The Light Watkins Show

Today we get to have a conversation with the owner of the first plant-based restaurant in Latin America! Mariana Blanco started her business, Los Loosers in Mexico City about ten years ago, with the mission of convincing more people about how delicious vegan food can be. In our chat, we get to hear what made Mariana go vegan as a young child, how feeling like the odd one out shaped her, and why she feels it is so important to change minds through her work. Mariana also shares anecdotes from many of the important points in her journey, which has been challenging, surprising, and full of serendipity too! She unpacks the different elements of inspiration for Los Loosers, going into the meaning behind the name, how the business grew out of a small delivery service, and what has kept her going through some difficulties and hurdles. So, to hear this amazing story of spreading love and good food, be sure to listen in today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

By using the urban landscape as his canvas, Ruben Rojas encourages communities to change for the better through optimism and collaboration. Once vacant walls become vibrant reminders that inspire those who see them to dream big, live in possibility, and to live life through the lens of love. But Ruben wasn’t always so in touch with this message. In today’s episode, you’ll learn more about his journey, from real estate to financial planning, and how he ultimately became disillusioned with material success. Ruben shares the story of how he came to paint his first-ever mural while completing a Mastery in Transformational Training (MITT) course and how it changed his world forever by inspiring him to start asking the ‘right’ questions about self-love and purpose.Tuning in, you’ll hear about Ruben’s transition from financial planner to full-time artist, the evolution of his now-iconic ‘love’ artwork and his Live Through Love message, and his current definition of success, which has everything to do with impact and very little to do with material wealth. We also touch on the process of reinvention, forgiveness, and self-awareness and Ruben reflects on how becoming a husband and a father has only reinforced his mission to help others live life through the lens of love, plus so much more! We hope you’ll join us for this candid and inspiring conversation with Los Angeles-based artist, activist, speaker, and entrepreneur, Ruben Rojas.Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest, Jessamyn Stanley, is an award-winning yoga instructor, intersectional activist, and author who empowers her audience of over half a million to break down barriers: both those that society has set and the ones that they have created for themselves. Jessamyn would not have been able to achieve any of this if she didn’t break down those barriers for herself and, as is always the case on At The End of The Tunnel, her story involves numerous leaps of faith and moments when she had to put her trust in herself and her capabilities in order to make it happen.As a fat, Black, queer yogi, Jessamyn’s work in the wellness space centers around creating a spiritual home for wellness misfits who may feel displaced, discouraged, or overlooked due to a lack of diversity in the health and fitness community, and she is a leading voice on intersectional identity. In today’s episode, she shares an articulate message of representation and visibility whilst also speaking candidly about the personal battles she has fought with imposter syndrome, mental health issues, and taking up space in an industry where she was critically underrepresented.You’ll learn about Jessamyn’s books, Every Body Yoga and Yoke, and why she says that writing them was a process of awakening for her. We also touch on her Baháʼí Faith, what inspired her to start posting pictures of herself on Instagram, and how she believes we can make the shift to operating from a place of compassion, not fear, plus a whole lot more! We hope you’ll join us for this deeply validating conversation with Jessamyn Stanley, who has found that so much strength and power comes from not being accepted by other people because she had to find that power inside herself. Tune in today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest is an author, speaker, activist, and environmental journalist Paul Hawken. Paul has dedicated his life to environmental sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. Due to a health condition and some family drama early on in his story, Paul came to understand that it wasn’t safe for him to be inside, which led him to develop a love for the outdoors. He spent countless hours exploring and learning about the interconnectedness of nature, which ultimately played a pivotal role decades later in what would become his life’s work: amplifying the importance of regenerative agriculture.After leaving home at the age of 14, Paul ultimately found himself at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the Deep South, where he volunteered with Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis, and other icons of the movement. Stay tuned, because he shares some incredible stories from that period in his life, including the time he was kidnapped after he was seen taking photos of the Klu Klux Klan! Later, Paul found himself in Boston, where he took over the now famous health food store, Erewhon. Here, he developed an even deeper understanding of the importance of protecting the environment, which led him to become the celebrated journalist, author, and activist that he is today.In today’s episode, we discuss the interconnected nature of Paul’s backstory, his involvement in the civil rights movement and the profound effect it had on him, and the importance of regenerative agriculture, as well as his views on hope, success, unreasonable goals, and how every single one of us can be part of the solution, plus a whole lot more! Make sure not to miss this personal and enlightening discussion with one of the world’s foremost environmental advocates.Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

