Find Your Spark: Recent Episodes
The SPARK Initiative
“FIND YOUR SPARK” is a podcast that shares real-life stories of realizing the potential and impact of your SPARK, in the middle of a busy life. Your hosts Brooke Wheeldon-Reece, President of The SPARK Initiative – a non-profit organization – and Ashley Hunt, Director of Program Development, dive deep into conversations about life, family, running a business, the youth they work with, and the impact their work has daily. The episodes are funny, digestible, honest, and profoundly helpful. As working moms and entrepreneurs, Brooke and Ashley navigate the sticky realities of daily life, all while working to make this world a better place.
In this special episode, Brooke is joined by Ashley Hunt, Makayla Wheeldon, and Jena Travise to reflect on their incredible experience traveling to San Francisco for Dreamforce. Together, they share moments of gratitude for the opportunity to represent a small nonprofit like SPARK at one of the world’s biggest innovation conferences — and the inspiration that came from it.
The conversation dives into key takeaways around the future of AI and automation, exploring how these tools can help SPARK expand its reach, streamline operations, and deepen human connection in the work we do. From awe-inspiring sessions to late-night brainstorms, the team reflects on how Dreamforce reminded them to stay curious, courageous, and thankful for every opportunity to grow.
Tune in as we celebrate a season of gratitude, innovation, and the dreams that continue to fuel SPARK’s mission.
In honor of Veterans Day, Brooke and Chad take a moment to reflect on the powerful influence of role models — both those who have served and those who embody the same spirit of courage, sacrifice, and leadership. Veterans remind us daily of what it means to give selflessly for a greater purpose, and this episode explores how that same strength shows up in our own lives and communities.
As SPARK mentors, we’re often viewed as role models ourselves, guiding others toward recognizing their own potential and innate resilience. This conversation holds special meaning for us at SPARK, as we also work closely with veterans in our local jail — witnessing firsthand their growth, wisdom, and the strength it takes to rebuild.
Join Brooke and Chad as they unpack the connection between veterans, role models, and the deeper understanding of human potential that unites them all.
In this episode, Brooke shares her deeply personal journey of adopting her three children, offering an honest and heartfelt look at the joys, challenges, and profound connections that come with building an adoptive family. She reflects on how her adoption story has inspired much of the work we do at SPARK, fostering programs and approaches that focus on human potential, resilience, and connection. Brooke also shares how her experiences at SPARK influenced her decision to adopt, creating a beautiful intersection between personal choice and professional passion.
With November being National Adoption Month, this episode emphasizes the importance of raising awareness around adoption, the foster care system, and the many steps involved in creating a family through adoption. Listeners will gain insight into both the emotional and practical aspects of adoption, and how love, choice, and intentional connection shape families in transformative ways. Tune in for a moving conversation that celebrates the courage, compassion, and commitment behind adoption.
As Brooke and Chad settle into their new roles as co-hosts, they take time to share important updates from The SPARK Initiative and dive into the heart of nonprofit work. This episode explores what it really means to be a not-for-profit organization, why this work matters, and how donations directly fuel life-changing impact in schools, communities, and beyond. With honesty and gratitude, Brooke and Chad highlight the ripple effect of generosity—reminding us how much of a difference support makes for those who benefit from SPARK programs.
Now it’s Brooke’s turn to ask the questions—and this time, co-host Chad Hudson is in the spotlight. As Operations Coordinator and mentor at The SPARK Initiative, Chad shares openly about his journey, the work that drives him, and the experiences that shaped who he is today. Just like Brooke, he didn’t know what was coming, so expect a mix of lighthearted fun and meaningful insights. Get to know Chad in a whole new way as he brings his story, humor, and heart to the conversation.
In this episode, Chad flips the script and puts co-host Brooke Wheeldon-Reece in the hot seat! Without knowing the questions ahead of time, Brooke, President & CEO of The SPARK Initiative, fields a mix of fun, lighthearted questions and deeper, work-related ones. From laughter and personal stories to thoughtful reflections on leadership and impact, listeners get an inside look at Brooke beyond her role as host. Tune in for a candid, engaging conversation that helps you get to know the person behind the mic.
We’re kicking off a new chapter of the Find Your SPARK podcast! In this episode, hosts Brooke Wheeldon-Reece and Chad Hudson sit down to reintroduce themselves and share what you can expect from this revamped format. From their personal journeys with SPARK to their vision for where this podcast is headed, Brooke and Chad give you a behind-the-scenes look at why they’re excited to bring you weekly conversations that highlight resilience, mental wellbeing, and the potential within us all.
The original four founding team members of The SPARK Initiative are back together to celebrate Jena’s 9-year workiversary! In this special episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke, Ashley, and Nicole ask Jena a mix of fun, personal, and work-related questions, highlighting her incredible growth and contributions over the past nine years. Tune in for laughs, stories, and a true celebration of dedication and impact!
Plus: Don’t miss next week’s episode, where we’re launching a whole new structure for the Find Your SPARK podcast—new hosts, fresh stories, and even more ways to unleash your potential!
In recognition of National Recovery Month, Stephanie explores the different dimensions of what “recovery” can mean. Drawing on her own experience of stepping away from alcohol, she reflects on how different definitions—from Oxford’s “return to a normal state of health” to SAMHSA’s process-oriented approach—shape our understanding. Stephanie shares why the idea of recovery resonates as a return to the innate health we all already possess, rather than something that must be earned through effort or external steps. Through personal stories and insights, she highlights how our bodies and minds are constantly guiding us back toward balance, resilience, and well-being. Listeners are invited to see recovery not as a rigid process, but as a natural rediscovery of inner health and potential that is always available.
In this week’s episode, Brooke opens up about a deeply personal moment while moving her oldest daughter into her new apartment for her junior year of college. What started as a late night argument over planning turned into something much more, a real time lesson in awareness, anxiety, and breaking habitual cycles.
Brooke shares how the emotional umbilical cord she and her daughter have wrestled with throughout their relationship often fuels codependency and tension. In this moment, she caught herself, shifted the pattern, and experienced firsthand how awareness can interrupt anxiety driven behaviors.
This episode is an honest reflection on the way our habits, fears, and love intertwine, and how seeing them clearly can spark freedom, connection, and growth.
In this episode, Brooke and Nicole explore the connection between understanding the mind and how it can impact suicide prevention. They discuss the power of thought, how easily it can be misunderstood, and the ways those misunderstandings can shape how we think, feel, and respond to life.
In honor of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, we invite you to listen to this discussion and please reach out if you’d like to continue this conversation. Sometimes simply talking with someone can open the door to your natural resilience and wellbeing, helping you find steadiness even when life feels overwhelming. We’re grateful for you, we love you all, and please always remember—you matter.
Nicole reflects on a powerful team conversation that reminded her we are all born whole, carrying our SPARK—our innate wellbeing—within us. She shares a touching story about her 7-year-old daughter, whose simple, genuine reminder helped her reconnect with that truth and remember that she’s okay, just as she is.
In this week’s episode, Makayla reflects on the past week’s SPARK & IWB Implementation Training and the unexpected lessons it brought about awareness and presence. Coming into the training after a whirlwind July, Makayla was already navigating a busy state of mind. But just hours into the first day, life intervened — a gut-wrenching phone call from her mom revealed that her dog, Tank, was immobile and in severe pain.
