It's April and it's time for another season!

Season 3 of The Root & Seed Podcast is launching April 10 and we cannot be more excited. We are talking about celebration, the kind that one does through their actions, words, big and small, every day and on special occasions. The diversity of guests and their stories will continue to amaze and delight.   Please join us by subscribing on your favourite podcast player. If you like what you hear, please add a rating and review to help others like you hear the stories that make up celebrating one's cultural and familial (origin and chosen) backgrounds.

Welcome to Root & Seed, a podcast about tradition seekers who are exploring, defining, and celebrating their family and cultural identities.  Join us every other week as we release more rich stories of the past woven with hope for the future.

It's our second season finale and we are ending with a special one! Sisters Chantal and Danielle (Dani) Khan Da Silva's curiosity led them to truly understand their family, their stories and the role their stories play in each of their lives.  Chantal wrote a poignant article following the 20th anniversary of 9/11 about her family's decision to change their name from paternal Khan to maternal Da Silva to protect the family.  Now 20 years later both sisters are fully aware of the significance of that act and have taken power back with reclamation of their name.  With that reclamation comes pause and reflection on what life would have been like if they didn't change their name and awareness of how their heritage and background feeds into their present day purpose and platforms.   We are grateful to hear their story and how they honoured their backgrounds by bringing it to the forefront in our first ever sister interview for the Root & Seed podcast.

Be sure to check out Chantal's work & profile at www.chantaldasilva.com and Danielle's profile & platform at www.danielledasilva.com and www.photographerswithoutborders.org

Show credits:

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Edited by: Camille Blais

Music credit: Something 'bout July (Instrumental) by RYYZN

https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

It's our second season finale and we are ending with a special one! Sisters Chantal and Danielle (Dani) Khan Da Silva's curiosity led them to truly understand their family, their stories and the role their stories plays in each of their lives.  Chantal wrote a poignant article following the 20th anniversary of 9/11 about her family's decision to change their name from paternal Khan to maternal DaSilva to protect the family.  Now 20 years later both sisters are fully aware of the significance of that act and have taken power back with reclamation of their name.  With that reclamation comes pause and reflection on what life would have been like if they didn't change their name and awareness of how their heritage and background feeds into their present day purpose and platforms.   We are grateful to hear their story and how they honoured their backgrounds by bringing it to the forefront in our first ever sister interview for the Root & Seed podcast.

Be sure to check out Chantal's work & profile at www.chantaldasilva.com and Danielle's profile & platform at www.danielledasilva.com and www.photographerswithoutborders.org

Show credits:

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Edited by: Camille Blais

Music credit: Something 'bout July (Instrumental) by RYYZN

https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

As a writer, Nadia's creative work flows from her awareness and understanding of her story as someone of Afghan and Italian descent. Two geographies, two cultures, two religions and yet Nadia is resolving her identity in belonging to herself and her unique experience.   Through this conversation we are gifted with a perspective of an outsider looking in, an individual who is embracing and dwelling in her uniqueness and perhaps most importantly a preserver of compelling narratives that will live on for generations to come.   On the light side, we hear of her appreciation and love for Afghan dance, how her nerdy side comes out when understanding her Italian history and how her father's loving advice when she was pregnant sparked a yearning and desire that only food could satisfy :)

You can read Nadia's beautiful writing at nadiashahbaz.com 

Show credits:

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Edited by: Camille Blais

Music credit: Something 'bout July (Instrumental) by RYYZN

https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Janey had us at her proclamation and declaration of being "Unapologetically Nigerian" at the start of this podcast interview.  Her perspective on her identity and her gifts to the world unfolded in the rest of our conversation like a beautifully scripted song.  We learned about a special gift that sits in her office and reminds her where she's from, her thoughts on how understanding your roots helps when faced with racism, and how experiences growing up led her to reject certain parts of her culture.  We ended with a special question from our conversation tool web app (capture.rootandseed.com) that perfectly reflected Janey's love and pride for her Nigerian identity. 

