The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages

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What if your neighborhood made it easier to feel connected, supported, and at home?

Co-housing brings private homes together with shared spaces and a commitment to community. In this episode of The Belonging Podcast, Melissa Kaye welcomes Simone Woodland, co-founder of Circle Living in New Zealand, to explore how that way of living creates deeper connections across generations.

Simone shares her experience of helping build (and living in) a 34-home co-housing neighborhood. From Sunday meals to small acts of kindness she calls “neighborisms,” she offers a personal look at how everyday encounters grow into meaningful relationships.

Together, we explore:

• Building community before building the homes
• Shared meals, gardens, and resources that enrich daily life
• Sociocracy and making room for every voice
• Nonviolent communication and courageous conversations through conflict
• Raising children among caring neighbors and elders
• Having privacy and independence while belonging to a community

With honesty about the challenges and warmth for the possibilities, Simone invites us to imagine a neighborhood where people know one another’s names, stories, and gifts.

Would you consider living in a co-housing community? What would excite you and what would you want to know first?

Explore Circle Living: https://www.circleliving.nz/
Learn about Elev8 Villages: https://www.elev8villages.org/

With gratitude to our patron, Deana Laughlin, for helping make these conversations possible.

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What if belonging could begin with a shared laugh, a little movement, and the courage to be wonderfully imperfect?

Jacques Martiquet, The Party Scientist, joins Melissa Kaye for a conversation full of laughter, discovery, and those “Oh! That makes so much sense!” moments. Together, they explore how joy and human connection can change the way we feel and what becomes possible when we feel safe enough to be ourselves.

From his experiences as a festival medic to creating sober celebrations around the world, Jacques invites us to reimagine how we gather. Melissa brings her own stories of ballroom dancing and everyday belonging, sparking discoveries neither of them saw coming.

Along the way, they explore:

• The brain and body’s role in connection, including Jacques’s explanation of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.
• How laughing, singing, and moving together can help us feel closer.
• Why a host’s willingness to be goofy and imperfect can give everyone else permission to join in.
• “Social wealth” -- the reassurance of having people who will stick around when you make a mistake.
• How rushing through life can cause us to miss small opportunities for connection.
• What a thoughtful welcome, one caring relationship, and shared contribution can mean for a lasting community.

There’s room here for joyful celebration, deep conversation, and the simple kindness of noticing someone in a grocery-store aisle.

Come laugh with us, discover something new, and imagine the belonging you could help create.

Connect with Jacques: 

https://thepartyscientist.com/

https://joymaker.camp/

With gratitude to our patron, Deana Laughlin, for making these conversations possible.

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What does it mean to feel at home within yourself?

For Mark Blacknell, the journey began long before he learned to sit quietly facing a wall. From working-class Philadelphia to the Marines, college, music, and adventures abroad, he kept moving while carrying anxiety, PTSD, and pain that outward success couldn’t resolve.

In this honest, often funny conversation, Mark shares the moment that changed his direction: learning he would become a father and deciding it was time to ask for help. He reflects on professional treatment, medication, and the meditation practice that became part of finding steadiness.

Melissa shares her own attempt at five quiet minutes a day, opening a conversation about distraction, self-judgment, and learning to observe ourselves with curiosity. Together, they explore how feeling more connected within ourselves can help us participate in our communities even when we don’t agree with everyone around us.

A conversation about the courage to seek support, the relief of being ordinary, and discovering that you belong.

Explore Mark’s work and his book, Just Stare at the Wall!:
https://www.stareatthewall.org/

Learn about Elev8 Villages:
https://www.elev8villages.org/

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when the version of you that once felt safe no longer fits—and you don’t yet know who you are becoming?

In this honest, joyful, and deeply human conversation, Melissa Kaye sits down with Diane Cunningham Ellis—coach, author, former therapist, community builder, and a woman celebrating 13 years of sobriety—to explore the courage it takes to belong to ourselves while we are still evolving.

Diane shares the moving story of saying goodbye to the recovery room that helped change her life—and how carrying its chairs across the parking lot became a beautiful reminder that belonging lives in the people who walk with us. Together, Melissa and Diane explore the uncertainty of life’s in-between seasons, the “good girl” expectations that keep women performing for acceptance, and why vulnerability requires both courage and discernment.

They also consider a powerful question: What if the life we truly desire is less about achieving someone else’s definition of success—and more about liberation?

