Hope England on The Intersection of Laughter & Trauma and What Covid-19-induced Paralysis Taught Her About Her Calling
Hope England on The Intersection of Laughter & Trauma and What Covid-19-induced Paralysis Taught Her About Her Calling Heromakers Podcast Laurie Nichols & Ann Chow|2/22/2022 In this episode, Laurie and Ann talk with Hope England, a brilliant and funny psychotherapist and comedian who founded Humor for Hope, an organization that prevents and heals trauma by using comedy and improvisation. Hope and her team formed an alternative inpatient therapy for trauma survivors and chronically and terminally ill children and patients. Hope holds a degree in writing and producing for television and sitcoms, has studied education and theater, and is a graduate and former employee of The Second City and The Second City Training Center. She is a practicing psychotherapist who works in trauma and crisis intervention with an emphasis on grief, loss, death, and dying. We discovered Hope after we delved more into The Witness Institute and talking with founder Ariel Burger (Season 3, Episode 6). In addition to her work with Humor for Hope, she is a Fellow at The Witness Institute. Here, we talk about the intersection of laughter and trauma and how her own melding of the two brought her through some very dark days this past Fall when she contracted Covid-19, which led her to develop Guillain-Barré syndrome, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down for a period. Hope shares how she discovered comedy and when she realized it could be used to heal the wounds of others. We also talk about her adventures, dark retreats, and laughter as “carbonated holiness” (Anne Lamott). Heromakers can be found on IG @heromakersmovement and on FB @heromakersmovement. You can also visit our website at: https://www.heromakersmovement.com. Humor for Hope can be found here: humorforhope.com, and on Instagram here. You can watch this and other episodes of the podcast on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVDFP8jEcv5bdhr8VLzXjA. Like us and follow us today! And share this episode with your friends. Want to support this work we do?? We are on PATREON and would love if you would join our growing community! Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/heromakersmovement. #humor#comedy#laughter#trauma#pain#pain management#healing from pain#self-help#children#heroes#heromakers
Latanya DeVaughn on Pursuing Dreams, Launching the Only Mobile Bookstore in the Bronx, and Developing a Love of Reading
Latanya DeVaughn on Pursuing Dreams, Launching the Only Mobile Bookstore in the Bronx, and Developing a Love of Reading Heromakers Podcast Laurie Nichols & Ann Chow|3/1/2022 In this episode, Laurie and Ann talk with Latanya DeVaughn, founder of Bronx Bound Books, the only mobile bookstore in the Bronx (and only the second bookstore in that area!), an area of over 1.5 million people. For years, Latanya didn’t think it was possible to own her own bookstore, but when her son’s recently-retired teacher opened one, something changed in her. Tapping into her savings, Latanya purchased a shuttle bus and began traveling from place to place to bring books to those who would otherwise not have access to new and gently-used books. Here, the three talk about books and Latanya’s influences, and about the rubber band as an analogy for life — when the tension of following your dreams becomes too much, you either let go and release the tension, or you let your dreams fly and see where they take you. Heromakers can be found on IG @heromakersmovement and on FB @heromakersmovement. You can also visit our website at: https://www.heromakersmovement.com. Bronx Bound Books and the Go Fund Me page we reference can be found here: bronxboundbooks.shop/gofundme/, and on Instagram here. You can watch this and other episodes of the podcast on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVDFP8jEcv5bdhr8VLzXjA. Like us and follow us today! And share this episode with your friends. Want to support this work we do?? We are on PATREON and would love if you would join our growing community! Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/heromakersmovement.
