Growing up in Nashville, Top Chef star, Carla Hall, was surrounded by soul food, especially dishes cooked by her beloved grandma. She loved eating it, but she had no interest in cooking it. In fact, she headed into the world of business, building a career in accounting when, in a moment of awakening, she took a hard left turn that took her through runway modeling in Europe, cooking and catering, and eventually onto Bravo’s Top Chef where he amazing, joyful energy and sense of possibility captures the hearts of viewers. That launched her into the world of not just food and restaurants, but media, books, with her latest cookbook, Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, and TV, with many appearances all over and a run co-hosting The Chew, and now podcasting with her hit show, Say Yes! with Carla Hall : https://pod.link/1530065734Carla is also very active with a number of foundations that reflect her passion for causes close to her heart, Like Helen Keller International, and she’s the Culinary Ambassador for Sweet Home Cafe at the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. where she brings attention to the history of the food that has inspired the café.You can find Carla Hall at:Website : https://www.carlahall.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/carlaphall/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we’re sharing part 2 of our special series, The Hug. Last week, we aired part 1 of the Hug, with six beautiful stories. Today is part 2 next, think of it as the other arm in our audio hug, wrapping us all in the arms of stories that remind us of our shared humanity at a time we need it most. So, sit back and enjoy these stories in part 2 of The Hug. If you haven’t yet listened to Part 1 of The Hug (https://tinyurl.com/y2f5y2eh), be sure to download it and listen now. And if these stories have warmed you up, or reconnected you with a sense of shared humanity and possibility, even just a bit, maybe you know someone else who might need to hear them, too. Right now. Especially now. If there were ever episodes we’d love you to share with friends and family, it’s these Hug episodes. We all need stories that remind us of the good side of human beings, more than ever. And, if the stories have moved you and you’d love us to do more episodes like this, let us know on instagram, email or in a review on your fave listening app. Thanks for listening.You can find our storytellers at:Marsha Shandur: https://www.instagram.com/yesyesmarsha/Megan Devine: https://www.instagram.com/refugeingrief/Yvonne Ator: yvonneator.comIN-Q: https://www.instagram.com/inqlife/Jennifer Pastiloff: https://www.instagram.com/jenpastiloff/Dan Stones: https://twitter.com/monobisco/status/1320530648977866755Erin Moon: https://www.instagram.com/mooneybooks-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earning his living in a past life as a fashion model, Light Watkins, began yoga and meditation in-between casting calls in New York City during the late nineties. Something he never saw coming happened. It opened him to a different worldview and set of practices that would change not only the trajectory of his career, but also his path in life. Deepening his practice, traveling and spending time in India and then apprenticing with his Vedic Meditation teacher, Light became, well, Light. He actually changed his name to better reflect his emerging identity. He then became a full-time Vedic Meditation teacher in 2007. Light now travels the world, albeit virtually these days, speaking on happiness, mindfulness, inspiration, and meditation. His most recent book, Bliss More: How to Succeed in Meditation Without Really Trying (https://amzn.to/2qvpXvj) invites people into meditation in a very accessible way. In Before Times, he also produced a global pop-up inspirational variety show called The Shine, with a mission to inspire that actually started as a local dinner gathering. We figured, right about now, we all need a little Light, so I’m excited to share this moving Best Of conversation with you this week.And, be sure you’re subscribed because part 2 of our special guest-storytelling series, The Hug, about moments that remind you of the goodness in people will be dropping next week. I’ve heard the stories and trust me, you do NOT want to miss this. You can find Light Watkins at:Website : https://www.lightwatkins.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/lightwatkins/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love, City of Girls and other awesome books. She’s also just a straight-up genuine, wise, deeply-feeling human with a lens on life that is incredibly kind and real. Since her last appearance on the podcast, Liz’s life has been turned upside-down and back again. She has navigated profound awakening, unbelievable love, loss, transition, reclamation and, along the way, continues the practice of finding her way back into the light. That’s a skillset and a lens we could all use right now. We explore all of this, in detail, in today’s deeply honest and powerful conversation. So excited to share this Best Of conversation.You can find Elizabeth Gilbert at:Website : https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_gilbert_writer/Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we’re doing something we’ve never done before. We’re about to head into a week like never before in the US and, well, around the world. And we kinda wanted to wrap it, and you, with one big, beautiful, audio hug that reminds us all, people are good, they can be kind, even to total strangers, in ways we never imagined.So, we’ve created a two-part series for you we’re calling The Hug, where we’re sharing a bunch of heartwarming stories, told by friends of the pod and some past guests who, now that I think about it, are friends now, too. Each story shares a moment or experience where a little bit of kindness, a little bit of sweetness and, just maybe, a little bit of lightness and laughter, touched their lives, and reminded them how good people can be. I feel like we all need a little of that right now. So, today is part one of The Hug, the first 6 stories for you. We’ll air part 2 next week, right after the election with the intention of wrapping us all in the arms of stories that remind us of our shared humanity at a time we need it most. So, sit back and enjoy these stories in part one of The Hug. You can find our storytellers at:Gabra Zackman: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/audiobookgoddess/)Rick Charlie: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/rick.charlie)Rebekah Taussig: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sitting_pretty/)Neil Pasricha: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/neilpasricha/)Jeff Harry: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jeffharryplays/)Susan