Along the way, Diane reveals how thoughtful leaders create spaces where people feel safe enough to be known, why trusted introductions can create a “transfer of trust,” and what surviving a plane crash taught her about courage, life, and the surprising importance of getting that Dairy Queen hamburger.

This episode is an invitation to release what no longer fits, trust the person you are becoming, and ask yourself:

What would it mean for me to be brave today?

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when we stop saying, “Someone should do something,” and decide to become that someone?

Bryan Lee, known around the world as Bullseye the Clown, is a humanitarian, author, anti-bullying advocate, and founder of Clowns On A Mission. But before there was Bullseye, there was a boy who learned to make himself invisible.

Bryan shares how childhood bullying, an abusive home environment, and the loss of his father shaped his life and how an unexpected humanitarian clowning trip to Russia with Patch Adams changed everything. Wearing a red nose made it impossible for Bryan to disappear. It also taught him how deeply a person can be affected by one moment of attention, joy, or human connection.

That experience eventually led Bryan to establish Clowns On A Mission, combining the healing power of play with meaningful humanitarian support. From distributing school supplies and food in Guatemala to creating moments of joy for people who are too often overlooked, Bryan’s work demonstrates what can happen when compassion becomes action.

We also explore the message behind his new book, Be the Someone: meaningful change does not require a perfect plan, unlimited resources, or permission to begin. It starts when we notice a need, recognize our own capacity to respond, and take the next imperfect step.

This conversation is about bullying, grief, visibility, purpose, humanitarian service, and the courage to call forward the gifts waiting inside another person.

Because sometimes the only thing missing is a willing audience and someone who chooses to say, “I see you. Come forward.”

Learn more about Bryan and his work:

Clowns On A Mission: https://www.clownsonamission.com
Be the Someone: https://www.BeTheSomeoneBook.com
Bullseye the Clown: https://www.Bullseyetheclown.com

Follow The Belonging Podcast and join us as we explore what it means to be seen, valued, and connected — and how each of us can help build a world where more people belong.

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What becomes possible when two families choose curiosity, courage, and connection in a time of deep racial division?

In 1959, Roselyn Davids, a white farmer’s wife in Spring Valley, Minnesota, heard David Sims, a Black father and civil rights advocate from South Bend, Indiana, speak on a national radio program. When David shared that he had never been welcomed into a white family’s home, Roselyn responded with an invitation. That single letter began a friendship between the Davids and Sims families that would span miles, generations, and some of the most turbulent years of the Civil Rights era.

In this episode, Melissa speaks with Eric Christianson, co-author of South Bend to Spring Valley: The Davids–Sims Story. Eric shares how this remarkable friendship shaped his late wife, Joyce; why she later became the only white student to graduate from Huston-Tillotson College; and how the two families reunited on the original Davids farm nearly 50 years after their last gathering.

Eric also reflects on David Sims’s devotion to his family and community, the extraordinary welcome Eric experienced after marrying into the Davids family, and the promise he made to Joyce before her death. Writing the book became more than a way to preserve her family’s history—it gave Eric renewed purpose, helped him move through grief, and restored his hope.

This is a conversation about interracial friendship, faith, family, civil rights, grief, legacy, and the enduring power of opening our lives to one another. It reminds us that belonging begins when we become curious about the people we have been taught to keep at a distance—and discover what becomes possible when love leads the way.

Read South Bend to Spring Valley: The Davids–Sims Story https://a.co/d/0dtgj2gK 

Learn more about the work of Elev8 Villages:

Website: https://www.elev8villages.org/ 

Help us expand our work: https://givebutter.com/Z0LM5V

Download your FREE Belonging Kit: https://www.elev8villages.org/FREEkit 

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What happens to our humanity when the world keeps moving faster and technology begins to imitate companionship? Returning guest Jim Morris joins Melissa Kaye for a deeply personal conversation inspired by his new book, Connect or Die: How to Survive AI.

Jim opens up about writing through the painful memories of his parents’ OxyContin addiction—and the healing he discovered when he revisited those experiences with the strength, relationships, and self-understanding he has today. Together, Jim and Melissa explore the myth of self-sufficiency, the transformative messiness of relationships, the power of intergenerational community, and why our greatest achievements become more meaningful when we have people beside us to share them.

Jim also walks alongside Melissa in imagining an Elev8 Village designed for genuine connection and belonging. His vision centers on making time for deep, compassionate conversations and helping young people develop the relational tools to support one another. He shares one beautifully simple practice we can all begin using: ask whether someone wants to be heard, hugged, or helped.

