THE IDEALISTS.

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews the second man on the show, John E.B. Myers, an authority on child abuse and domestic violence. He has written fifteen books and more than 100 articles and chapters on child maltreatment, domestic violence, evidence, criminal law, and family law. Professor Myers’ writing has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and nearly 200 other courts. He has given more than 400 presentations on maltreatment across America and abroad.

In this episode, John breaks down the history of the United States court system's skepticism of women and the ways in which this legacy continues.

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In the episode:

- John begins the show by describing what legal literature from 1880 to 1975 says about the rape of adult women. He breaks down the four themes the court believed as to why women were not credible victims.

- These themes were: the fear of fabricated allegations, the fear of crazy women, a preoccupation with consent where no really means yes, and that if a woman testifies in court about being sexually assaulted she should not be believed without corroborating evidence because a woman's testimony by itself is unreliable.

- He then describes how the theories of female instability by prominent psychologists influenced legal practitioners even if later these theories were debunked.

- He then shares how at one point Sigmund Freud believed the mental illness he saw in his female patients could be explained through their experience of sexual assault and rape, especially by fathers. John then explains how Freud controversially abandoned this theory and replaced it with the Oedipus complex.

- John ends the episode explaining where he thinks the court system still needs to expunge these archaic ideas about women.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

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On Twitter: @theidealistspod
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In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Dr. Faten Ghosn, a Political Scientist and Professor at the University of Arizona's School of Government and Public Policy. Dr. Ghosn received her Bachelors and Masters from the American University of Beirut, and her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. Her research and teaching focuses on the interaction of adversaries and how adversaries handle their disagreements. Her articles have appeared in the British Journal of Political Science, Conflict Management and Peace Science, International Negotiation, International Studies Quarterly, Middle East Journal, and more.

In this episode, Dr. Ghosn breaks down the last 20 years of America's presence in Afghanistan and the circumstances that allowed the Taliban to take over so quickly.

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In the episode:

- Faten begins the episode by providing a brief recap of the circumstances around 9/11 and why the United States initially invaded Afghanistan. She then describes the United States' strategic shift in 2015 from trying to destroy Al Qaeda's terrorist network to focusing on supporting Afghani security forces.

- She breaks down the financial costs of the war, as well as, the lives lost. She also describes the needs of veterans and how the cost spent on veteran care does not adequately cater to their needs.

- Faten describes the difficulty of post 9/11 wars which have involved the United States fighting para-military groups and not states. She describes the short-term military decisions the United States made during this time.

- She then describes the difference between what the Taliban were able to offer rural Afghanis versus what the Afghani democratically elected government has been able to offer. She also describes the difference between the Taliban today and the Taliban 20 years ago.

- Faten ends the episode by linking the issues in Afghanistan to larger global issues like climate change and why it is important for all people to hold politicians accountable regardless of the political party.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
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In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Elise Loehnen Fissmer, writer and editor best known for being the former chief content officer of goop, the lifestyle and e-commerce company established by Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008. You may have also seen and heard Elise co-host The goop Podcast and The goop Lab on Netflix. Now she's writing a book on how women rise in the world and the deep wounds all women carry. In this episode, we dig deep.

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In the episode:

- Elise begins the conversation by sharing one of the thesis in her upcoming book: how easy it is to claim women should rise in the world, but how difficult it is to tactically and tangibly support women. She breaks down how often historical tropes solidify ideas around women's cattiness towards each other or around the ways women compete for the attention and protection of men.

- She discusses the trauma of witch-hunting over centuries and the millions of women killed during the hunts. One of the mechanisms of witch-hunting was getting friends to turn on friends and daughters to turn on mothers, which Elise describes as having left women with a collective sense of scarcity and fear carried over from generation to generation.

- Melissa asks if intergenerational trauma includes the fear of being disconnected from one's deep sense of power, how can women trust each other if we do not even trust ourselves?

- Elise answers by explaining the role of the crone, the third archetypal stage of a woman's life. The crone is an initiator and healer, as well as, the representation of life and death, which our society has a fierce resistance to. She explains without the crone, young women are now going at it alone and suffering loss and disconnect.