I’m honored to have Christine Platt, a modern-day Renaissance woman also known as The Afrominimalist. From serving as an advocate for policy reform to using the power of storytelling as a tool for social change, she is focused on doing the work that reflects her practice of living with intention.Her most recent book, The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less, is a radical re-envisioning of minimalism that focuses on authenticity over aesthetics. A resource for anyone seeking to discover the truth behind their overconsumption as well as how to let go of what no longer serves them, this book encourages mindful consumption, and will hopefully inspire you to fill your life with only the things that you need, use, and love. In today’s episode, we dive into Christine’s backstory, from her love for her local library as a child to becoming a single mother in law school and everything in between, and we connect the dots between her former life of excess and the intentional life of less that she lives now. Tuning in, you’ll learn how Christine’s retail therapy problem coincided with her dissatisfaction with her job, how her decluttering journey began when she rediscovered her love for storytelling, and where her nickname, The Afrominimalist, came from. We also touch on some of her mindful philosophies when it comes to consumption and she shares her advice for listeners struggling with excess or clutter: just pause and take the time you need to do the inner work, because that is actually the most difficult part! Make sure not to miss this story of reinvention, reimagining, and living a life of less, with intention with advocate, storyteller, and minimalism guru, Christine Platt!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Real Estate agent and former singer, Jordyn Taylor, like many people who were stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, began to reflect on her purpose in life. She’d had a career in music, she had worked in real estate, and she was very good at both of those things, but she realized that she didn’t feel fulfilled. She started volunteering with a man named Joseph Bradford, who you may remember from Episode 47. Joseph was the one-man food bank who started a nonprofit called the B.A.R.E Truth, which provides supplies, food, and transitional housing to people living without homes. Jordyn volunteered with Joseph in Los Angeles before taking a leap of faith and starting her own nonprofit, Twelve Months of Giving, which spotlights 12 noteworthy nonprofits every year, shining a light on the incredible organizations that are using their time and energy to create lasting change.In today’s episode, Jordyn starts by sharing her favorite activity as a child, swimming, and how that created a sense of freedom for her. We dive into her career journey, which started at the age of 14 when she started singing which took her all the way to Japan, and Jordyn shares her common interest in speaking to and connecting with people, which she believes has driven her throughout her life. You’ll learn how a campaign for the Be The Match bone marrow registry sparked the idea for 12 Months of Giving, what it felt like for Jordyn to finally connect with her purpose, and some of the unexpected benefits she has seen from the project, and Jordyn shares her advice for anyone wanting to start their non-profit. If you can relate to feeling unfulfilled, we hope that hearing Jordyn’s story will inspire you to seek out opportunities to give back or to leave the world a better place than you found it, in whichever way resonates with you. Tune in today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

I'm joined by Ryland Engelhart, co-Founder of Kiss the Ground, a non-profit focused on regenerative agriculture, and the producer of the groundbreaking film, Kiss The Ground on Netflix. He has spent the past 15 years as an entrepreneur and love activist, working in hospitality and building a "triple bottom line" business of organic plant-based restaurants, like Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre in Southern California. Ryland has an infectious passion for life and is a cultural catalyst creating transformation through his own organizations and in the world at large. He publicly speaks on the topics of sacred commerce, gratitude, veganism, building community, soil regeneration, and the connection between soil health, human health, and planetary health.Ryland also shares a bit about his journey and the leaps of faith he had to take along the way to find his true calling; being of service to Mother Earth and nature. Tuning in, you’ll learn about the role that plant medicine played in opening Ryland’s eyes to this calling, the detours he took along the way, and how he is now moving the needle on the national and global adoption of regenerative agriculture. Ryland believes that everyone who eats can participate in the revolution of regenerating our soils and healing our planet. Tune in today to learn how!