Co-authors of the newly published What's You Story? A Journal for Everyday Evolution, Rebecca Walker and Lily Diamond give us an interactive roadmap for beginning a new life story.

Rebecca Walker is an award winning writer, feminist and activist. She has contributed to the global conversation about race, gender, power and the evolution of the human family. Rebecca has written, developed and produced film and television projects with Warner Brothers, NBCUniversal, Amazon, HBO and Paramount. And she has spoken at over 400 universities and corporate campuses.

Awarded the Women Who Could Be President from the League of Women Voters, Rebecca was also named by Time magazine as one of the most influential leaders of her generation.

Rebecca has authored and edited seven bestselling books. Black White and Jewish, Autobiography of a Shifting Self and Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After A Lifetime of Ambivalence, a memoir, are among her bestselling books. She also teaches her masterclass, The Art of Memoir. Rebecca is a graduate of Yale University.

Lily Diamond is an award winning writer, educator and advocate. Her work is focused on democratizing wellness for accessible practices.

Lily is the creator of the internationally beloved blog Kale & Caramel.  She is also the author of the bestselling memoir-cookbook Kale & Caramel: Recipes for Body, Heart and Table. And it was named one of the top cookbooks of 2017 by the New York Times, The Independent, and Cooking Light.

A graduate of Yale University, Lily's writings have appeared in VICE, Healthyish, the Huffington Post, Better Homes and Gardens and Eating Well.

A powerful conversation with co-authors Rebecca Walker and Lily Diamond:

Finding the voice

Writing your story - a transformative experience

Encountering your mind

Relationships with body, people, nature & technology

Why interactive

Moving through memories

Journaling - what you remember or how you want to remember

Seeking answers

The need to belong

Walking through a day in your life

Giving yourself permission

Creating the roadmap

What do you think of when you hear music? Does it bring back memories? Does it make you want to get up and dance? Let's add voice into the mix and think about the images that your mind conjures up.

Ilyana Kadushin uses both music and voice. And both manage to affect change, whether narrating or performing a book, producing music or co-hosting the podcast 'No, I Know.'  Ilyana has delved into the world of performance, film, art and music melding these creative mediums. Always a part of the storytelling process, Ilyana wrote and performed the one woman "Devour the Apple" musical. She also performed the audio of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight novels and narrated the heartbreaking memoir of Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad, The Lost Girl.

Incredible as it may sound, something positive came out of Superstorm Sandy...the creation of Stories Love Music. Ilyana and her creative partner and husband, James Harrell, were asked to help with some of the displaced seniors. Not knowing what to expect or how they could help, they chose something they both did well...they played music and sang. Music tugs at the heart and can brighten up even the bleakest of times. The moment evolved into Stories Love Music, a nonprofit program for caregivers of seniors with dementia and Alzheimers.

Ilyana is an award winning film producer. She won HBO's 2011 Best Documentary for Separate, But Equal. She also won the Audi Award for audiobook narration and is an adjunct faculty of voice and public speaking at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.

As a producer and co-host of the podcast No, I Know, Ilyana and husband James, feature live music and spirited conversation.

A conversation with Ilyana Kadushin:

A little microcassette player

A fascination with voices

Landing in New York City & Tisch School of the Arts

How about some 'voice watching'

Twilight series and Edward's character

Jeremy Irons inspiration

Nadia Murad and The Lost Girl

Storytelling and performing

Superstorm Sandy

The 'spell of music'

A senior, a song (Shalom Aleichem), a memory and a voice

Voice Performance Coaching

Stories Love Music

Paulina Bren is the author of The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free.  It's the fascinating true story of one of the first residences for women only. From its opening in 1928 to the present, Paulina brings us the evolution of both the place and the women who stayed there. Located in the heart of New York City, it drew women from all over the country. Each one brought ‘a suitcase and a dream.' Paulina delves into how the Barbizon was supposedly setting women free. And explains the reality of how it didn't. Some made it, others did not.

Known as a safe haven for the 'Modern Woman' seeking a career, the women all were expected to have the same goal. That goal being one of marriage, family and suburban living. Some of the famous among its residents were Sylvia Plath, Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Liza Minelli, Ali MacGraw, Cybill Shepherd and Joan Didion.

