The Clarity Shift

In this episode, Raquel sits down with organizational culture and teamwork specialist Faith Clarke to explore how her immigrant story, parenting neurodistinct kids, and love of people shaped her work in building inclusive, values-driven workplaces. Faith shares how asking better questions changes outcomes, how parenting became a spiritual portal that transformed her, and why she sees neurodiversity as a natural state rather than a deficit.

They discuss immigrant and first-gen dynamics, the mother archetype, deconstructing identity (woman, mother, leader, entrepreneur), and how integration—not juggling—is the real goal. Faith explains how she started her first business to reclaim autonomy, competence, and meaningful relationships while caring for her autistic son.

Together, they unpack invisible labor, why people of color are overburdened by rigged systems, and how real change starts in tiny pockets—small teams and honest relationships—rather than just policies. Faith offers guidance for women of color navigating hostile or extractive work cultures, emphasizing self-care, body honesty, and building multigenerational, supportive relationships. The conversation closes with reflections on story, media, and recommendations like The Wild Robot and Outlander, along with how listeners can connect with Faith and her work.

This is not a productivity podcast.

This is not a space where you’ll be told what to do, how to do it, or who to be.

This is a presence podcast.

A space for exhaling.

A space for those of us navigating multiple realities—spiritually, emotionally, financially, culturally, professionally, ecologically, mentally, physically—while still trying to create a work life, business, and purpose that feel true to our peace, prosperity, and becoming.

It’s a voice memo, a behind-the-scenes letter, a living reflection on what it actually looks like to pivot, build, survive, thrive, and everything in between.

The Season I’m In

I’m now halfway through my Fannie Mae contract. And honestly? I’ve been practicing what I preach to my clients: noticing the season I’m in and giving myself permission to adjust.

Right now, that looks like intentionally giving less to the 9-to-5 side of things—so that I can preserve more energy, more gas in the tank, for the creative work that lights me up.

And funny enough, that extra space has allowed something beautiful to bloom: the podcast. I didn’t push. I didn’t over-engineer. I simply let it grow at its own pace. And now here we are: my first official podcast sponsorship case study! 🤗🤗

Why Sponsorship Matters

Sponsorship isn’t just about money. It’s about visibility. It’s about someone else saying, “Your work deserves a spotlight.”

So many of us—especially if you’re side-hustling, just starting a business, or quietly wondering if your creative thing could ever really take off—feel like opportunities are always out of reach.

We don’t have big marketing budgets.

We don’t have PR teams.

Sometimes we don’t even know where to begin.

That’s why I started offering sponsorships on this podcast.

It’s a gentle, accessible way to experiment with visibility—to have someone amplify your work without you needing to shout from every social rooftop.

Spotlight on Tad Hargrave 🌱

For this very first sponsorship, I couldn’t be more honored to highlight Tad Hargrave, founder of Marketing for Hippies.

Tad is a hippy who developed a knack for marketing (and then learned how to be a hippy again). Since 2001, he’s been weaving together strands of ethical marketing, Waldorf School education, a history in the performing arts, local culture work, anti-globalization activism, an interest in his ancestral, traditional cultures, community building and supporting local economies into this work of helping people create profitable businesses that are ethically grown while restoring the beauty of the marketplace.

Tad has been teaching ethical, anti-hustle, story-driven marketing for over 20 years—long before “online business” was even a buzzword. His work has deeply influenced how I approach business: with less pressure, more integrity, and a whole lot more humanity.

Right now, Tad is:

* Touring cities across Canada (if you’re nearby, definitely check his schedule).

* Hosting his Seven Fundamentals of Ethical Marketing masterclass—a practical, grounded framework for building a business that feels good, not gross.

If you’ve ever struggled with marketing (and honestly, who hasn’t?), his work is a balm. You can find links to his tour dates and masterclass.

Closing Thought

I’ll leave you with this:

It’s okay if the harvest isn’t here yet.