In the past, Makayla might have pushed through her scheduled training session, ignoring how deeply shaken she felt. This time, awareness stepped in. She recognized that her ability to show up was deeply affected in that moment and made the difficult — but right — choice to step away and check on Tank.
Thankfully, Tank is now okay, and Makayla returned to the training with a renewed sense of presence and clarity. In sharing this story, she explores how awareness allows us to truly choose ourselves — and how that choice transforms the way we show up for others.
In this episode, Jena explores the power of curiosity and how it often shows up in the most unexpected ways. What begins with a simple moment—her son sneezing—turns into a playful and reflective dive into the question, “What if I don’t say bless you?” Through this lighthearted story, Jena invites listeners to notice how even small moments can spark deeper awareness. Sit back and enjoy an episode that’s equal parts fun and thought-provoking, all inspired by a sneeze and a little bit of curiosity.
In this episode, Stephanie celebrates her first year alcohol-free by sharing how listening to her inner guidance—her SPARK—transformed her relationship with alcohol. After 30 years of drinking and many unsuccessful attempts to quit, an unexpected auto-renewal charge for the Reframe app became a turning point. Rather than dismissing the event, Stephanie recognized it as her SPARK nudging her toward a healthier path.
Embracing this inner wisdom, she joined the app’s 30-day challenge, connecting with a supportive community and engaging in daily self-reflection. During this time, Stephanie experienced a profound shift: the urge to drink simply faded away. She realized that her inner guidance was always working to keep her healthy, offering subtle signs and encouragement to make positive changes. Stephanie explains how alcohol impaired her brain’s decision-making, but by trusting her SPARK, she gained mental clarity, energy, and emotional well-being. She encourages listeners to honor their own inner guidance, recognizing it as their SPARK’s desire for health and happiness. By staying open to these intuitive nudges, anyone can find the strength to break free from unhealthy habits and embrace lasting change.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad speaks about how overthinking the smallest things, like whether or not to text someone first, can reveal a deeper struggle with confidence, fear, and trusting your SPARK to guide your social instincts.
In this week's podcast, Mari reflects on the impact that the SPARK Mentoring Program is having on the young people at a Hillsborough County Juvenile Detention Center and the importance of making programs like ours available to individuals experiencing incarceration.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla opens up about her personal journey as a forward thinker—someone who’s always looking ahead, planning, and preparing for what’s next. While this mindset has its strengths, Makayla shares how it can also pull us away from fully experiencing the moments right in front of us. She invites listeners to pause, let go of worries about the past or future, and embrace the beauty of the present day. Tune in for an honest, heartfelt reminder about the power of being here, now.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole shares a powerful realization: you don’t have to feel a certain way to take action. She dives into the idea that while emotions are natural and ever-changing, focusing too much on the unhelpful ones can hold us back. Nicole explains that waiting to feel motivated or "ready" isn’t necessary—you’re capable of doing hard things even when it doesn’t feel that way. Once you recognize the power of your SPARK, you’ll see that action is possible no matter your emotional state.
In this episode, Stephanie shares her recent experience when her partner suffered a stroke. She reflects on the divine timing of the event, which occurred just one day after she resolved to stop scaring herself with her own thoughts. Tune in to discover the resilience she has found through this experience.
In this episode, Jena and Nicole open up about what the SPARK Team has been up to lately. Since the year began, the team has joined Michael Neill’s training program, “How to be Really Happy and Love Your Life”. Over the course of these trainings, the team has gained incredible insights, but this episode focuses on one in particular – the insight that what we focus on grows.
Listen as Jena describes her personal journey through knee replacement surgery, how her focus got the best of her and then ultimately, how it all worked out.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley sit down once again to debrief and discuss some of the many incredible insights that have occurred over the last few months.
This time, Brooke describes her trip home from Nashville with Ashley, and how running out of pre-saved Netflix episodes on her flight somehow landed her as a guest on an episode of “Connect with Jonathan Mark”. Jonathan is a Celebrity Psychic Medium, widely known for helping law enforcement solve cases. Listen as Brooke and Ashley unpack the weight of the conversation that was had and the healing that followed.
If you or someone you love is dealing with thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, please reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
Listen to the episode of “Connect with Jonathan Mark” referenced in this episode at the link below.
Fighting a Silent Battle: The … - CONNECT with Jonathan Mark - Apple Podcasts
In this reflective episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss some behind-the-scenes struggles they were both internally battling but not communicating about. This ongoing internal dialogue led to Brooke stepping up to ask a question during the live recording of Kim Lessing and Kate Arend’s podcast “Million Dollar Advice” at SXSW EDU.
This podcast details the way that our thoughts can make us jump to conclusions, the helpful insights that come from simply asking, the ability to recognize everyone’s unique strengths, and the realization that not everyone is going to mirror the expectations you have for them, but that’s okay too.
Listen to the episode of “Million Dollar Advice” referenced in this episode at the link below. Million Dollar Advice: Navigating the Workplace with Amy Poehler’s Top Execs
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad speaks about a chaotic grocery store trip that turned into an unexpected lesson in self-awareness, emotional check-ins, and the importance of listening when your SPARK says, "Slow Down!"
In this heartfelt episode, Ashley and Nicole dive into the impactful power of openness. They begin by reading a reflective passage that sets the tone for a rich conversation about how being open has shown up in their own lives—both personally and professionally.
Together, they explore how easy it is to fall into knee-jerk thinking like, “I can’t do this,” “This is too hard,” or “I don’t like this,” and how that thinking can close us off from incredible opportunities. But when we become aware of that resistance, something shifts. Openness creates space for fresh perspectives, new possibilities, and unexpected growth.
Tune in to hear real stories, honest reflections, and a reminder that so much more is available to us—when we’re simply open.
In this episode, Nicole highlights the importance of self-awareness and being able to recognize her state of mind, during a time where her and her family were personally impacted by the loss of a loved one. She shares the signals she experienced when her state of mind was at an all-time low and how self-awareness opened the door to the solutions she needed.
April is Second Chance Month, a time to raise awareness of the collateral consequences of incarceration.
In this episode, Mari discusses the importance of providing services and opportunities to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, and calls listeners to question the assumptions they make about people, in order to combat recidivism and cultivate more compassion throughout communities.
In this episode, Makayla reflects on the past year at SPARK. With her 1-Year "workiversary" approaching, Makayla discusses how her life looks completely different than it did the year prior and emphasizes how much can change in just a year's time.
Listen as Makayla celebrates the opportunities and contentment that her role at SPARK has brought her and then wraps up with a hopeful message about her future.
In this episode, Jena shares some personal insights and experiences that have allowed her to navigate relationships, conflicts and life with greater ease.
Understanding separate realities gives us greater understanding and empathy towards others in that it opens our eyes to everyone's individual experiences.
Listen as Jena shares stories about hamburgers and soap - two stories that otherwise may have been minuscule moments but rather opened Jena's eyes to greater understanding and compromise.