Meet Paulina 

A writer, historian and professor, Paulina teaches International Studies, Women’s Studies, and Media Studies at Vassar College.  Her previous books include the award winning The Greengrocer and His TV: The Culture of Communism after the 1968 Prague Spring. Paulina is also co-editor of a collection of essays entitled Communism Unwrapped: Consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe.

She alternates her time between the Bronx, Poughkeepsie and MetroNorth. Paulina was born in the former Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. before moving to the United States. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University, her M.A. from the Jackson School for International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle and her PhD in Modern European History from New York University.

My conversation with award-winning author Paulina Bren:

The Bell Jar and Sylvia Plath’s inspiration

The building of a ‘safe haven’

The many women

The 30’s and restrictions on women

Single women, hotels and no check-in after 6pm

Ambitions and society

Women, careers and goals

Rich and poor

The not-so glamorous modeling career

Contests and summer internship

The hidden stories, lost ambitions and suicides

‘The Women’ and standing their ground

A timeline for the women’s movement

The start of equality and the end of The Barbizon

A former actress (you may have spotted Judith in one of the original Star Trek series episodes), Judith Sherven coined the phrase The Fear of Being Fabulous. A clinical psychologist with more than 35 years’ experience as a psychotherapist, transformational executive coach and business consultant, Judith practices alongside her husband Jim Sniechowski, also a PhD Clinical Psychologist. Judith is an executive coach for a number of tech companies. She helps leaders overcome any insecurities they have about maximizing their leadership: Their Fear of Being Fabulous.

Both Judith and Jim are on retainer at both LinkedIn and Credit Karma. Judith writes for LinkedIn as an influencer. She inspires managers to engage their team members with their trademarked program: Overcoming the Fear of Being Fabulous. It's been called “the missing link in personal and professional development.”

Judith has been on over 3,000 radio and TV shows including Oprah, The View, 48 Hours and Canada AM as a guest expert. Together, Judith and Jim have written 7 LA Times bestselling books.

Both had been professional actors for a long time before they met in 1987. And both discovered that their Fear of Being Fabulous had prevented them from moving forward with their acting careers. This brought them on a 6 year journey of creating their program.

A conversation with Judith:

Self-sabotaging a successful acting career

The Fear of Being Fabulous incubation

The Barbizon connection

Patterns identified and their connections

Meeting Jim and their journey

Owning your own excellence

Asking for more with confidence

Relationships of all kinds – personal and professional, family and friends

Owning your uniqueness

‘You are a miracle’

Making yourself stronger

Sharon G. Flake is a multi-award winning young adult and children’s author. She is a three-time winner of the Coretta Scott King award. Her latest book, The Life I’m In follows her groundbreaking debut novel The Skin I’m In. The impact of her debut novel more than 20 years ago, is felt today. Sharon’s books withstand the test of time. It was a given that a sequel was needed, even if it took her 20 years to be convinced of it.

Sharon continues to take on the tough issues: race, self-esteem, self-protection and empowerment. Issues that teenagers can face on a daily basis. With the advancement of technology, these issues can be paralyzing. And she always reminds us that we are talking about children. Teenagers are not adults. They are still children and we need to protect them. With The Life I’m In, Sharon takes on the multi-billion dollar business of human trafficking, targeting venerable teens.

Prior to becoming an author, Sharon was a counselor for teens at a foster placement agency. Excelling as a counselor, Sharon garnered valuable insight into teens, adoption and foster parenting.

Sharon had literally exploded onto the literary scene with The Skin I’m In over 20 years ago. And she was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start. Since then, she has won multiple Coretta Scott King Author Awards. Many of her novels have received ALA Notable and Best Books for Young Adults citations from the American Library Association. You can visit her website at sharongflake.com.