Mannie Thomas on Changing False Narratives, Reversing Toxic Masculinity, and Lessons Learned After Incarceration
Mannie Thomas on Changing False Narratives, Reversing Toxic Masculinity, and Lessons Learned After Incarceration Heromakers Podcast Laurie Nichols & Ann Chow|3/16/2022 In this episode, Laurie and Ann talk with Mannie Thomas, co-executive director and director of programming at Success Stories, which “provides an alternative to prisons that builds safer communities by delivering feminist programming to people who have caused harm.” Here, Mannie shares his own journey of growing up with false narratives about himself and what it meant to be a man–and which led him down a destructive road to prison. There, Mannie began to see himself, others, and the future differently, eventually earning five degrees and assisting other men to see how broken worldviews impact everything. Mannie shares what he has learned, helps us understand patriarchy and toxic masculinity, and gives us a glimpse into the power of true community, redemption, and moving past shame to find the real person hidden inside each of us. Heromakers can be found on IG @heromakersmovement and on FB @heromakersmovement. You can also visit our website at: https://www.heromakersmovement.com. Success Stories can be found here: www.successstoriesprogram.org, and on Instagram here. In this episode, we reference Hector Guadalupe on “Life After Incarceration and Why All of Us Need Second Chances” (S1E You can watch this and other episodes of the podcast on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVDFP8jEcv5bdhr8VLzXjA. Like us and follow us today! And share this episode with your friends. Want to support this work we do?? We are on PATREON and would love if you would join our growing community! Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/heromakersmovement. #success stories#incarceration#life behind bar#prison#new life#new me#heromakers#heroes#everyday heroes#inspiration
Nelli Kim on How Cancer Clarifies a Call + The Intersection of Fashion & Making Our World Better
Nelli Kim on How Cancer Clarifies a Call + The Intersection of Fashion & Making Our World Better Heromakers Podcast Laurie Nichols & Ann Chow|3/23/2022 In this episode, Laurie is flying solo and talks with the amazing Nelli Kim, Founder & CEO at RĒDEN, which makes radically comfortable shoes with a purpose, and Founding Board Member of RAISEfashion, a network of fashion industry leaders, providing pro bono consulting to Black-owned brands and individuals, with a mission to advance the equity of Black talent. She is also Co-founder of Embers International, which works to fight the injustice of human trafficking. Nelli talks about how she got into fashion and her climb up the ladder to high-end fashion apparel and shoes, and then the moment when she felt called to intersect her experience with raising money for organizations doing good in the world. Nelli shares honestly about her cancer diagnosis, the healing process, and how her experience made her goal to make comfortable shoes even more meaningful. We talk about the power of mentorship and making ourselves available to others, and about why heromakers can be found in unlikely places. Heromakers can be found on IG @heromakersmovement and on FB @heromakersmovement. You can also visit our website at: https://www.heromakersmovement.com. Nelli’s Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelli-kim-370754a6 Personal Instagram: @nellibellek RĒDEN: https://www.shopreden.com Embers International: http://www.embersinternational.org RAISEfashion: https://raisefashionnow.org In this episode, we reference Megs Yunn on Celebrating Birthdays, Building Joy, and Speaking Dignity to Children (S1E23). You can watch this and other episodes of the podcast on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVDFP8jEcv5bdhr8VLzXjA. Like us and follow us today! And share this episode with your friends. Want to support this work we do?? We are on PATREON and would love if you would join our growing community! Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/heromakersmovement. #heroes#hero#heromakers#making the world better#inspiration#storytelling#cancer stories#Nelli Kim#fashion#design
Remember to Include a Cancellation Clause
Remember to Include a Cancellation Clause What happens when you don’t remember to include a cancellation clause in your contract that stipulates financial remuneration? Yup, Murphy says it’ll happen. The 7000 person assembly I was working on as the Director of Operations for the past 1.5 years was suddenly postponed in mid-February. Instead of flying to Seoul to continue working with our local vendors and hiring my international operations team, I immediately shifted gears to call off the hiring process, shut everything down and negotiate ourselves out of our many contracts with minimal damage. Due to this fact, I have since added a clause in my contract that stipulates a percentage of the amount owing from when the contract was prematurely cut short to the originally agreed upon