Reframing our Stories: The Podcast

Episode 39: Anti Diet in Middle Age and Menopause: Jenn Salib Huber

Learning how to love our bodies and have a good relationship with food for some is really hard work. We have grown up with a diet culture that tells us how we are supposed to be. Our bodies are our vehicles that we experience this world with and to constantly be scrutinizing them is exhausting.  Dr. Jenn Salib Huber is a Canadian Registered Dietitian, Naturopathic Doctor and Intuitive Eating Coach and she's on a mission to help women thrive in midlife. 

She helps women navigate the physical and emotional changes that happen in perimenopause and menopause, including their search for food freedom and body confidence. Working from a health at every size approach, she teaches women to become intuitive eaters and build body confidence at any stage of midlife. 

She's the host of 'The Midlife Feast' a podcast for women who are hungry for more, and offers support to help women feel like themselves again. Her group program, Beyond The Scale,  helps women "undiet" their lives after 40 so they can nourish a relationship with food that helps them discover the magic of midlife!

Join Kara and Jenn as they discuss transitioning into perimenopause and reframing the way we view our bodies and food. 

https://www.jennsalibhuber.ca/

Episode 38: Not Your Nana’s Yarn Work: Crystal Mihaylo

Sometimes it is in our failed attempts at new hobbies when we find our passion and purpose. This was the case for Crystal Rose Mihaylo as she crocheted baby clothes, but found making body parts with yarn brought her joy and healing to other people. 

In this episode, you’ll hear from Crystal and  her journey of understanding her sexuality and healing former trauma through the art of crocheting. Crystal is the creator of Not Your Nana’s Yarn Work. This is definitely not the type of crochet you would see at your grandmother’s house, but also, who are we really to know what grandma is hiding. Crystal creates crochet pieces of different body parts like the vulva, penis, and breasts. She makes them large and small, into planters, earrings, ornaments, key chains, pillows, wall hangings and more. They are impressive and imaginative. At first some may wonder, why would anyone want these? But then you see them and say, “I clearly need to have these!” 

Enjoy listening to how these beautiful pieces of yarn work bring healing to people and help educate around sexuality. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notyournanasyarnwork

Episode 37: What Modern Day Motherhood Lacks: Beth Berry

Being a mother is something some may dream of, but in today’s society there can be a divide between what the envisioned experience would be vs. the day to day reality. In this conversation, Beth and Kara discuss how modern day motherhood is unsupported and leaves moms in a state of perpetual sacrifice and questioning their worth. 

Beth Berry is author of Motherwhelmed: Challenging Norms, Untangling Truths, and Restoring our Worth to the World. She is also a life coach, group facilitator, teacher, and mother of four daughters. According to Beth: We can't afford to pretend to love motherhood. Not this version of it … that has us raising kids alone in our homes disconnected from one another, immersed in a culture of judgment and perfectionism, under the illusion that we're the ones who can't get our acts together. 

Learn more about Beth at revolutionfromhome.com

Episode 36: Standing Up For Public Health: Justine Ang Fonte

In this episode Kara talks with Justine Ang Fonte, a math teacher turned sex educator. 

Justine is a child of Philippine immigrants and a nationally-recognized intersectional health educator, speaker, and consultant. She has a Master’s in Education and a Master’s in Public Health in Sexuality. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Business Insider, and NPR. 

Kara and Justine talk about her experience as a sex educator at a private New York school where complaints about her teaching were sent to the New York Post. Justine describes how that impacted her and why it is not stopping her from doing this work, but it does change how she does it. Justine has a passion for making lives better and that is evident from her life as a math teacher and how being with those 8th grade kids everyday led her into public health. 

You can find her here: https://www.justinefonte.com/
Twitter: @ImJustineAF
Instagram Personal: @imjustineaf
Instagram Ghostwriting: @_good.byes_

* Additional show notes: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), more than one in two people report having or knowing someone with an STI. The CDC notes, 1 in 5 Americans have an STI right now. Almost half of new cases are within the 15 - 24 year old demographic. Darkness to Light is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides information to prevent and report childhood sexual abuse.

