Bring Your Own Baggage

This episode was recorded on June 18th, 2020, shortly after my grandmother passed away in her sleep. She was 90 years old and she had been battling lung and pancreatic cancer for many months prior. This mini-bite episode is an attempt at a goodbye and to acknowledge the nationwide and worldwide grief and vulnerabilities we're all experiencing right now.

Our guest, Kelly joins us on today’s episode to share her story of how she was repeatedly sexually abused by her paternal grandfather between the ages of 4 and 8 years old. Sexual abuse has been a common and very heavy topic on the podcast recently but it’s important to continue talking about it to raise awareness and give a voice to those whose stories aren’t believed by greater society. Personally, I came away deeply moved and in awe of Kelly’s resilience and how she has managed to take care of herself through all of this. Not only has she used her experience to write a memoir about taking her grandfather to trial and how childhood sexual abuse affected her throughout her life, but as you’ll hear, she has an incredible entrepreneurial spirit and genuine desire to help people that was born of some really traumatic childhood experiences.

Our guest, "T," joins us on the podcast today. He currently works as a history teacher here at a local high school in Michigan, and he brought this idea to me about sharing tales from his time teaching sprinkled with a few thoughts from his own school days. He shares some really great stories and insight throughout the episode, and his genuine love of teaching and working with his students really radiates from this conversation so I hope you enjoy it!

Brad Watts joins us on the podcast to talk about his work as a licensed therapist with a specialty in sexual offenses and sibling sexual abuse at a residential center called Hallmark Youth in Virginia.  Though our conversation centers more around Brad’s work as a counselor and infusing hope that healing from any kind of trauma is possible, I understand that this is a very sensitive topic so I just wanted to give you an upfront warning because I know it may be triggering to some people. If that’s the case, I completely understand if you need to shelf this episode for the time being.

Laura Misumi, Fatema Haque, and Fiana Arbab, three incredibly bright women who serve on the board of a group called Rising Voices of Asian American Families, join us today on the podcast. In this conversation, you’ll hear about how they're working on the ground floor to not only provide resources for people within their own communities but help to bridge connections between different groups to help bring us all to a better understanding of one another. We'll learn about the group's initiatives, systematic suppression and so much more.  

Carley Gordon joins us on the podcast today to revisit the topic of chronic illness. Carley has been living with a chronic condition known as Hyperadrenergic POTS which she will talk more in-depth about, and through her 7-year long journey to get to that diagnosis, she has come to know her condition and her body’s needs very well.

Today we’re sitting down with the Retirement Answer Man himself, Roger Whitney, to talk about financial planning in the midst of a pandemic, how to keep your finances on track through the peaks and valleys of life, and strategies for both saving and generating income when you feel most strapped for cash. Roger had a lot of great insight and simple advice that we sometimes overthink so this is a good way to reroute all of us back to basics.

She’s back! My friend Kaori, who you might remember from Episode 9 where we discussed some of the cultural differences between Japan and the US, and I are BACK for an audio mukbang. Join us as we enjoy our respective pasta dishes and share some of our most embarrassing stories.  So grab a snack, come hang out with us, and enjoy!

Sat down to talk/catch up with one of my favorite humans on this Earth, my cousin Mason, who is considered an essential frontline healthcare worker in Nashville. This was an opportunity to pick his brain as a healthcare worker working through the first global pandemic of our lifetime, how he’s taking care of himself, and getting his perspective on how we, the public can better take care of each other during this time.

For the second episode in this mini season, we’re going one-on-one to talk about connection in the time of COVID-19 quarantine. There are so many cool things that people are doing that goes to show that just because we’re isolated doesn’t mean we have to be disconnected so let’s talk about it.

Since many of us find ourselves under a government-mandated quarantine, we're bringing back the podcast for a mini season of 4 episodes. In today's episode, I sit down to talk with my coworker and friend Olivia to discuss the very timely topic of hobbies vs hustle and how to fill this newly acquired space and time we have at home. Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest

In today's episode, we’re going one-on-one for the finale of Season 1 of the podcast. I started this season off talking about the grief and sadness I experienced and still carry with me surrounding my mother’s passing. Today I talk about anger and kindness and give a confession of sorts. Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest

In today's episode, I sit down with my aunt and uncle who have been my pillars of strength and truthtellers since my mom passed. We get into a discussion about forgiveness, what it looks and feels like to forgive someone, and they open up about their most difficult journies with forgiveness. Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest

In today's mini-bite episode, I do a follow up to last week's episode that I did with my soul sister, G, about chronic illness. I mentioned in that episode that I too have been living with a chronic illness for over 2 years now, and today I want to share my story. Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest

