Reframing our Stories: The Podcast

Episode 9: Permission Granted - Sexuality and the Bible: Jennifer Bird

As a biblical scholar, Jennifer Bird wants to have honest, I mean really honest, conversations with others about what the Bible does and does not say on any given topic. Her personal background and feminist framework mean that she is particularly interested in the topics of women, sex, sexuality, and relationships. What potentially unhealthy expectations and practices are alive and well in our society, in part due to not critically evaluating how biblical texts have shaped and informed them.

Learn more about Jennifer at: www.jennifergracebird.com

Episode 8: Life Coach - Learning from People and the Stories They Tell Themselves: Tami Hackbarth

Tami Hackbarth is a life coach and the host of the 100% Guilt-Free Self-Care podcast. She works with women who want to get their time and energy back so they can go after their big dreams and create the world they want to live in. In our conversation, Tami notes a recent focus in her podcast on managing through the pandemic - check out episode 56: 10 Tips for Feeling Less Like Shit.

She believes 100% Guilt-Free Self-Care is the answer to creating your dream life. She brings a philosophy of self-compassion, kindness and humor to her work. Tami is a voracious reader and lifelong learner.

She is a certified Life+Work Coach through UC Davis Extension, coaches women privately all over the United States.

Learn more about Tami at on her website: 100% Guilt-Free Self-Care.

This episode is sponsored by Poindexter Real Estate Group.

Episode 7: Purity Culture - Reframing Sexuality from an Evangelical Lens: Linda Kay Klein

In Linda’s book Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free, she discusses what it was like as an Evangelical girl growing up in purity culture and the effect it had on her sexuality. The book also highlights the countless other women who she interviewed nationwide on the same topic. Whenever I do workshops within a church community, I recommend this excellent book which mirrors so many stories of women who grew up in religious communities in the 90s. In this podcast, we discuss her work as the founder and president of the nonprofit, Break Free Together and her work as a personal coach dedicated to helping people release shame and claim their whole selves.  She is changing lives and I am so happy to have spent our time together.

 

Linda’s work was born out of her 15 years of research on religious trauma around sex and gender, documented in her award-winning book. Linda’s work has been featured by CBS, NBC, NPR (her interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross having been named one of the top ten of the year), and over 150 other outlets, and she has been highlighted on the TEDx stage, and at The Apollo’s Women of the World Festival, the 92Y SHE Summit, and over 100 other venues.

 

Linda is also teaching faculty at Claremont Lincoln University and consults with organizations and individuals committed to doing good. Previously, she was the founding director of Echoing Green’s multi-award-winning Work on Purpose program. The program’s leadership development curriculum on how to find and follow your purpose was adopted by over 200 colleges/universities, nonprofits and corporations and has impacted tens of thousands of emerging professionals. Prior to this, she led Moving Millions, propelling what was then a $181-million campaign for large-scale investment in women and girls into the global community of 100+ donor-activists committed that it is today, and held other roles within academia and the women’s funding movement.

 

Linda has contributed to several publications, and authored two successful curricula and training programs. She was awarded the NYU Reynolds Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship for her work on religiously-rooted sexual shame in 2006. She later became a judge for the Forbes 30 Under 30 faith-based initiative, and the Echoing Green, AshokaU, and NYU Reynolds social entrepreneurship fellowship competitions. She is chair of the Board for the Forum for Theological Exploration board, and sits on the advisory boards of Feminist.com’s Our Inner Lives initiative and New York University’s Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership.

 

Linda holds an interdisciplinary Masters degree in gender studies, religious studies, oral history, nonfiction writing, and art as social change from NYU and is a trained Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education facilitator. A Midwesterner at heart, Linda lives in New York City with her family. She is the wife of a writer and social change agent who inspires her every day, and the “bonus mom” to a very cool teenager.

 

Learn more about Linda at Break Free Together and follow her on Instagram. 

Episode 6: Music Sustains - Following Your Passion Through Grief: Dave Kellan

In this episode I talk to Dave Kellan, a musician in the greater New York area. Dave and I went to high school together and I always admired the way he followed his love for music. Dave has won multiple awards and competitions for his music and has opened for bands like Uncle Kracker and Bowling for Soup. His love for music has carried him through difficult times of grief, which you will hear about in this episode. If you enjoy the intro and outro music to Reframing our Stories: The Podcast, Dave created it.

Find out more about Dave at his website www.davekellan.com

Episode 5: Motherhood - Why Didn't They Tell Me? : Kelly Conroy

Kelly Conroy is the creator of Fierce Unfolding, an organization with a mission to build community, dismantle internalized patriarchy, and facilitate systemic change. She offers space for women to cultivate self-awareness and know themselves, to heal and love who they are.

In this episode, we talk about the paths to motherhood and the unspoken expectations, loss and identity challenges that many women experience in becoming a mother. 

Kelly is a writer, researcher, and mother who is changing the world by knowing, loving, and trusting herself and by teaching others to do the same. Kelly is formally trained in biology, anthropology, Birth Story Listening, and somatic approaches to healing trauma. By invoking her combination of science and spirituality, Kelly works with women in all stages of life to uncover their subconscious selves and heal the world by first healing themselves.

Find Kelly at www.thefierceunfolding.com and on Instagram @fierceunfolding.

This episode is sponsored by Poindexter Real Estate Group.

Episode 4: Race, Health, and being a High-Powered Dad: Tory High

In this episode, I’ll introduce you to Tory High. I have known him since college and it has been a joy to see Tory pave a path for himself helping others achieve health and wellness as a personal trainer, and also share and motivate about being a strong and attentive parent through his business called The High-Powered Dad.

 

Discussing race can be challenging - I struggle to find my own words, but there are some conversations we need to enter into, even if we stammer and stumble.

 

Tory is the author of two books - please check them out on Amazon: The High-Powered Dad: Becoming A SUPERHERO For Your Family and So You Want to Join The Gym?. Connect with Tory via email: toryhigh@highpoweredwellness.com.

Episode 3: How Trauma and Grief Opened a Path to Equity and Inclusion Work: Sara Johnson

My good friend Sara Johnson does amazing racial equity work as a Founding Partner with The Truth & Titus Collective.  Trigger warning for listeners -- in this episode, we talk about the death of a child.  We also discuss church, fear, risk and learning to be uncomfortable.  These are hard subjects for many, so please do what you need to do and care for yourself.

Episode 2: From Client to Partner: Jenny Mohler

In today’s episode, I’m going to introduce you to my dear business partner, Jenny Mohler. She talks about her childhood and growing up in a family where the real conversations around sexuality just didn’t happen and how that affected her going forward. I think many of us can relate to this one. Let’s dive in!

Episode 1: Pilot of Reframing our Stories

In the pilot of Reframing Our Stories, I’ll tell a little bit about my story and passion behind this podcast. I believe stories have the power to transform us as people and I want to share some truly inspiring stories from guests in all aspects of life. Our stories can be scary and beautiful. That's what this podcast is about.