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today's guest, celebrity chef, Serena Poon started a movement called Culinary Alchemy, where she advocates for functional nutrition through the mindful combination of food and healing intuition. She is a trained chef, a Reiki master, and owns a thriving media platform where she highlights changemakers who make the world a better place. Her mission to learn everything she could about the healing power of diet started from an early age when both her mother and her father were diagnosed with cancer only two years apart from one another. While her family was set on Serena becoming a lawyer, she secretly took out loans to go to culinary school instead, feeling like she was guided by something within. Now a leading chef to the Hollywood elite, Serena has set herself apart in a saturated industry through her genuine passion for curating intentional healing and wellness programs designed to help people achieve optimal, sustainable health. In today’s episode, she shares some of the philosophies that were echoed in her household growing up, including the value of hard work and self-sacrifice, which sometimes came at the expense of optimal health.You’ll find out how her parents’ diagnoses shifted Serena’s perspective on success and purpose and what inspired her to take a leap of faith and pursue her dreams of becoming a chef, even when she encountered strong resistance along the way. She also speaks candidly about her own health issues and the divine coincidences that ended up saving her life, as well as how she discovered the importance of allowing others the grace of serving you in the way you serve them. Serena has a powerful message to share about trusting your intuition, being intentional about your energy, and practicing gratitude, so make sure not to miss this inspiring conversation!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest, Tami Simon, founded Sounds True at the age of 22 with a dream and a tape recorder. Though she had no experience running a business and only a vague idea of what she wanted the company to be, Tami had her guiding principle strongly in place: to disseminate spiritual wisdom. Over its 36-year history, Sounds True has grown into a multimedia publisher that has produced over 6,000 titles, including Light Watkins’ Knowing Where to Look, has been included twice in the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing companies, and is North America’s leading publisher of spoken-word spiritual teachings.Partnering with the leading spiritual teachers of our time, including Eckhart Tolle, Michael, Beckwith and Wim Hof, Sounds True now has a successful book publishing program and has scaled to produce events, certification programs, and transformational online learning experiences. Tami hosts the popular Sounds True podcast, Insights at the Edge, which has now been downloaded more than 20 million times. She is also the founder of the Sounds True Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing spiritual education to people who would otherwise not have access.In today’s episode, Tami shares how she discovered her love for audio journalism, the prayer that came to her during a rebirthing session that set the course for her work with Sounds True, and how "disseminate spiritual wisdom” became her code words and guiding principle. We also touch on the existential concepts Tami engaged with as a child, the sequence of events following the death of her father that led to her starting Sounds True, and how she became attuned to the “sound of truth,” as well as why she is so passionate about conscious capitalism and changing the landscape of the work environment. Tune in today for all this and more!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Joining us on the podcast today is none other than Dr. Jim Tucker, a top expert on past life memories and reincarnation. Dr. Tucker is based in North Carolina and we get to have an amazing conversation with our guest about the subject at large, his journey through the field, as well as his reflections on what the study might bring us in the future. We get to explore some real examples from Dr. Tucker's work, stories that he has published in his books, and these examples really lend credence to this kind of endeavor. No matter what your beliefs on the subject, these anecdotes are sure to make you think twice about your assumptions, and possibly even reconsider what you thought you knew. Dr. Tucker maintains a strict, scientific approach to his work, with no past life memories of his own, and merely a fascination with the investigation of others' experiences. We get to talk about the commonalities between the cases, the results of disparate families connecting, and also the reality of public perception of these phenomena. So for all this, and a whole lot more, join us for this fantastic conversation!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!