It’s okay if the seeds you’ve planted aren’t showing sprouts.

Sometimes we’re in a season of investing—mentally, financially, spiritually, emotionally—in ways we can’t immediately measure. That doesn’t mean nothing’s happening. It means the soil is doing its quiet work underground.

Trust the season you’re in. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Give yourself grace.

And when opportunities to try something new show up—whether it’s a workshop, a sponsorship, a chance to tell your story—be open.

You never know what might bloom when you least expect it.

Links + Mentions

* Tad Hargrave’s Marketing for Hippies

* Seven Fundamentals of Ethical Marketing Masterclass

Thanks for reading Inside the Shift with Miriam Raquel Sands! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Whether you're a first-gen creative, a sensitive solopreneur, or someone navigating uncertainty in life or business, this conversation is an anchor for your nervous system and a compass for your next step.

l sat down with Tad Hargrave—longtime teacher, community-builder, and founder of Marketing for Hippies—for a deep and timely conversation about ethical marketing, finding your niche, and what it means to build a business with integrity in an unstable world.

🌀 Connect with Tad: marketingforhippies.com

✨ Raquel’s Offerings: Take the "What’s Your Clarity Style?" quiz: https://raquelsands.substack.com/
Subscribe to Inside the Shift on Substack: https://raquelsands.substack.com/

🌍 Share This Episode! If this episode helped you breathe deeper, think clearer, or feel less alone—send it to a friend.

Until next time—stay grounded, stay curious, and keep shifting. 💫

In this episode, Raquel sits down with ICF-certified coach Valerie Friedlander, who helps high-achieving women navigate professional transitions and build meaningful, values-aligned success. Valerie shares how her journey—from growing up Quaker and in a home impacted by alcoholism, to climbing the corporate ladder, becoming a mom, and eventually pivoting into coaching—taught her about agency, discernment, and what it really means to design life on your own terms.

She explains how movement, time in nature, and spiritual practice (rooted in Quaker traditions of silence, waiting on the inner light, and communal discernment) keep her grounded while running a business in a capitalist culture that constantly pushes urgency and scarcity. Valerie also talks about the discomfort and necessity of speaking truth to power: challenging harmful systems in places like public schools, naming problems without being “the problem,” and using privilege to advocate for those with less time, capacity, or safety.

Together, Raquel and Valerie explore non-linear career paths, the tension between visibility and safety (including showing up authentically on platforms like LinkedIn), and how stories, including The Lord of the Rings, shape how we understand agency, community, and courage. Listeners will walk away with grounded reflections and practical invitations around embodiment, community, and creating a more honest relationship with career and self.

What does it mean to truly know yourself and stay true to that self inside systems not built for your wholeness?

In this soul-deep episode, I sit down with my former coworker, mentor, and friend Vanessa Correa, currently VP of Marketing Strategy at JP Morgan Chase. Vanessa shares her unfiltered journey of becoming her anchor in life and work—growing up in NYC, surviving childhood abuse, and forging peace not as a feeling, but as a way of being.

We talk about:

• The difference between adaptability and code-switching

• How to stay rooted in your identity in corporate spaces

• The myth of "once you find clarity, you're set for life"

• Burnout in DEI, post-2020 backlash, and recommitting to purpose

• What the real pandemic is (hint: it’s not what you think)

• Why expansion is inevitable—even if the world is resisting it

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone trying to stay grounded in a world spinning fast. Whether you're in a 9–5, building your exit plan, or navigating an identity shift Vanessa’s lived wisdom will meet you where you are.

🎧 Listen in, and let this episode remind you that peace is power, clarity is movement, and you are more than one thing. Always.