In this episode, Stephanie reflects on a session she attended at SXSW EDU on humanity and AI. In her mind, there are two major differences between the capacity of human beings and that of AI: 1) original, new thought and 2) the capacity to feel. While AI is extremely useful for everyday life, it is reliant upon information that already exists in the form. Humans, on the other hand, have access to ideas that don’t yet exist in the form, making us a conduit for true innovation. We also have a built-in biofeedback mechanism that alerts us to how we are using our minds – our feelings. If robots have you feeling stupid or irrelevant, tune in to hear how your system design is actually quite spectacular.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad discusses the subtle yet powerful ways our SPARK communicates with us in everyday situations. From that random urge to call an old friend to picking up on vibes in a room, he explains how our inner compass is constantly working to guide us.
This week on the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Mari discusses the importance of recognizing the important role we each play in the lives of others and how to cultivate positive relationships with the individuals we work with.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla sits down to reflect on what she’s learned so far during her time at SPARK. Through this intimate discussion, Makayla shares her understanding of thought through personal experiences and a story that puts into perspective how one thought can shift your entire experience.
In this episode, the entire SPARK team sits down together to reflect on 2024 and uncover what they are hopeful for in 2025.
The rarity in which the team gets to be together in person is not lost on us during this episode as the laughs exchanged and genuine happiness in experiencing togetherness blossoms through the reflective conversation had.
2024 brought many highs and many lows while truly proving to all of us at SPARK that the universe has a plan that’s greater than our own. We’re optimistic for 2025 to bring with it exactly what we need as a team and what we need for The SPARK Initiative as a whole.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Jena reflects on her less-than-ideal start to 2025. Through her reflection, she shares a story about her son who recently tried out for the track team and despite making the team, had a lot of insecure thinking about his first meet. As the episode unfolds, Jena gives some advice to her son that she later discovers she can apply to her own mindset.
At the conclusion of the episode, Jena poses the question, “Have you ever missed out on an opportunity or an experience because you let your thinking get in the way?”
Looking at life from a perspective of opportunity rather than worry opens new doors and presents experiences you may have missed out on otherwise.
In this episode, Stephanie has the pleasure of speaking with our long-term partner in Norway, Elin Henriksen. Elin is a 4th grade teacher, coach, Certified SPARK Facilitator, and all around wonderful human being. In this conversation, she reflects upon a recent insight into trusting our inner wisdom, our SPARK. Through a range of metaphors including surfing, ski-lifts, and Indiana Jones, Elin’s presence and storytelling provide Stephanie with the perfect reminder that such trust is not misplaced. Tune in to explore how you can rely more upon your own SPARK.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad speaks about the fascinating concept of quantum leaping and how it connects to your intuition—also known as your SPARK. Learn how trusting your gut feeling can lead to bold changes and big opportunities in your life. If you’ve ever felt stuck or unsure of your next move, this episode will inspire you to take that leap and trust your inner guide.
In this week's episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Mari discusses her experience working with at-risk and institutionalized young people, including the need for positive and consistent relationships, the joy and importance of serving this population, and a special thank you the Foundation of Caring for selecting The SPARK Initiative as a grant recipient to serve juveniles in our local detention facilities throughout 2025.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole reflects on her return to the middle school classrooms this year and discusses the importance of providing students at this age with a program like SPARK. She shares personal stories from her own classes, highlighting the impact it has on her students. Nicole also explains why she believes having access to such a program during her own middle school years would have been life changing.
This episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast falls on Giving Tuesday - A day that follows the Thanksgiving holiday and the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with the focus of giving.
In this episode, Ashley highlights the level of appreciation organizations like ours have for the donations we receive. As a non-profit, we rely on these donations to continue implementing the programs that have changed the lives of so many. We truly believe that everyone has a SPARK inside of them and want nothing more than to spread this message. In order to do this, we are humbly asking for your help this Giving Tuesday.
To learn more about The Spark Initiative, visit: https://www.thesparkinitiative.com/
To make a donation, visit: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1435804
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla is joined by special guest, Gabriella Reece.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the season of thankfulness, Makayla and Gabriella discuss all of the things they are thankful for within their own lives.
The pair also dive into the tendency we have to spiral into a state of mind where thankfulness seems out of reach.
Listen as their conversation unfolds into a beautiful realization that even the worst of times often hold something to be grateful for – even if we don’t see it right away.
Happy Thanksgiving!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, listen as Ashley is joined by special guests, the Rebels for Peace.
Rebels for Peace is a youth-led initiative committed to improving mental health, uncovering resilience, and providing credible and sustainable Social Emotional Learning skills to the next generation.
The Rebels made a trip from Chicago to Florida following the postponement of the National Wellbeing & Resilience Conference. During their time in Tampa Bay, the Rebels were able to equip themselves with new tools and insights through 3-days of training with Ashley and the SPARK team.
Listen to hear their reflections from their week in Florida experiencing their SPARK.
To learn more about Rebels for Peace, visit: https://www.rebelsforpeace.org/
Join host Brooke Wheeldon-Reece and guest Lynne Robertson in this special episode of the Find Your Spark podcast as they reflect on the unexpected challenges brought by Hurricane Milton. In a year marked by unprecedented planning, the SPARK team faced the heart-wrenching decision to postpone their biggest events in a decade.
In this episode, Brooke and Lynne share valuable lessons learned from navigating the storm, highlighting resilience, adaptability, and the power of accepting “what is”. They discuss the importance of prioritizing safety, reimagining event strategies, and finding hope in uncertain times. Tune in and discover how to turn setbacks into opportunities for growth!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Jena shares a simple yet transformative insight about creativity that has led her to uncover her creative potential.
Creativity is often an attribute that many people feel they lack; however, what if creativity is so much simpler than some artistic ability?
Listen as Jena explains how everyone has the potential to be creative. Then revel in the understanding that nourishing your creative thoughts is what allows them to come to life.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie shares a simple yet profound insight she had while on a walk yesterday. She was pondering how she could support more parents deal with stress, given the Surgeon General’s advisory that found that 48% of parents report that most days their stress is completely overwhelming. While in a state of relaxed curiosity about this, she had an interaction with a stranger that gave her the answer.
Tune in to hear the story and perhaps start to see more opportunities in your own life to change the world.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla references a famous quote by Erin Hanson that reads, "What if I fall? Oh but darling, what if you fly?"
In this self-reflective episode, Makayla details personal narratives that illustrate the ways in which this quote has helped her state of mind.
Listen as Makayla details a more optimistic approach to life, and the unhelpfulness of pessimistic thought.
During this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, the entire SPARK team sits in to celebrate 200 episodes.
Veering off our typical style of podcast, Makayla hosts an interview-style session with the Spark team. Throughout the episode, team members reflect on the changes they've observed since their beginning at SPARK, key takeaways from our teachings, and what they hope to see SPARK become over the next 200 episodes.
Listen to this hopeful and reflective episode of the Find Your Spark Podcast to learn just how far we've come, and that we aren't stopping anytime soon.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad speaks about the importance of embracing your true self and breaking free from societal expectations. He delves into how often we feel pressured to conform to the standards and norms set by others, losing sight of who we truly are in the process. Through candid conversations and personal reflections, Chad encourages listeners to discover his unique strengths, passions, and values, and to live authentically in a world that often pushes for conformity. Tune in to be inspired to reclaim your individuality and ignite the SPARK that makes you, you.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Ashley discuss
the relationship between the unknown and the faith that it all works out. This topic has been a recurring one both at the office and in Brooke's day-to-day life.
Listen as the two discuss the possibilities that open up by simply relying on your SPARK to calm your anxiety and reinforce the belief that it truly all works out.
