I launched a podcast a few weeks ago! I’ve always been inspired by people who possess grit and resilience and are able to connect with people in an authentic way.
After writing a few hard-hitting articles about race, I got the honor of being interviewed by Jackie Capers-Brown (the Level Up Your Life podcast) and Charles Edward Jackson, III, for his Relational Leadership series. Those experiences prompted me to hit the airwaves and create the kind of podcast I would like to listen to. So off we go!!
I am interviewing people who have experienced hardship in their life, and most of my guests will be from marginalized communities—Black or other people of color, from a non-Christian religion, LBGTQIA, or women.
I’ve conducted eight interviews so far, and I am having a blast!! You can find out more about my podcast on my Fertile Ground Communications blog (subscribe there to get weekly updates), and you can find the podcast on all the usual channels. If you're not a regular podcast listener on your phone, you can also listen to the audio on the computer.
The interviewing aspect of podcasting is much simpler and more fun than the editing process, so I have more content than I'm able to put out right now. I'm using all sorts of new brain cells on learning how to edit and polish my podcast episodes. I'm honored to have my friend Jonathan Swanson's beautiful jazz lick opening and closing each episode. So far I have three episodes released:
- Meet resilient refugee Olive Bukuru Kaburu, who fled Burundi with her family when she was just six months old. In the first episode of the Finding Fertile Ground Podcast, I interview Olive Bukuru Kabura, whose family fled from war-torn Burundi when Olive was just 6 months old. She grew up in a refugee camp in Tanzania until she was 10, when her family moved to Oregon. We talked about her experiences in Africa, assimilating to the United States, going back to Tanzania and Burundi a few years ago, Black Lives Matter and racism here, Black Panther, and the incredible resilience of immigrants.
- Meet fierce fighter Skye Leybold, who is living with metastatic breast cancer and finding joy in simple things. Skye Leybold thought she'd tackled cancer until it came back with a vengeance three and a half years later. Her medical team essentially gave up on her when she went into liver failure, but Skye and her husband were not willing to accept that. Fast-forward to a few years later, and she is surviving and thriving.
- Meet Dennett Edwards, who is paying it forward, driven by her passion to help people. Dennett's parents divorced when she was young, and she didn't have access to a lot of resources. She ended up dropping out of high school, earning her GED by age 16, and then going on to earn nearly three master's degrees. When COVID-19 hit, she fired up her creativity and began a free online professional network: Corona Daze Professional Development.
Next up is Dr. Daivati Bharadvaj, followed by a queer rabbi activist and two incredible Black men.
I hope you enjoy these stories of grit, resilience, and connection! Please tell me if you know of anyone who has a story of grit, resilience, and connection to share.
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