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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, join us for a soul-nourishing episode featuring transformational guide and bridge keeper Karina Turtzo, a woman walking the path of collective liberation through ancestral healing, indigenous wisdom, and regenerative leadership.

Karina shares how “right relationship” is a lived practice that begins with intention, respect, and deep listening. From decolonized leadership to sacred ceremony, this conversation is rich with teachings on how to reconnect with land, lineage, and one another in ways that are generative, not extractive.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• Why honoring the land and its original stewards is foundational for real healing
• The epidemic of loneliness & disconnection: how losing touch with ancestry and place feeds today’s “polycrisis”
• What “right relationship” really means and why it calls us into rigorous practice, not perfection
• How ancestral wisdom is alive in your DNA…waiting to be remembered
• Decolonizing plant medicine & wellness spaces; moving beyond commodification toward authentic community care
• Leadership reimagined: From extraction to reciprocity and from hierarchy to circles of trust

About Karina:

Karina Turtzo is dedicated to the journey of collective liberation through the practice and remembrance of ancestral healing arts that center ceremonial practices and earth medicines. She designs and facilitates decolonized curriculums that intentionally entangle us with the Earth and help us awaken and activate to our genetic memory and wisdom. As a bridgekeeper and student of indigenous wisdom teachers, she serves her community as a certified holistic health, transformation, and integration guide and facilitator focusing on nurturing regenerative relationships and fostering culture shifts and systems change for a more harmonious world.

With a rich tapestry of cultural heritage that includes Taino, Afro-Caribbean, Spanish, French, and Ecuadorian lineages, Karina embodies a beautiful fusion of traditions and histories, celebrating the strength and resilience of her ancestors. She is the founder of the wellness platform Sovereign by Nature, non-profit The ARC and healing container for women The Sacred Session.​ 

Karina creates applied spaces from a place of non-judgement, respect and compassion and care. She creates containers where the collective can shed, remember, integrate, and grow. She believes that through generative relating, devotion, and conscious action we can come into right relationship with ourselves, the collective and our great mother Earth. 

Reach Karina: [email protected]

Instagram Handles:

https://www.instagram.com/karinaturtzo/

https://www.instagram.com/sovereignxnature/

https://www.instagram.com/thesacredsession/ 

Websites:

https://www.sovereignxnature.com/ 

https://www.thesacredsession.com/ 

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

🎉 It was also ranked #4 among the top 50 Best Workplace Mental Health Podcasts!

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If you’re ready to rethink what’s possible for yourself, your team, or your organization, this episode will ignite something in you.

This week on The UpLevel Podcast, we sit down with Sydney Gerbracht, transformational coach, leadership consultant, and visionary founder of Syd Speaks.

From her days as an elite NCAA Division 1 athlete to her extraordinary impact at lululemon (where she helped drive over $75 million in results), Sydney has always been a catalyst for change.

Sydney doesn’t just talk about leadership; she lives it. She’s unflinchingly honest about her wins and failures, her blind spots, and her breakthroughs. Listen now!

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• How right relationship shapes high-performing teams
• Why feedback is the new frontier of conscious leadership
• The art of self-trust and courageous communication
• What happens when you challenge outdated leadership paradigms
• The intersection of sports, business, and personal growth
• Why conflict is not the enemy
• Culture is created by what you tolerate
• Leadership stories from lululemon
• Building psychological safety on teams
• The above/below-the-line model

About Syd:

Syd Gerbracht is a transformational coach, leadership consultant, and founder of SYD SPEAKS™ — a leadership movement focused on courageous feedback, conscious communication, and self-trust. She helps leaders turn discomfort into transformation and build cultures that thrive from the inside out.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/syd.speaks/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sydney-gerbracht-b41a8a91

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sydspeaks.co

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

🎉 It was also ranked #4 among the top 50 Best Workplace Mental Health Podcasts!

https://podcast.feedspot.com/workplace_mental_health_podcasts

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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, we have the honor of sitting with Kumu Ramsay Taum, a revered Hawaiian elder and master teacher whose work bridges ancient wisdom with modern leadership.

Recognized by the University of Hawai‘i as a Star of Oceania, Kumu’s teachings have transformed countless lives by reconnecting people to spirit, community, and purpose.

If you’re longing for a more rooted, conscious way to lead and live, this conversation will feel like coming home.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• What it means to be in right relationship with ourselves, each other, and the world around us
• How redefining success can restore balance and harmony in our organizations and lives
• Why daily acts of alignment and integrity matter more than grand gestures
• The power of leading from humility, service, and the wisdom passed down by elders
• How small practices can spark profound change, and why returning to aloha can help heal what feels fractured in our culture today

UPCOMING EVENT: 

July 25-27 Ho’oponopono and Lua retreat in California.

https://www.lawsonstudios.com/hooponopono-retreat

Use the code "Renew" to save $100. The code is good until July 10th. 