Piver: Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/susan.piver/)-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rebekah Taussig is a Kansas City writer and teacher with her doctorate in Creative Nonfiction and Disability Studies. For the last five years, she’s grown a global community on Instagram, where she crafts these “mini-memoirs” that take you into her world, experiences and identity, a part of which includes her near lifelong relationship with physical disability and the wheelchair that has given her freedom and mobility and much more. Rebekah’s memoir in essays, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body (https://amzn.to/3mgFNEw) takes you into her life, creating an eye-opening, funny, and insightful portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. In today’s conversation, we dive into all of this. I learned so much not just about Rebekah, her family, life and mindset, but also her passion for writing and creativity and people. You can find Rebekah Taussig at:Website : https://rebekahtaussig.com/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is former, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, mayor of San Antonio, Texas and presidential candidate, Julián Castro. Today’s conversation is personal. Growing up in San Antonio, his love of the city, example of his grandmother’s devotion to family and hard work and his mom’s commitment to social justice and activism instilled a deep reverence for public service. He’d eventually head to college and then law school with his twin brother, Joaquin, before returning to San Antonio to immerse himself in the pursuit of making the city he loved the best, most equitable and inclusive place possible. He eventually became the youngest mayor of a Top 50 American city at the time, before rising up in the world of politics, But, for him, it wasn’t about politics, it was about service, about honoring the examples of his mom and nana to help others. Much if this story is shared in Secretary Castro’s memoir, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream. He currently hosts Lemonada Media's hit podcast, Our America with Julián Castro. We dive into all of this in today’s moving, wise and open conversation about the role of family, service and connection.You can find Julián Castro at:Our America podcast : https://smarturl.it/ouramericapodcastInstagram : https://www.instagram.com/juliancastrotx/Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on today’s Best Of conversation, Cleo Wade, is a community builder, artist, activist, and the author of the books, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life (https://amzn.to/2Ltivce) and Where to Begin: A small about book your power to create big change in our crazy world. She has been called the poet of her generation by Time Magazine and one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company. Cleo sits on the board of The Lower East Side Girls Club, the National Black Theatre in Harlem, the Women’s Prison Association. Her art ranges from short, hand-written posts to collaborations with major brands and large-scale public art installations, including a 25-foot love poem in the skyline of the New Orleans French Quarter titled “Respect.”In today’s conversation, we explore her younger years, growing up as a biracial kid in the famed New Orleans French Quarter with two fiercely-creative parents influenced, how Hurricane Katrina changed everything, what led her to New York for many years, how she walked away from a career as a rising star in fashion to rediscover and cultivate a deeper, artistic voice as a writer and artist, sharing her work online and in public spaces and leveraging her influence for social justice. Be sure to listen to the end, where Cleo reads a moving poem from Heart Talk.You can find Cleo Wade at:Website : https://www.cleowade.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/cleowade/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2010, folk-singer and songwriter Zoe Boekbinder (http://zoeboekbinder.com/) visited New Folsom Prison for the first time. What they thought would be one interesting day turned into a decade-long collaborative project. Boekbinder visited the prison often over the next five years; performing and teaching music workshops quickly turned into the beginnings of collaborations with writers and musicians who were incarcerated within New Folsom's walls. Boekbinder collaborated on the first of these songs with Alex Batriz, and following that, was approached by many more writers about collaborations. This was the seed for the Prison Music Project and the culminating album, Long Time Gone, produced by Ani DiFranco. Out now on Righteous Babe Records, the album features work by nine incarcerated (and formerly incarcerated) writers.The profits of Long Time Gone (https://amzn.to/31Y5phb) sales will benefit communities impacted by mass incarceration and the funds will be administered by the Southern Center for Human Rights. The contributing writers will decide, collectively, what projects will be funded. The writers own their work and will profit from royalties.You can find Prison Music Project at:Prison Music Project Website : https://www.righteousbabe.com/pages/prisonmusicproject-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Question - how do you talk to friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances about things that matter - hard things - in a way that leads to each person being seen, heard, acknowledged, and treated with dignity? How do you get to a resolution, and sidestep the hurt, the wounding, the rage, and reactivity? How do you have conversations, in work and life, that lead to genuine understanding and change, and leave you feeling respected and at-peace, even when you still disagree? That's where we're going in today's conversation with Alexandra Jamieson & Bob Gower, partners in business and life and co-authors of Radical Alignment: How to Have Game-Changing Conversations That Will Transform Your Business and Your Life (https://getradicalalignment.com/book). Alexandra Jamieson is the bestselling author of five books, and co-creator / co-star of the Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me. She is a highly-sought-after success mentor and motivational guide for thousands and has made it her mission to empower women to create epic lives. Bob Gower is a New York-based consultant, writer, and speaker. He contributes to Inc. magazine, has lectured at Columbia University, NYU’s Stern School of Management, the Berlin School, and worked with leaders at Chanel, Ericsson, Ford, and GE to non-profits like New York Public Radio, the Studio Museum, and the Wikimedia Foundation.Learn more at: Radical Alignment website : https://getradicalalignment.com/-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.