The Safe Haven

I came across Miik’s Instagram account earlier this year. Whether it was a shared hashtag or a comment from a friend, or some algorithm, I landed on his profile and was intrigued immediately. Miik Wells is an absolute force.

We start this conversation chatting about how and why Miik’s move to Seattle in ‘98 changed his life forever. Miik shares a series of events that took him to his lowest low, where he was reminded of the hopeful, joyful spark within him that he could always return to. As he was forced to reimagine his life and what actually mattered, it was the introduction to running ropes courses that brought Miik full circle and back into so many things that he was naturally good at; facilitating groups in learning, his ability to observe, improv artistry, creating connections, and shifting perspectives.

We talk cards and card readings, exchanging energy, and some of life’s biggest moments and lessons. Miik’s answers to my Safe Haven style questions were so beautifully communicated and from the heart, especially when I slip in a bonus question!

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LINKS:

Miik on Instagram: @miikwells

Miik’s Website: https://www.miikwells.com/

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Katie is a Yoga teacher and a Psycho-Practitioner, mixing traditional psychology practices with holistic and spiritual healing modalities. She works with veterans, first responders and their families. She also travels across Ontario as a guest speaker and teacher offering her teachings and messages through a trauma sensitive/ trauma informed lens.

Katie’s first career was as a social worker. Not long into her studies and career path, she hit rock bottom, carrying baggage from each case, which impacted her overall wellbeing.

Following a friend’s suggestion over ten years ago, Katie went to a Yoga class – and has never turned back. Through her own Yoga practice and various trainings, finding peace and reflecting on where her skillset could serve others, LifeSpark was created.

In this beautiful conversation, Katie shares her Yoga journey, career paths, and things she’s currently working through, including her deep desire to be a Mom. She opens up about love and loss, growth in her relationship and unlocking a love and understanding they’d never known before.

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LINKS:

LifeSpark Holistic’s Instagram: @lifespark_holistic

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From spinal surgery, not feeling in control, to feeling outrageous trust in the unknown, and seeing connections to everything. From experiencing resentment towards her ailments and conditions to establishing a gratitude practice, entering a true journey of self discovery, and dedicating her life to help others.

Juliana Leamen is a Nutritionist and Mind-Body Weight Release Expert, University-trained with a Masters degree in Science, certified as a Holistic Nutritionist and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner. She is dedicated to helping women over 40 balance hormones naturally and achieve sustained weight loss, what she likes to call Weight Release, through the use of real foods and a shift to the ‘diet mindset’.

Juliana’s education is supported thoroughly with her own personal experiences, which combined, have created a very welcoming and authentically empathetic practice.

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LINKS:

Juliana’s Website, Naturally Joyous: https://www.naturallyjoyous.ca/

Naturally Joyous on Instagram: @naturally.joyous

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Shayda’s Dad, Amir, is an Iranian immigrant. His story is captivating, raw, and full of emotional moments that have been shared recently on a podcast called The Hopeful, on the Frequency Podcast Network.

In total transparency, I didn’t listen to The Hopeful before my conversation with Shayda. I wanted to be able to speak with her entirely about her perspectives on her Dad’s story and what being the daughter of immigrant parents has been like without knowing anything about the story in advance. I wanted my reactions to be as authentic as possible. After we recorded, I downloaded the five episodes that had released up to that point, and sat in on the Watch Party for the finale on Monday. To say I’m blown away by the work that went into this podcast is a massive understatement. I could hardly find the words to describe how quickly I fell into this story and the vulnerable recount of Amir’s life.

Shayda and her friend Portia worked incredibly hard to put this piece together. You’ll hear about some of the massive efforts in the conversation today, but Amir’s voice sharing his own stories in The Hopeful makes the podcast series incredibly moving!

Today’s episode is about Shayda’s perspectives and her story within her Dad’s story. Shayda shares about her life growing up as the daughter of immigrant parents, navigating her own identity, and her own personal struggles and successes. We talk about the pressures faced while growing up, prioritizing mental wellbeing, and intergenerational trauma.

I’m eternally grateful for the time with Shayda, and hope you enjoy the episode!

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LINKS:

The Hopeful on Instagram: @thehopefulpodcast

The Hopeful Podcast on Frequency: https://frequencypodcastnetwork.com/podcasts/the-hopeful/

The Hopeful Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-hopeful/

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deborah was always into fashion, dressing up and style, and was often assumed to work in the creative industry. Most of her working career was spent behind a desk, working in tech, and modelling had never really crossed her mind. As her hair slowly started to turn silver, she decided to embrace it, and people began to notice.

As people began noticing Deborah’s hair, some friends started to suggest she try modelling. One evening, left alone and unsupervised with a laptop and the internet, she sent her photos off to a modelling agency without giving it much thought. Well, a few weeks later, Deborah got a call – and the adventure began.

Although she would say this was just about being in the right place at the right time, I would have to say that there isn’t anyone more well suited than Deborah herself, with her sunshine personality for this path in pro-ageing and connecting with other people, and her perspectives on how growing old is privilege are so beautiful.