project termination date. Yesterday, I unexpectedly heard from a wonderful global leader who calls himself the President & CEO of the Ann Chow Fan Club! As I roam around the world, collecting incredible experiences and stories to tell, I am well aware of the cheerleaders and encouragers that have come alongside me. My gratitude to those who take the time to pause and acknowledge those who strive to make things happen, usually in the background and away from the microphones and lights. Other than the financial disruption to the contract, this same global leader summed up the emotional transition that I’ve been experiencing since the end of February, “you deserve a good rest and a nice place to relax. I have also been a part of projects that never came to the finish line – which is where you get your emotional compensation for a big project. When you do so much work and don’t see the fulfillment, it can leave you feeling drained and empty.” He’s absolutely right, of course. It’s happened before and will likely happen again. Another incredibly wise and long-time consultant & friend gave me advice when I was starting out, to have two to three, if not more contracts going at the same time. His answer to my question of why, was “well, what are the chances that all three will fire you at the same time?!” *zing!* Unfortunately for me, the assembly was such a large project that I didn’t feel I could do justice to additional projects, so I was left with no projects when this one fell through. It’s been a tough and exhausting month, but I have a feeling this is par for the course for small businesses as I learn from these valuable experiences. Any similar experiences out there or advice for the road? Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Link Happy Endings: Ann’s first blog post See my handiwork firsthand next Sunday. And ceremoniously. Canada vs. Australia at the last World Ultimate Under-23 Championships (Florence Italy, 2010) I’m very proud to be Event… Drawing a World-Class Sporting Event to a Close The Ultimate World Under-23 Championships in Toronto was a fantastic event. Team Canada made the final round against…
Fatigue or Gut Instinct?
Fatigue or Gut Instinct? A week after my contract ended to be the Director of Operations for a 7000 person assembly in Korea, I was recommended for a 5000 person congress in Bangkok. Well, no rest for the weary After speaking to the organization a week later, I was asked to fly down for an interview. For whatever reason, I was uneasy about moving forward. Was it my fatigue speaking so soon after my previous contract had been prematurely cut short or was it my gut instinct and I really needed to pay attention to this? Regardless, they agreed to call off the interview process but offered instead to fly me in as a consultant. It was great to meet the staff and facilitate the team planning process. They seemed to appreciate the ideas and planning that we generated. One staff member commented that the planning had gone from theory to something much more tangible and that she had a more realistic idea of the sheer amount of work ahead of them for the next two years. Success! The organization has since invited me to accompany them to Bangkok at the end of April to assist with the contract negotiations with the convention centre and local Thai organization Memo of Understanding. Is there anything we need to be aware of as we negotiate such an important contract? Any cultural aspects that would be helpful to keep in mind? Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Link Happy Endings: Ann’s first blog post See my handiwork firsthand next Sunday. And ceremoniously. Canada vs. Australia at the last World Ultimate Under-23 Championships (Florence Italy, 2010) I’m very proud to be Event… Drawing a World-Class Sporting Event to a Close The Ultimate World Under-23 Championships in Toronto was a fantastic event. Team Canada made the final round against…
Entrepreneurs in Salvador, Brazil
Entrepreneurs in Salvador, Brazil Hello everyone, I received an email from a long-time friend, Yuniya, who is launching a new project in September in Salvador, Brazil, called Emerge Salvador. It would be sweet for us to give these under-resourced business owners a boost as they get things rolling! I’ll let her introduce the project to you. “This is a project that I designed and am implementing in collaboration with my colleague Nyia H. and Instituto Mídia Étnica, a local Brazilian non-profit organization in Salvador. Our ultimate goal is to build up and strengthen the capacity of Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs in the city, helping them to turn their ideas and vision into successful businesses and movements. On behalf of our team, I would like to ask you to support our efforts towards this cause. We need to raise a minimum of $8000 to do this project well. Please consider helping us in the following ways: By donating as little as $15 USD – this will go a long way! By sharing this project, and talking about it with your network of friends and