Bonus Panel Discussion: Celebrating International Women's Day #BreakTheBias

Meet Luisa Kahlfeldt, an award-winning product and industrial designer, creative consultant, and co-founder of Sumo, the Berlin-based creative lab behind the award-winning Sumo Baby reusable cloth diaper. This next-generation diaper uses pioneering skin-caring materials that are gentle on babies, and the environment. 

Luisa and her co-founder, Caspar Böhme, launched Sumo in 2019 because they wanted to design status-quo-challenging products that make daily rituals more beautiful. Prior to Sumo, Luisa worked for Barber Osgerby in London and Konstantin Grcic Design in Berlin. She’s also the recipient of the 2018 Foundation USM Design Grant and the 2019 Swiss James Dyson Award. In 2021, her work was awarded the German Sustainability Awardand the Red Dot Design Award. 

Chelsea talks to Luisa about how she became a designer, her decision to leave a prestigious firm and launch her own company, Sumo’s mission, the impact of plastics and disposable diapers on the environment, the importance of elevating ritual over convenience, and so much more. 

Find out more about Sumo creative lab at www.sumodiaper.com, @sumobaby, and their Kickstarter campaign www.kickstarter.com/projects/sumodiaper/sumo.

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In this episode we welcome Paris-based, EstElle Penain, a French author, poet, intentional speaker, well-being practitioner, artist, and Founder and Director of Elliberty, a trainings and events production company based in Paris, France.

For 20 years EstElle has been practicing the spiritual initiations of yoga, art therapy, and meditation. She was called to a deeper exploration of sound meditation and the healing power of quantum and vibrational medicine, including mantras and Sufi matrix sounds. Major events in Estelle’s life influenced her choices, profession, and inner listening. These hardships compelled EstElle to understand her story, listen to the call of her soul, and become the creator of her life.

EstElle’s career is the synthesis of incredible talent and courageous awakening – and then sharing this with others through the performing and healing arts. She leads workshops, performances, and readings and has published fiction, poetry, and memoirs, including ‘Naître fille, devenir femme,’ where she writes about reclaiming her feminine and the discovery that, to make peace with oneself is to make peace with the world.

Millie founder, Chelsea Brown and EstElle discuss how an endometriosis diagnosis changed the course of her life, Estelle’s relationships before spiritual awakening, how our birth story influences our journey, meeting the 13 Mothers, and so much more.

Get ready for a fascinating, illuminating, and heartfelt hour of discovery.

Join EstElle's journey by visiting her online and on Instagram.

Stella Johnson is a passionate and open-hearted photographer and educator – and this shines through her work. Her approach to photography is thoughtful and deliberate: Stella takes the time to not only get to know her subjects, but to also cultivate lifelong relationships with them – whether they are people or places.

Stella is widely recognized for her skill and unique vision, receiving a Core Fulbright Scholar Grant to photograph in Mexico in 2003, and Fulbright Senior Specialist grants to teach in Mexico in 2006, and Colombia in 2018. The University of Maine Press published her monograph, Al Sol: Photographs from Mexico, Cameroon and Nicaragua, in 2008, and her second monograph, Zoi, was published by Wild Greek Press. Her work has received numerous honours, including a New England Foundation for the Arts Cultural Collaborative Artist-in-Residence Grant and the Julia Margaret Cameron Award.

Stella holds teaching positions at Boston University and Lesley University College of Art and Design, and also leads workshops in locations all around the world, including Greece, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and most recently, in Venice Beach, California.

Find out more about Stella’s photography and upcoming workshops on her on Instagram @stellajohnson or on her website www.stellajohnson.com.

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In this episode we welcome Shona Gupta, the founder and CEO of Marharindee, a multidimensional skincare line that combines ancient Indian wisdom with CBD science.Like her skincare line, Shona is a force of nature. A passionate and digitally-savvy leader, when Shona couldn’t find products for her own unexpected skin issues, she created them herself. 

Despite launching at the height of Covid-19, Maharindee.com gained traction in the highly competitive skincare market place, due in large part to Shona’s marketing expertise. She has two decades of experience managing and overseeing digital marketing, web development, eCommerce, and creative initiatives for start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, including Mattel and Hearst.