About Ramsay Taum:

Mentored by revered kūpuna (elders), Kumu Ramsay Taum is a respected teacher and guide in the realms of Ho‘oponopono (reconciliation & conflict resolution), Lomi Haha (body alignment & energy work), and Kaihewalu Lua (Hawaiian warrior arts).

His teachings bridge the ancient and the modern, offering a practical path to balance, clarity, and leadership. The University of Hawaii recognized Kumu Ramsay as a Star of Oceania for his contributions to cultural awareness. He has guided leaders, organizations, and individuals toward a more rooted, harmonious way of living.

His work integrates Hawaiian spirituality, warrior principles, and the Way of Aloha—a path of deep connection, responsibility, and right relations. Those who study with him often experience profound shifts in their sense of purpose, relationships, and inner alignment.

Website: http://www.ramsaytaum.com

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

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramsaytaum

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We flip the script in this milestone 100th episode of The UpLevel Podcast. Our Co-Founder, Rachel Baldi, steps into the interviewer’s seat to have a heartfelt, honest conversation with Christie Mann, best-selling author, executive coach, and Co-Founder & CEO of UpLevel.

Together, they explore the evolving concept of Right Relationship: how it shows up in our leadership, our lives, and our longing to live in integrity with ourselves, each other, and the world.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that transformation starts with radical self-awareness and continues through conscious connection and courageous action.

In This Episode:

• The difference between being “in” right relationship and returning to it
• How conscious conflict can restore trust and clarity
• Personal stories from Christie’s own growth journey
• Lessons from indigenous wisdom and leadership models
• Why R.O.I. should include emotional nourishment and integrity
• A look back at favorite past episodes that modeled a brave connection

🎧 Tune in to celebrate our 100th episode and walk with us toward a more connected and compassionate way of being.

About Christie:

Christie is a best-selling author, certified executive coach (CPCC, PCC), and the Co-Founder and CEO of UpLevel Productions—a global leader in leadership transformation. She’s the host of The UpLevel Podcast, consistently ranked among the Top 10 Coaching Culture podcasts worldwide. Driven by a deep commitment to fostering a more conscious, compassionate, and humane world, Christie is a visionary who empowers leaders and organizations to unlock their full potential and create meaningful, lasting impact.

Website: https://www.christiemann.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiemann/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/christiemann1/

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, we welcome transformational coach, certified grief educator, and the founder of the Care Box Network and creator of the A.R.I.S.E. Collective, Njeri Njuhigu, a woman whose wisdom is born of deep experience. With her background in spiritual psychology and as a caregiver for her parents for over 13 years, she is now a guide for countless others navigating loss and major life transitions. Njeri offers a rare and nuanced voice on what it means to show up with presence, power, and purpose, even in the face of profound grief.

Whether you support others or are walking through your own season of loss, this conversation will meet you with care and courage. 

In This Episode:

• How to be in right relationship with caregiving
• Redefine what it means to grieve with grace
• Why grief extends far beyond death and how to honor all forms of loss
• The essential power of storytelling and spiritual psychology in the healing process
• Why self-care is mission-critical for caregivers and leaders alike
• Practical pathways to emotional freedom, clarity, and lasting joy
• Reconnect with ourselves and our purpose through loss
• Personal rituals that help us honor transitions
• How to advocate for loved ones within broken systems

About Njeri:

Njeri Njuhigu (JERRY JEW-HIG-GU) is a transformational coach, certified grief educator, and the founder of The CareBox Network (www.thecareboxnetwork.org) and Live Nlight (www.livenlight.com ), a division of Nlight Entertainment. With a Master's degree in Spiritual Psychology and over two decades of experience in storytelling as a Hollywood writer and producer, Njeri uniquely blends compassionate care with insightful understanding of the human experience. Her journey as a dedicated caregiver for her parents over the course of over thirteen years deepened her commitment to supporting individuals navigating profound loss and life transitions.

Through her innovative programs, including the A.R.I.S.E. Collective—a holistic mind-body-spirit renewal course—and impactful masterclasses, Njeri empowers high-achieving professionals to move beyond the overwhelm of living loss and grief towards emotional freedom, renewed purpose, and lasting joy. Her gentle yet powerful approach has inspired countless individuals to reclaim their lives with confidence and clarity.

Passionate about advocating for caregivers and grief survivors, Njeri continues to offer transformative experiences that guide others from surviving grief to thriving in grace.

Website: www.livenlight.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@livenlighttoday

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567524810333

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livenlighttoday

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, we sit down with Jocelyn Pepe, author of Claim Your Brain, and founder of TrU. We have a rich and powerful conversation about what it means to be in right relationship with our mental health.

