Making Good

01 - Bernie and Natasha, Founders and Operators of Heartsleeve

Bernie and Natasha are partners in business and in life. They print and design Church Alley's t-shirts, tote bags, website, and product branding. The pair are founders and operators of Heartsleeve, a New Orleans based design and print studio rooted in community. Bernie January Jr. is the Creative Director and Senior Designer at Heartsleeve. Bernie has been formally trained in multiple artistic mediums and is a graduate of Tulane University with a degree in Neuroscience. He's an educator and previous Program Manager for Green Light New Orleans, an environmental non-profit focused on supporting local households in sustainable practices like energy efficiency and gardening. Natasha Noordhoff is the Lead Screen Printer and Partnership Director at Heartsleeve. She develops relationships with new and existing Cause Partners to collaborate in meaningful ways that support work to put Louisiana communities first. Natasha is Managing Partner in the collaborative, women-owned retail store The Good Shop.

Check out all things Heartsleeve! 

20 - Renard Bridgewater, MaCCNO

Bonus Season 2 Episode!

MaCCNO is celebrating its 10th anniversary on November 20, 2022, at Zony Mash with a star line up! Check out all the details on this amazing event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/787259485803139/ 

In this episode, I spoke with Renard Bridgewater, MACCNOs Community Engagement Coordinator, about the organization's origin, purpose, and how they met the moment when the COVID-19 pandemic hit our city's musicians and artists hard. 

Since 2012, the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MACCNO) has been organizing, empowering, and advocating with New Orleans musicians, artists, traditional culture bearers, and other members and allies of the cultural community.

Renard Bridgewater is a native New Orleanian and graduate of both Holy Cross High School and the University of New Orleans. As a tenured veteran in the city's Hip-Hop community (performing under the moniker Slangston Hughes) and previous participant in Sweet Home New Orleans' Accessing Artist Revenue Streams course, he has a passion for live music and artist empowerment and continues to pass on the knowledge he has gained to help empower his peers. This is utilized in his Uniquity (yoo-knik-wi-tee) Music imprint, which provides a performance platform for regional/touring bands and local Hip-Hop, R&B, and Spoken Word artists, as well as providing music publishing for local artists and facilitating workshops that cultivate professional development in the music industry. He joins us after nearly fourteen years with The Times-Picayune, where he worked in HR and production.

 

19 - Ella Campbell and Reneé Blanchard, Season Finale

That's a wrap! Season 2's final episode is here!

Ella joined me again for this season's final episode. We talked about my book "Focused & Flexible: Strategic Planning for Small Business".

Ella and Renee discuss how our small businesses help us grow and evolve into better friends, lovers, and leaders. The challenges we find for ourselves stretch us beyond just being able to do the nuts and bolts of our everyday tasks. But cracks us open to the people we know we can become. We also talk the importance of more compassionate communication by explaining how we love with the people we love the most. 

So, yes, we got pretty deep into what it takes to create change in your own life, boundaries with friends and family members, and the "just do it anyway" philosophy I made up within the conversation.  It's an emotionally honest conversation about the challenges and great joy of making significant changes in your life. 

18- Leah Porche, RDN, LDN

Leah Porche received her Bachelors in Dietitics from Nicholls State University. She has owned her juice bar + yoga studio and worked in restaurants for many years. She teaches an approach to nutrition that focuses on the well-being of the person, not to a diet or a cultural norm. We spoke about her approach to Health At Every Size and even included some chair yoga at the end of the episode. Her blog On the Food Size offers recipes and ideas to fit your health, your body, and your lifestyle. 

Books mentioned in this episode: 

Intuitive Eating, 4th Edition

Anti-Diet

Decolonizing Wellness

More Than A Body

Body of Truth

Belly of the Beast 

17 - Molly Kimball, RD, Ochsner Eat Fit

Molly Kimball is a New Orleans nutrition journalist, podcaster, and founder of Ochsner Eat Fit. She has a real passion for helping people live their healthiest, strongest lives.

As founder of Ochsner Eat Fit, a nonprofit initiative that collaborates with local restaurants and chefs to develop and feature menu items that are nutritious and delicious, we’re always cooking up a blend of nutritious + delicious dishes. Our Eat Fit team has expanded beyond Eat Fit NOLA, offering Eat Fit in six regions throughout the state, driven by our talented team of registered dietitians.

16 - Ajax, Magnolia Yoga

Magnolia Yoga Studio is the first Black-owned yoga studio in New Orleans. Ajax opened Magnolia Yoga Studio in 2016 with an intentional approach to wellness. 

"Magnolia Yoga Studio is a state-of-the-art Beginners Hot Yoga Studio located in downtown New Orleans, LA. Our business model is based on Diversity in Yoga, Inclusivity in Yoga & Affordability in Yoga. We offer daily classes including our therapeutic The Hot 26&2 Yoga Series, Warm Vinyasa & Warm Vinyasa/Yin." 

15 - Olivia McCoy, We Help Nola

Olivia McCoy launched WeHelp Nola in the Fall of 2019 before the pandemic blew up the restaurant industry and put mental healthcare on the frontlines. WeHelp NOLA is a locally owned and operated organization that provides free, large-scale mental health care access to restaurant industry workers throughout New Orleans. These services are offered free of charge through extremely low-cost memberships with our participating restaurant owners. Through these monthly memberships, we are able to compensate participating practitioners, businesses, studios, and coaches, all providing services through WeHelp at a sliding scale or donation-based rate.  

WeHelp NOLA is the only company in New Orleans working to build a partnership between the restaurant employer and the mental health care community.  Restaurant and hospitality industry-related jobs are found to be, in the high stress- low control career categories, the most physically and emotionally taxing jobs within the marketplace.  Couple that emotional distress with long hours, poor sleep, a workplace driven by alcohol and drug abuse, and little to no provided health care access or support provided by your employer, and you find yourself in the reality of restaurant industry life within New Orleans.

06 - Dr. Tanya Radecker, Clinical Therapist

Tanya Radecker, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, RN, is an ICEEFT-certified EFT supervisor with a private practice in New Orleans, Louisiana. She serves as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Community for Emotionally Focused Therapy. Dr. Radecker lectures at universities and conferences and provides educational workshops across the state for other clinicians learning EFT. She is also a certified clinical hypnotherapist who specializes in working with couples who deal with trauma, high conflict, and sexual assault/abuse. 

Dr. Tanya is also my therapist of 5 years. Given the complexity of the past year and the emotional toll the pandemic has taken on hospitality workers in particular, I wanted to make space for a discussion about the feelings we are all experiencing right now both collectively and individually. There is even a meditation at the end of the episode! 

You can learn more about Louisiana Community of Emotionally Focused Therapy here - https://louisianaeft.org/

You can get a copy of Dr. Tanya's book here - "Perspectives of Divorced Therapists"