In this episode, I speak healer, coach, and activist Rachel Ricketts

Rachel Ricketts is a writer, intuitive guide + grief coach and spiritual activist. Combining her wealth of experience as a lawyer, intercultural communications educator + trainer, loss + grief professional and her personal experiences navigating the world as a Black woman, she curates difficult but necessary conversations with compassion. As an outspoken champion for women of colour, Rachel is passionate about creating and holding space for us to face our feelings and dive deep into the tough stuff - be it race, gender, death, burnout, stress, loss or grief. She offers spiritual tools such as yoga, breathwork, meditation and intuitive coaching to help folks voice their struggles, step into their power and heal their hearts while raising the collective consciousness. Rachel has written for global publications such as Thrive, Black Girl in Om, Huffington Post and Elephant Journal and presented at internationally renowned conferences including SXSW.

In this episode, I speak with speaker, mentor, and sacred activist, Sonali Fiske

Sonali Fiske is a Sri Lankan-American & the founder of Pick Your Platform & Raise Your Voice. As a leadership guide to underrepresented & womyn-identifying women of colour (WOC) leaders, her passion is to center the often suppressed and sidelined stories of women still considered on the margins of our society. She also speaks internationally, is a workshop leader and conducts a monthly tele-call entitled "Call to Sacred Activism."

Sonali has visited 33 countries and her nonprofit management and global volunteer experiences have taken her from spearheading a sanitation project in Nairobi, to post-tsunami housing reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka. In addition, Sonali is currently a council member of the International Council of Interfaith & Indigenous Women.

In this episode, I speak with writer, storyteller and musician, Sara Haile-Mariam. Sara is the front woman and drummer of Makeda!, a band on a mission to reclaim rock and roll. In 2012 she got high and found music. In 2013 she met guitarist Mike Sutjipto and the two founded Music Bones. In 2018 Music Bones became Makeda!, and the duo released their debut EP “I’ll Say It How I Want To” on June 8, 2018.

In this episode, I speak with speaker, coach, and podcast host, Omkari Williams

Omkari is the host of the Stepping Into Truth podcast, where she takes her unique and multi-layered perspective as a black woman who isn't African American, and speaks to conversations about social justice, race, and gender. Her experiences as an actress, political consultant, and executive coach all inform her work with women’s stories. 

Her work seeks to encourage women from all over the world to share their stories. Omkari's belief in stories as activism highlights her unique approach to coaching others in storytelling.

In this episode, I speak with creative mentor, speaker, and coach, Kristin Iris

Kristin is a creative mentor whose mission is to challenge oppressive power dynamics and systems by inspiring Black and Brown creatives to find the power in their voice. She is here to ignite socially conscious Black and Brown creatives to step into the amazing capacity to make big shifts and radical changes in the world. Kristin main goal is to help every Creative of Color embody and live to the fullest potential and share unfiltered and true power.

Kristin works 1-on-1 with creatives and athletes of color in gaining clarity on how the oppressive systems stop creators of color from reaching their full potential and sharing their voices to their highest power.

In this episode, I speak with international speaker, anti-racism educator, and best-selling author, Catrice M. Jackson

Catrice is the global visionary leader of the Awakened Conscious Shift, the CEO of Catriceology Enterprises, an international speaker, and a best-selling author. Catrice is a straight up, on the rocks with no chaser voice for racial justice who is unapologetic and unflinching with her anti-racism message. She is the catalytic creator of SHETalks WETalk Race Talks for Women and WETalks for Women of Color. I became friends with Catrice at the beginning of this year, and was thrilled when I got to preview a copy of her incredible book - The Becky Code. As you'll hear in this episode however, it was sharing excerpts from this book that ultimately ended up with me being censored on Instagram and Facebook.

Catrice is strong medicine and serves up hard truths necessary to eliminate the lethal infection of racism from humanity. She realizes that her approach may be rebuked and her flavor undesired. Catrice knows she is not for everyone and that everyone won’t like her, and she is unbothered by both. She is unmoved by naysayers and does her work authentically and unapologetically with a revolutionary spirit and believes that justice is love.