This episode is an invitation to put energy into the relationships that shape us, carry us through difficult seasons, celebrate our victories, and remind us that we never have to navigate life alone.

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What if belonging begins with something as simple as returning to the same coffee shop until someone recognizes you?

Wesley Warshawer spent five years as a digital nomad, living throughout the United States, Latin America, and Africa. Along the way, he discovered that unfamiliar places become personal through repeated presence, genuine curiosity, and the courage to begin conversations with people whose lives may look very different from our own.

In this episode, Wesley joins Melissa Kaye to explore the invisible “bubbles” we each inhabit and what becomes possible when we step outside them. He shares humorous and humbling moments from South Korea, Togo, Kenya, and small-town America that challenged his assumptions and helped him see both his country and himself with fresh eyes.

Wesley also offers a hopeful perspective on America’s presumed divisions. When we move beyond political labels and ask people to “paint a picture” of the future they desire, he believes we discover far more shared values than the loudest public narratives suggest.

Together, Melissa and Wesley explore becoming recognizable, creating connection in unfamiliar places, approaching difference without judgment, and choosing to belong wherever we find ourselves.

His closing invitation is timely and powerful: reject the culture of ridicule. When we stop using other people’s mistakes and differences to feel superior, we make room for humility, conversation, and belonging.

Read Wesley’s travel reflections at https://wesleywarshawer.substack.com/ and learn more about Elev8 Villages at https://www.elev8villages.org/.

The Belonging Podcast is generously underwritten by Deana Laughlin.

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

What if being an outsider isn’t evidence that you don’t belong, but part of the path toward discovering who you are?

Jermaine Ee attended 14 schools while growing up between cultures, continually learning how to enter unfamiliar places as “the new kid.” Music became one of his first safe places, while the unwavering love of his mother taught him that his worth was never dependent on achievement.

In this deeply reflective conversation, Jermaine shares how his immigrant family shaped his understanding of sacrifice, success, identity, and home. He takes us from an American high school music room to USC, from helping immigrant families access financial aid to humanitarian work in Ukraine and ultimately to the creation of HeirLight, inspired by intimate conversations with his mother about mortality, money, and what we leave behind for the people we love.

Along the way, Jermaine discovered the power of his own voice and began redefining the identity he once tried to escape:

“Being an outsider is where I belong.”

Together, Melissa and Jermaine explore what it means to live between cultures, how a parent’s love can anchor us through uncertainty, why clarity can be an expression of care, and whether home is something we find in a place or cultivate within ourselves.

This is a conversation about legacy in its most human form: not simply what we leave behind, but how deeply we help others know that they are loved.

The Belonging Podcast is presented by Elev8 Villages, a nonprofit creating holistic, resource-rich villages where young adults who have experienced foster care can find stability, opportunity, and—most importantly—belonging.

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together. 

Send us Fan Mail

Twenty-five conversations. One extraordinary journey.

When I began The Belonging Podcast, I thought I was collecting interviews.

Instead, I found myself collecting pieces of a puzzle.

Over the past six months, I sat down with psychologists, pastors, educators, entrepreneurs, foster care advocates, coaches, and changemakers from many different walks of life. Each arrived with their own story, their own language, and their own understanding of belonging.

What surprised me most wasn't their differences.

It was how often they finished one another's thoughts.

Although none of these guests have ever met, their voices weave together into one continuous conversation about one of the deepest human longings we all share:

To know that we matter.

The Journey Into Belonging is not a "best of" episode. It is a documentary created entirely from the wisdom of the remarkable people who have joined us throughout this first season.

As you listen, you may discover that this isn't simply their journey.

It may become your own.

Thank you for walking this road with us.

And thank you for helping create a world where more people know what it feels like to belong.

With gratitude,

Melissa Kaye

Founder, Elev8 Villages

To support this work go to: https://givebutter.com/Z0LM5V

To learn more about Elev8 Villages go to: https://www.elev8villages.org/

This podcast exists because we believe belonging is not a luxury. It’s a human need. Every story shared here helps us imagine a world where no one has to walk alone. 

If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, or share the show with someone who might need it today. To learn more about the movement we’re building (or to get involved) visit Elev8Villages.org.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Belonging Podcast by Elev8 Villages - where belonging becomes a place we build together.