Born in India, Shona returns regularly, and in her 20s, volunteered as a teacher. This formative experience fuelled her passion for stewardship and influenced Shona’s decision to donate a percentage of every Maharindee purchase to organizations that advocate for girls and women. They currently support “Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program,” an organization that helps adolescent girls around the world stay in school by promoting girl-friendly learning environments.

Chelsea and Shona talk about her pivot from the tech space and Fortune 500 companies to creating a skincare brand, launching Maharindee during Covid-19, CBD oil and skincare, her grandmother’s skincare secrets, advice to young entrepreneurs and those starting over, and so much more.

Find out more about Maharindee by visiting maharindee.com or on Instagram @Maharindee. Support Maharindee on Wefunder by visiting wefunder.com/maharindee

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In this episode of The Millie Podcast we welcome Berlin-based Ricarda Bochat, coordinator of the Open Kitchen program at Give Something Back to Berlin, a multi-award-winning association that connects migrants, refugees, and locals to build an open and inclusive society. Give Something Back to Berlin (GSBTB) challenges the status quo and creates a better way for newcomers to integrate.

Last fall,  Millie Podcast host Chelsea Brown, travelled to Germany and joined Ricarda for her innovative and fun Open Kitchen cooking event at the beautiful GSBTB headquarters. Ricarda also manages the English Language Café and German Sprachcafé.

Leaving behind a successful career in fashion for a new one in social impact, Ricarda’s passion is fuelled by her values and the risks she’s taken to blaze a new path for herself. She completed her Master’s Degree in Fashion Marketing in the UK, moving back to her native Germany, where she was briefly involved with GSBTB. She left Germany to spend a year in Nepal and India, primarily doing  earthquake relief work and teaching English to Tibetan monks. This trip changed the direction of Ricarda’s life.

She talks to Chelsea about the events that prompted this life change, falling in love with a Tibetan Monk, why it’s important to have people from both sides creating dialogue and change, and so much more.

Visit www.gsbtb.org to get involved and following Give Something Back To Berlin on Instagram!

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Happy International Women's Day! We hope you enjoy this passionate panel discussion between three dynamic, gracious, and smart Canadian women who will, at different points in the episode, reassure you, inspire you and encourage you.

This globally recognized day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It also serves as a call to action to accelerate women's equality! First, where it all started: The United Nations; who established and celebrated the first IWD in 1975. The UN’s theme this year is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, recognizing women and girls who are leading the charge on climate change. But today, IWD also belongs to all groups collectively, everywhere. It’s not country, group, or organization-specific.

In that spirit, internationalwomensday.com has raised the theme #BreakTheBias. They invite us to imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. We are honoured and excited to change up our format and engage in a panel discussion with three incredible women who embody this day, and BOTH these themes, in their own unique, authentic way.

Meet: Erin Falconer. Erin is a digital entrepreneur; editor-in-chief and co-owner of PickTheBrain, an online self-improvement community. She’s also the author of How to Break Up with Your Friends: Finding Meaning, Connection, and Boundaries in Modern Friendships. She has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and is joining us from L.A. Connect with Erin on Instagram! 

Next, we have Afiya Francisco. Afiya is a Style Advisor, TV and fashion personality, speaker and brand ambassador. She is also the founder of The Style House, a multi-media platform designed to help women approach their personal style with confidence, simplicity & joy. Connect with Afiya on Instagram! 

And finally, we welcome a past Millie Podcast guest, Jenn Harper. Jenn is an award-winning social entrepreneur and Founder of Cheekbone Beauty, an Indigenous-owned and founded cosmetics company created to help Indigenous youth see themselves in a beauty brand. Connect with Jenn on Instagram!

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We are honoured to welcome Dame Elizabeth Anionwu DBE FRCN to The Millie Podcast. Recently named a ‘BBC 100 Women of the Year’, Elizabeth is Emeritus Professor of Nursing at University of West London, and the UK’s first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist. She has continued her work into retirement, recently bringing the nation’s attention to the devastating impact Covid-19 has had on Black and Asian communities.

Many people heard her name for the first time at the Brit Awards, when Dua Lipa honoured Dame Elizabeth in her acceptance speech. "She has spent her stellar nursing career fighting racial injustice, she has also spent so much time and is a strong, strong advocate for protecting frontline workers"  

Born in Birmingham in 1947, Elizabeth is of Irish/Nigerian heritage, which, along with being born to a single mother, greatly influenced her upbringing and identity. She writes about this in her recently released memoirs, Dreams From My Mother. It’s an incredible story about childhood, race, identity, family, hope – and how this shapes who we are.  We can’t recommend it enough!