As a leader, coach, and advocate, Jocelyn is reshaping how we think about mental well-being in the workplace and beyond. She weaves science, soul, and lived experience into a transformative body of work that supports leaders, teams, and individuals in reclaiming their mental resilience.

With a Master’s in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health and a decade-long journey of personal healing, including recovery from a major brain injury. Jocelyn brings wisdom, humility, and fierce advocacy to this dialogue.

Tune in now, and remember to pre-order Jocelyn’s book, Claim Your Brain, a true guide for those ready to lead, live, and love with intention.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• How right relationship applies to mental health, personally, professionally, and collectively.
• Jocelyn’s path of healing from childhood trauma to leadership in the well-being space.
• The science-meets-soul approach of Claim Your Brain.
• Mental health as a foundation for sustainable leadership and impact.
• Navigating life transitions, family dynamics, and business with authenticity and grace.
• Why mental health is everyone’s responsibility—and how we can each be better stewards of our own well-being.

About Jocelyn:

Jocelyn Pepe is the author of Claim Your Brain, an insightful exploration of where science and soul meet in the world of mental health. As the founder of TrU, she fuses research, lived experience, and deep coaching to strengthen the mental health and well-being of leaders and teams, elevating optimal impact and performance. Jocelyn holds a master’s degree in the psychology and neuroscience of mental health and multiple coaching designations in both health and performance. She is reshaping the future of how we care for mental health, in and beyond the workplace.

Website: https://truliving.ca/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truliving.ca/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-pepe/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/truliving/

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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In celebration of the 2025 International Coaching Week, we’re proud to share a deeply grounding and expansive episode of The UpLevel Podcast featuring five extraordinary elders: Eileen Blumenthal, Hide Enomoto, Hope Langner, John Vercelli, and Lorry Schneider.

For the fourth year in a row, we’re honoring elderhood, an often overlooked role in modern society, and exploring how it deeply informs our understanding of right relationship in coaching, leadership, and life.

Whether you're a coach, a business leader, or simply someone navigating life with intention, this conversation will root you in the power of presence, mutuality, and honoring those who came before.

Listen in, feel nourished, and remember, the wisdom is in the circle!

In this Episode:

• What elderhood really means and how it’s embodied with humility, wisdom, and love
• Right relationship is a practice of reciprocity, presence, and legacy
• Why lifelong learning is a hallmark of those who walk the path of the elder
• The fine line between offering insight and holding space and the dance of asking vs. telling in coaching
• How elderhood can be a radical act of stewardship in a fast-moving world
• Reflections on Co-Active principles, conscious leadership, and collective wisdom from decades of coaching

Panel:

Eileen Blumenthal, CPCC, PCC, JD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-blumenthal

Hide Enomoto

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yokuikiru.jp

LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/hide-enomoto-6a23017

Hope Langner, MS, CPCC, MCC

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hopelan

John Vercelli

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-vercelli-4373282/

Lorry Schneider

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lorry-schneider-9390921

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, we welcome the extraordinary Julie Barker-Merz, Regional President of BMO Bank of Montreal for Greater Toronto. A visionary leader with a bold heart, Julie is known for breaking new ground in corporate leadership and uplifting women across business, sport, and community. Julie shares deeply personal insights on how to lead with heart while holding big responsibility. From her signature “four-legged stool” principle of balance to her unwavering belief that difference is power, Julie brings inspiration, wisdom, and courage to the conversation.

In This Episode:

• What it means to be in right relationship with yourself, in your leadership, your health, your home, and your heart
• The power of leading from authenticity, clarity, and shared values, and how that shifts culture from the inside out
• Small “c” vs. Big “C” coaching, and why that distinction matters for creating real transformation in people and teams
• How choosing curiosity over control opens doors to growth, connection, and possibility
• Why difference is power, and how Julie leans into discomfort with openness, not resistance
• The role of failure, feedback, and fortitude in shaping resilient, conscious leadership
• Julie’s guiding principle of the “four-legged stool,” and how she uses it to stay grounded across every area of life.
• From marathon training to scrapbooking retreats, how she protects her energy and recharges with intention.
• Integration over isolation, why weaving together fitness, friendship, and family creates more sustainable success
• Curiosity in conflict, how asking instead of assuming can turn tension into trust
• The power of finding your people, and why women thrive in communities built on support, not competition

Bio:

Julie Barker-Merz is the Regional President, BMO Bank of Montreal, for Greater Toronto, where she leads a team of personal banking professionals across 9 markets and 170 branches. She is a board member of Tree Canada, past-Chair of the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, and the former Director and Treasurer of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. She is a long-standing and strong supporter of women in business, sport, and the community and a 2015 recipient of The International Alliance of Women’s (TIAW) Top 100 World of Difference awards, as well as one of Canada’s Top 50 to watch in Wealth Management in 2016 during her time as President of BMO InvestorLine. And in 2018, she was awarded Ontario’s Leading Women, Building Communities Award of Excellence, and in 2023, the WXN DEI Award for her role on Corporate Boards.