- Elise describes what has replaced the crone and what the ramifications are for our political, economic, and social structures. She then describes how the binary of gender keeps men and women at odds with each other versus understanding masculine and feminine in all of us.

- She then outlines how various spiritual modalities help as a guide in healing the disconnection and getting back to our humanity. She then goes on to describe how policy can be a tool for wellness when social measures are improved for the most vulnerable of society.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Marilyn Rodriguez, the go-to policy and politics advisor in Arizona. One of the foremost government relations professionals in the state, Marilyn founded and runs the lobbying firm Creosote Partners which represents progressive organizations in front of local, legislative, statewide, and federal lawmakers. In this episode, she describes the hard collective work involved in turning Arizona blue and the ways her firm is fighting to keep the state blue.

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In the episode:

- Marilyn begins the conversation describing her radical beliefs about compensation where junior employees are on a track to being paid the same as the partners within a few years.

- She then goes on to explain how she quit her corporate lobbying job to start her progressive lobbying firm in 2017.  She describes how the conservative politics of legislators does not necessarily reflect the actual values of everyday Arizonans. She also describes the ways legislators create difficult processes so everyday people are intimidated from engaging in the political process.

- Marilyn breaks down how incentives and political inequality converge to create chasms between progressive legislators and the conservative majority. She also describes how she primes her clients to deal with respectability politics and being taken seriously.

- Marilyn ends the episode describing the legislative victories her firm has won and her hope for the future.

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Brigette Romanek, one of Los Angeles’ most sought after Interior Designers and one of Architectural Digest’s 2019 “AD 100,” which lists their picks for the one hundred top designers in the world. In this episode, Brigette shares the importance of filling your life with what is marvelous and beautiful.

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In this episode:

- The episode begins with Melissa describing the new changes to the podcast and why we rebranded.

- Brigette then shares that to be an interior designer is to be in the service industry and that clients’ needs surpass the designers’ need for individual expression. Melissa shares a story about the legend of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s mischief and his lack of practicality when designing a home.

- Brigette tells her designing origin story stemming from living in London while her husband was shooting a film. After returning back to Los Angeles, she and her family moved to Hancock Park because the homes and neighborhood reminded them of London. She designed the home in six weeks and friends began asking her to design theirs.

- She shares her life philosophy regarding interior design and how it is a love letter her clients are writing to themselves and their families. She also shares the one time a world-traveler client asked her to design their home in a way that would both invigorate and challenge them.

- Melissa asks Brigette how she reframes beauty for her clients and Brigette describes how she supports and nurtures her clients to take risks. She sees her work as expanding how her clients imagine they can live and inhabit a space.

- Brigette ends the episode by sharing a bit about her childhood growing up on the south side of Chicago and her advice for women entrepreneurs navigating a high-powered and marriage.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Scilla Owusu, the face of Africa Forbes last 30 under 30 cohort. Scilla is a Ghanaian-British director and producer. Working in both narrative film and music videos, she is best known for directing music videos for some of Africa's most prominent musicians like Burna Boy and Mr. Eazi. In this episode she shares her stories working alongside heavyweight musicians and how she became an unaccidental-accidental creative.

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In the episode:

- The episode begins with Scilla explaining why university is not necessarily the only path for building a creative career. She describes how she left university for a gap year to shoot a project with her brother (photographer and artist, Danny Wonders). During her gap she honed her craft despite being fired from her job at Sainsburys. They ended up receiving two nominations for their series, and Scilla understood the creative life was the path for her.

- She then describes how she transitioned from working with her brother to producing and directing music videos by DM'ing artists all over Europe and Africa. The first big artist she produced a music video for was Nigerian artist Mr. Eazi.

- Scilla shares why she is selective with the projects she takes on and her vision for the future of AfroBeats music videos including AfroBeats Grime, AfroBeats House, AfroBeats R&B, and more. She then shares stories working with artists while navigating budgets, labels, and egos.

