Unconventional Leaders

Fally Klein is a Jewish educator, hypnotherapist, and breathwork facilitator whose work brings together Jewish mysticism, psychology, and constellations. In this conversation, she explains how we experience spirit through the physical body and why spiritual practices should ultimately change how we live. I also asked her about her work with Constellations, her perception on the connection between consciousness and creativity, and how as communicators we can be True Vessels.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• What is consciousness? (and experiencing it through the physical body)
• Embodied spirituality (why and how to tap into spirit through the body)
• Individual vs. collective consciousness
• Where ideas come from (and becoming a vessel for creative ideas)

CONNECT WITH FALLY KLEIN: https://www.fallyklein.com/

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/182

Keith Giles is an author and the co-owner of Quoir Publishing. He has spent years not only authoring nonfiction books around theology and deconstruction, but also helping authors get their messages out into the world. Recently, however, he opened Pink Beam Press, specifically for science fiction authors. This was not just a business decision, but an intentional choice to explore how fiction can communicate truth in an unconventional manner.

I wanted to have Keith on today to discuss how fiction can reach and impact people in ways that nonfiction cannot. In this conversation, we explore the power of metaphor, the limitations of language, and how to let go of our own agendas in order to allow something else to move through us through the power of storytelling.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Why stories can get past our defenses when arguments can’t
• How to communicate truth without forcing an agenda
• How fiction can create empathy and help us reconsider our perspective

CONNECT WITH KEITH GILES:

• Pink Beam Press: https://quoir.com/pink-beam-press/
• Blog Mentioned: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2026/02/the-story-of-us

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/181

Zac Cannon is not only an award-winning storyteller, novelist, and screenwriter…he is also a pastor. His background is in film and fiction writing, but he has also spent years communicating from the pulpit.

In this conversation, I wanted to ask Zac about how (and if) the intention behind storytelling changes across fiction and spirituality. We also talk about the difference between compelling an audience and manipulating one, and how to communicate strong convictions while still leaving room for curiosity.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• What is the difference between telling a story and delivering a message?
• How do you communicate strong convictions without manipulating your audience?
• Does a good story need an agenda—or should you let the audience decide what it means?
• How do you give yourself permission to create without needing your work to serve a larger purpose?
• How can fiction help us understand perspectives and experiences outside our own?

CONNECT WITH ZAC CANNON:

• Website: https://zaccannon.com/
• Buy ‘Stillwater Trace’: https://zaccannon.com/books/stillwater-trace-a-novel-zac-cannon/B0H5XHW244

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/180

On Nigel Darius’s IG bio, he says that he is “helping the world heal…with words.” As an artist, he uses storytelling and language to foster empathy, curiosity, and human connection. In his latest book, We Say Shalom, he looks at 40 words across 15 languages to uncover their meaning, deepening our experience and connection as humans.

In this conversation, we explore the responsibility that comes with using your voice: how to communicate honestly while having respect for nuance, why we should never avoid discomfort if we really want to grow, and the dangers of when we stop listening to perspectives outside our own. Nigel shares why “agreeability does not lead to authenticity,” how artists can use their unique voice to reflect culture back to itself, and why every communicator should remember that within every word, there is a world.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• As a communicator, how do you get around the limitations of language?
• How to communicate truth without losing nuance
• How to develop a message with depth

CONNECT WITH NIGEL DARIUS:

• Website: https://nigeldarius.com/
• His book, ‘We Say Shalom’: https://a.co/d/08qXXBd0
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigeldarius/

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/179

Doogie Horner is an accomplished author, illustrator, and stand-up comedian. Across each medium, he’s learned how to navigate the tension between making work you believe in and accepting when folks don’t get it.

In this conversation, we discuss how to respect and develop your creative point of view without becoming closed off to feedback, why your “sketchbook should be a laboratory, not a gallery,” and how to stay enthusiastic when you can’t control how people respond.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Looking at your work objectively and navigating criticism (and praise)
• Developing your point of view while staying open to growth
• Staying enthusiastic about your work when success isn’t guaranteed

CONNECT WITH DOOGIE HORNER:

• Website: https://www.doogiehorner.com/comedy
• His book, ‘The Adventures of Invisible Boy’: https://a.co/d/023ICvDa
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doogiehorner/

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/178

Catherine Plano is an executive coach, leadership expert, author, and host of The Catherine Plano Podcast. Drawing from psychology, emotional intelligence, and decades of coaching leaders, Catherine helps people understand the patterns, beliefs, and emotional reactions that quietly shape how they experience the world.