Throughout her 25+ year career with BMO Financial Group, Julie has earned the reputation of being a leader who executes with pace, courage, and excellence, inspiring multi-disciplinary teams to come together towards a common vision. Julie received her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa, her Fellow from the Institute of Canadian Bankers, and her MBA from Dalhousie University.  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-barker-merz-9206a418/

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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Have you forgotten how to play?

This week on The UpLevel Podcast, join us for a deeply grounding and inspiring conversation as we sit down with Jennifer Leigh Smith, J.D., affectionately known as Tree Jenny. She is an environmental lawyer, regenerative leader, certified carbon auditor, and heart-centered activist. From growing up on a sustainable farm in Louisiana to planting over 620,000 biodiverse trees across Central America and Kenya, Tree Jenny shares how she’s built a life rooted in service, reverence, and radical joy.

We explore what it means to be in right relationship with Earth, with one another, and with our inner child. Whether she’s leading carbon-offset reforestation initiatives or guiding eco-tourism adventures that reconnect people to awe and wonder, Jenny is here to remind us that healing the planet begins with remembering who we truly are.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why fair pay for tree planters near the equator matters more than you think
• The power of childlike wonder and play in environmental justice
• How Tree Jenny created a community-powered reforestation movement
• Why being in right relationship includes self-care, purpose, and collective healing
• How YOU can participate in regenerating Earth, one tree at a time

About Tree Jenny:

Jennifer Leigh Smith, J.D. President and Founder grew up on a sustainable farm in Louisiana playing in the woods and bayous, marveling at the nature all around her. “Tree Jenny” was named by the kids participating in Association Community Carbon Trees (ACCT) education programs over 15 years ago. She is an environmental Lawyer, Agro-forester, and Certified Carbon Auditor.  She is a dedicated Yoguini, musician, dancer, and artist who believes in the miraculous power of creation culture.  

Jenny is a revolutionary environmental activist who champions fair pay for tree planters around the world, especially near the Equator where trees generously give us compounded benefits. The ACCT community reforestation programs empower vulnerable families by including women in the center of the work in both Central America and Kenya, Africa. Jenny and her teams of Super Tree Friends have produced, planted, and maintained long-term more than 620,000 biodiverse trees so far, over 100 different native fruit, lumber, and animal fodder species. 

Website: https://www.communitycarbontrees.org/

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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This week on The UpLevel Podcast, our two extraordinary guests, Abigail and Clive Prout, take us deep into the concept of Right Relationship—the art of maintaining true connection, reciprocity, and presence in our partnerships, leadership, and self-growth. With over 50 years of combined coaching experience, Abigail and Clive have dedicated their lives to fostering conscious connection—both in their own relationship and in the lives of their clients. 

From navigating intimate partnerships and parenting to exploring altered states of consciousness through meditation, breathwork, poetry, ecstatic dance, shamanic practices, and plant medicine—this conversation is a journey in itself.

In This Episode:

• The Reciprocity Loop: Abigail & Clive share a vision of right relationship as an interconnected flow of mutual benefit, growth, and evolution.
• Marriage & Self-Work: A raw, real look at how prioritizing personal growth over fixing each other creates deeper intimacy.
• Coaching vs. Personal Challenges: Even as masterful coaches, Clive & Abigail navigate the delicate dance of awareness, vulnerability, and imperfection.
• Plant Medicine & Spiritual Awakening: From shamanic journeys to retreats in Costa Rica, they reveal how plant medicine has deepened their connection to life force energy.
• Culture, Consciousness & Community: How shared spiritual experiences can bridge divisions, deepen understanding, and transform society.

About Abigail & Clive:

Abigail and Clive Prout work with people who are shifting their focus away from the pursuit of yet more material success to a deepening of meaning, connection, and magic; a more spiritual sense of self. They are both Certified Professional Co-Active coaches and faculty for The Co-Active Training Institute, with a combined 50 years of professional coaching experience. They live on Lopez Island, in Washington state, USA where they have cultivated a nurturing community and are raising two teenagers.

Upon this relational foundation, they have expanded their exploration (and work with clients) into altered states of consciousness, such as those accessible through meditation, breathwork, poetry, ecstatic dance, shamanic practices, and plant medicine. 

They support continued healing, exploration, and integration of what it means to be awake and in service.  

Website:

https://www.abigailprout.com

spiral-leadership.com

Socials:

linkedin.com/in/coach-writer-abigail-morgan-prout

linkedin.com/in/cliveprout

https://www.instagram.com/abigail_morgan_prout

🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts

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