------Vanessa has 20 years of career experience in marketing and communications. She is currently a Vice President of Marketing Strategy at JPMorganChase, and has been in the finance sector for seven years. Vanessa’s key to success is being herself in every setting and not allowing anyone to put her in a box.Find her on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillynessa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phillynessa

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/correavanessav/

Want to stay connected and see my latest behind the scenes podcast and newsletter? Check out my substack for all the latest: https://raquelsands.substack.com/

Want to stay in touch in the meantime? Find my behind-the-scenes podcast and newsletter on Substack: https://raquelsands.substack.com/

TL;DR:

This is a raw one.

I'm talking about performative empathy in corporate culture, the mental and emotional toll of being a contractor in white-dominant spaces, and how AI is not the enemy—extractive systems are.

Where do I even start?

Every time I step into this contract role, it feels like I'm starting over. Again. And again.

Today, I led the Internal Communications huddle, a meeting of mostly the same people from Monday's call, plus a few higher-ups.

My role? To host, guide, and pass the mic.

Their role? Perform empathy.

When the VP talked about an upcoming team lunch—one of those performative "team-building" events—I asked the obvious but unspoken question:

*As a contractor, do I get to participate? Do I pay? Do you pay?*

Her answer?

No. I wouldn't be paid for my time. I'd fund it myself.

She followed it with a back-patting comment about how glad she was that I "felt safe enough to ask."

As if my question was a gift to her ego. As if my vulnerability was proof of her leadership.

Let me be clear: I didn’t ask because I felt safe. I asked because I *am* unsafe—and I know what happens when we keep quiet.

I asked because silence is complicity, and I refuse to co-sign a system that extracts and excludes while branding itself as inclusive.

This is the toxicity of performative corporate empathy. It's not always overt.

It's a smirk disguised as support. It’s diversity statements with no substance. It’s systems that applaud bravery but penalize boldness.

And what burns deeper?

The knowledge that if I had been silent, they would have gone on believing they were doing great. They would have added another point to their DEI bingo card.

This isn’t new.

I’ve been the only. The first. The different. In rooms of white faces. In teams where the color of my badge said more about my value than my work ever could. Where the work I do is essential—often *the* most visible—but I am invisible.

What does it mean to survive these spaces?

What does it mean to show up fully when the structures do not support you?

It means I speak. I name. I reclaim. It means I remember that these systems—whether they wear suits or mission statements—were never built for me.

But I’m building something for *us.*

And here's where I want to talk about AI. Because too many people are blaming AI for job losses, for creative theft, for the end of humanity.

But AI isn’t the villain. *Extraction is.*

If we lived in a society that truly centered people—not productivity—we’d use AI as a tool to lighten our load, not replace our soul. The fear isn’t really about the machines. It’s about the mirror. The mirror that shows us just how far we’ve strayed from being human.

We fear AI because we’ve made work our worth.

Because we’ve confused tools with truth. Because we’ve allowed systems to shape us into outputs instead of whole people.

But the tool isn’t the enemy. The enemy is the culture that treats people like things and things like people.

It’s the culture that creates contractors to avoid responsibility, that creates platforms but not policies, that praises resilience while withholding resources.

So what do we do?

We reclaim. We rebuild. We **create career clarity** not as a luxury—but as a birthright.

We stop waiting for systems to value us and start designing lives that do.

Whether you're in a job you hate, building a business, or somewhere in between—you deserve clarity. You deserve sovereignty. You deserve to be seen.

⏳ Don’t wait for the system to change. Change your story. Maybe you’re waiting for the right time. The truth?

There may never be one.

What there is—right now—is an opportunity. To stop circling the same questions. To start answering them with action.

To choose calm over chaos. Consciousness over confusion. Continuity over collapse.

So let this be your invitation.

If you've been quietly unraveling, let's put the pieces back together—not in the image of capitalism, but in the image of your own becoming.

Your story doesn’t end here.

Let’s write the next chapter together.

Thanks for reading The Broken Ladder! This post is public so feel free to share it.

After 10 years of “unofficial” coaching, I finally formalized my holistic career + lifestyle business. Here’s how it started, evolved, and what I offer now.