Voice Is

Julie and Casey sit down with Alex Batdorf, founder of Get Sh*t Done, to talk all things scaling, fundraising, getting rid of your "shoulds", finding your North Star, and creating businesses that are about legacy as much as profit. Warning for Language.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• Current narrative gives us all or nothing options when it comes to funding.
• Scale is growth, but growth is not scale.
• Your purpose or "north star" is a better guide then most "advice".
• Focus
• Experiment with what works for you, but measure outcomes.

Casey and Julie visit the Peach Pit in Refinery 29's New York office and go deep with co-founder and executive creative director Piera Gelardi on failure and success, self-image, the media, aging, and what it means to create a company - and be a person - that strives to be "real, raw, and relatable."

(RIP Sassy magazine.)

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• If someone looks like an "overnight success", you're missing part (or most) of the story. And success comes in moments along the journey, not a destination.
• Counter the instinct to watch yourself perform by focusing on generously sharing your expertise, your ideas, and your energy.
• Friction creates sparks: "the power of a problem" to give us insight and creativity that might have never come otherwise.
• Representation matters - from top stories down to the stock footage you use.
• Vulnerability can be a superpower and give others permission to talk about their own struggles.

Piera Gelardi is co-founder and executive creative director of the trailblazing media and entertainment company, Refinery29. As of 2019, Refinery29 was acquired by Vice Media Group, in a transaction valued at over $400 million. Refinery29 has won countless awards for its creativity, helping to change the way media and advertising speaks to and represents women through original content and live experiences. Piera is dedicated to championing inclusive stories that resonate globally, with an eye towards what matters most to this powerful generation of women. She has been honored as one of Adweek's Creative 100, Ad Age's 50 Most Creative People, Entrepreneur magazine's 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs, and one of Adweek's 37 Women Who Are Disrupting the Status Quo and Championing Gender Diversity. She also sits on the board of The Lower Eastside Girls Club, an organization training the next generation of ethical, entrepreneurial, environmental leaders.

Julie and Casey talk with Fear expert Mary Poffenroth about her work as a fear researcher and science communicator - and try very hard not to fangirl too much.

After discovering Mary on one of our favorite podcasts (Ologies with Alie Ward) we have been quietly (gently, classily) social media stalking her for some time now. We were thrilled when she agreed to talk to us about all things fear: its origin, how it manifests, and what we can do about it...because fear ain't a stop sign.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• Fear is a primal response that our bodies need to survive.
• You cannot "Crush" or "Dominate" or "Eliminate" fear.
• Fictional fear (fear of things that are not direct physical danger to us) generally gain power by the stories we tell ourselves about our experiences.
• We live in a culture that glamorizes stress and denigrates fear. Yet, they are the same thing.
• Mary is launching a FREE course on identifying and working with your fear. Check it out! https://www.marypoffenroth.com/hello

Mary Poffenroth is a biology lecturer and fear researcher for San Jose State University. In addition to contributing to Science magazine, Forbes, TEDx and SXSW, she advises growth driven individuals and organizations on how to use science to transform their relationship with fear to improve strategic decision making and increase creativity while cultivating more authentic communications.

Mary, a Salzburg Global Fellow and first generation college student, holds two masters degrees, one in biology and the other in science communication from Imperial College London, and will be completing her PhD in Media Psychology in 2020. She is the author of Write Present Create: Science Communication for Undergraduates and has taught nearly 20,000 students both in person and online since 2007. She began her research career in astrophysiology at NASA Ames Research Center Moffet Field in 1999 and now focuses her research on the intersection of fear science, communication, and personal/social change.

www.marypoffenroth.com

See her TedX talk here.

Julie and Casey interview 6-time NYT bestselling author Jodi Lipper about her work as a collaborative writer. Along the way they discuss interview skills and listening, presence and preparation, and how many Twitter followers you need to get a book published.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Writing is a team sport.
• Preparation is key, but so is the ability to let it go and be in the moment.
• To truly listen, you have to both hear the words and what's behind them. To tell someone's story requires attention to both, and an ability to allow and facilitate rather than manufacture a reveal.
• Want to write and publish a book? You need more than just an interesting story.
• It's not the size of your twitter following, it's how you use it.

Jodi Lipper is a six-time New York Times bestselling writer who partners with high profile experts and celebrities to garner major publishing deals and translate their experiences and expertise into highly effective and marketable books. Jodi has co-written several notable memoirs as well as prescriptive books about business, wellness, and personal development. Her clients include iconic shoe mogul Steve Madden, the "father of biohacking" and creator of Bulletproof Coffee Dave Asprey, and Fran Hauser, whose book The Myth of the Nice Girl was named the Best Business Book of 2018 by Audible and was listed by Amazon as One of the Best Business and Leadership Books of the Year.

Julie and Casey sit down with Rick Lockhart to talke voice, identity and code switching. Rather than a "how to" this is a very personal discussion surrounding the need and impact for code switching for anyone that lives outside the "mythic norm".

