The Big Silence

Today’s guest on The Big Silence, Emil Nava, is an award winning director and out-of-this-world creative storyteller who’s worked with big brands, like GAP, and big names, like Alicia Keys and Pharrell. His specialty is film, music videos – kaleidoscopic and bursting with energy and color, his work is packed with expression and emotion.

In this one, we unpack where some of that inspiration was seeded. Emil lived a tough early life in London, getting in trouble a lot (sound familiar?). In fact, we learn that his father was also diagnosed with schizophrenia. The similarities in our experiences are both surprising, and not, at the same time. In years past, issues like these were not as visible as they are now.

Emil tells of his upcoming project, titled Snorkeling, which will cover youth and drug use. We also discuss how staying sober, practicing transcendental meditation, and eating well help him perform better in his work and keep the momentum going on his exciting nomad lifestyle.

In May, Emil joined NumberStory.org as an Artist Ambassador for their #MyArtStory campaign to help spread the word that art can be a powerful healing tool. Most people don’t realize how childhood adversity and toxic stress can have long term impacts on our mental and physical health. It was important for Emil to help get the message out and share his story to help others heal and find a brighter future.

NumberStory is the first national campaign to raise awareness about the impacts of childhood adversity, and is now focused on making a difference on a local level, starting with a grass-roots effort in Sacramento. For more information on overcoming childhood adversity, visit NumberStory.org.

Resources:

• Watch: Emil’s #MyArtStory Journey
• Number Story Website: numberstory.org
• Number Story Instagram: @mynumberstory
• Watch: Calvin Harris - Stay With Me (Official Video) ft Justin Timberlake, Halsey & Pharrell
• Ammolite Studio: ammoliteinc.com
• Instagram: @emilnava
• Website: emilnava.com
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.

Today's guest is Monica Berg. She's an international speaker, spiritual thought leader, the author of Fear Is Not An Option and Rethink Love, and the host of the Spiritually Hungry podcast. She joins us for an extra special episode as my husband and The Big Silence Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein, sits with me for a mini therapy session that’s revealing, honest, and at times, a little uncomfortable. 

No one said the good work would be easy, after all. Still, it’s important to share these kinds of moments. No relationship is perfect and that’s okay. Monica walks us through some thought exercises with regard to our relationship and opens a few doors that have us thinking we’ll go back to her in the future. 

As mental illness also runs in her family, we share and compare our experiences with the very real social stigma of the generation. She gives listeners a few powerful questions to keep top of mind as a grounding practice throughout the day, dishes on self-parenting in a special needs household, unpacks the root of fear within us, and drops three tips for maximizing your potential:

• Appreciation for waking up (gratitude practice)
• Intentions (of what you want the day to be)
• Include an aspect of kindness and sharing within your day

We also talk about her new children's book coming out in October, The Gift of Being Different (pre-order below), and she has a great story about her own children that she shares in the podcast – no spoilers!

Resources:

• Read: Rethink Love
• Read: Fear Is Not An Option by Monica Berg 
• Instagram: @monicarberg74
• Podcast: Spiritually Hungry
• Website: rethinklife.today 
• Goop Archive: Monica Berg
• Pre-order Monica’s new children’s book: The Gift of Being Different (releases 10/18) 
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.

Isa Watson is the founder and creative powerhouse behind the Squad app, an upstart tech brand that promises to use the devices in our pockets for good – for deeper connection with others. She joins the show today to talk about her mental health experience as an entrepreneur in a male-dominated space, the app and its mission, and her traumatic wakeup call – a tragic accident in which she lost her father.

Isa, just like all of us working through trauma, still takes small steps each and every day to cope and learn from her experiences with loss and grief. Instead of allowing it to weigh her down, Isa celebrates her story, even explaining how she leans into it in business settings as a means to demonstrate her true and honest self.

It’s another important reminder that the work doesn’t end, but only grows in depth over time. Please enjoy this moving episode. And, thank you, Isa, for sharing such personal pieces of yourself for this audience to absorb and learn from.

Resources:

• Connect with Isa on LinkedIn: Isa Watson
• Follow Isa Watson on Twitter: @isadwatson
• Squad app: withyoursquad.com 
• Website: isawatson.com
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.

Lindsey Morgan was one of the lead actors on the TV show, The 100, and the reboot of Walker, Texas Ranger. In this episode, we discuss how success doesn’t always translate into happiness – and the dangers of expecting it to. So many people feel guilty when they hit their goals but still don’t feel happy or fulfilled. 

