Talking Smack 415

July is here—and it’s a powerful one. In this episode of Talking Smack 415, Debbie Mink and Jamie the Great sit down with psychotherapist and energy healer Maia Taub to dive into July’s energetic themes using the Akashic Records and intuitive tarot guidance.

Maia shares why this month feels like peeling back and orange and deep ocean currents—dark, emotional, and transformative—and how to move through it with presence and power.

🌀 In this episode, we explore:

• July’s emotional energy forecast
  
  
  
• Tarot wisdom from the 7 of Wands and The Priestess
  
  
  
• The power of meditation and intuitive clarity
  
  
  
• How to embrace inner truth and spiritual alignment
  
  
  
• Fox spirit energy: observation, adaptability, and subtle transformation
  
  
  

🎧 Theme song of the month? Whitney’s “How Will I Know”—because the answers are within.

✨ Maia also introduces her 6-week Soul Alignment Series combining depth psychotherapy and energy healing to support your transformation this month.

🔗 Learn more: https://www.maiataub.com/workshops

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In this episode of Talking Smack 415,  Jamie the Great and I chat with Ellyn Mantell—mother, grandmother, devoted wife for over 50 years, ostomate, advocate, and motivational speaker. Ellyn shares the inspiring story behind her memoir, “The Best We Could,” which is about her journey healing from intergenerational trauma after surviving childhood abuse, raising her sisters, finding love and more. Tune in for a powerful conversation about resilience, self worth, and the legacy of hope Ellyn is building for future generations. Invite Ellyn to your book club and connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Connect with Ellyn: 

Instagram: @EllynMantellWrites 

Facebook: EllynMatnellwrites 

Email: [email protected]

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In June’s Energetic Forecast: Maia’s Take, Maia shares that June is short and sweet and all about love!

June is for lovers and love is in the air. Whether it’s loving yourself or loving someone else, June is all about love.  

It’s a vibe, whimsical, nostalgic and slow with fireflies and hammocks.  

Immerse yourself fully in the energy of June.  

Maia pulls tarot cards: 

• 8 of disks - which is prudence - message is everything that is coming to fruition is really good but still need to take good care of it.  Be delicate with yourself! 
• Everything unfolds at the proper time. 
• Ace of cups - overflowing love .  

Animal is a dragonfly which is all about illusion.  Don’t believe the illusions that you tell yourself that hold you back.  

Enjoy June! 

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

On today’s episode of Talking Smack 415, Jamie the Great and I sit down with badass extraordinaire, Sunny Schwartz,  — a nationally recognized leader in criminal justice reform, restorative justice, and prison rehabilitation programs.

Sunny is the author of Dreams from the Monster Factory, which tells her raw and riveting journey from the South Side of Chicago to becoming a pioneering force in alternatives to incarceration, prison education, and restorative justice initiatives in San Francisco. Despite not having a college degree, Sunny became a lawyer, defied expectations, and shook up the justice system from the inside.

We dive deep into her founding of the Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP) — a program that slashed violent re-arrest rates by up to 80%, as well as Five Keys Charter School, the first U.S. high school for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adults. Sunny also helped launch Home Free, a vital reentry housing initiative for domestic violence survivors and women impacted by trauma.

Her work has been honored by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and featured on Oprah, PBS, and Larry King Live.

And now she’s binging pickleball, the fastest growing sport in America to the prisons.  

If you're curious about:

• Restorative justice and trauma-informed reform
• Innovative prison education programs
• Reducing recidivism through community-based solutions
• The power of second chances and not giving up
• Stories from the frontlines of jail reform in San Francisco
• Why Sunny roots for the Cubs and the Giants…
• And what she wish people would ask her and never do

...then you don’t want to miss this episode.

Subscribe, share, rate,  and review  if you believe in justice, transformation, rooting for the underdog, and laughter and friendship to feed your soul! 

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In May’s energetic forecast, Maia’s Take, Maia shares that May feels deep.  It’s about adulting ( we don’t really like this because who wants to adult?- it’s hard!) 

But as Maia explains it’s more about adulting in a calm no drama, slightly boring way.  And, you feel accomplished.  There is also the message that runs through all of May which is fear isn’t real and everything is fine.  

Something becomes clear.  Something that has been troubling you or taking your energy. 

We also learn that something good is wanting to emerge and come into life but you are afraid of it. 

Maia pulls a Tarot card - Futility aka the Seven of swords. She shares the message that your fears have nothing to do with reality. Wake up and see what’s really happening.  

Then she pulls another card, the Princess of Wands. This card says your old fears have lost their power over you.  They’re dead remains can not frighten you anymore.  Reflect on your greatest strengths.  

Number 5 - completion, you’re done with one piece.  Now it’s time stop and celebrate that win.  

And shout out to Jamie the Great whose birthday is May 18! 

And the rejection comes up.  You are going to realize why the rejection is redirection or protection.  

Plus a bonus - Maia asked for a sign and got a Blue Heron which is our symbol for the month. 

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In this episode of Talking Smack 415, Jamie the Great and I chat with permanent makeup artist extraordinaire Andrea Cerini-Fawthrop. Andrea is a licensed esthetician, makeup artist, and certified permanent makeup artist through the American Academy of Micropigmentation, specializing in brow shaping and makeup artistry.