At SPARK, we're committed to a faith over fear mentality, and even when things get tough, we come back to "what if it all works out?"
For tickets to the National Wellbeing & Resilience Conference, visit https://www.wellbeingandresiliencealliance.com/
In this episode, Stephanie tells the story of a recent conversation she had with her 10-year old son. After excitedly sharing that she’d be teaching SPARK to 8th graders at the local middle school in DC, he emphatically proclaimed she was “going to get cooked.” Tune in to hear her thoughts on this ominous prediction.
During this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla is joined by a very special guest - her mom.
Makayla and Jocelyn had the privilege of teaching together during Makayla's time in the classroom.
Listen as they reflect on that special time in both of their lives.
The pair also speak to the role of educators, how teaching has changed, and the importance of programs like SPARK in every classroom.
This episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast premieres on National Support Public Education Day. To every educator, you deserve all the support in the world.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK podcast, hosts Ashley and Jena dive deep into one of SPARK’s core beliefs: "Possibilities are Infinite." Together, they explore the powerful impact of embracing limitless potential in both their professional and personal lives.
Ashley and Jena share candid stories of times when their own thinking hindered their creativity, as well as moments when being open to new possibilities led to incredible outcomes. Their insightful discussion reveals the transformative power of shifting perspectives and breaking free from self-imposed limitations.
Additionally, Ashley and Jena share about the upcoming National Wellbeing and Resilience Conference. They discuss the planning process and how it has reinforced their belief in infinite possibilities, highlighting the event’s potential to inspire and empower attendees.
Tune in for a heartfelt and motivating conversation that will challenge you to embrace the endless opportunities around you!
Note: If you would like to learn more about our upcoming conference, and purchase a ticket at our early rate ending August 1st, visit our conference website: https://www.wellbeingandresiliencealliance.com/
During this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Makayla sit down in the infamous Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to discuss an insight that Makayla recently shared with the SPARK team.
Makayla, someone who has struggled with OCD for most of her life, shares how a lesson from the SPARK curriculum changed her approach to one of her toughest battles.
Brooke, who is also Makayla's aunt, shares a unique perspective having watched Makayla grow up.
The pair discuss the profound impact that such a simple understanding can have on anyone unbeknownst to them at the time.
To learn more about SPARK Curriculum, visit our website: https://sparkcurriculum.org/
This week on the #FindYourSPARK Podcast, inspired by a Jim Carey video and Independence Day, Ashley, Jena, and Stephanie reflect upon the concept of freedom. Recognizing their privilege in enjoying many social and physical freedoms, this conversation focuses on perhaps the most valuable freedom a person can have – freedom of mind. Freedom of mind is recognizing the fundamental truth that no one can make you think or feel anything, and you do not have to engage with unhelpful thoughts that enter your mind. In an analogy perhaps taken too far, they talk about how freedom of mind is like shopping on Amazon. We have an endless amount of product (thoughts) to choose from with the capacity to keep scrolling, save for later, or add to cart and purchase. Just like we wouldn’t spend our money on things we don’t like, why would we spend our energy on thoughts we don’t like? Tune in to explore the freedom of your own mind.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Chad speaks about the importance of understanding the power of "no" and how to navigate its power in our everyday lives. Chad also discusses impactful steps to self-discovery and self-care. Join us as we do a deep dive into the ways "no" can help us with self-discovery and empower us to the best of our abilities.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson and Brandon Evans discuss the importance of men’s mental health and why mentoring young men at an early age is crucial. Brandon speaks on his experiences of societal pressures and what he does differently with the young men he mentors to give them a safe space and educate them on their emotional intelligence. He also shares some helpful ways he takes care of his own wellbeing and how that first always starts within.
This week on the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Makayla and Chad choose to highlight that June is Men's Mental Health Awareness Month.
Men's Mental Health is a topic that is not typically in the spotlight; however, at SPARK we believe that everyone's mental health is equally important. Join Makayla and Chad as they share stories regarding the stigma surrounding men's mental health in their own lives. As they shed light on the topic, they help to combat the stigma and open doors to important conversations.
In this episode of the #FindYourSPARK Podcast, Stephanie, Brooke and Ashley formally announce that The Spark Initiative is hosting it's inaugural National Wellbeing & Resilience Conference.
The trio speak to the importance of restoring hope, resilience, and mental & physical wellbeing within some of the most taxing professions. The National Wellbeing & Resilience Conference presents the unique opportunity to create a ripple effect of hope within the communities and populations that need it the most.
Visit https://www.wellbeingandresiliencealliance.com/ to learn more about the National Wellbeing & Resilience Conference
This week on the Find Your Spark podcast, Jena, Mari and Nicole reflect on the past Mental Health Awareness month by highlighting the SPARK inside all athletes. Together, they share some of the benefits and struggles competing in sports may have on wellbeing as well as some of the stigma surrounding athletes. Jena, Mari and Nicole all share their unique experiences around this topic while shining light on the importance of looking beyond the label of being an athlete.
In this episode, Ashley introduces a new team member, Marketing and Events Coordinator, Makayla Wheeldon.
Makayla, a former elementary school teacher, is now learning and embracing the beautiful insight that every human has a Spark inside of them that can't be broken.
Join Ashley and Makayla as they shine light on Mental Health Awareness Month, specifically teacher mental health. In a profession that burnout is experienced often, and teachers are exiting the classroom in large numbers, Makayla speaks to the factors that contribute to that while reflecting on resources that she wished she had during her time in the classroom. For those struggling, your mental health matters. It's helpful to know that as real as your thoughts may seem, they too shall pass.
Click here to learn more about the National Wellbeing & Resilience Alliance Conference: https://www.wellbeingandresiliencealliance.com/
This week on the Find Your Spark podcast, Brooke is joined by colleague turned personal mentor and coach Monica Corota.
Monica Carota is a top-tier coach who’s redefining how we understand and embody high-performance. Her work uses precision and depth to polish away any barriers to the remarkable power that already lies at the core of who you are. She believes that peak performance is the result of bringing the fullest expression of your incredible humanity online and making an impact from your inner genius. Listen as Brooke and Monica share a little bit about their recent work together.
Monica can be found at: monicacarota.com
Your hosts, Brooke and Ashley, work with youth in rehabilitation centers, jails, trafficking survivor safe houses, and other alternative settings with one objective - to teach an understanding of how the mind works so they can tap into their potential and thrive. This episode will explore how a simple understanding of how the mind works leads to young people becoming more resilient and less reactive - even amid the most trigger-worthy circumstances.
This week on the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke shares a story about how she recently navigated an argument between her parents who have been married for over 60 years. To her it was both entertaining and insightful to see two people, who have so much love for each other, get lost in the details of their own crazy state of minds and lose sight of things most obvious to those around them. Listen as Brooke shares how it was both eye opening and relieving to witness that even her parents, who have a love that has stood the test of time, could get lost and find their way back to the heart of the matter within minutes.
The SPARK Initiative recently participated in Week of Caring, a week-long collaboration by United Way Suncoast and partner organizations to enhance our community through volunteer efforts while learning about other like-minded organizations in our area. Nicole, Jena, Chad, and Mari discuss the importance of volunteerism and the amazing opportunities offered at MacDonald Training Center in Tampa
In this episode of #FindYourSpark podcast, Stephanie and Denzel discuss "Learn Fresh" and the active learning Denzel promotes by using sports as a method of teaching math. As a former educator himself, Denzel speaks passionately about a child's innate ability to learn, but believes that learning comes easier when it involves things that they love. Stephanie and Denzel discuss the #SPARK inside of every learner, and the mutual belief that learning comes from within. Please visit https://learnfresh.org/ for more information.