Episode 35: Online Safety: Jo Langford

As a sex therapist, educator, and dad, Jo spends his time helping teens navigate the many safety issues they can encounter online. In this episode, Kara and Jo talk about social media, porn, and the many ways parents can help their teens navigate the terrain so close in their hands, but can feel so out of their control. Jo helps parents learn through conversations how to help their teen learn how to have digital citizenship that can help them create positive relationships with online behavior.

Jo Langford, M.A. is a Seattle based dad, Master’s-level therapist, author and sex educator for tweens, teens and parents. For the last 20 years, Jo has worked in the intersection of adolescence, sexuality, technology and behavior. 

From working in peer counseling and student outreach programs in high schools, to medical, residential and psychiatric settings, Jo now provides training for organizations and agencies as well therapy to adolescents and families around a gambit of sexuality themes - with an emphasis on LGBT issues, Internet safety, digital citizenship and comprehensive sex education.  

He is the author of the Spare Me, ‘The Talk’!, series – guides to sex, relationships and growing up for modern teens and their parents. His first book is the first modern guide to healthy sexuality in print specifically written for boys (and their parents). The second book in the series is the first guide to growing up for girls (and their parents) written by a male.

His third book, The Pride Guide, is an encompassing guide to sexual and social development, safety and health for queer youth and their families. Covering all aspects of LGBT adolescence, both online and off, this book is the first puberty book written with queer (and specifically trans) youth in mind.

Jo speaks internationally using information, education and humor to help parents and professionals increase their knowledge and self-confidence as a proactive defense against the unfortunate consequences that sometimes accompany teen sexuality, behavior and development.

More about his work to promote healthy, positive and safe sexual and social behavior can be found at his website, Beheroes.net.

Facebook: Jo Langford/Beheroes
Twitter: @beheroesdotnet

Episode 34: How the American Pie is Changing Body Image: Mikel Ibarra

Mikel Ibarra woke up one morning with an idea that she couldn’t ignore. As an artist, when ideas come, especially those that are a bit unusual, you pay attention – and that is what Mikel did. Mikel, a public school art teacher turned baker, decided to go to her kitchen and make pies to explore the way vulvas look. Yes, Mikel makes vulva pies. In this episode, Kara and Mikel explore the way Mikel’s art is educating vulva owners around how varied they look and to remove the shame many carry around their appearance. 

Mikel Ibarra (she/ her/ hers) is an artist and baker living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her current work explores the paths between empowerment, acceptance, sexuality, and objectification using hand-sculpted desserts as her media of choice. 

Her life has followed a curving path from artist to wife and mother to public school art teacher to baker and finally back to artist. Interestingly, it was the slow process of spending hours in the kitchen, seeking perfection in baking, that awakened the inspiration to tackle her feelings about the proverbial woman’s place through visual art.

She found pie was the perfect symbol to explore all the complexities, beginning with the vulva being a source of pleasure and portal of life while also being a source of shame and fear. Like pie, it’s often treated as a consumable commodity. 

Her work celebrates the beauty of the body and showcases the diversity of normal bodies. See it at www.piesinthewindow.com or on Instagram @piesinthewindow.

Episode 33: Grace Wins: Kirk Havel

In this episode, I am honored to speak with my childhood pastor, Kirk Havel. I wanted to interview him because of the role he has played in my life and how he has reframed stories in my life, especially around God. Kirk has shown me how to live out the gospel and a lot of times when you live out the gospel, it isn’t always popular. He also showed me care, respect, love, and how I have the capacity to be a leader. He is an example of the kind of Christian I want to be.

Kirk was born and raised in Ohio - forever a Buckeye! He graduated from Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. In 1968, he married Sandra Magsig, raising two sons - one a small business owner in Arizona and the other is a pastor in Indiana.  Kirk and Sandy are also blessed with four grandchildren. 

Following an internship in Portland, Oregon and seminary graduation, he served as pastor in Ohio and Michigan, assistant to the Bishop in Detroit working in the call process and conflict resolution, and the ELCA Church Council, before retiring in 2009 after 20 years at Trinity Lutheran Church in Midland, Michigan.