- Scilla ends the episode describing how being featured on Africa's Forbes 30 under 30 has transformed her life and why she hopes young people will take more creative risks.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa partners with Sadie Nash Leadership Project, a not for profit that strengthens, empowers, and equips young women and gender-expansive youth of color as agents for change in their lives and in the world.

Melissa co-hosts this episode with a Sadie Nash student, Sammi Lin, and together they interview Karen Washington. The New York Times calls Karen Urban Farming’s de facto Godmother and in 2014 she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. In this episode, Karen delves into food sovereignty and acknowledging the history around our food systems.

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In the episode:

- Sammi Lin describes why she wanted to interview Karen Washington on her work with community gardens and urban farming in New York City.

- Karen introduces herself and shares that she has been a farmer for over 30 years. She then explains how the farm subsidies provided in the early 1930s helped farmers get through hard times, but now many farmers are subsidized to grow particular crops, like corn. The surplus has led to a substantial increase in high fructose corn syrup based products that are then sold en masse in poor neighborhoods.

- Sammi asks Karen how she works with communities who have developed food traditions around unhealthy food. Karen provides an analysis on displacement and the erasure of indigenous food and agricultural systems. She then describes how community gardens are a tool to educate young people about their food traditions.

- Karen also provides an overview of how enslaved Africans originally brought knowledge from Africa to cultivate crops in the swampy south of the United States.

- Melissa asks Karen about solutions and Karen offers ways for local communities to come together and support their local economies. She also describes a Black Farmer Fund she and community members are building. Karen ends the episode with a reimagining exercise on what a healthier world would look like.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa partners with Sadie Nash Leadership Project, a not for profit that strengthens, empowers, and equips young women and gender-expansive youth of color as agents for change in their lives and in the world.

Melissa co-hosts this episode with a Sadie Nash student, Tasnuva Shehrin, and together they interview Imani Ellis, Director of Communications at NBC and the CEO & Founder of  CultureCon and The Creative Collective NYC. CultureCon is a first of its kind ideas conference that caters to all aspects of creative life. Past speakers include Tracee Ellis Ross, Will Smith, Regina King, Lena Waithe, Spike Lee, John Legend, Nick Cannon, and more.

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In the episode:

- Imani introduces herself and describes why she started The Creative Collective, a community and creative agency dedicated to facilitating brave spaces for creatives of color. In particular she describes the intentionality involved in scaling the collective from her living room, to events with 300 people, to a conference that now boasts an attendee list of more than 4000.

- The conversation delves deeper when Melissa and Tasnuva question why Imani values "bringing her full self to work." Imani shares the ways in which this "fullness" is a means of countering imposter syndrome and the sense that assimilation is the only path for upwardly mobility. She also shares her philosophy around the luxury of being able to "show up" and how it drives innovation.

- Imani then briefly shares her career trajectory starting as a Coordinator at Bravo and working her way up to Director of Communications. Imani advises Tasnuva on her own career progression and how to cultivate and leverage relationships without feeling transactional.

- The conversation ends with Imani sharing her audacious vision for the world which involves creators embracing a communal narrative over an unhealthy lone ranger narrative. She also shares where we can get free tickets to Culture Con's next digital event!

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa talks to the amazing Dr. Vivienne Ming. Frequently featured for her research and inventions in The Financial Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Quartz and the New York Times, Vivienne is a theoretical neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and author. She co-founded Socos Labs, her fifth company, an independent institute exploring the future of human potential. In this episode we discuss her exciting work around working memory and human potential alongside the phenomenal life path that set her on this journey.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal

In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), entrepreneur and host Melissa Kiguwa talks to Anna Jones and Debbie Wosskow, the founders of Allbright which connects smart-minded women through digital and physical spaces all over the world.

Anna Jones is the former CEO of Hearst Magazine and Debbie Wosskow (OBE) is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits. Debbie is also a Member of the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board. In this episode they discuss the power of working as cofounders and how female founders can tap into their dark.

Join the conversation about THE IDEALISTS. and break*through. 

At our website: https://www.theidealistspodcast.co/
On Instagram: @theidealistspodcast_
On Twitter: @theidealistspod
Help us grow! Leave a review of the show on Apple or Spotify
Order a copy of the*journal