In this episode of the Find your Spark podcast, Nicole and Ashley share their personal stories of recent stress and the implications they have recently experienced in their work and their home life. Listen as they highlight how a simple conversation helped provide a key to unlocking the chaos in their mind and allowed them to step outside of the "stress storm."
In this episode, Nicole and Mari discuss one of SPARKs values, “we’re all in this together” and what that means to them. Listen as they share how this has impacted them and how it can relate to others in the world.
In this episode, Stephanie has the pleasure of interviewing Elexa Reece, a 16-year-old, who has been described as ‘wise beyond her years.’ Elexa talks about the importance of having a mentor and some of the key insights she’s had about herself and the human experience. She shares about learning to embrace her humanness, developing a true connection with herself, and not focusing on things beyond her control, like other people’s opinions. Tune in for these and other inspiring words from Elexa! Please also share with any and all teenagers in your life who might benefit from her wisdom.
In this episode, Chad talks about the importance of access and how there is beauty in how we choose to navigate it throughout our experiences. Join us as we discover how impactful life can get when we choose ourselves, minds, souls, and energy based on the access we decide to give or not to give!
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss what it means to truly “be you”. They recently listened to a podcast from Michael Neill, and gained some insight around what they see to be true about their “true” selves. Listen as they share stories of when they have gotten caught up and tried to be the version of themselves they "think" they should be, and other times when they just are being, without trying.
The podcast episode Brooke and Ashley referred to in this episode can be found here: Caffeine for the Soul with Michael Neill: The Instant Consciousness Elevator on Apple Podcasts
In this episode, Ashley and Stephanie explore a value at the core of our organization – our belief that no one is broken. While labels such as “broken” can be well-intentioned to describe the hurt, pain, and suffering that someone is enduring, we believe that at our core, humans are still whole. There is an untouchable, unbreakable essence to us – our SPARK. We discuss how we’ve seen this to be true working with vulnerable populations over the last 10 years, including a recent training in Little Rock, with an organization that works with people experiencing homelessness. Tune in for a very hopeful message that we have come to rely upon ourselves during those times when we feel broken.
In this episode, Nicole, Mari, and Jena discuss SPARK's approach to self-esteem and confidence for International Boost Self-Esteem Month. Listen as they share different experiences where they thought self-esteem and confidence sounded like a lot of work, when in fact, it's something that's always there and you can rely on and trust at any given moment.
In this episode, Brooke and Stephanie kick off a new podcast series discussing our eight values. These values act as our compass, guiding both business and personal decisions. In honor of the month of Valentine’s Day, this episode explores why we believe that Love Wins. For us, this value points to a state of mind characterized by clarity, ease, compassion, and understanding. When you come from a place of Love (your SPARK), you tend to ‘win’ at whatever you are trying to do. Difficult conversations become easier. Problems have solutions. Society is transformed for the better, as MLK and others have shown us.
Tune in to find out if Brooke managed to let Love Win as she angrily stood in her closet wishing her husband were different.
Whether you're angry, sad, happy or glad there are ways to "feel your feels" and be OK! Tune in and listen to Jena, Nicole and A.J. as they share their different experiences of anxiety, depression and allowing yourself to just BE in the feeling without reacting.
The SPARK Team takes a look back at 2023, what we've learned and what we look forward to in 2024.
In this special episode for Giving Tuesday, Jena and Mari speak with Jordan Brimlow of Operation Barnabas about the impact that SPARK's local community programs have had on his life. Jordan offers wonderful insights as he shares about his life as a father, business owner, and community leader, while reflecting on his past experiences with addiction and incarceration.
As an Insight to Well-Being graduate, Jordan is able to connect his commitment to change to the awareness of his mind that he gained. Jordan shares words of advice and hope to those who may be struggling with their own circumstances and reminds listeners that anything is possible when you let your SPARK guide you.
We are so happy to announce that our "Find Your SPARK" podcast is now going to be featured on our new YouTube page as well as hosted on our website. Look for more interaction with our subscribers hosting a variety of mentoring related topics and guests.
Check out the first one here and subscribe for updates on future podcasts.
In this episode, Chad and Mari explore the world of Autism with Sam Mitchell. Living with Autism himself, Sam has a thriving podcast that consistently takes us on a journey of his daily struggles, life-improving advice, and Self Empowering lessons. Join us as we embrace the empowering message of Sam.
In this episode, our host Nicole chats with "SPARKing Change" Intern, Angie about her experiences with our Leadership Program here. Through the internship, Angie is able to find things out about herself including her ability to be creative and learning about how people have different outlooks and perspectives, although we all live in the "center of our own mind". She also shares ideas for her "passion project" and why suicide prevention is the direction she wants to go.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Chad and Ashley are joined by a very special guest, Michelle Chambers. Michelle was a participant in our Insight to Well-being program that SPARK runs in our local jail. Michelle was recently released and wanted to share her story on our podcast. Listen as Michelle shares the profound insights she feels made a difference in her journey.
If you would like to donate to our local programs, you can find all the ways to donate here: https://thesparkinitiative.com/ways-to-give/
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Chad sheds light on his upbringing, from living in Jamaica to finding his true self. Chad also discusses his love for helping and giving to others. Tune in as Chad shares groundbreaking thoughts and impactful stories about his life and experiences and why he chose SPARK.
In this episode, Mari tells Jena about the experiences that led her down the path to SPARK. Having come to Tampa from Chicago, she recalls the changes she's made to her perspective in order to accomplish her goals. Mari discusses how she discovered her passion to help people by seeing her mother's compassion toward others and the strength of her grandparents' love for each other and the family they created. Listen as Mari recognizes moments her SPARK showed up to bring her to this very moment.
One Year After the Attack, Gabriella Speaks
One year ago, a sweet 12-year-old girl in 7th grade was violently attacked at her Middle School by her classmates. Sadly, this story line could apply to countless incidents of bullying across the county. Our podcast this week is a follow-up to the attack on Brooke's daughter, Gabriella. Brooke spoke about this incident previously, and if you haven't done so already, please listen to this episode first for the context.
This special episode was recorded because Gabriella knows others may be experiencing bullying, and she wanted to use her experience, voice, and perspective to hopefully give hope to others. Gabriella shares what she has seen in the past year about her own strength and resilience. Her many nuggets of wisdom now include an understanding that what happens to you doesn't define you and the importance of placing boundaries. Listen here to this brave 13-year-old, wanting to help others.
In this episode of Find Your SPARK, Ashley and Brooke are joined by a LIVE audience at the Boost Conference in Palm Springs, CA. Because we had a brand-new audience, this was the perfect chance to tell SPARK’s story. Brooke and Ashley share how SPARK started, and then all the things that unfolded to get to where SPARK is today. Listen to hear about the very humble beginnings, and all the changes and growth made along the way!
In this episode, Jena shares her personal journey of how she got to SPARK! From growing up in Florida, joining the Air Force and traveling all over, to returning to Florida and finding her path. Jena talks about the knowing inside that has guided her along the way and the importance of connection. Listen as Jena shares about the moments in her life that she just knew what the next best steps were. In her words…when you know, you just know!