Rick Lockhart grew up on Chicago's west side and west suburb of Maywood. Currently living on the city's northwest side with his fiancé, Al, and their two puppies (Jackson and Theodore), he currently works as an engineering recruiting specialist, although he spent most of his working career in various positions in restaurant hospitality. Outside of work, Rick spends time acting in musical theater and co-hosting a radio talk show with his fiancé. He's had the pleasure of living throughout the Midwest, Tri-State, and the south, which has afforded him the opportunity to meet so many great people.

Julie and Casey chat with Erin Stutland (mind-body wellness expert, founder of The Movement, and major catalyst in Vital Voice Training's origin story). They'll dig into why leading from your core values is so important, the "female lifestyle brand", and the good and bad of "manifesting" - and why we're always doing it whether we know it or not.

Erin Stutland is a renowned author and mind-body wellness expert. She is the host and life-style coach of Z Living's cable series, Altar'd. Nominated for a Real Screen award alongside Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, the show is currently in its second season.

Stutland's book, Mantras in Motion: Manifesting What You Want through Mindful Movement, (Hay House) explores her proprietary approach to creating meaningful change by harnessing all the body's mental, physical, and spiritual energy through a series of stories, journaling exercises, meditations and movement.

Stutland is the creator of several mind-body fitness programs including her signature Shrink Session workout and Soul Strolls and has appeared on The Rachael Ray Show, People.com, Fox News, Glamour Magazine and more.

She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Lance and daughter, Kwynn.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/erin.stutland/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/EStutland Twitter: https://twitter.com/EStutland

In their 10th episode, to celebrate and kick off 2020, Julie and Casey dig deep on two of the questions they ask every guest: What is your definition of power? And what is your definition of play? Along the way, you'll hear powerful and playful answers from brilliant previous guests, as well as thoughts on the state of the world and why "head down, power through" isn't the best way to learn new skills.

They also announce their brand new "My Communication Manifesto" workbook.

Casey and Julie connect NYC to SF to have a frank conversation about memories past this decade, holidays, and what's upcoming, including:

• Talking Pessimism and Hope
• What's changed in the past decade
• What it means to have a change in narrative or structure from your current life story.
• Their "Word" for 2020

Do you ever think about the story your home tells? Designer Jenn Salvemini does! Jenn founded a lifestyle coaching business and in the Catskills out of her love for design, anthropology, and the power of a beautiful home, that suits YOU. Jenn creates real spaces for real people, and offers services ranging from coordinating a move to a complete overhaul of your space. With compassion and humor, Jenn shares her glimpses into our spaces and our lives.

Jenn says...

"After diving into anthropology and philosophy in college, my academics evolved into a passion for aesthetic expression in all areas of culture, from architecture to mythology, textiles to cuisine.

New York City was the perfect place to begin my exploration of these expressions, but I had to get out to touch and taste it all for myself. So after college I hit the road and experiencing the boundless creative power of the human spirit continues to inspire everything I do.

From my travels in Asia, Europe, Central America and here in the States I grew to appreciate and practice minimalism. I learned how maintaining an economy of stuff and keeping that stuff organized and tidy literally meant more freedom - more time, more money, more flexibility - a rule of thumb I still employ everyday.

My professional experience straddles careers in hospitality and fashion spanning over 15+ years.

I'm now thrilled to take my skills in systems building, project management, event planning, design and customer service and really use them to do what I truly love - homemaking and, ya know... making it nice. Yay!" Find out more about her work at jenniferlsalvemini.com

Julie and Casey sit down with prolific podcaster and Anti-Diet revolutionary Christy Harrison of Food Psych to talk about the racist and sexist roots of diet culture, the Health at Every Size movement, and why "trusting your gut" requires . . . well, trusting your gut.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Your voice and your ideas have value - if you know you have something to offer, don't let a lack of confidence (or vocal fatigue) hold you back from getting your voice out there.
• Weight loss as a health intervention wasn't a thing until the thin ideal was demands and deified by other sources.
• Anyone outside Audre Lord's "mythic norm" will be extra affected by diet culture - and diet culture is a potent political sedative, because we don't have the time, energy, or brain space to think about or act on more important things.
• Progressives in particular have work to do around fat phobia. We tend to be more conscious of other issues of diversity and inclusion but still default to jokes about bodies. We gotta work on this.
• Struggle with seeing pictures of yourself? Fill your social feed with diverse bodies!
• Your gut has actual wisdom - indeed, science thinks that our "gut" is actually a second brain. But we can't listen to it when we aren't truly IN our bodies - and we can't be IN our bodies while diet culture has its claws in us.
• Power is the power to uplift, to include, to make changes that benefit everyone.

Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CDN is an anti-diet registered dietitian nutritionist and certified intuitive eating counselor based in New York City. She offers online courses and private intuitive eating coaching to help people all over the world make peace with food and their bodies. Since 2013 Christy has hosted Food Psych, a weekly podcast exploring people's relationships with food and paths to body liberation. It is now one of iTunes' top 100 health podcasts, reaching tens of thousands of listeners worldwide each week.

Christy began her career in 2003 as a journalist covering food, nutrition, and health, and she's written for major publications including The New York Times, SELF, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, Gourmet, Slate, The Food Network, and many more. Her forthcoming book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating, will be published by Little, Brown Spark in December of 2019 and is available for pre-order now. Learn more about Christy and her work at christyharrison.com.