206: Finding Open Windows When Doors Have Closed with Luz Maria Clayton

Art has no borders. This is just one of the key tenets of CEC ArtsLink, an organization that connects artists from different contexts and countries, advocating for the value of transnational cultural exchange. In this episode, the Executive Director of CEC ArtsLink, Simon Dove, joins Rachelle to highlight the power of artists with a social practice to serve as catalysts for connection, understanding, and ultimately a more empathic world. Simon shares compelling examples of how they are finding creative ways to address and bring attention to social and environmental issues at home and abroad. He also speaks to the importance of promoting public investment in culture, especially in the U.S. where a minuscule portion of public funding goes to the arts. Get inspired to uplift the work of artists who can enrich your community with their unique perspectives and solutions. 

Resources:

Learn more about CEC Arts Link and their current programs at www.cecartslink.org or on Instagram @cec_artslink 

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in walking in alignment with your purpose and serving your community with overflow? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here  

What are you holding in your body? In this episode, yoga instructor and personal trainer joins Rachelle to talk about how yoga is a powerful practice for healing the trauma and stress that is stored in the body. Jackie and Rachelle both share their powerful yoga journeys and how it provided PT for their body, mind, and spirit. Jackie’s mission is to make yoga accessible for all so that everyone can express themselves uniquely, feel less alone, and find healing in a comfortable and welcoming space.

Content warning: Mental health struggles, intrusive thoughts

Audio note - this episode was recorded live and has some audio issues. We apologize for the additional ambient noise and imperfactions in the recording

Resources:

Find Jackie’s San Diego yoga schedule and yoga videos at www.byomyoga.com

Find The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk here

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in walking in alignment with your purpose and serving your community with overflow? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here  

308: Leading at the Intersection of Creativity & Chaos with Laura Lavoie

HGTV for people who actually need it: this is Humble Design in a nutshell. In this episode, Rachelle sits down with Laura Lavoie, the City Director of Humble Design San Diego, to talk about how she and her team work their “humble magic” to bring interior design to families, veterans, and individuals emerging out of homelessness. On top of sharing the great work they’re doing, Laura shares her leadership philosophy, the weight that comes with responsibility, and facing the challenges of non-profit work. Listen for Laura and Rachelle’s wisdom from their combined decades of experience working to improve the lives of those facing homelessness as well as how you can support organizations like Humble Design.

Resources:

Learn more about and support Humble Design San Diego here

Follow Humble Design San Diego on Instagram and Facebook

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in walking in alignment with your purpose and serving your community with overflow? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here 

Are you a dreamer that feels bogged down by stress and burnout? In this upbeat episode, Freedom Soul Coach Madhurima Sappatti will share how to harness stressful energy and transform it into something that serves you. Madhurima is no stranger to stress as she has faced the pressure that comes from Asian culture since childhood, but she has since overcome burnout and become a coach helping others to achieve their dreams. Listen to better understand optimal stress vs burnout stress and to learn how you can build a self-care routine that is natural to you, your routine, and your interests.

Resources:

Get Madhurima’s guide to manage time and energy

Join the Stress Busters Community on Slack

Discover collaboration and networking opportunities on Polywork

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in walking in alignment with your purpose and serving your community with overflow? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here  

Content warning: Domestic violence

What is something I can change right now? This is a question that Barrio Logan  artist, mother and caregiver Dia Soto has often asked herself to feel a sense of control while facing challenging situations such as childhood immigration, loss, homelessness, domestic violence, and starting a family as a teen. In this episode, Rachelle's former student shares how she experienced safety, belonging and empowerment in a range of community-based supports, and is now flourishing thanks to her own "rule breaking" spirit.   Listen for Dia’s profound wisdom around receiving help, paying it forward, and healing through art.

Resources:

Learn more about Street of Dreams Musicians for Education

Learn more about the Lindsay School 

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in walking in alignment with your purpose and serving your community with overflow? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here  

As a leader, how are you leading yourself? In this episode, Rachelle talks with L.A. based creatives, Geminelle and Dominic Malone, an inspiring couple committed to impacting their community in powerful ways. They support black artists through Tunnel Vision Creative Agency and empower organizations to optimize wellness for their teams through their consulting firm, Arise Wellness.  Dom and Geminelle share how they embody their life purpose by getting committed to who they want to be in the world, being honest and accepting of who they are now, and putting self-worth above all in order to serve their vision and their community better. Listen for pearls of wisdom on how you can follow your intuition, pour from overflow rather than an empty cup, and bring teh fullness of who you truly are into your leadership. Stick around until the end for a taste of Geminelle's beautiful mantra music!

