Nikita Burks-Hale is the CEO and Head Creative of JourneyGurl Magic Productions, a podcast production company that supports and empowers Womxn of Color as they bring their unique voices to the masses through podcasting. Nikita is also the host of 2 podcasts, The JourneyGurl Magic Podcast, and The Podcaster’s Journey (launching Aug 2020). Nikita is a journeyer in every sense of the word and truly believes that life is a journey and you must be open to its endless possibilities. Her coaching and personal beliefs are centered around living your imperfect journey to the fullest by:
When Nikita is not coaching, producing, or journeying, you can find her Netflix bingeing classics with her wife Jessica and catching up on the latest episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her toddler son, Adonis.
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A few years ago I was at a workshop for business owners and we had to create a list of our core values. We were given a list of 40 or so values to choose from and had to narrow it down to our top 5.
I couldn’t do it.
I cried.
It took me longer than anyone else in the room to narrow my list down to just a few core values I wanted to commit to.
The process of discernment around this brought up a lot of emotion around why certain things are important to me. It forced me to look at myself, who I am, how I show up, and how I want to impact the world.
While this was hard, it was ultimately so freeing. When I (finally) completed the exercise, I had so much clarity around what was most important to me and why each value was important. These core values have become guiding lights for me as I’ve developed as a woman, a mom, and a CEO.
Listen in to hear why committing to a short list of core values is important - even crucial. Learn exactly how to choose a few select core values that will become beacons in times of uncertainty. Get excited about determining what’s most important to you and how to live more clearly, deeply, and loudly in your values that matter the most.
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Brenda Zane is a Shameless Mom to four sons ages 14-22, a Mayo Clinic Certified Health and Wellness Coach and the Founder of The Stream, an online community to support moms of kids with substance use disorder. Based on her personal experience she provides a space to get and keep moms healthy while they fight for their child’s life. She also hosts Hopestream, a podcast for parents whose kids are struggling with addiction. Brenda spent the first 25 years of her career in advertising, working for global agencies and Fortune 500 clients like Target, Microsoft, Nike, Hawaiian Airlines, and P&G. She lives in Seattle with her husband and a blended family of 4 boys and 2 dogs.
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Practicing courage is a lifetime of showing up and taking small, uncomfortable steps. Sometimes things work out for you. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the rewards are quick and amazing and so gratifying. Sometimes it’s all really messy and ugly and painful. Regardless, for many of us (all of us?), routinely practicing courage is the only way to continually become more of the person we aspire to be. Am I right?
When I think of who I am becoming, all I see in front of me is a series of action steps that will require courage. So, I am taking small steps each day to make sure that I am ready to keep practicing courage, no matter how gratifying or gritty it becomes.
Listen in to learn 5 small steps you can take to build big courage that will guide you for a lifetime.
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Jocelyn Kopac is a DEI educator, a speaker, a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. At age 7, Jocelyn Kopac started her first business. From then on she knew that running and growing businesses would be a huge part of her future. Her ingenuity and positive attitude represent true leadership, although she attributes a lot of her success to the power of abundance, paying it forward and a great cup of coffee. Those that have a chance to meet her, learn from her, and hear her story say she is nothing but real, unfettered advice and encouragement.
A teacher at heart, Jocelyn loves helping businesses grow by facilitating the hard talks about diversity, equity, race, and inclusion. Her approach to diversity and inclusion work is one of love and education. We all have biases that we need to work on to be sure we are providing safe and productive anti-racist spaces. Jocelyn is here to educate and support you on this journey.
Listen in to hear Jocelyn share:
● How she’s navigating being a DEI educator and living as a Black woman during this culturally revolution
● The definition and role of a DEI educator
● The important distinction between diversity and inclusion
● The important distinction between equality and equity
● 4 steps to becoming a better ally
● The definition of racism as it relates to your unchecked bias
● How white progressive women are doing harm while thinking they are being great allies
● How you can support BIPOC co workers and community members right now
● The danger in trying to race through a checklist of anti racism resources right now
● What the long term (necessarily uncomfortable) process of commitment, stamina, growth & change around anti racism work actually looks like
● The importance of acknowledging each person’s world perspective as individual and unique
Links mentioned:
● Connect with Jocelyn, hire her to speak, join her mastermind: Stand In Your Bias
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If there has ever been a time to persist, it is now.
Persistence leads to change and growth and evolution and POWER.
