Month: May 2021

Kelly talks about what it was like to grow up in an extremely patriarchal environment, where women were supposed to be a certain way, where they needed to come across as nice, to be not outspoken, to be educated, but to also be geared towards marriage and children as the completion of what all is meant to be for a woman. She shares how it’s hard to constantly be fighting to be acknowledged and to pave her individual path on her own terms. Kelly shares how initially she was studying medicine at first and later quit medical school when she was exposed to the idea that she can have a life of her own on her own terms. She speaks about how there is no sexual education taught in public schools, that teachers would tear pages out of teaching books, and this led her to her own curiosity of erotic literature and sexuality. She speaks about suffering from depression and going through some dark moments and expressed the gratitude for being able to have the resources to overcome it. Her key message to the listeners is that: mental health looks differently for each person, what you need will look different from one person to another; friends and family can be there to support you but not fix you; not matter what the struggle is, get professional help; don’t follow a path because someone wants you to do it — do it because it’s something that sparks passion and curiosity inside you.

Guest Bio: Erotic Expert and Health Coach Kelly Swartz has been working in the areas of sexuality and expression for more than a decade. A published author and graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition’s program in Holistic Health Coaching, she holds a master’s degree in Critical Theory and is a PhD Candidate in Erotic Literature. She is a seasoned speaker who appears on many media platforms, sharing her knowledge and educating others on topics like self intimacy, self-seduction, and erotic literature. Kelly is originally from Mexico City and lives in Toronto, where her health coaching practice lives while she has the ability to serve clients around the world.

Passionate about: www.awokenbeauty.com

Sheliza dives into a conversation where she explores what it is like to consider both surviving and thriving in order to make it in the world. She delves into internalized emotions that she endured along the way like, sadness, anxiety, shame. She balanced many competing identities related to social identities, racial trauma and imposter syndrome. She shares denying her own roots, rejecting her identity, and her big coping mechanism was to shove her experiences aside or hide behind them. She accounts for what imposter syndrome manifested within her, and that knowing she was well put together and looked put together to the outside world, but what she had to do in order to stay put together really came at a cost. She explores what it was like under pressure to please others; the unhelpful concept of othering others; unwilling for years to acknowledge the colour of her skin, the sound of her name, and fear associated with being ‘brown’. Through her journey, she has been able to contribute to social justice work, personal growth, and be given opportunities that she can choose to share learnings with other women of colour, and mentor other young women. Her key message to the listeners is that: be kind and compassionate with yourself; each person is a learning and growing being, so keep learning; listen to yourself –physically, mentally, emotionally; think about the resilience of ancestors; and keep working to love yourself.

Guest Bio: Sheliza Jamal is the founder of Curated Leadership, a coaching firm that fosters partnerships with leadership teams, non-profits, and corporations to develop their knowledge in the areas of equity and diversity to build inclusive communities. As an Equity and Inclusion facilitator and Ontario certified educator, Sheliza brings over a decade of experience in designing and implementing training and development programs aimed at addressing inequitable outcomes for underserved communities. She has a background in arts education and often uses theatre-based techniques to develop embodied empathy to engage participants in dialogue about oppression. Sheliza uses a calling in approach to bring people together to listen and learn with empathy.

Sheliza is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is currently completing her PhD at Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, University of Toronto in the Department of Social Justice Education with a research focus on anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in Teacher Education Programs.

Passionate about: YWCA – mentorship program https://ywcavan.org

Clubhouse Group Name: Curated Conversations

As Nadia begins to tap into her story, she shares that leading up to her university graduation ceremony, she was feeling incredibly sick for 4-6 weeks, going in and out of medical clinics without any answers, until she made a visit to the local emergency room at age 24, this is where she learned of the cancer diagnoses. She described this part of her story as her degree coming with a diagnosis. Nadia shares the power in her faith to overcome the cancer, firmly planted in the roots of her faith and of a higher power — she speaks about choosing to take the pain and transforming it into an influential, positive purpose. She learned the true art of taking a challenging situation, embracing it, and then transforming it into a beautiful journey. Nadia is clear that though she was never defeated by fear, there were moments where she was scared, where she was numb, where she was restless, however, she found a way to bring herself to deep reflection, and writing about her challenges, acknowledging them and creating a new perspective and narrative on what she would choose to internalize. Her key message to the listeners is that: we cannot always choose our circumstances, but we can always choose our perspectives; feel your feelings fully; show yourself some compassion; choose ‘you’ to believe in yourself; it’s in your nature to be able to rise over and over and over again.

Guest Bio: Nadia is a cancer survivor, resilience speaker and high school science and drama teacher. Her high-energy talks, drama-based workshops, and personal brand ‘Choose I Can’ have been designed to inspire individuals to transform limiting beliefs into empowering opportunities. Driven by the principles that “challenges are stepping stones to our GREATNESS!” and “I CAN is not the future – it’s NOW!” she has transformed her personal struggle into a powerful system of change. Her compelling story and strategies inspire others to unleash their infinite potential, CHOOSE I CAN and STEP INTO THEIR GREATNESS.

Passionate about: Canadian Cancer Society https://www.cancer.ca

Mr. X speaks about the initial struggles that his family endured when his family first immigrated to Canada, and as his story unfolds, he unveils what it was like to grow up with being a recipient of both physical and verbal abuse. He shares about how all the emotional pain churned inside him, leaving him confused and second guessing his actions and pursuits in life. Mr. X shares how his upbringing shaped and influenced his later life when he got married and resulted in his first marriage to dissolve. He openly walks us through his journey through dating in what seemed like a ‘new world of dating’, learning about himself as he explored the world through meeting others, connection, having unfamiliar conversational topics, and then meeting and marrying his true love. Mr. X highlights how he went through a period of self-discovery as he turned to meditation, found a community where he was able to find a sense of true belonging, and shares that he awoke energy from within his core. His key message to listeners is that: have faith, seek help, no need to feel embarrassed; surround yourself with positive people; your experience is not ‘your’ fault; believe in yourself, no one can take that from you; if you want something badly, than you need to be up for the full throttle to do the necessary; be your own saviour.