit down with Carmela Fuca, a young woman who was just a few days away from her preventative mastectomy as a BRCA gene carrier when she found out that she was too late, and already had cancer. Carmela knows that people are already aware of breast cancer, but they’re not aware of the many preventative actions we should be taking, the added risks to some decisions within a journey with this disease, the many unexplained side effects that can occur, and so much more. We discuss the importance of being your own advocate and doing your own research, going at your own pace, and never being naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you. Carmela’s story reminds us that doctors don’t always know what’s best for you and sometimes, they don't know everything that you might experience in their suggested treatments. Carmela shares the many surprises she experienced during her fight that left her scared and confused and reminds us that we are the only ones who can fight for ourselves.

In this episode, we get to hear a part of Nicole Delbene's incredible story. She talks about the highs and lows within the dance industry, as well as "dancer" becoming the main part of her identity. Nicole had her great dreams of becoming a professional ballerina come to fruition after decades of work, but eventually, there was an unfortunate turn of events that left her losing that sense of identity at the same time that she began to lose her mom to cancer. This story is about loss, of course, but it is also about strength. We walk through the way that Nicole has found herself navigating these recent years of her life, reinforce that there is no right way to grieve, address the guilt we feel with losing someone too soon, as well as the reality of overcoming or accepting these emotions we all want to avoid. The resilience and vulnerability Nicole shares is something that can only be felt by listening and I hope this story's outcome can help you through any struggle you might be facing today.

In this episode, we address the toxic friendships and relationships that we've allowed into our lives in our past and explain how we've grown and learned from them, as well as the issues we've seen and started to resolve within ourselves. Unfortunately, most of us will experience toxicity in our lifetime, and in order to break away from those people or patterns, you'll need to acknowledge your relationship with yourself first. We talk about the importance of loving yourself so that you never allow unhealthy love into your life just for the sake of having it, and the reason we believe everyone should go to therapy, whether you have a mental health concern, or not.