In this conversation, we explore what our emotional triggers are actually trying to tell us, why curiosity is one of the most powerful tools for personal growth, and how the stories we carry influence the way we respond to conflict, relationships, and ourselves. Catherine shares practical ways to create space between reaction and response, challenge unconscious patterns, and better understand the inner narratives driving our behavior.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• What your emotional triggers are really trying to tell you
• How curiosity interrupts reactive thinking
• Why the stories you believe shape the life you experience

CONNECT WITH CATHERINE PLANO:

• Website: https://www.catherineplano.com.au/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherineplano
• Listen to ‘The Catherine Plano Podcast’: https://open.spotify.com/show/3H8vdgXprgfHf9wrSJnPbn

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/177

Jeremy Jernigan spent two decades in ministry, eventually leading a megachurch before walking away from the role that had defined his entire adult life. Today, through his book The Edge of the Inside, he helps people navigate the difficult space between who they've been and who they're becoming.

In this conversation, we explore the psychology of identity loss, the hidden cost of bitterness, and why healing requires more than simply moving on. Jeremy shares what it took to let go of the need to defend himself, why becoming fully present to our pain is part of recovery, and how embracing the "death" of an old life can become the beginning of a more authentic one.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• How to move through bitterness without minimizing what happened
• Rebuilding your identity after losing the role that once defined you
• Being deeply misunderstood (while following your calling)

CONNECT WITH JEREMY JERNIGAN:

• Order ‘The Edge of Inside’: https://www.jeremyjernigan.com/edge-of-the-inside

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/176

Quique Escamilla is a Mexican Mayan-Zapotec singer-songwriter, storyteller, and cultural advocate whose work explores identity, history, and the stories we choose to preserve. Drawing from his upbringing in Chiapas, Mexico, Quique creates music that invites people to look beyond headlines and rediscover the humanity behind the issues that shape our world.

In this conversation, we explore how an artist's worldview is formed, the responsibility of creative work, and what it means to remain faithful to your convictions when it comes at a personal cost. Quique discusses curiosity as a creative discipline, why meaningful art often begins with asking better questions, and how music can preserve history, challenge assumptions, and help us see people (and ourselves) more clearly.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• How curiosity can become an artist's greatest creative tool
• Why staying true to your work sometimes means sacrificing opportunity
• How to create art that helps people see the world differently

CONNECT WITH QUIQUE ESCAMILLA:

• Website: https://www.quiqueescamilla.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quique_escamilla/

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/175

Tina Huffman is a landscape designer, educator, and viral content creator. After spending years building a successful marketing business, she returned to the work she felt most called to do: designing outdoor spaces that are both beautiful and intentional. Drawing from her background in horticulture, landscape architecture, and digital marketing, Tina believes great design begins long before choosing the right plants…it begins by understanding how people experience a space.

In this conversation, we explore what landscape design can teach us about storytelling, creativity, and human behavior. Tina shares why every great design starts with intention, how creative constraints often produce better work, and the subtle psychological principles that shape the way we move through spaces, stories, and ideas.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Why every creative project should begin with a feeling (not a rigid plan)
• The surprising psychology behind spaces that naturally draw people in
• How creative constraints lead to better storytelling, design, and ideas

CONNECT WITH TINA HUFFMAN:

• Website: https://www.greenhousestudio.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenhousestudio.co/

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/174

David Francisco is a singer-songwriter whose life changed dramatically after a devastating cycling accident left him paralyzed just weeks after moving to Nashville to pursue music full-time. What followed was a years-long journey of rehabilitation, resilience, faith, and rediscovering what it means to build a meaningful life when everything you planned is suddenly taken away.

In this conversation, David and Heather explore identity, purpose, suffering, recovery, and the stories we tell ourselves about success. David shares how surviving a life-altering injury forced him to let go of certainty, why healing became about far more than learning to walk again, and how music, relationships, and faith helped him rebuild a life he never could have imagined. Together, they unpack the tension between ambition and acceptance, the power of choosing hope in the middle of loss, and what it means to find purpose when the future looks nothing like you expected.

WATCH EPISODES ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/heatherparady

TOPICS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Why healing involves much more than physical recovery
• The role of faith, music, and relationships in navigating suffering
• Finding meaning, gratitude, and hope when life doesn't go according to plan

CONNECT WITH DAVID FRANCISCO:

• Website: https://www.davidfranciscomusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidfranciscomusic
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1yOPhRMWrKLa3eUq42PzJg
• Listen to his new single, ‘it’s only permanent’ here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4dVwNuizrZh7gLfiv4dGWN?si=coSVcLtcQ9a0wB7ESZAeFw

CONNECT WITH HEATHER:

• Follow Heather on IG: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/
• Access Full Show Notes Here: https://www.heatherparady.com/blog/173