Resources:

Listen to Geminelle’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever else you stream music

Learn more about Geminelle at www.geminelle.com

Connect with Dominic and Geminelle and learn more about Arise Wellness at arise.energy

Follow Geminelle on Instagram

Follow Dominic on Instagram

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in walking in alignment with your purpose and serving your community with overflow? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here  

Have you been in stressed out workplace that makes attempts to address wellness, but doesn’t really get at the root causes of toxicity in your culture?

In this episode, Rachelle explains why stopgap measures like chair massages and staff yoga are not enough to create a true culture of thriving, and offers some steps leaders can take to achieve the organization’s mission and vision with vitality and longevity.

Using research data on workplace wellness and her own wealth of experience working with social impact organizations, Rachelle examines 5 toxic organizational traits that cause people to leave their jobs. Listen to learn how you can tend to these traits within your own organization and the costs of letting them go unaddressed. 

Resources:

The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves by Dr.Shawn Ginwright

“Why Every Leader Needs to Worry About Their Toxic Culture” MIT Sloan article

“The World’s $7.8 Trillion Workplace Problem” Gallup article by Ryan Pendell

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in coping with or addressing issues of workplace wellness? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here

How can we create spaces where people feel both safer and brave? In this episode, community alchemist Lana Jelenjev joins Rachelle to share how she puts healing at the core by cultivating "kapwa", a Tagalog word for shared humanity or shared inner selves. Grounding in her Filipino heritage, she combats the lack of collective healing in the Western world by "listening with a third ear" to herself and others.  She encourages us to choose stewardship over saviorship, and to build a self-care pactice with regular honest check ins, self-compassion, and "self-fullness"--that sweet spot between selfishness and selflessness.  Listen to learn how you can face your own shadows with curiosity and care, and foster a culture of collective healing for yourself, your family,  your organization, and community.

Resources:

Learn more about Lana and her work at www.lanajelenlev.com

Connect with Lana on LinkedIn

Are you a heart-centered leader looking for more support in fostering a sense of shared humanity in your community? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions to engage in a process of transformative wellness so they can serve their community with vitality and longevity. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here

Do you want to approach your work and passions with more presence, intuition and intention? In this episode, dance artist and breathwork teacher Alicia Peterson Baskel joins Rachelle to talk about the power of breathwork. Learn how working with the breath can help you shed the  layers of stress that block your well-being and connect with your creativity, so that you can show up fully to your life and work. Alicia and Rachelle share simple ways to build a breathwork practice and walk you through 3 key exercises you can use to calm down in intense moments or invigorate yourself when energy and focus are low. 

Resources:

Learn more about Alicia and her work here

Follow Alicia on Instagram @aliciapetersonbaskel

Listen to Alicia’s podcast ‘Inside the Creative Process’ wherever you listen to pocdasts

Find breathwork resources from David Elliott here

Check out 7 Practices of a Mindful Leader by Mark Lesser

Are you a heart-centered leader seeking ways to take care of yourself while staying aligned with your vision and purpose? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions impact lives sustainably by putting their own well-being first, so that they can lead with a full tank and build a culture of care that supports the flourishing of all stakeholders. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here  

What does creativity mean to you? Kuumba, the 6th Kwanzaa principle that has guided this week's guest throughout his life, encourages us to do as much as we can, at the highest quality in attempts to leave our community/world better and more beautiful than how we first encountered it.  In this episode, Gaidi Finnie, the Director of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art (SDAAMFA), tells the stories of how he's used his creativity for good since he joined the Civil Rights Movement as a teen.  Get inspired by the SDAAMFA's incredible projects honoring African American culture, as well as those killed by racism and police violence.  Listen for how this museum without walls is crossing boundaries through innovative digital approaches. Learn from Gaidi and Rachelle about facing the challenges of running a non-profit head on, the power of dreaming big, and doing what you can to leave your community more beautiful than you inherited it.

Resources:

Learn more about the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art here

Forever Balboa Park

Are you a heart-centered leader seeking ways beautify and improve the world around you? Rachelle helps leaders with big missions impact lives sustainably by putting their own well-being first, so that they can lead with a full tank and build a culture of care that supports the flourishing of all stakeholders. Book a free consultation here!  

Enjoying the podcast? Support us by subscribing, rating, reviewing, or donating the cost of a cup of coffee here