And...there is no denying that persistence is hard. It can be overwhelming, exhausting, and feel so relentless. It is all those things, but that doesn’t make it impossible. In our fatigue, it’s easy to lose track of the importance of what we are working toward.
To stay persistent we must give ourselves permission.
Permission to:
Do better
Commit
Take imperfect action
Be an action taker and decision maker
Mess up and keep going
Use your voice
Take a chance
Learn something new
Take sides
Rest and recover in order to keep going
Step back from unhealthy relationships/unhealthy people
Say yes
Say no
Become a different person
Listen to your gut (ex: Patty)
Let go of other peoples’ expectations
Be bold
Shine
In giving yourself permission to persist, you will find the power to use your voice in new ways, to affect change, to build a better legacy, and to have more massive impact. This is how we can, together, build a better world for all.
Liz Nead is an adventure speaker, coach, and author, most recently climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and flipping 300-pound tires in the Iowa Strongman Games. She is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and has authored several best selling books—most recently "The 1440 Principle." Her work has been ranked in BuzzFeed and reviewed by the Huffington Post. She is a skilled story-teller and teacher, creating powerful personal development and team building strategies.
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I think it’s safe to say that 2020 has broken many (all?) of us over and over.
A friend recently introduced me to the idea of being antifragile, based on the work and book Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. She shared with me that in our breaking we have this beautiful opportunity to pick up the pieces and rebuild into something more dynamic and flexible and strong and powerful and thoughtful and conscientious.
We will break and we can rebuild and in our rebuilding we can become better than before. We can embrace that we will break over and over in our lifetime and each time something beautiful can come of the way we put the pieces back together.
There has been a lot of breaking in 2020. In our breaking, our self trust has been ROCKED. Repeatedly.
It is time to rebuild. Listen in to learn 6 ways that you can start to rebuild into a woman who is more dynamic, flexible, strong, powerful, thoughtful, and conscientious.
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Tejal V Patel is a stressed out mama's secret weapon. She’s a former divorce attorney turned mindfulness and meditation expert for moms and kids, host of The Time-In Talks podcast and author of Meditation for Kids: 40 Activities to Stay Present, Improve Concentration and Manage Difficult Emotions.
It’s Tejal’s mission to support moms in their journey to become mindful parents and raise the first generation of mindful children too.
Named a “Well-being Warrior” in The Huffington Post, Tejal’s soulful wisdom reaches moms globally through her signature online courses (The Mindful Kids Masterclass, Mindful Mama Experience, and 7 Day Stress Detox), inspiring podcast, booming Instagram community, motivating Tejal.TV episodes, powerful live events, and laser-sharp coaching.
Her fun and practical ways to infuse Ayurveda, mindfulness, and meditation everyday makes her a go-to resource for modern moms seeking to raise calm, confident, and compassionate children who want to feel like present, patient and peaceful parents too.
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This episode is different. A break from our routines and comfort zones are necessary right now.
If you follow me on social media or have listened to my show for any length of time, this probably goes without saying. But, to be unequivocally clear, I want you to know that personally and professionally I believe Black Lives Matter.
The Shameless Mom Academy is built on the following core values:
Show up
Lead with compassion and integrity
Seek out and celebrate diversity
Stay curious and humble
Stretch yourself | Embrace discomfort | Invite growth
These core values are considered in all decisions around building this community, providing services to clients, and creating impact on a global level.
I am very open about my beliefs, but if you ever want to know more about the company or core values you’re supporting when you listen to my show or invest in any of my programs, events, memberships or masterminds, please feel free to reach out to me.
In this same vein of transparency, you should also know that when you invest in the Shameless Mom Academy a portion of our revenue each month goes to the following organizations: The Loveland Foundation, Under The Same Tree, the ACLU, the Trevor Project and Planned Parenthood.
I believe all companies should be leading with pure transparency around where they stand when it comes to protecting black lives and human rights.
This episode is intentionally brief, with an invitation for you to prioritize learning from black educators today.
Go download one of these audiobooks or podcasts and listen & learn:
Me & White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made For Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
This Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
Good Ancestor Podcast with Layla Saad
First Name Basis Podcast with Jasmine Bradshaw (how to talk to your kids about race):
Watch Rachel Cargle’s Public Address on Revolution on Youtube
Sign up for Mirna Valerio’s upcoming course: Introduction to Identity, Social Justice, and Antiracism for the White Community
As a woman and person of color, Abbi Wood has heard more than her fair share of what to say and do in the world. At times a whisper, and at times a yell, she's used her voice to create what she calls a full and fulfilling life. Primarily, she works with biz owners to help them find their voice (or, as she calls it, uncover their biznality) so that marketing and talking about their business feels like a natural extension of themselves vs an out-of-body experience.