We discuss:

• How growing up in the salon from age 14 inspired Andrea to combine brow shaping, makeup, and her art background to create perfect permanent enhancements tailored to each face.
• The convenience permanent makeup offers for active lifestyles.
• The evolution of permanent makeup \and how Andrea uses cutting-edge techniques to create hyper-realistic brows to achieve natural-looking results.
• The profound role permanent makeup plays in helping patients with cancer, thyroid conditions, and female pattern baldness regain confidence and feel like themselves.

Andrea’s advice: “Don’t be afraid of this. It’s life-changing. Just research your artist.”

See Andrea’s phenomenal work on Instagram @browhaus_studio_nj or visit her website at Browhaus Studio. 

Special shoutout to Kathryn, Andrea’s mentor, who kept my and Jamie the Great's brows on point from middle school until I moved to San Francisco. Kathryn continues to help women in Cherry Hill look fabulous.

Get active, jump in the ocean, do yoga—and listen to this episode on the way. Imagine how amazing you’ll look after microblading or lip blushing!

Don’t forget to share with friends and family and leave us a review—it helps others find us.

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In this episode of Talking Smack 415, Jamie the Great and I chat with Kayla, an amazing single mom who’s turned her heartbreak into a powerful story of healing and growth. After catching her long time partner and father of her child cheating, Kayla embarked on a journey to heal from relationship trauma and rediscover herself.

We dive into:

• The red flags she ignored and what she learned from them
• How she transformed her childhood trauma into a source of strength
• Reparenting her inner child—a game-changer for her healing
• Rediscovering herself beyond motherhood 
• Embracing her superpowers—resilience, empathy & caring 
• Dating again —how she’s navigating healthy relationships
• And how Stoicism’s theory—“the obstacle is the way”—helped shape her mindset

If you know someone who’s: a new mom, newly single, or just looking for inspiration to rediscover themselves, share this episode! Kayla’s story is a reminder that healing is fun, is a process, and starts from within.

Here are some resources Kayla recommends to help you heal:

• Stoicism the Daily Dad - Not just for dads
• The Daily Stoic Podcast 
• Jillian on Love Podcast 
• Sabrina Zohar Show
• Matthew Hussey 

And,  if you want to be a part of Kayla's growing mom community please reach out to me or  Jamie and we’ll put you in touch with her.  

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In April's Energetic Forecast: Maia's Take, we're bringing you something new.  Our first two time guest, Maia Taub, is back. She's a  psychotherapist, intuitive and Soul Alignment practitioner. Maia is tapping into the energy of April to see what it has in store for you. We’re keeping it short and interrupting less.  You can hear all about April in under 16 minutes so press play now. 

Drop a comment or DM us after to share what resonates  with you. 

And, if you want t a sneak peek April is all about: 

• Expansive airy spaciousness
  • Lots of buzz and bee’s and social gatherings 
  • Sucking the nectar out of life 
  • A warning to only say “Yes”  to the social events that resonate with you 
• Tarot Card is pulled  it’s the Fools: which symbolises new beginning, fresh starts, and taking a leap 
• The number 4: 4th month of the year, a solid 4, symbolizing  stability and building a strong foundation 
• Marigolds: stay open to the messages your passed loved ones are trying to send you
• Chakras speaking for April:  sacral and solar plexus are all about integrating creativity, sexuality, sensuality and use them as a form of expression in the world. 

If you want to learn more about Maia you can check out her interview here Soul Alignment with Maia Taub 

And check out her website MaiaTaub.com

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In this episode of Talking Smack 415 it’s Debbie Mink and Jamie the Great, and that's it! You know we can talk and talk and talk.  We update you on life's curveballs, comebacks and other topics: 

• Jamie’s cancer update
• Pussy Quilt art opening 
• Debbie’s job search 
• Jamie’s blind dog 

And you know we cover tons of other things too. 

Shout out to Arnies for their Mac &Cheese - Jamie loves to eat this while her mouth is healing.  

And as you know the best medicine is laughter.  So if you're in need of medicine press play and share with all your friends who need some #laughterandfriendshiptofeedyoursoul.  

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!  

In our latest episode of Talking Smack 415 Jamie the Great and I chat with Lisa Jacobs.  

Lisa is a Professional Certified Coach trained in Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead™ method and certified in mindfulness and emotional intelligence.  She is a speaker, facilitator and leadership coach.

As an ignitor, she guides daring leaders to move forward with greater awareness, boldness, and alignment so they achieve their goals.

Her work stands on the belief that growth is not just a goal; it’s a practice. Unlike traditional coaching that focuses solely on mindset or strategy, she integrates movement, reflection, and purposeful action to align both body and mind. 

Lisa’s direct, heart-centered approach leads clients through life’s challenges with fierce clarity, leading to authentic growth and lasting change.  Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.

We discuss Lisa’s journey to becoming a coach, her mindfulness practices, showing up for yourself, and her process for choosing and teaching people how to choose their word for the year.  And so much more! 

So if you or any of your friends or family is looking to pick your word for the year this episode is for you.  

You can find all things Lisa on her website https://www.lisajacobscoaching.com/

Check back soon because her site is about to relaunch! 

And, shout out to Pam Rosenberg who recommend we interview Lisa! We love interviewing guests that you recommend so hit us up insta @ringletleader or [email protected] .  

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh.  Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!