This week’s ‘Sylvia & Me – My Reading Corner’ a conversation with author Sharon G. Flake

Teenagers and children

Bullying

Responsibility

Social media and teenage pressure

Remember – these are children

Predators and human trafficking

Survival and the power of human empathy

Compassion and its powerful cure

1st question asked

It’s no longer taboo to talk about menopause. In fact, it’s one of the healthiest topics for women to talk about. Dr. Fatima Khan is the ‘Menopause Specialist.’ She is an expert in perimenopause and menopause. Using a holistic approach to women’s physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, Fatima is empowering women through the transition.

Fatima completed her medical training in the United Kingdom from Imperial College London in 2007 where she received a Bachelor in Medicine and a Bachelor in Surgery. She also received a Bachelor in Science in Pharmacology and Therapeutics with the publication of her research.

After extensive training at Kings College London, Fatima received an Advanced Menopause Certificate accredited from the British Menopausal Society and faculty of Reproductive and Sexual Health. Fatima undertook further training in the USA on optimizing hormonal health for anti-aging and longevity. She also sees patients at AGORA Specialist Centre.  Fatima is involved in teaching medical students at the Epworth Clinical School at the University of Melbourne.

Fatima and her medic husband currently live in Melbourne with their daughter. She actively educates women on menopause awareness through her social media platform.  https://instagram.com/menopausespecialist?igshid=2zg06ux1u11c

A very informative and much needed conversation with Dr. Fatima Khan:

Journaling and being aware of your body

Mind-Body Connection

Heart disease and dementia

Hormone replacement

Estrogen

Perceptions and myths

A continuing conversation

The debut of our special Thursday's segment 'Sylvia & Me - My Reading Corner' with author and portrait photographer, Jona Frank. Known for her portraits surrounding youth culture, Jona made a slight detour and wrote a memoir. Not one for doing what is expected, Jona’s memoir is done not with words, but with photographs. But if you’re thinking, great, a book of old photos…you're wrong. 'Cherry Hill: A Childhood Reimagined´ stars Laura Dern as her mother.

Jona grew up in the 60’s in suburban Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Her mother lived the life that a suburban housewife was supposed to live. The men went into the City, a grey background while the women stayed at home, tending to their house and family. The stereotypical suburban woman, Jona’s mother never deviated from the standards that had been set for her. She did what was expected of her, not what she may have wanted to do. But Jona rejected this way of life and went on to construct her life from within herself. The result -  Jona is living her life freely, rejecting the standards that others have set.

Meet Jona Frank:

Meet Jona Frank, whose high school passion for photography led her to study at the University of California on a scholarship. Jona did go home after graduating, but returned to Los Angeles pursuing her personal dreams, not other’s expectations and standards.

Her works have been exhibited at such venues as the Smithsonian’s National Gallery in Washington, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, and the Kimbal Art Center.

Our conversation:

A photo shoot in a small town in England and a connection with Cherry Hill

Suburbia and the stereotypical woman

Art class, a blank piece of paper, a phone call and tulips

Doing it her own way

Societal norms and individual desires

Casting Laura Dern

Staged pictures and the strain of maintaining an image

Recreating the non-Kodak moments

Creating images between reality and cinematic fantasy

What’s next

Bunmi Laditan, is an award winning, Webby nominated writer. Most of you may know her by her moniker ‘Honest Toddler.’ Her debut novel, Confessions of a Domestic Failure, is a satirical, realistic look at motherhood. Bunmi has outdone herself with her latest book, : Honest Prayers to a God who Listens.

She had originally written this collection of poetry and prayers as a way of following her own spiritual journey. With candor, self-aware humor, and a profound insight, Bunmi saw that so many were struggling with similar journeys. And so with much humility, she agreed to publish Dear God. The book is for anyone seeking to reconnect as well as for those looking for a good word. Bunmi shares her journey, a journey of emotions that we all experience at different points in our lives – doubt, anger, love, desperation, gratefulness and more.

Dear God was featured on the Today Show and Bunmi is a contributor to Parenting.com, Mothering.com, iVillage.com, the New York Times and the Huffington Post. Bunmi lives outside of Montreal with her family. Her social media following is large. But more impressive is that there is communication between her and her followers, not just emoji’s. Bunmi relates and is not afraid of having a conversation, even with someone who disagrees with her.