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LINKS:

Deborah on Instagram: @deborah__darling

Deborah’s Website: https://deborahdarling.com/

Deborah on TikTok: @deborah__darling

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mady and Scout are sisters and creators of an online space and podcast called “Okay Sis.” Their contrasting and complementary personalities make for entertaining, funny, engaging, relatable and sometimes serious conversations about their lives. They welcome guests into their community and onto their podcast to discuss topics of all kinds.

Mady is really detail oriented and likes a solid plan, where Scout is really fly by the seat of her pants, so this is where their personalities really got to shine in a shared platform.

These two love to laugh and have a good time; they’re also super down for deep conversations about mental wellness and the really challenging things that life throws at us.

In this episode, we chat boundaries, vulnerability, personal practices, being honest, owning your sh*t, and honouring emotions. Mady and Scout share their wins and goals with their podcast and Facebook community, and how mental illness has influenced their individual lives.

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LINKS:

Okay Sis on Instagram: @okaysispodcast

Okay Sis FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/okaysispodcast/

Okay Sis Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/okay-sis/id1434353917

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Arvin moved to Canada from the Philippines eleven years ago, and came to live with his Mom, who had moved here several years prior. Leaving his life in the Philippines behind, Arvin worked through his transition into life in Canada with his Mom’s support and encouragement to dream big.

In this lively conversation, Arvin shares many personal experiences along his journey into journalism and as a journalist today. He talks about what being a person of colour was like both in university and what it’s like in the industry today, and how a person’s voice can be such a tool on the job.

Arvin has worked so hard to chase his own personal dreams as a journalist while exploring areas that are both fun and of interest to him, aiming to show other journalists and people of colour that you can be what you’ve always dreamed of being.

We even talk about where journalism meets drag in Arvin’s career, as he tells us about some experiences from his time reporting about Canada’s Drag Race; how contestants are treated in race and sobriety, and how he feels really blessed for these opportunities meeting the Queens and watching their growth throughout filming the show.

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LINKS:

Arvin’s Instagram: @arvinjoaquin

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Valentina moved to Canada from Colombia eleven years ago to study. After her studies and settling into life in Kamloops, Valentina started thinking about ways in which she could take on business working for herself. A favourite purse of hers from Colombia was getting so many compliments, she wondered how she could bring these products made in Colombia to Canada to support herself, and the artisans from back home.

This story is so much more than an entrepreneurial journey… after Valentina shares the story behind IndiArts Collective, we discuss the pandemic situation for her artisans and family in Colombia, and how this pandemic is affecting her business – and theirs.

Valentina has shifted her business and mindset to more of an online presence so she can continue her sales and keep supporting the artisans in Colombia and Mexico while distributing handmade bags, jewelry and accessories here in Canada – primarily Vancouver!

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LINKS:

IndiArts Collective: https://www.indiartscollective.com/

IndiArts on Instagram: @indiartscollective

Valentina’s GoFundMe to support the Artisans

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bradford and Bryan Manning are brothers, entrepreneurs and business partners. They both share a degenerative retinal eye disease called Stargardt Disease, where you lose your central vision over time.

Five years apart in age, both Brad and Bryan started losing their central vision around 5 years old. Today, Brad and Bryan explain that they really don’t know much different than living life with a visual impairment.

In this episode, I sit down (virtually, of course!) with Bradford and Bryan Manning, for a really great conversation about life with a visual impairment, and the creation of their clothing business called: Two Blind Brothers! We also talk about maintaining mental wellbeing, personal practices to best life balance, and why they’re working so hard to create the softest and most comfortable clothing on the planet!

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LINKS:

Two Blind Brothers

Two Blind Brothers on Instagram: @twoblindbrothers

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kenzie Brenna is a self and body love enthusiast, a mental health advocate and an extremely engaging and thought provoking influencer on Instagram. Although even Kenzie rolls her eyes at the title influencer, she’s created a platform that is safe and brave, comforting to most and confronting to some. She’s educated, extremely well spoken, and incredibly inviting. Kenzie is also an Atheist.

In this really rich conversation, Kenzie shares her spiritual journey and her path towards atheism, through a spiritual background and into the questioning of personal experiences, philosophies and traumas in her life. Through policies and politics, and entering a YouTube wormhole in 2016, Kenzie began a really deep self exploration.

Something I admire so wholeheartedly about Kenzie is the way she educates herself and is always reading, learning, and listening. During our chat about Atheism, she’s aware of and so respectful towards other belief systems. The way Kenzie acknowledges Indigenous wisdom and spirituality made my heart nearly explode. To share space with someone whose values are so aligned with mine felt like magic.

We chat about connection to everyday life and the wonders that surround us, what life is like as an influencer, feeling all the feelings, and what our dream jobs would be like.

Enjoy!

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LINKS:

Kenzie on Instagram: @kenziebrenna

Kenzie’s Podcast Instagram: @conversationswithkenzie

Frequency Podcast Network: The Safe Haven

Facebook: The Safe Haven

Instagram: @thesafehavenpodcast

Email: [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.