colleagues. Our fundraising campaign is open until August 21, 2015. If we do not raise $8000 USD by then, we will not receive any funds, regardless of what has been pledged to date, so your help is greatly appreciated! Please visit our fundraising page to donate, and for more details about our project, including how the funds will be used. http://startsomegood.com/emergesalvador Thank you for your support. Let me know if you have any questions or comments in the comment box below. Sincerely, Yuniya and the Emerge Salvador Team Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Link Happy Endings: Ann’s first blog post See my handiwork firsthand next Sunday. And ceremoniously. Canada vs. Australia at the last World Ultimate Under-23 Championships (Florence Italy, 2010) I’m very proud to be Event… Drawing a World-Class Sporting Event to a Close The Ultimate World Under-23 Championships in Toronto was a fantastic event. Team Canada made the final round against…
Generating a Good Tailwind in Brazil
Generating a Good Tailwind in Brazil We received an update on what’s been happening in Brazil and it’s so exciting! It’s great to hear how entrepreneurs are being mobilized and encouraged around the globe. How is this being done in your part of the world? This is from Yuniya: The Emerge Salvador project is taking off. We now have three entrepreneur films done. Our website is up and running, as is our Facebook page. These sites are still in the early stages–there’s much more in the works in terms of content and design. The second film, just completed, is about entrepreneurs Mukunã Dreadlocks. It will be uploaded to our website later this week. In the meantime, you can check it out here The co-working space is still under construction but is beginning to emerge. The walls are currently being painted, then comes the fun part: furnishing and decorating. In the meantime, we’re working on selecting the entrepreneurs to serve as the inaugural members of our co-working space. On 21 November we hosted a huge event with our NGO partner, Instituto Mídia Étnica. We officially launched our co-working space with a mini entrepreneur fair, and premiered Emerge Salvador’s three films–among many other activities. There’s a lot going on, a lot building here in the Afro-Braziilian community and among their entrepreneurs. It’s a ripe moment and people can feel it. We’re excited to become an integral part of this movement and join in the collective effort to validate and invest in this community. My role: Creator of the Emerge Salvador project, Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, Communications Manager, pretty much everything. My assistant, Lucas helps with transcribing interviews, some translation work, and some social media tasks. Nyia has the title of Associate Director, but her role has turned into essentially Webmaster. If you’re interested in funding this project, read here for more information. Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Link Happy Endings: Ann’s first blog post See my handiwork firsthand next Sunday. And ceremoniously. Canada vs. Australia at the last World Ultimate Under-23 Championships (Florence Italy, 2010) I’m very proud to be Event… Drawing a World-Class Sporting Event to a Close The Ultimate World Under-23 Championships in Toronto was a fantastic event. Team Canada made the final round against…
From Concept to Reality
From Concept to Reality What should’ve taken us an hour to drive through the city of Manila, took us three! My friend & I decided to rent a car to do some sightseeing before our meetings – day one was easy, breezy & relaxing – exactly what we had hoped to get over jet lag. Day two was gruelling and I almost gave up hope, except for the fact that we had a meeting with staff from Food for the Hungry Philippines and they had arranged a meeting with the mayor of Navotas City! Thankfully, my friend has lived in Nigeria and is an expert at driving through crowded streets while avoiding people and the occasional goat. He drove through Manila traffic and I navigated. We were still stopped twice by police & had his driver’s license confiscated. We paid a hefty fine to get his license back the first time, but we weren’t so lucky the second. Google maps gave us the wrong destination at first, but we finally rerouted to Navotas City Hall. We were 5 minutes away when we came to a blocked road. A kid moved the blockade so we drove down the narrow street, barely missing the many obstacles in the way. We realized too late that there was a gaping hole in the road at the far end with no way around it. We couldn’t turn around and there was no way we could drive backwards all of the way back down the street. After trying to turn around, we gave up and jumped out to rebuild the road!We were quite a sight in our business clothes shifting the blockade and pile of rocks blocking the road. A small crowd gathered and spoke to me in Tagalog. They all watched as we tried to fill the hole with cement blocks, but the hole was way too deep. Thankfully, a police officer came to