I reached out to Abbi after hearing her speak at an event. She was there to speak about helping women find their voices in their businesses and brands. But what was so compelling about her talk was her own story about finding her own voice after being silenced by her family, pushed into an arranged marriage, and moving across the world to build a completely new and independent life.
Listen in to hear Abbi share:
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Connect with Abbi: Abbi Wood
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Best Fiends: Download FREE on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
In the last 3 months, we have had the opportunity to postpone, pivot, and repurpose nearly every aspect of our lives - over and over again. It has been hard, heavy, confusing, and disorienting to say the least.
But 12 weeks in, I’d say we have begun to master these shifts. We are able to take a critical look at the opportunities in front of us each day and assess: “Is this a time to postpone, pivot, or repurpose.”
I know these decisions are becoming more clear for me, as I make them over and over. I’m able to make them with increased ease and confidence.
Today, I’ll share how I’m discerning when to postpone vs pivot vs repurpose. I’ll use a few recent family and business examples, the biggest and most scary (and most successful) being the massive shift to repurpose Shameless Mom Con 2020 to the Shameless Mom Con Collective.
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Nancy Jane Smith, MSEd., LPC is a licensed professional counselor and trainer. She graduated with her BA in Psychology from Miami University and earned Masters of Science degrees in both Counseling and Higher Education from the University of Dayton.
With 13 years in private practice and more than 20 years working as a counselor and coach, Nancy has established herself as an expert in High Functioning Anxiety. Combining her years of research, countless hours working with clients, and first-hand experience in her own life, Nancy developed the Happier Approach, a three-step system to help you motivate yourself, accomplish your goals, and be kind to yourself. Really, it is possible!
Nancy is the creator and host of The Happier Approach podcast and has written three books on living happier, most notably The Happier Approach: Be Kind to Yourself, Feel Happier and Still Accomplish Your Goals.
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I’m wondering how many of you, like me, saw the beginning of this pandemic as similar to a series of snow days or a long weekend? Perhaps you let typical habits and routines go in order to hunker down with late-night TV binging, extra treats, lotsa wine, little movement, and a bit of disregard for what really fuels your body.
Perhaps as you got deeper into this weird and unsettling season of life, you had less and less time to yourself. You stopped doing restorative activities that allowed you to have moments to yourself to think and breath - probably because there was no way to actually be alone.
We are now months into this season of life and many of us are suffering because we have let go of the habits that truly serve us: fueling our bodies well, moving our bodies to process stress, and resting/restoring when we need time and space to ourselves.
Listen in to hear how you can get your body back into a groove that supports the energy you want to carry each day - and gifts you the space you need to keep your head above water.
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Renae is a Shameless Mom of 3, an occupational therapist, and an advocate for moms who desire more grace, space, and rest within their lives. She has found strength beyond her own to navigate life's struggles...multiple miscarriages, life with 3 kids, working mom life, stay at home mom life, and a husband with a brain tumor and seizures. She’s the founder of the Rising Moms Club, a community for moms who are ready to RISE ABOVE the chaos and overwhelm of life and busy days, and trade exhaustion and the never ending to do list for a life with more JOY! She is also the host of the annual More than Mom Summit, The Great Clutter Clear Out Challenge, and the podcast Rising Moms Podcast.
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Last week, I got an email from a Shameless Mom that started with, “I'm A Badass Mom Who Is So Scared To Shine.”
This mama went on to share, “I'm scared of owning my badass part of me. I'm scared what people will think of me if I get too big. I'm scared of being so successful that I am seen. I have never put these thoughts out there but they are there, bubbling at the surface…”
I’m in conversations with moms who are afraid to shine on the regular. This is so common. And here’s the problem…. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU TO SHINE.
When you shine, we all win.
When you hide and shrink, we all lose.
Listen in to hear my love note to this mama and all of you who are afraid to shine right now. You are not alone. I GOT YOU.
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Abbi Perets wants moms to know they don’t have to choose between kids and career. She’s the coach and mentor moms turn to when they want to break into freelance writing and earn great money from home, on their own terms.
Abbi combines nearly 20 years of experience freelancing for some of the world’s biggest companies with firsthand knowledge of having five kids of her own — including one with special needs. She understands the unique challenges moms face every day and has created programs specifically tailored to meet those challenges and empower moms all over the world to have it all.