In today's episode, I sit down to talk with my soul sister who I refer to as G in the episode. G and I have had a similar journey in terms of the timing of our peaks and valleys in life, and most recently our journeys have presented us with challenging chronic illnesses that have forced us to slow down, reevaluate what’s most important, and learn how to better take care of ourselves.  This episode is chock full of diamonds and gems, and she is genuinely one of my favorite people on the planet to talk to and spend time with so I hope you get as much out of it as I did. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest

In today’s episode, I sit down to talk across oceans with my friend Kaori about all things Japan. Kaori was born in Japan but spent much of her childhood growing up here in Michigan, and she now lives back in Tokyo. Having lived myself in Tokyo for a few years, we got into observing cultural differences and similarities between Japan and the U.S., how Japan is opening up to foreign workers as their population continues to steadily decline, and how Tokyo is gearing up to host the Summer Olympics later this year in 2020. For anyone that has never been to Japan or simply interested in Japan and Japanese culture, this episode is for you. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

In today’s episode, I sit down to talk with my friend Kasia who, it turns out, I have a lot in common with. We are both of Polish descent and have a deep-rooted love of Japan so we dove into a very Japanese concept known as "ikigai" which essentially translates to your reason for getting out of bed in the morning or your passion. We get into Kasia’s personal ikigai which she so fittingly named her business after, and we also touched on what we want to do when we grow up.  Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome back to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. For today’s episode, I sit down to talk with my friend Anna who, at the time of this recording, was briefly based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Anna is a fellow travel fiend and a semi-location independent freelance photographer, writer, and teacher. She has her own blog, and she even wrote a book called "Good with Money." All of her links will be featured in the blog post for today's episode. This was a really fun conversation, and I’m glad I got to catch up with her because I always live vicariously through her travels. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome back to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. In today’s episode, I sat down to talk with my friend Kim who has become a close confidante in a very short amount of time. We met through an 8-week grief support workshop that we both attended in the spring of 2019, having both lost a parent, and in her case, both parents. In this conversation, we get into grief, some stories about her parents, and some obstacles that she’s come up against as a single mom. I am both in awe of Kim’s resilience and grounded by her story and I hope you are too. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome back to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. For today’s episode, I sat down to talk with my fierce, financially-savvy friend and fellow podcast creator Danielle to talk about the obstacles we come up against as independent women particularly as they pertain to things like travel and buying your own home. We also talked about getting over the hump of starting new creative projects like starting a podcast or writing a book. Speaking of which, Danielle is now officially a published author. Find the links below to her website and the Amazon link to buy her book! The Thought Card: https://thoughtcard.com/ Iceland: Nature, Nurture & Adventure: https://amzn.to/33sx08L  Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome back to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. For today’s episode, I sat down with my friend, coach, and mentor, Alicia, to talk about sexual abuse. There’s a lot to unpack with sexual misconduct, abuse, and assault that we ended up spending the entire hour talking just about this, and it is a very timely topic with the rise of movements like #MeToo. I understand that this is a sensitive topic so I just wanted to give you a warning because it may be triggering to some people, and if that’s the case, I completely understand if you need to shelf this episode. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. In this episode, I sit down to chat with a long-time family friend about his recent trip to Iceland, his love for exploring, about the fear that holds us back from pursuing creative endeavors and more. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome back to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. In this episode, I sit down with my aunt Joanne where we share our disinterest in small talk, maintaining personal and professional relationships, and using excuses to prevent us from asking for what we want or need. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY.

Welcome to Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB), a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. In this episode, I invite my friend and co-worker Sara onto the show, and we dive deep into being multi-racial, begin to unpack young adult relationships, and revel in our love for travel. Sara's mix of wise insight and sense of humor made for one of the most fun episodes to record. NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest

NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY. Welcome to the first episode of my new podcast, Bring Your Own Baggage (BYOB). This has been a long time coming. BYOB is a safe space in the form of a podcast to have constructive conversations about the personal baggage we carry, the cultural and social issues that affect us most, and the things most important to us. In this first episode, I introduce the format for the podcast, my reason for starting a podcast, and start to dive into the complex grief over losing my mother to breast cancer 5 years ago. Any references I make during the show or any afterthoughts I have will be posted on the blog the same day each episode goes live at byobaggagepodcast.com Interested in coming on the podcast to share your story? Email byobaggage@gmail.com or fill out the guest form at the link below: https://byobaggagepodcast.com/be-my-guest