In this episode, Nicole shares the key life events that led her to SPARK and how her seven-year journey with our organization has allowed her to finally be her true self. Like many of us, she describes how her younger self felt shy, insecure, and never enough. Even in the midst of that, she was able to follow life's little nudges and begin to peel back the layers of insecurity. While she wishes she could have had her current confidence as a teenager, she can also now see how those so-called mistakes were part of life's puzzle. Tune in here!
In this episode, Stephanie describes the key events and insights that led her to join SPARK. Born and raised in a small farming town in Minnesota, she describes how college opened her eyes to the wider world and the suffering that existed. Inspired by working with children and adults who had experienced profound tragedy, she has dedicated her career to ending human suffering. Her own personal low led her to explore what she was missing in her efforts. Through this exploration, she met Brooke and the rest of the SPARK team and is now thrilled to be helping children and adults everywhere realize their own wellbeing and potential.
Inspired by one of our favorite podcasters, we thought it would be fun and (hopefully!) interesting to record a series highlighting our team's 'origin stories,' or what led us to SPARK. Through this series, we hope to give you a better sense of who we truly are. In this episode, Ashley shares with Stephanie her own personal journey of where she came from and all the paths that led her to now. Listen to learn things you'd never guess about Ashley and how her SPARK helped her discover who she really is, giving her the courage to be who she always wanted to become!
In this episode, Ashley and Nicole speak about differences they have seen in being internally motivated. Nicole shares how she went from, " I could NEVER go back to college", to now being in school, with a daughter and a full-time job! She shares how her internal motivation showed up for her and took her much further than any person on the outside telling her "you can do it" . Ashley then shares that she has been lacking motivation to get active for quite some time now, continually looking to outside sources to try and help. Then, she shares how she saw the importance of looking within and found exactly what she needed.
Listen as they share how their SPARK helped them find the exact motivation they needed all along!
In this episode, Mari reflects on the impact of an affirmation she's been utilizing for a few months. She discusses how she's been able to reframe her perspective during times that feel difficult or when old habitual thoughts make their way back into her mind. Tune in to hear how a simple statement has helped shift Mari's perspective during those moments that can feel hard to overcome.
In this week’s podcast, Stephanie shares the story of how she went from a lifetime of loathing running to all of the sudden not only doing it, but actually enjoying it. With no effort, one day her legs just took off in a group exercise class. This shocking phenomenon occurred when she listened to a quiet little voice inside that nudged her to run. This podcast is an invitation for you to get curious about the nudges your body might be giving you. Is there something you might actually enjoy doing that currently seems impossible? Happy exploring!
In this episode of the Find Your Spark podcast, Jena and Ashley are joined by a special guest, Anamarie Patch. Anamarie was in the Insight to Wellbeing program that SPARK runs at our local jail. She has since been released and called to update Jena and Ashley on how she has been. We invited her on the podcast to share her recovery experience since being released from jail, and now celebrating 1 year of sobriety! Listen as she shares what insights she gained from the program, and how she hopes to help others in recovery and beyond!
You can keep up with Anamarie Patch on Tiktok @anamariepatch
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Ashley share a VERY exciting announcement!
After Brooke and Ashley learned about this fantastic news, many fears and doubts started to bubble up. However, it was right at that moment they both heard EXACTLY what they needed to hear, in a very unlikely place...TikTok!
Listen as they share their insights and the moment their fears and doubts turned to excitement and knowing!
In a small tribute to the life and teachings of MLK Jr., Stephanie recalls the profound experience she had while visiting the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis last summer. Many visitors have commented that it’s difficult to put the experience into words. Stephanie concurs. However, she tries to describe what it was like to be physically, mentally, and spiritually transported to the times before and during the civil rights movement. The experience evoked a range of human emotions and a deeper connection with herself and fellow visitors. She left the museum transformed, having experienced a deep truth about the life and times of MLK Jr. A few weeks later while bedridden with COVID, it was this same truth of our divine nature that touched her while reading King’s books Strength to Love and A Call to Conscience. If you haven’t read these yet, Stephanie highly recommends that you do! Tune in to hear her story of how this American hero touched her life 55 years after his death.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke, Ashley, Nicole, Jena, Stephanie, and Mari all reflect on the past year and share what they learned in 2022. They share some of their lows, and highs, while also reflecting on the amazing way that each person went through things. The SPARK staff also share their hopes for 2023 and are all so excited to point in a direction of growth and lean into this! Listen as they share what they hope is to come, cheers to 2023!
This week’s episode is extra special, as we have four amazing guest speakers from the Rebels for Peace. Rebels For Peace is a youth-led organization that wants to spread its message of bringing hope and faith back to the community of Chicago and the world. They believe understanding the mind as the source of everything we see in society is crucial to making any change. Instead of looking to outside forces to make a change, these Rebels feel that every human being has it within themselves to make a difference in the community, and that collective action can greatly impact the world. Joining us from the Rebels are Prince Jimmar, Dajohn White, Brandon Tillery, and Mark Sanders. They all have been collaborating with SPARK for a while now, and even go into schools in the inner city of Chicago and use the SPARK curriculum! Throughout this episode, they share what they feel is most important for youth to know and understand about their mind. This episode will give anyone listening hope for the future of our youth. You can find more about the Rebels for Peace here: https://www.rebelsforpeace.org/ #rebelsforpeace #youthled #hopeforyouth
In this episode of the #FindYourSPARK podcast, Brooke is joined by one of her very best friends and colleagues from Scotland, Lynne Robertson to discuss what they have learned from the simple phrase "There is no Solution to a Feeling". Listen as Brooke and Lynne walk down the memory lane of their friendship and talk about how the work they both do has led them on the path of continuous "seeing and reseeing" that they have come to cherish.
In this episode, Mari reflects on living in Tampa, Florida for a full year and the life changes that occurred during that time. Having been born and raised in Illinois, Mari remembers how leaving the state felt like an impossible option for most of her life simply because she was so focused on fitting into the same lifestyle as those around her, yet struggling to feel fulfilled in the spaces she was occupying. Mari remembers how difficult it was for her to "dive into self-awareness" and make the 1,100-mile journey to find a new home. Now Mari recognizes how deeply transformative it was, and continues to be, to allow oneself the mental space to make the choices that will truly benefit the individual, rather than making the choices that will benefit the group that the individual cannot imagine themselves apart from. By taking time to practice and implement self-awareness, Mari saw and continues to see transformations in her life at work, with loved ones, with the world, and with herself.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson shares her experience of saying goodbye to 30 and hello to 31 with many emotions that followed. She expresses how her birthday started with crying lots of tears while feeling bitter about closing the 30th chapter of her life, to then having a shift of mind and insight about turning 31 and age in general. As she allowed herself to feel all the emotions that came with turning 31, it gave her the space to see something beautiful about getting older and to be grateful for it all, even the heavier feelings. Listen as she shares more about her experience and why it's okay to just live your life and forget your age.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson shares her experience of saying goodbye to 30 and hello to 31 with many emotions that followed. She expresses how her birthday started with crying lots of tears while feeling bitter about closing the 30th chapter of her life, to then having a shift of mind and insight about turning 31 and age in general. As she allowed herself to feel all the emotions that came with turning 31, it gave her the space to see something beautiful about getting older and to be grateful for it all, even the heavier feelings. Listen as she shares more about her experience and why it's okay to just live your life and forget your age.