A candid conversation with Bunmi:

Childhood and faking it

Marrying at 16 and converting to Judaism

Culture not religion

Identity as a Jewish wife and mother

Divorce and becoming a seeker

Struggles with depression and anxiety

Journey to reconnect with God

Raising her three children

Jenny Lecoat grew up in Channel Islands, 15 years after World War II. She knew her family’s history, but she didn’t know the horrors that they had experienced. Her curiosity peaked in her 30’s when Jenny saw photos of her family being shown in documentaries on national British television. Seeing them, Jenny realized that she had a responsibility to tell their story and the story of Channel Islands. Especially after having heard a variety of differing stories of the people and the islands’ occupation by the Nazis.

There are stories that need to be told and stories that should never be forgotten. Stories that tell the history of events that have taken place. And stories that need to correct the ones that have not been remembered correctly. One such story is the story of Channel Islands and its occupation by the Nazis.

She may never have written a novel before, but she had done quite a bit of writing. You see, Jenny had been a stand-up comedian writing her own material. She also wrote for sitcoms and soap operas. And then onto dramas and more serious historical subjects. In 2017 Jenny wrote the screenplay for ‘Another Mother’s Son’, the true story of her great-aunt who, during World War II, hid a young Russian war prisoner.

‘The Girl From Channel Islands’ is a historical novel based on the true story of Hedy Bercu and the woman who hid her from the Nazis for 18 months, Dorothea Le Brocq. The book debuted in February of 2021 in North America. It made the New York Times bestseller list its first week.

This week I talk with Jenny Lecoat:

Transitioning from standup comic to writing a New York Times bestseller

Her dad at 5 and the occupation

What you don’t know about the Channel Islands

The timing of the North American publication of The Girl From Channel Islands and the release of her movie, ‘Another Mother’s Son’

The untold stories of the heroes of the Resistance

Why this story needs to be told and remembered

How does it start

Never forget

What’s next

Meet Jenny Lecoat:

Jenny is a New York Times bestselling author, screenwriter, former standup comedian, newspaper and magazine feature writer and teacher.  Over the last thirty years Jenny has written for a wide range of formats including feature film, television drama, sitcoms and sketch shows. She has taught screenwriting courses and is a qualified teacher of English as a Foreign Language. Jenny has studied British Sign Language enabling her to work with D/deaf writers and actors. She lives in Essex Sussex, UK with her husband, writer Gary Lawson.

For Nikki Edmundson it all started with a single pair of her own boots - cowgirl boots that is. She cut them down to fit, folded them over and, as the saying goes: 'These boots are made for walking.' Turns out that everyone wanted their own pair with their own story. And so, in the small town of Harrison, Montana, Canty Boots was born.

‘I really had no option except to give them away, sell them or cut them and I cut them. So I cut and rolled them and when I wore them into town, everyone gave me compliments. I just figured why not, you know, why not start selling them. So that's how we started.’ – Nikki Edmundson, Founder Canty Boots®.

And that was how Nikki Edmundson started Canty Boots®. She opened an Etsy store and her first customer was from Australia. First sale and already Nikki was international!

Cowboy boots always make a statement. And boy, are they ever hard to part with.

Security vs Passion

Nikki had to make a choice - start her career as a teacher or design and handmake cowgirl boots. Teacher = stability...Boot Designer/Maker = passion and fulfillment. She made the right choice for her and it's been a great journey.

Who's Been in My Boots?

Try Victoria Secret's Models, Katy Perry, Tanya Tucker, Nahko Bear and Cam Newton, just to name a few.

This week's conversation with Nikki Edmundson:

All it takes is the first

Passion vs Security

Her all women's team

Rural and hot

Bringing stories together

Memories and walking

He's a rancher

Mom of four

It's all in the name

Finding the balance

Keeping it close to home

Turning Memories into Walking Stories

Nikki learned quickly that selling footwear, especially cowgirl boots online could result in huge returns. Not all boots fit the same. Having cut down and refreshed her own pair, people had started asking her to do the same for them. So she took it a step further. Now Nikki is giving people the chance to hold onto memories and turn their own boots into their own unique story. The result...boots that her customers know will fit and walk in their story.