It's no wonder that she's been able to harness that awareness and experience as the founder of Immiducation, a social enterprise solving the problem of underemployment amongst the underrepresented professional immigrant community. www.immiducation.com

Show credits:

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Edited by: Camille Blais

Music credit: Something 'bout July (Instrumental) by RYYZN

https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Have you ever thought about all the things that needed to happen for you to exist today? All the choices that generations before you needed to make, the million things that needed to go right and the role of luck in it all?  Our episode 3 guest, Jon has.  Ingrained in his sense of introspection and grounded in his experiences growing up, Jon knows and appreciates his unique story and all the factors that contributed to who is today.  Respectfully, Jon shares his cultural and familial influences, significant stories big and small that led to his understanding and so-called definition of his identity.  He believes in preserving cultural connection, extending the boundaries of traditional definition of identity and stitching together the present of your family with the history of your family.  We are inspired!

You can hear more from Jon in his blog called abenignconspiracy.com

Show credits:

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Edited by: Camille Blais

Music credit: Something 'bout July (Instrumental) by RYYZN

https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Sophia and Saphina are two 2nd generation individuals from families of diverse backgrounds.  While their stories are unique and varied, if there is a common theme outside the relatability of their individual narratives, it would be the idea of choice.  Sophia’s intention is very clear and present and she wishes for her family to experience a connection to her religion, just like she did. Saphina credits her Canadian experience as an individual of mixed descent as providing her the choice on what to bring forward to herself, her family and her young children.   In both cases we hear gratitude and appreciation for the availability and access of choice in their daily actions, words and lives and for that, we too are grateful!

Visit rootandseed.com to see the show transcript, read more quotes from our conversation with Sophia and Saphina. If you’d like to tell us your story, or chat about your thoughts on culture, family, and heritage, we always love to chat. Find us on social @rootandseedco and subscribe for our newsletter to never miss a Root & Seed moment.

Alex is back!  Because we love a good bookend in storytelling, our Season One finale guest returns to tell a different side of his story and journey...this time as a father.

You might remember Alex as being direct and honest about his reclamation of his Korean culture. In this episode, while we see the softer side of Alex, his intention to honour his culture is done with the same commitment level that we are used to from Alex - ALL IN.   We also hear how he is embracing the concept of individualized cooking techniques from generations before, leaving us with the truth and aptly-named-episode-title of "You just can't put that in a recipe book".

Visit rootandseed.com to see the show transcript, read more quotes from our conversation with Alex. If you’d like to tell us your story, or chat about your thoughts on culture, family, and heritage, we always love to chat. Find us on social @rootandseedco and subscribe for our newsletter to never miss a Root & Seed moment.

Get ready for season 2 of The Root & Seed podcast launching November 18th. We are so excited. In season 1 we spoke to some incredible humans with a diverse set of cultural influences and they spoke about when, how and why they set out to claim their backgrounds as part of their identities.  Season 2 will not disappoint. We have one return guest (can you guess :)?) plus 6 more incredible humans and stories to share.

Welcome to Root & Seed, a new podcast about tradition seekers who are exploring, defining, and celebrating their family and cultural identities. Join us every Thursday as we release more rich stories of the past woven with hopes for the future.

Racism, rejection and assimilation has been a part of the visible minority experience since migration began. Our season finale guest Alex, shares his experience of how life and societal events have shaped the reclamation of his culture. The contrast of his outlook and attitude towards his Korean culture from when he was a child to now is fascinating. Alex doesn't do anything half-way and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. He leaves listeners with the invitation to truly lean into their cultures and own them. Heads up : if you are listening with children, you might want to keep your "earmuffs" handy for language.

Visit rootandseed.com to see the show transcript, read more quotes from our conversations with Alex. If you’d like to tell us your story, or chat about your thoughts on culture, family, and heritage, we always love to chat. Find us on social @rootandseedco and subscribe for our newsletter to never miss a Root & Seed moment.

Show credits:

Hosted by: Anika Chabra

Brought to you by: Root & Seed

Executive Producer: Jennifer Siripong Mandel

Edited by: Camille Blais

Music credit: Something 'bout July (Instrumental) by RYYZN

https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/-_something-bout-july

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/OFga9pkl6RU