In this episode of the Find Your Spark podcast, Chad takes us on his journey of how he managed to tackle his anxiety and find peace throughout his life. He also shares the obstacles he faced during the dark sides of anxiety and how he was able to navigate his true self through awareness, Self-love, and Self-care. Chad also touches on the importance of allowing our thoughts to be processed and the benefits of doing so. #Anxiety #FindYou
In this episode, with Nicole Wilson and Selah Freedom's Assessment Coordinator, Angelea Valenti, they explore the partnership that SPARK and Selah have shared for over 7 years together. Angelea shares the impact of SPARK and her personal story being a Selah graduate and going through the SPARK program years ago when we first started our partnership. Nicole shares some of her experiences leading the weekly meetings and why it's so important to continue doing this work with Selah Freedom. Selah Freedom is a nonprofit anti-human trafficking organization, based in Florida and the Midwest, with the mission to end sex trafficking and bring freedom to the exploited through five strong programs: Awareness, Prevention, Outreach, Residential and Organizational Consulting. Tune in to hear something new and bring awareness around how to end sex trafficking. If you see any signs of sex-trafficking, please call the Selah Freedom hotline at 1-888-8FREEME (1-888-837-3363.)
In this episode, Nicole, Emily and Macy share some upcoming event details about the SPARKING Change Youth Leadership FUNdraiser! Macy and Emily share the importance of this program and what was their biggest take away. Nicole shares why its impactful for our community's young people to have this opportunity to see their SPARK inside and create the change they want to see. Nicole also shares some upcoming details for our online FUNdraiser event and our guest speakers, Dicken Bettinger, Cathy Casey, Rob Cook and our Insight to Well-Being graduate, Jordan Brimlow. Be sure to listen to see why we fundraise every year for this amazing program and how it helps our community.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK podcast, Jena shares about her recent challenges and how she has navigated through them with a new lens. Jena talks about all the changes that have been taking place and how she has been in a stressful state of mind, but when a new challenge arrives, it completely shifts everything! Tune in to hear Jena reflect on tearing her Achilles tendon, how it made her become aware of what was going on in her mind, and why she is thankful for it all.
In this episode, Nicole Wilson and guest speaker, Jay Spires, speak to the importance of having awareness of the mind and how that alone can create change around suicide. Jay shares his story with suicide and how he was able to overcome the fight with his thoughts. Nicole then shares why being aware of this understanding of how the mind works and seeing your natural resilience is the solution that everyone deserves to know about. "This is a human thing; we are all in this together and you are never alone" #FindYourSPARK
On this episode of the Find Your Spark podcast, Ashley and Jena discuss the many emotions they’ve experienced as their kids have returned to school. This year, both Jena and Ashley had their “babies” start middle school. And as if that wasn’t enough of an emotional milestone, Ashley’s oldest entered high school. Ashley and Jena both share how they have been handling things as fear, anxiety, and sadness have come in like waves. Listen as they talk about navigating through these waves of emotions, riding them, and allowing them to pass just as quickly as they came.
In this episode we welcome our newest team member, Tara Phillips! Tara joins SPARK after 16 years teaching elementary school in Texas, Florida, and Abu Dhabi. Her love for her kids and passion for bringing out the best in them is infectious and what drew us together. Tara shares her perspective on educating the whole child, her reasons for changing careers, why she chose SPARK, and what parents and our educational leadership can do to help all kids realize their potential. Tune in to hear why we are so excited to have this passionate educator join our team! Click here to watch the full podcast.
In this episode Brooke and Ashley discuss the first chapters of Michael Singer's New York Times bestseller, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself. Focusing on the way Singer describes the part of our mind that is constantly having its own conversation-with or without the REAL us participating. Brooke found insight because she realized just how easy it is for us to get swept up in the back-and-forth of our constant dialogue and lose sight in that fact that we are not our internal dialogue- ever. By reminding ourselves that thoughts shift and change as we gain new information, perspectives, or justifications, it is much easier to stop personalizing each thought that enters our minds.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole and Mari talk about their experiences working with the young child program at the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers and sharing the differences between working with the population of 5-8 year old’s and working with the teens and adults. They both notice how young children are so in tune with their SPARK inside that this comes very natural for them to understand. They also say it’s very refreshing to be able to see how young children respond to this program and a beautiful reminder of the inner child we all have within.
In this episode, Stephanie is fresh off a relaxing vacation and excited to share reflections on a profound book she was given. The Art Spirit, written by Robert Henri in 1923, describes his philosophy on life and art. He beautifully articulates many of the same principles that resonate both personally and professionally with Stephanie and Spark. Among these, is that master works of art are created when we glimpse beyond the surface level of life and are able to put into form what we have seen. Like Spark, Robert Henri believed that every single person had the capacity to be in touch with the deeper part of themselves and thus everyone can be an artist. According to Henri, the most critical part of being an artist is this connectedness to your true self. Tune in and perhaps be inspired to bring out the artist in yourself this summer!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie and SPARK Intern, Andres Medina, discuss the most impactful parts of recent SPARK facilitator training and reflect on their most meaningful moments. Andres hopes to use his time with the SPARK Initiative to gain experience mentoring individuals through the curriculum and become an influential leader. While sharing their passion for criminal justice, Stephanie and Andres state the importance of following your spark, even if it means listening a little longer, shining through the clouds, or taking the “next exit.” While speaking on how the curriculum lays a solid foundation for educators, they realize some of the best instruction comes from making it their own. Tune in to enjoy the fresh connection between Stephanie and Andres, following a unique training with other professionals in the field of social and emotional learning.
This week’s episode of the Find your Spark podcast is more like an open letter to those close to the SPARK family and those who are challenged to do the work of creating a better place for all of humanity. With humility and vulnerability, Brooke opens up about a recent heartbreaking incident involving her daughter that brought her family to their knees and ended up in the national spotlight for a few days. Listen as Brooke navigates her raw emotions surrounding this incident and straddles the urge to fight in anger, run away or rise up. What emerges beautifully is a deeper knowing of why human connection, understanding and compassion are vitality important for our children- now more than ever.
Special Note: At SPARK, this incident has given us a renewed purpose and motivation to reach young people, specifically in our own back yard to help them connect with themselves and each other more deeply than our current culture is allowing. If this podcast resonates with you and you would like to join forces, please reach out to us! We are always looking for creative ways to help all young people find their inner SPARK.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole introduces The SPARK Initiative’s 2 new employees, Mari and Chad. Mari is our new Research and Development Coordinator, and Chad is our Executive Assistant. Since their first day, they have been pretty busy learning their roles, completing the Insight to Well-Being curriculum training with Beyond Recovery, and Mari has also done some shadowing in our local support group with Selah Freedom’s sex-trafficking survivors. In this podcast, you can hear them share what they have learned so far, some personal insights and what they look forward to being a part of the SPARK Team!