Listen in to hear Abbi share:
Links mentioned:
Connect with Abbi: Successful Freelance Mom
Get Abbi’s free course: How to Be a Freelance Writer
Instagram: Abbi Perets
FB Group: Writing Mom Conference
FB Page: Successful Freelance Mom
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Building confidence is like writing a book or running a marathon - you do it one action step, one word, one block at a time. It's not a one-and-done process. It's a lifetime of practice. A lifetime of choosing courage - often tiny acts of courage.
In 2019 I did two of the most courageous things I've ever done:
I was only able to take on these acts of courage because I am constantly working on building my confidence - especially around things that are hard or uncomfortable for me.
I have practices that I engage in daily that allow me to step into my confidence #everydamnday. These are small things that do not take a lot of time but have big impact in my ability to keep my confidence high, especially in trying times.
Right now we are in trying times - the likes of which we have never seen before. If there has ever been a time to cultivate confidence and remind ourselves just how much power innately exists inside of us, it is now.
Often, cultivating confidence comes from tiny action steps repeated over and over that lead us to take on bigger goals (starting a business, running a marathon, creating and sharing our art, learning a new skill, taking on a new leadership role.)
Listen in to learn 5 tiny action steps you can take each day that take mere minutes but have deep impact in your ability to cultivate the confidence you need to make it through trying times - perhaps even thrive through trying times.
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Dr. Omolara Thomas Uwemedimo is a Shameless Mom and a board certified pediatrician of over 15 years and an academic faculty member for over a decade, providing coaching and mentorship programs for physicians of color. She is also the CEO of Strong Children Wellness, an innovative telemedicine practice that addresses both unmet health and social needs for families in New York and the founder of Melanin, Medicine & Motherhood, an organization focused on empowering and supporting the personal & professional development of Black women physicians, especially mothers, to achieve their vision and build their capacity to support other women of color.
Her career has been defined by a passion for social justice, an advocate, a professor & researcher committed to ensuring all mothers and children, no matter their race, income, or background have an equal right to thrive. She has worked as a global physician in NYC, Boston, and in 12 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Dr. Uwemedimo is a national speaker to both physician and community audiences in the fields of overcoming implicit bias and racism in healthcare settings, inclusion, and equity for women physicians in healthcare and health equity for marginalized children and families, including those from immigrant and Black communities. She has been featured in several media outlets including Essence.com, Newsweek, Reuters, NPR, and CNN Espanol.
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Leadership is typically a series of imperfect action steps.
Leaders tumble, fall, and crash just like anyone else.
But when a leader tumbles, falls or crashes, there is an audience watching to see how they will stand back up, pick up the pieces, and put things back together.
When a leader crashes and harm is done to others in the wake of their errors, people watch even more closely.
When harm is done, trust is eroded. Trust is broken between the leader and anyone who was harmed, obviously. But trust is also broken between the leader and anyone who is watching if the bystanders don’t see the leader take active steps to rebuild trust with those who were harmed. Those harmed hope to be held. Those watching hope to see the leader offer protection to those hurting. This is how everyone can recover and heal and know that they are in a safe community.
Positive leadership looks like owning your mistakes and owning when you’ve caused harm without providing excuses or placing blame on others.
Positive leadership looks like having uncomfortable conversations publicly.
Positive leadership looks like recognizing your blind spots and committing to active and ongoing learning so you can see them more fully.
Positive leadership looks like inviting feedback when you have caused harm and engaging in conversation with those who are hurting.
Positive leadership looks like protecting people in your community from abuse and trauma.
Positive leadership looks like pushing pause on the day-to-day parts of your work to rebuild trust where you have broken trust.
We are all leaders - whether you are leading families, PTAs, soccer teams or companies. You are a leader.
You are going to screw up. You will crash. You will cause harm.
How will you rebuild trust after you cause harm?
Listen in to learn how leaders can do better when they cause harm, especially as it pertains to race and protecting people of color in your community. This episode is inspired by a leader who recently crashed and then opted not to protect those harmed. A community became fractured and the erosion of trust was massive. This example is a powerful example of how leaders, especially white leaders, need to do so much better.
Women of color to follow on Instagram (follow these women, buy their books, listen to their podcasts, and support their work):
Books:
Meagan Francis is a mom of five kids ages 11 - 22, author, writer, and co-host of The Mom Hour podcast. She regularly speaks and coaches women and moms on building sane and satisfying lives, embracing creativity, and reinventing their careers.