our rescue and miraculously found a metal plank to lay over the hole. The men in the crowd then jumped in to help reinforce the plank for us to safely drive across. After saying thank you as often as I could, I jumped in the car and we sped off.As soon as we arrived at City Hall, the FH Philippines staff recognized us immediately and took good care of us. Meeting the mayor was wonderful – he is very grateful and supportive of their work in the troubled areas of his city.Our next stop was a high school where they have a food program for the least nourished children. I was so impressed by the selection process of the children and how the staff determine what they need, but also train the parents, teachers, local government and churches on how to care for them physically, academically, spiritually and emotionally as a community. FH Phil Children The children from the food program were assembled together. The principal explained how Food for the Hungry helped the children achieve their academic goals and highlighted their school as one of the best in the region. My friend nudged me to check out the stage – they painted a huge banner across the platform to welcome me! I then looked and saw the agenda included an ‘inspirational message’ with my name next to it. Gulp!!! School BannerWhat a pleasure to meet the children, parents, teachers and FH staff. Their dedication is obvious. Their time with this specific neighbourhood is coming to a close, but they are already working to increase ownership & leadership from within the community to continue the work when they leave. It Takes a Village This day was certainly a comprehensive glimpse into what Food for the Hungry does on the field just a month after joining the Food for the Hungry Canada board. This trip has enormously helped me transfer food poverty concepts into reality. I’m thankful for the competent and faithful staff in the Philippines for showing me how things work in their country as they impact numerous economically under-resourced communities and hundreds of real lives. Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Link Happy Endings: Ann’s first blog post See my handiwork firsthand next Sunday. And ceremoniously. Canada vs. Australia at the last World Ultimate Under-23 Championships (Florence Italy, 2010) I’m very proud to be Event… Drawing a World-Class Sporting Event to a Close The Ultimate World Under-23 Championships in Toronto was a fantastic event. Team Canada made the final round against…
Food for the Hungry & a Trip to Manila
Food for the Hungry & a Trip to Manila Confession: I have a crush on The Oatmeal. He makes me laugh…every time! To know him is to love him! If you’re in conversation with me, my eyes will inevitably brighten and I’ll say, “It’s like that Oatmeal cartoon! You know, the one where…” The reason why I like him so much is the way he finds humour in daily situations. Also, he portrays himself as a pudgy, nondescript guy when he’s actually quite handsome. He’s coming to do a book signing in Toronto in 2 weeks and my best friend in the world kindly let me know. They’re both THE. BEST. All this is a relatively long-winded intro to the nature of this post: I’m plugging Food for the Hungry Canada in large part because I’ve just been named to their Board. It’s a 3 year commitment, which means regular trips to Vancouver. Yes! Of course, it’s part of the somewhat obvious virtuous circle: I wouldn’t have been named to their Board if I wasn’t very willing to plug what they do, etc etc. My hope is the more I get to know them, the more I will love what they do and represent them well. FH Canada, part of the global Food for the Hungry association, is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to ending poverty – one community at a time. We are currently working with 10 developing communities in 10 countries around the world. In order to eradicate poverty and create sustainability, FH Canada uses an integrated approach including projects in agriculture, education, health, leadership and gender equality in an effort to meet the physical, spiritual, social and educational needs of each man, woman and child living in poverty. Here is where things get exciting! I’m off to Manila for leadership meetings with the World Evangelical Alliance next month. FH Canada has a 10 year commitment to the Navota community right in Manila. The president has consequently arranged for me to see the work on the ground. I’m thrilled to meet the national staff, better understand how things work and see the impact of the project on the entire community. I’m really happy to be serving on this Board for the next 3 years! Facebook-f X-twitter Linkedin-in Link Happy Endings: Ann’s first blog post See my handiwork firsthand next Sunday. And ceremoniously. Canada vs. Australia at the last World Ultimate Under-23 Championships (Florence Italy, 2010) I’m very proud to be Event… Drawing a World-Class Sporting Event to a Close The Ultimate World Under-23 Championships in Toronto was a fantastic event. Team Canada made the final round against…