We’re here to tell you that what you may be experiencing is normal, that it is okay, and that there is nothing wrong with you. 

We unpack the ways Lindsey was pouring her trauma and pain into her acting instead of processing it, how she came to understand the stress that this was putting on her, and some of the resources she’s used to begin to heal. If you need help dealing with codependent people in your life, Lindsey recommends the organizations and resources below which can give you the support you need.

We discuss:

• [00:07:18] Opening, and why Lindsey pulled her first episode on the podcast
• [00:10:44] Lindsey’s career backstory
• [00:22:49] Arriving to LA, and early days of her acting career
• [00:30:05] Lindsey’s home life
• [00:40:51] Depression during her career, and how that played into her role
• [00:52:18] Body image, and weight expectations of actresses
• [01:01:20] Next acting gig on CW’s ‘The 100’
• [01:17:03] Lindsey’s mental health practices
• [01:34:13] Stored trauma, identifying it, and how it manifests
• [01:44:39] Takeaways from healing at the Hoffman Institute
• [01:53:44] Lindsey’s meditation practice
• [02:04:48] Next steps, and getting back to work

Resources:

• Follow Lindsey on Instagram: @linzzmorgan
• Follow Lindsey on IMDB: Lindsey Morgan
• Follow Lindsey on Twitter: @linzzmorgan 
• Watch: Lindsey Morgan on exiting Walker
• Watch: 21-Day Meditation Experience w/ Oprah & Deepak
• Explore: The Hoffman Institute
• Explore: The work of Dr. Joe Dispenza
• Learn: National Alliance on Mental Illness
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced and published by Crate Media.

My guest today is the beaming and beautiful, Emme, a supermodel and body image advocate that’s broken down barriers in the modeling industry with her unique look and dedication to positive change. She was Revlon’s first full-figured model and is known as a, if not THE, pioneer in women’s body empowerment.

We learn that she stumbled into the modeling world by accident before finding herself as a sought-after talent by top brands and magazines in the nineties. We talk about the harsh mental and emotional environment in the modeling space, how she’s coached her daughter to operate within, and outside, of existing norms as a model herself, and of course – healthy body image.

It’s an honor to share this time and space with such an icon in the women’s empowerment world. As a kid in the nineties – and I’m sure many listeners will agree – it was so important to see strong confident women like Emme in the most sparkling and celebrated places, and it still is.

Resources:

• Website: emmestyle.com
• Follow Emme on Instagram: @theofficialemme
• Follow Emme on Twitter: @SupermodelEmme
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced and published by Crate Media.

YouTube and social media fitness star, Caleb Marshall, AKA, The Fitness Marshall, joins The Big Silence today to talk about his life long experience with ADHD and how he manages it with regard to both his career and his personal relationships.

We connect over our shared Indiana roots and celebrate his recent engagement before going deep on his inspiring journey turning a college hobby into a wildly popular content stream that empowers people to move and have fun all over the world. His story begins, like mine, with going back to what made him truly happy – moving his body!

A huge advocate for therapy, we hear about the impact that finding a therapist with a similar life experience has had on him – and how he went about finding one in his area (it wasn’t easy).

Caleb teaches us that acceptance is the most powerful tool we have, that only once we can come to terms with a truth, in his case, a liberating adulthood diagnosis of ADHD, we can truly move forward and leverage it as an advantage.

Resources:

• Subscribe to Caleb’s YouTube channel: Caleb Marshall
• Sign up for Booty Army Membership to Join Livestream Workouts!
• Follow Caleb on Instagram: @thefitnessmarshall
• Follow Caleb on Twitter: @thefitmarshall
• Website: The Fitness Marshall
• Find a therapist in your area: psychologytoday.com
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced and published by Crate Media.

My guest for today’s episode is the energetic and optimistic Joe Wicks. He's a global fitness star with more than 4.5 million followers on Instagram and 100 million views on YouTube, but he has recently started sharing a very new element of his life publicly – his strained childhood living with parents suffering from mental illness and addiction.

Joe gets intimate with his early experiences, reckoning with his father’s repeated relapses and mother’s dual-fronted battle with OCD and eating disorders. We swap stories on this front, in a shared effort to normalize the pain, and more importantly, the growth and recovery we’ve both experienced since. 

