Someone Needs to Hear It: Rewriting Our Narratives

This week, we wrap up Rewriting Immigration with a tear-jerker. Stephanie DeOrio, a high school ELL teacher, poet, and friend, heads to Canada to talk to her friend and former student, Leen Chikh AlChabab. Leen is a Syrian refugee who came to the US looking for safety and opportunity. But after the 2016 election, she was forced to flee to Canada with her family in the middle of the night. Through her eloquent reflections, we hear the undying optimism of a young girl who simply wants to feel at home and live out her dreams in the country she loves. To learn more about this episode and the podcast, check out www.someoneneedstohearit.com

In the second installment of Rewriting Immigration, I had the pleasure of sitting down with WBUR Arts and Culture reporter, Cristela Guerra, to discuss her Panamanian roots and her experiences as a journalist in an ever-changing America. She’s brown, she’s queer, and she’s here to change the world one word at a time. This badass Aquarian writer and journalist shares her personal experiences and insight with me and EPISODE ONE guest, Michelle McEwen. Listen in to hear Cristela use her storytelling mastery as she invites us into her childhood, adolescence, and beyond. She sheds light on what it means to be an immigrant and the responsibly we all share in creating an equitable world. To learn more about this episode and the podcast, head to www.someoneneedstohearit.com

If you watch the news for even a moment in the US, you will catch a glimpse of the horror show surrounding the current immigration battle. Children in cages, makeshift concentration camps, and tragic loss. The President and various media outlets have painted immigrants as an axe-wielding caravan on its way to take over the US. However, the reality of the caravan is a group of humans simply trying to find a safe haven to live, grow families, and thrive. In this three-part series, I speak with three incredible women who share their hearts and experiences about everything immigration. PART ONE: MICHELLE MCEWEN In this week’s episode, I sit down with my friend Michelle McEwen, a former Early Intervention Specialist and first-generation daughter of Colombian immigrants. She shares her family’s story and her recent trip to the border to work with refugees waiting for their chance at freedom. Michelle leaves it all on the table in this raw interview, reminding listeners that we are all human and that we all deserve to be loved. For more information about this episode or the podcast, head to www.someoneneedstohearit.com

For this episode, an Instagram friend travels to meet me for the first time to discuss her new perspective on alcohol. Taryn Dickey, wife, mother of two, and former school guidance counselor turned fitness coach, shares her story regarding why she chose to stop drinking and the very real dangers of normalized alcohol use. She reminds us about the importance of questioning social norms and how ignoring our feelings can lead to losing ourselves and our lives. *Trigger Warning: This episode contains stories about sexual assault and a discussion surrounding consent. **If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol or another substance, reach out to your PCP or local emergency medical services to get the help you deserve today. For more information about this episode and the podcast visit www.someoneneedstohearit.com

Traveling has become a major hobby in my life. It's become more than a vacation here and there. Traveling has helped me grow as a world citizen and learn an awful lot about myself. However, I’m in significant student loan debt, and in the past, I've struggled to pay bills without a second job. So, how is traveling possible? Travel hacks. This week, I bring back my best friend, Amanda Robb, who has successfully hacked the system to get free flights, discounted hotel rates, and luxury trips most wouldn’t consider pricing. How do we do it? Find out in this week’s episode about budget travel. Trigger Warning: If you struggle with credit card debt, this episode may not be for you. Check out www.someoneneedstohearit.com for all the resources mentioned in this episode and for more information about the podcast.

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘psychic’? A woman at a fair in a booth with a crystal ball? Do you think of the old commercials with Miss Cleo, her insistence that she could solve your problems with a pay by minute phone call? I think the first five minutes were free. These were my perceptions, but in 2019, the word psychic is archaic and outdated. Now, I envision healers, and yogis, and the concept of an intuitive. This week, I interview Heather Tharpe, an intuitive clairvoyant and yogi that works as a life coach for all that come her way. She will tell us about her life, her journey to this concept of an intuitive, and remind us that the conventional may not always be the doorway to healing, health, and happiness. Check out the website for more information about this episode and the podcast. www.someoneneedstohearit.com

In this week’s episode, we continue the discussion surrounding change and trusting our inner voice by speaking with one of my best friends, Amanda Robb. An Eating Disorder Warrior, Amanda has gone to the depths of inpatient rehab for Anorexia and back to find herself and the subversive messages that brought her there. Listen in to learn about how Amanda rewrote her narrative and how we can all rewrite our own negative relationships with food, exercise, and our bodies. For more information about this episode/podcast, check out www.someoneneedstohearit.com or someoneneedstohearit on Instagram.

To kick off the podcast, I dig deep into the concept of change and what can happen if we face our fears and view life as an opportunity to learn. Former Hollywood makeup artist and actress, Darielle Rose, sits down with me to discuss her life-changing move back home and the choices that led her to work as a healer. Her insight will help us find the strength to rewrite the narratives that are holding us back from our true potential and honor the concept of change as something beautiful and necessary. For more information about this episode/podcast, check out www.someoneneedstohearit.com or someoneneedstohearit on Instagram.

Who am I? In this brief overview, I talk about my past, my present, and my future. I’ll tell you about how I rewrote some of my past narratives and share my podcast intentions. There’s hope, self-deprecation, existential woes, optimism, sentence enhancers (swears), and of course, dad jokes.