Meagan has been momming for her entire adulthood, having her first child in her early twenties. She has been writing, blogging, and reinventing herself online for 15 years. She has learned a lot of lessons along the way. Her energy is infectious and her perspectives are so refreshing.
Listen in to hear Meagan share:
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Many of you have shared that the biggest and most relentless challenges of this time are finding motivation and personal time in this current version of Groundhogs Day.
It is definitely challenging to motivate when you don’t know what’s coming, you feel you have very little control over your future, and you have no space to think through what you want your life to look like right now.
I know one of my biggest challenges during this time has been the constant closeness of my family. Don’t get me wrong, there has been some magic in this. But also, it’s a LOT. And it’s never-ending. I was pretty accustomed to (and appreciative of) my quiet days working solo from home. There is nothing solo about my days anymore.
Yes, I’m grateful to be working, but it’s overwhelming and exhausting to work full time with a child and a dog constantly by my side. I know many of you are doing this with more than one child by your side. I bow down….
During this time, we must create and fiercely protect small spaces of personal time. This will tremendously help us find motivation and stay motivated. I have been creating little pockets of personal time that break up my day and really help keep me moving forward with a decent attitude.
Listen in to hear exactly how you can find more motivation by creating pockets of personal time each day.
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Patrice Washington is a Shameless Mom to a 12-year-old daughter, an award-winning author, transformational speaker, hope-restoring coach, and media personality. And she is committed to redefining the term wealth for our generation.
Patrice got her start as your favorite personal finance expert, “America’s Money Maven”, having tremendous success with her “mindset approach” to personal finance. A licensed real estate professional by her sophomore year in college and a real estate and mortgage broker at 21 years old, Patrice took her boutique brokerage from the dining room of her 700-square foot condo to a 7-figure real estate empire by just 25. After losing her fortune in the Great Recession, she dedicated her life to not just rebuilding and reinventing her own life but helping the masses move from debt management to money mastery. She has since expanded her brand and mission, encouraging women to chase purpose, not money.
Patrice is committed to redefining the term “wealth”, using its original meaning, “well-being”. She encourages women to have “wealth” in all aspects of their lives by pursuing their purpose, being fulfilled, and earning more without ever chasing money. Through her teachings, Patrice empowers women to look at life through the lens of abundance and opportunity, instead of lack and scarcity.
As the founder of Redefining Wealth and The Earn More Money Movement for Women, Patrice has built a thriving community of high-achieving women committed to creating a powerful life vision--in their careers, home, health, and personal finances.
Every week, millions of listeners have tuned in to her weekly segment, Redefining Wealth with Patrice Washington as part of a top-rated and nationally syndicated radio show. Patrice’s podcast, The Redefining Wealth Podcast with Patrice Washington, which takes a deeper dive into her radio segment content, launched in 2017 with overwhelming success. Her popular podcast was recently featured on Forbes.com as one of "15 Inspiring Podcasts for Professionals of Every Stripe".
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As we get deeper into pandemic life, there is more and more need to take a critical look at what’s working for you, what’s not working, and what beneficial changes could be made during this uncertain time.
Along these lines, there are a few things you may benefit from quitting.
Years ago, I did an episode called, “Be a Quitter.” I’m a long time fan of quitting things that don’t serve me. In fact, I can’t stand supposed inspirational quotes that suggest we should not be quitters. I think we should frequently assess what’s no longer working for us and quit those things quickly and without hesitation, in order to make space for the things that serve us, promote good physical and mental health, allow for appropriate boundaries with others, and keep us evolving in the directions we want to grow and thrive.
As you have settled into new routines over the past 6 weeks, it is likely that you’ve also settled into some routines that aren’t optimal. Listen in to this episode to assess where you’re at, what’s not working, and what you might consider quitting in order to maintain optimal mental health as you continue to move through this time.
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RB Fast is an activist, leader, envelope pusher, magic maker, and mother of a child who is creative, brave, and transgender.
I asked RB to come on this show because I wanted to have a parent of a transgender child share with us what parenting can look like when there are major shifts around a child’s identity - shifts that the rest of the world might not understand or might not accept.
When RB and I first started talking about doing this interview, she said she had to talk to her son about it. She wanted him to fully consent to this conversation - as well as set any boundaries he needed. RB also set boundaries around this conversation, as you’ll hear us talk about. This is such a beautiful and powerful example of sharing someone’s story in order to help others more clearly and deeply understand something, while also protecting someone’s boundaries.
Listen in to hear RB share:
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