We also talk about exercise’s link to mental health, the power of forgiveness, and how he is committed to staying in the moment as a father to his own kids. A fellow fitness innovator, we don’t miss the opportunity to touch on some of the latest trends in the space: ice baths, saunas, the Wim Hof method, meditation, and more.

Joe is another impressive individual who’s faced extreme challenges with their parents only to reach the height of their industry – giving a shining positive example to so many kids out there living though similar circumstances. I’m so happy for him that he’s opened up about this part of his life, and proud that he’s shared it with us here today. Enjoy!

Resources:

• Follow Joe Wicks on Instagram: @thebodycoach
• Follow Joe Wicks on Twitter: @thebodycoach
• Subscribe: The Body Coach TV YouTube Channel
• Subscribe: The Joe Wicks Podcast BBC
• Download: The Body Coach Fitness Plans App
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.

Fresh off a night in the org’s tour bus, Krista Williams and Lindsey Simcik join the show, live and in-studio, for a very special conversation about coming into your truth and getting comfortable there. I’ve known this dynamic duo since the very beginning and I’m excited to share this heart-filled conversation with you all.

We talk about codependency (with a shout out to Terri Cole), therapy, relationships, anxiety, and the similarities in their shared journey launching a business while building a community and how it, in many ways, mirrors that of mine and Kat with Tone It Up. More than the grind, we make sure to highlight how important it was and always will be to continue to nurture our friendships as well. 

Resources:

• Almost 30: Podcast & Global Community for Women
• Follow Almost 30 on Instagram: @almost30podcast
• Follow Lindsey Simcik on Instagram: @lindseysimcik
• Follow Krista Williams on Instagram: @itskrista
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.

Rafael De La Fuente, known for his role as Sammy Jo on Dynasty, joins the show for this very special Pride Month episode where he takes us through his experience, as a gay Latino immigrant, rising as a young actor, dealing with the stress and pressures of the business, and growing into an advocate for kids he hopes to inspire.

His journey begins at about five-years old, in 1990, when he notices that he’s different. With the AIDS epidemic providing a stark background to his early years, he gets honest about the shame and confusion he grappled with through school and while breaking into television. 

Today, he has a wildly successful career in show business and millions of fans around the world. Rafael’s struggles, and especially his triumphs, are important to highlight, this month and every month, as our society continues to grapple with the idea of personhood and privacy. We are so glad he was able to join the show and we’re excited to present his story to our community.

Resources:

• Follow Rafael De La Fuente on Instagram: @rafaeldlf
• Follow Rafael De La Fuente on Twitter: @rafaeldlf
• Every.org: Your trusted network for doing good
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.

Alyson Stoner has been in the limelight since she was seven years old, where you’ll remember them as the scene-stealing pigtailed dancer from the famous Missy Elliott: Work It (2002) music video. Just prior, she was plucked from their life in Toledo and placed into an environment that would challenge them in ways that, as we learn, were unfair to a child their age.

In this episode, she’s gracious enough to share their mental health journey as she appeared in hundreds of movies, battled an eating disorder, and came out the other side as an empowered and inspiring role model to young girls everywhere.

She was named President of their own personal brand, employing forty people, before turning ten. Now, she’s the co-founder of Movement Genius, a mindful movement subscription program that helps people relieve stress and unlock a lighter, more enjoyable existence through movement techniques designed to bring the body and mind into alignment. 

This one is packed with bravery, doing the hard work, strength, and centeredness – Alyson sounds, and their presence feels, like she’s learned so much from this world, and still has so much left to give. You’re going to love them even more after listening.

Resources:

• Movement Genius
• Read: Mind Body Pride
• Check out Alyson’s Website: alysonstoner.com
• Follow Alyson Stoner on TikTok: @alysonstoner
• Follow Alyson Stoner on Instagram: @alysonstoner
• Follow Alyson Stoner on Twitter: @alysonstoner
• Subscribe to Alyson Stoner’s YouTube Channel
• Read: The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing 
• Follow Karena Dawn on Instagram: @karenadawn
• Follow The Big Silence on Instagram: @The.Big.Silence
• Subscribe: The Big Silence YouTube Channel

Donate to The Big Silence thebigsilence.com/donate to be a part of the movement to break the silence and make noise with us!



“The Big Silence” theme song written and performed by James Nicholas Kinney.

Executive Handyman, Bobby Goldstein.

The Big Silence is produced by Crate Media.