Catrice and I recorded this episode a few months ago, before I travelled to the US, before I had decided on the title of my book ('From Anger, With Love: A Black Feminist Talks To Spiritual White Women About White Supremacy'), and while I was still on my Instagram hiatus. I am now back on Instagram, am currently working with my literary agents to prepare a book proposal, and have incorporated a lot of the lessons that I learnt from Catrice in this episode into both my personal and professional life.

Get ready some for some straight up real talk, with a woman who does not mince her words.

CW/Trigger Warning: At the end of the episode, there is a brief mention of child molestation, so please practice self-care and boundaries for yourself.

In this episode, I speak with motherhood life coach, post-partum depression advocate, writer, and speaker, Graeme Seabrook.

Graeme is a Motherhood Life Coach, whose approach to coaching is based on the belief that you must be a priority in your own life in order to thrive. Following a traumatizing birth experience and falling into post-partum depression (without realizing it), Graeme began a healing journey as a mother and a woman.

That healing journey led her to creating The Mom Center, a social network and group coaching community for those who mother. The Mom Centre is a space where mothers can come to be witnessed, nurtured, inspired and supported, so that they can integrate motherhood with personhood, and not the other way around. She does this work because she believes we are living in a global culture that treats mothers as if we are inhuman, and expects us to be superhuman.

Graeme’s work is dedicated to helping mothers reclaim their humanity.

In this episode, I speak with former wellness coach turned writer, speaker and educator, Melissa Toler.

Melissa has had a really fascinating journey from dieting and fitness fanatic, to completely opting out of the wellness and diet industry. Melissa's journey began - as it has for many of us - with dieting to lose weight. She then began training for fitness competitions, and later became certified as a wellness coach. However, the further along she traveled in the wellness industry, the more disatissfied she became. She began to notice certain things that did not sit right with her. Like how the wellness industry does not cater for everybody. And how our obsession with dieting is not leading us to greater happiness or wellness. How our fear of fatness is oppressive. And how the wellness industry isn't accessible to everybody.

For these reasons, Melissa made the decision to opt out of the wellness industry and instead focus on encouraging people to make the connection between our culture's oppressive beauty standards and our personal struggle with self-acceptance. Her goal now is to help people unlearn harmful messages and behaviors from years of chronic dieting.

Listen in as Melissa and I take on the issues with the wellness and diet industry, reclaiming our wellness and how writing can be used as a tool for healing.

In this episode, I speak with writer, storyteller and diversity advocate, Leesa Renee Hall.

Leesa Renee Hall is my sister-writer and sister-storyteller. Her Patreon page is one of my favourite accounts - I devour every piece she publishes. After writing half a million words over 365 consecutive days, Leesa discovered that words can help one find their true purpose. Leesa helps spiritual and business leaders use curious inquiry to question their views on diversity so they can become effective leaders and create truly inclusive communities, companies, and corporations. She teaches that the only way you can have hard conversations around systemic oppression is to first breakthrough your inner oppression using the combination of curious inquiry and expressive writing.

Like me, Leesa has had the unique experience of having her work go viral in recent months, when she published a blog post called '#ExpressiveWriting Prompts to Use If You’ve Been Accused of #WhiteFragility #SpiritualBypass or #WhitePrivilege'. I've heard story after story of people using these writing prompts in their personal practice, in their teams, with their families and in their communities to help unpack their white fragility and become braver in conversations about race.

In this episode, Leesa and I really grappled with what it means for us to be black women who write about identity and race - while trying to defy and decenter the white gaze. It's a must listen.

In this episode, I speak with artist, writer and professional troublemaker, Alexis P. Morgan.

Alexis P. Morgan is the Abbess of the Church of St. Felicia, where her work as a writer, artist, and ritualist serve her community and the pursuit of Truth, Justice, and Liberation. Alexis is one of my favourite writers. Her ability to write with both fire and love inspires me - both as a writer and as a black woman. Alexis describes herself as the, 'pole-dancing, troublemaking, pro-heaux, anarcho-communist, Black AF sorceress you've been warned about'. I would say that's spot on. Alexis' work spans many different interlocking disciplines including writing, art, anti-capitalism, business, spirituality and anti-oppression work. It was a blessing to have this conversation with this dear sister.