In retirement, he continues to provide pastoral support to congregations and for the past 12 years, distributes a weekly essay called JUST WONDERING where he attempts to connect faith and life from his own experiences. Given his coronary artery disease resulting in two heart attacks and two by-pass surgeries, Kirk exercises daily as part of his routine.

Episode 32: Balding, Bodybuilding, and the Houseless: Kristen Theile

There are times when we aren’t paying attention, we might just miss a lesson. Kristen Theile is a person who often pays attention to what is happening around her, takes what she learns and runs with it. Kristen talks with Kara about her experiences helping those without homes and how they have helped shape her life. They also discuss how her love for service also lent her into experiencing first hand the sexist nature in beauty standards for women and how she keeps herself healthy and thriving through bodybuilding.

Kristen is a Coordinator of Discipleship and Congregational Care at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Largo, Florida. Previously, she was a Youth and Children’s Minister in outreach ministry in Las Vegas.  Her experiences include creating a youth ministry called Growth Through Service (GTS) where they ran a weekly park outreach meal program for middle school kids with food insecurities, a food pantry for youth, made 30,000 kits for people experiencing homelessness, Feel Good Fridays with the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, and holiday meals for kids experiencing homelessness. GTS is a youth ministry that is socioeconomic diverse, racially diverse, and openly inclusive of LGBTQ+. Kristen has partnered with communities and helped to coordinate and lead mission trips in the states and internationally. She has spoken at many conferences for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (WELCA) about Sex Trafficking, serving our neighbors, and creating ministry around serving.  In 2020, she and her former youth group spoke at a conference with Father Gregory Boyle from Homeboy Industries, the largest gang outreach ministry in the world, and is an organization GTS has worked with.

Through her work she hears the call in Micah 6:8 -- “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? but to do justice, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  

If you want to reach out to Kristen, email her at theilek10@gmail.com

Episode 31: Our Relationship with Consent and Trauma: Dr. Laura McGuire

In this episode Kara takes a deep dive into consent with the author of the book, Creating Cultures of Consent, Dr. Laura McGuire. Dr. Laura is a Sexuality Health Educator, Adjunct Professor, Consultant and Speaker for The National Center for Equity and Agency, a Doula, Yoga instructor, and a survivor.  Not to mention she is also now getting her Masters in Pastoral Counseling. Through her lived experiences she knows first hand the importance of consent and how to talk about it through a trauma informed lens. Dr. Laura has worked with survivors and those who have been perpetrators to help educate around sexuality, consent, equity and inclusion.  

Find out more about her here:
www.drlauramcguire.com
www.instagram.com/drlauramcguire
www.linkedin.com/in/dr-laura-mcguire-276b87100

Dr. Laura spoke highly about the book: The Invention of Women By: Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí
www.goodreads.com/book/show/1161702.The_Invention_of_Women

 

Episode 30: Queerfully and Wonderfully Made: Jaz Waring

When Kara learned of Jaz and their ministry: Queerfully and Wonderfully made, she was very excited. Kara loves the use of storytelling and the arts in a form of connecting to others, especially when it comes to religion, healing, and sexuality. Jaz has found a way to utilize each of these to offer a healing space for the queer community who have been hurt from their religious community. 

In this episode you will hear Jaz’s story of learning about their sexuality and how it took a toll on their body to live into their truth. They talk about how it affected their faith life and the path it led them down to get to where they are today…awaiting ordination in the ELCA Lutheran church.  

Jaz is a candidate in Word and Sacrament in the ELCA and is currently on staff at The Table OC in Fullerton, CA. In January 2019, they launched an LGBTQ+ centered ministry called Queerfully & Wonderfully Made, an inclusive space for LGBTQ+ people to explore faith in creative ways. When Jaz isn’t manically obsessing over ministry and queer theology, they like to spend time bingeing documentaries with their gracious partner, Melanie, and their dog, Bowie.

Learn more at Queerfully & Wonderfully Made