YOU Better!

Allison Zinczenko is many things - a mom, wife, educator, business leader and so much more.  But above all else, she describes herself as a work in progress and shares with Kiesha on YOU Better! how she has taken that work seriously.  She recounts her journey of growing up as a young child who felt unsafe, trying to navigate that by portraying perfection - to now being a mother who is nurturing a home environment with her husband and two teenage children that prioritizes healing from the inside rather than the appearance of goodness.

TRIGGER Heads-up: There are mentions of suicide and sexual abuse of children in this episode.  Please consume the content at a time when/if you have the emotional and mental space to do so.

Episode Resources:

Books

• Thich Nhat Hanh - You Are Here, How to Eat, How to Love, How to Relax
• Libby - check out audiobooks from your library!
• Learn about EMDR therapy.

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Alliah L. Agostini is a proud native of Buffalo, NY and a developing creative.  In addition to being a mom, a Harvard grad, and so much more, Alliah is the author of the kids book The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States (released in May 2022).  In this interview with Kiesha, she discusses the importance of preserving heritage and of integrating the new layers we find in ourselves as we grow into who we have always been.

Episode Resources:

• Books:
  • The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States
  • Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead
• Elaine Welteroth's Masterclass

Contact Info

• Kiesha is available to moderate interviews and panels. Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Shermica Farquhar is many things including being a multi-faceted Black woman and a Brooklynite proud of her Trinidadian heritage.  She is an incredibly strategic problem solver who also runs two companies – Solutions by SF, a business growth strategy firm, and Soka Tribe, a cultural organization that spreads the joy of carnival through dance. In this episode, she shares with Kiesha her stories of taking bold steps for change in her life, living in alignment with her values.

Episode Resources:

• Soka Tribe
• Book:  Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Kev Marcus is a Grammy nominated recording artist and co-founder of Black Violin, a band he formed with his longtime friend Wil Baptiste, in which they combine their classical training and hip-hop influences to create a distinctive multi-genre sound.  In addition to being a musical groundbreaker, Kev is a father, husband, activist, author and a person who pushes for progress and seeks to shatter expectations.  In this interview, Kev shares with Kiesha about finding his way after feeling trapped by the very success he pursued and about how he has approached navigating depression and replenishing his soul. 

Episode Resources:

• Black Violin – Official Website
• Black Violin on IG
• A Violinist Without a Stage. Black Violin, cancelled or postponed… | by Kevin Marcus Sylvester | Medium
• Books:
  • Be Water, My Friend
  • The Greatest Salesman in the World
  • The Greatest Salesman in the World, Part II: The End of the Story
  • The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Kiesha Garrison reflects on having to shut her productivity down while being sick and lessons from the one work assignment she allowed herself to still do during that time - a speech for the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund which celebrates young women who exhibit excellence in academics, leadership, and community service. 

Episode Resources:

• Organization: The Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund | Empowering young women to be leaders and active world citizens through education and active service (stanleyanndunhamfund.org)
• Books: 
  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  • Rising Troublemaker by Luvvie Ajayi Jones 

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

 Some in the classical music scene might know Shaya Lyon as the founder of a nonprofit organization called the Live Music Project.  For Kiesha, Shaya is also a very dear friend full of global perspective, earnest curiosity, and sincere compassion.  In this episode, Shaya - a descendent of both a blacklisted physicist and a Holocaust survivor - shares about her upbringing as a young woman who was raised with a charge to make the world better.  Tune in to hear Shaya outline the ways she supports herself so she can have her dreams and how she allows herself to matter enough that she can hear those dreams in the first place.

Episode Resources:

• Shaya Lyon – Photographer, writer, and software product manager
• Live Music Project - Classical Music Concerts & Events
• Books:
  • A Little Bit of Intuition: An Introduction to Extrasensory Perception by Catharine Allan
  • “Mommy, What’s that Number on Your Arm?" A-6374   - A Holocaust Memoir by Gloria Hollander Lyon 

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Living a life that doesn't center Whiteness is bold and requires intentionality and imagination.  Zerandrian Morris joins Kiesha on this episode to talk about turning points in her life that led her to imagine what's possible and listen to spirit instead of following oppressive social conditioning.  She also shares about the powerful work she does with her organization The Ignant Intellectual Group, LLC. They also discuss getting comfortable with the "both/and" aspect of dynamic parts of life as well as the importance of dreaming and how White Supremacy robs us of imagination and steals our innate ability to see past our present moment.  

About Zerandrian:

Zerandrian Morris (a/k/a ‘The Ignant Intellectual’) is a capital 'B' Black non-binary transmasculine girl-identified person born & raised in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans currently living in Washington DC. Zerandrian is a 2001 graduate of THEE Spelman College. Zerandrian is a social impact strategist who spends time creating paradigm-shifting experiences for companies, institutions, organizations, & individuals around topics like anti-racism, anti-Blackness, and racial equity. Zerandrian is also an Epidemiologist/Biostatistician & Owner/Principal Strategist of The Ignant Intellectual Group LLC, a NYC-headquartered consulting and strategy social enterprise that guides organizations and companies through the process of transforming themselves into anti-racist places of business.

Episode Resources:

• Books:  Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch
• The Ignant Intellectual Group LLC

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Aspen Fitzgerald- Dorsey shares with Kiesha Garrison details from her life story as a young Black woman who dealt with the pressures of attending Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, one of the country's highest ranked magnet schools, and her experience needing to leave graduate school because of crippling student debt.  With Aspen being pregnant with her first child at 40, the first cousins compare notes about the different messages they received about the "must-dos" of womanhood and about when was the right time to become a mother.  

Episode Resources:

• Books:  The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation by Sharon Lerner

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

In this episode, Kiesha is joined by Nikki Gane-Butler, the Founder and Director of Dignity for Divas, who shares her story as well as her perspective on self-leadership, our connectedness as humans, and how own experience with homelessness has led to her finding the personal power she always hoped was there. 

More about Dignity for Divas: Nikki Gane- Butler is committed to creating an impactful and replicable approach to supporting women as they transition out of homelessness. In 2012, Inspired by her own experience fleeing an abusive marriage and becoming homeless, Nikki founded Dignity for Divas. Dignity for Divas supports women across the Puget Sound transition out of homelessness with a self-care platform that creates pathways to success. Nikki and her team are committed to creating an impactful and replicable approach to supporting women as they transition out of homelessness. With a unique focus on self-care Dignity for Divas has created a pathway empowering woman experiencing homelessness reminding them of their dignity and sense of self-worth.

Episode Resources:

• Dignity for Divas - Visit the organization's website to support this incredible organization. 

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to conduct interviews (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org

Jun Love Young, PhD is many things...CEO of ZUM Communications, founder of Beloved Arise which celebrates and empowers LGBTQ+ youth of faith, a father, a storyteller, and so much more.  In this interview with Kiesha Garrison, Jun shares his journey to being a person who has come alive and chooses joy.

Episode Resources:

• Beloved Arise - The first national organization for queer youth of faith. They fight for the lives of queer youth of faith by building relationships, offering support, and inspiring youth to embrace life to the fullest.
• Episode: Jun interviews Kiesha on A Change Mindset
• Books:
  • Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer
  • God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships by Matthew Vines
  • Untamed by Glennon Doyle
  • More YOU Better! Recommendations

Contact Info

• Send booking inquiries for Kiesha to (info at kieshagarrison.co)
• Kiesha on IG: @kiesha_garrison

Directly support the podcast financially:

• Cash App
• Venmo
• PayPal.Me

To connect with host Kiesha B. Free, visit kiesha.org