The Millie Podcast host Chelsea Brown and Elizabeth cover a lot in this episode – Elizabeth’s book, her early life living in care in a convent, sickle cell, travelling to Nigeria to meet her family, mentorship, and so much more. Elizabeth is a true hero, and her thoughtful reflection and insight into her own life, medicine, and the world at large has so much to teach us!

Visit here to find out more about Dame Elizabeth and visit here to purchase here Dreams From My Mother.

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‘Our purpose is always walking beside us’

 Karlyn Percil, Toronto-based speaker, author and CEO of KDPM Consulting Group, says her idea for KDPM, and her journey to entrepreneurship, was always with her (even if she didn’t always know it). Karlyn’s life – from growing up in St. Lucia, moving to Toronto and embarking on a fast-paced financial career, to her experience of microaggressions in the workplace and her subsequent burnout – was always preparing her for KDPM.

Transforming her personal experience, and those of other BIPOC women, Karlyn established KDPM in 2018 to help companies identify the problem areas, what she calls their ‘Elephant Stories’, that interfere with their equity, inclusion and human optimization goals. Karlyn, who is also a Certified Emotional Intelligence and Neuro-Life Coach, and has been featured on Oprah’s Lifeclass and on Cityline as a guest expert, talks to Chelsea about:

• How she started KDPM and why
• How being survivor of child sexual abuse, bullying, depression, and anxiety shaped her coaching practice and drives her to help women get out of their own dark place and choose life daily
• How she works to empower ALL women by challenging systems of racism, misogynoir, patriarchy and white supremacy – amplifying the voices of Black, Indigenous, and self-identifying women of colour

Visit www.kdpmconsultinggroup.com, https://karlynpercil.com/ @karlynpercil to find out more about this inspiring, enterprising woman. 

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We are thrilled to welcome award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, Nadine Kaadan. Born in Syria and based out of London, her books have been published in several languages, reaching a worldwide audience of children. We caught up with Nadine in London last fall and we know you’re going to find her as refreshing and inspiring as we do.

Nadine champions empowered and inclusive representation in kids’ books so that every child can see themselves in a story. Her work, as she describes it, was very dreamy and inspired by the ancient architecture of Damascus and its rich storytelling culture. But when the conflict in Syria erupted, it was reflected in her illustrations, and even the colour palette she used.

She wrote her book ‘Tomorrow’, which captured the attention of news outlets like CNN and BBC, to help Syrian children process the reality of civil war and work through post-conflict trauma. Her book ‘Jasmine Sneeze’ shows children the beauty of Syria before the conflict.

She has been featured in Marie Claire Arabia, nominated for a Kate Greenaway Medal, and is the 2019 winner of the Arab British Centre Award for Culture. Nadine was also selected as one of The BBC’s 100 ‘most influential and inspiring’ Women of 2020 and was featured in their BCC 100 Women Masterclass.

Follow Nadine on Instagram at @nadine_kaadan and purchase her children's books here.

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As senior media manager, Pauline plays a pivotal role at Save the Children Germany and the Human Rights Film Festival, Berlin. A dedicated human rights activist and feminist, Pauline’s not just smart, she’s wise. We learned so much about the history of Germany’s East / West divide through her family’s all-too-common story of heartbreak and resilience.

Escaping East Germany with her mother when she was still in her belly, Pauline’s personal experiences fueled her passion to help refugees. At an age when most of us are trying to figure out what to do with our lives, Pauline co-founded Jugend Rettet, a network of young people who rescued refugees stranded in the Mediterranean. They purchased their own ship and saved more than 14,000 people in one year.

Pauline is a force to be reckoned with. She challenges expectations and rules, and has very little time for the status quo. But that energy and drive is tempered by the kindness and compassion, instilled in her from a young age through her family’s own complex past. You’re going to love this conversation. It is the perfect example of the connection and expanded perspective that happens when we get real and vulnerable.

Follow Pauline on Instagram at @__paulineschmidt__ and learn more about the work she’s passionate about at SavetheChildren.de.