In this episode, Stephanie opens up about a recent low state of mind she had been in. She recalls the moments that she started to realize her own mental health was just as important as those around her that she helps on a daily basis. She shares how she knew something needed to shift internally and that it meant taking action externally. At the moment of this insight, she didn’t know what action to take but was in a new state of being, open to seeing something. In a way, the aperture on her lens widened. Her antennas stood alert for a signal. The usual noise in her head lowered its volume just enough to hear the whispers of the ‘nudges’ and the faint sensing of the bread crumbs leading somewhere... Stephanie followed the breadcrumbs and accepted a job at the local church. Now that this job is ending, she reflects on how this experience has elevated her wellbeing: it’s exactly what her SPARK ordered. Coincidentally, it’s the topic that Ashley had just finished teaching at a local jail in Tampa. Through a fun game of ‘spoons’ women explored what it’s like to be closed off from potential and then what it’s like to truly open our eyes and begin to see things we never saw before. When we widen our lens, our mind will show us other possibilities. We have options and are actually never stuck. Join in the exploration!
This weeks’ episode of the Find your Spark podcast was very special, as we had our first ever live audience while recording our podcast! Brooke and Ashley were in Palm Springs, Ca last week for the BOOST conference, and during the conference they were given this unique opportunity to go live! Brooke kicked off the podcast by sharing a story of something that happened right before leaving for this conference, that normally would have had her unpacking her bags and deciding to stay home. However, she realized some really important things about not going to the worst-case scenario and knowing that her families SPARK would shine through if needed, without her having to be there. Since we had a live audience, we then turned it over to them to share, and one participant spoke about always going to the worst-case scenario, but why don’t we ever think, what if there’s cake? We loved it so much, it became this week’s title!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie and Jena share their personal stories about taking things personal. But what if everything wasn’t personal? Jena talks about her kids not doing their chores and instead of taking it as a direct attack, they come up with a new solution that is more helpful in their day-to-day life. Stephanie speaks about her recent experience involving her landlord. From new people being in the building to email exchanges, listen to what lead Stephanie to a thought storm of being kicked out of her apartment. Tune in to hear why it can never really be personal and when we aren’t caught up in our thinking, we can always see a bigger picture!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Ashley talk about how our thoughts can take us for a crazy ride! Brooke shares a story about how her losing her keys led her to thinking intruders were “casing the joint” and going to break into her house. Listen to hear where they really were, and how her imagination got the best of her! Trust us, you will want to listen to how this story all played out!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole, Jena and Zaria come together to share their stories and experiences during the past 5 weeks delivering the Insight to Well-Being program to male Veterans and a group of women at the Falkenburg Jail. They each share some insights and ah hah moments they saw from the participants and the impact this program left on them all. They also share how they felt a deeper connection in the groups when they shared personal stories and talked at a human to human level, which allowed for labels and judgements to fall away and created an safe space for the participants to discover their innate well-being.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Ashley and Brooke talk about the importance of trusting that others have everything they need inside to make their own decision, even when we may not agree with them. Ashley speaks about how recent events have highlighted this fact for her, and how she was able to find peace over fear by understanding that everyone has a SPARK, and therefore they will come to their own decisions on what they feel may be right for them. It’s not on us to decide for others. Listen as Brooke and Ashley discuss how this can be difficult, especially when it’s those closest to us but how they both navigate through.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, we are honored to introduce the newest member of the SPARK team, Mike Bates. Mike has dedicated the last 37 years of his life to working with education and leadership teams around the world. We are inspired by Mike’s passion to see the potential in all students—especially those in need of intensive academic and behavioral intervention. Tune in to hear Mike’s engaging stories of digital education in 1985 (wait, what?!), the power of impactful teachers, kids expressing themselves beyond harmful labels, and how the stories/images we create in our mind are often times mis-leading and unhelpful. Mike discusses ‘the wow-factor’, which inspired him to join SPARK. Finally, as we (somewhat) jokingly set Mike off on his journey to help us reach millions of kids uncover their wellbeing, he poignantly reminded us of Peter Block’s wisdom: “How do you change the world? One room at a time. Which room? The one you’re in.” We’re thrilled Mike has joined us in the room that matters the most – the inner “room” of each and every one of us, the room where our spark resides. Change your “inner room” and the whole world changes.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Ashley sit down to talk about the nurturing ability we have to intentionally find space within ourselves, even in the midst of overwhelm. Recently, Brooke moved her family of 7 into a new house that has a lot more space than her pervious town house and it showed her, in real time, how physical space allowed for the release of tension and overwhelm between her children and even her dogs. That got her to reflect on the healing ability to find that space within herself, even in times there isn’t the ability to find physical space. Listen as Brooke and Ashley share their experiences about the healing and nurturing SPACE within us all.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Jena and Nicole talk about uncomfortable situations and the ability to adapt to change. They also share certain situations they’ve experienced uncomfortable feelings and how they navigated through it with a different perspective of the mind. Trusting your potential and ability is key and the only thing that gets in our way sometimes is our own thinking.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Jena and Ashley sit down to talk about mental health needs for adults, specifically educators. Our youth intern, Carys Mullins, recently wrote a blog titled “Only Human: Teachers’ Mental Health Matters Too, A Student’s Perspective” and it had us really think about this topic. Jena shares about a recent event that happened at her own son’s school and how she saw the teachers struggling from this, but still showed up the next day ready to teach. She talks about how she saw so many resources for the students, and then decided to check in on her son’s teacher as she was also struggling with processing things. Ashley and Jena then speak about the importance of all adults understanding their mental wellness, the role that our own state of mind plays, and that all feelings are okay. Listen as they share their perspectives, and why this is a topic that should be looked at and spoken about more.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Jena shares about her experience of feeling anxious and frustrated over the past week. After doing an activity with skittles in one of her SPARK classes, she realizes exactly what she is doing to herself and questions why she isn’t filling her cup with more yellow skittles! Listen as Jena explains how just realizing what is happening can be helpful and can make those unwanted thoughts and feeling pass a little quicker.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole invites our last year’s #SparkingChangeInterns Sadie, Zaria and Brandon to share their perspectives and the importance of Black History Month. They each discuss their view on what society says about it, their own personal insights about the month, and how they have learned so much more about this month as a culture, beyond what they learned in school. They also share what they would like to say to the younger generation about Black History Month.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Stephanie reflect upon their recent blockages with working out and doing easy work tasks, they discuss the power of momentum. Momentum is defined as 1) The strength or force that something has when it is moving or 2) the strength or force that allows something to continue or to grow stronger or faster as time passes. It’s that key moment when the balance of energy shifts from inertia to movement. It’s seeds are cracks in our mental blockages. It can be sensed when you notice ‘things happening’. In a metaphor probably taken way too far, Stephanie and Ashley share their stories of being stuck at the station on a creaky, rusty train that finally starts to move when little baby steps are taken. Stephanie’s currently riding the momentum of work productivity and Ashley is still taking steps to get her workout train on the tracks so it can grow momentum.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Stephanie Fox shares an important reminder that we are never alone in our feelings. A school counselor recently shared with Stephanie that this was the most profound realization her group of teens had while doing the SPARK Mentoring Program. Simple and profound, this fact allows us to feel empowered, connected and relieved. In order to have this insight, we need language around our emotional experience, which has been shown by research to be related to greater emotional regulation and psychological well-being. Tune in if you need to be reminded that you are never alone in any feeling including shame, vulnerability, fear or worry.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke, Ashley, Nicole and Jena reflect on the past year and share what they learned in 2021. Jena talks about making her own rules and how that affects the people around her. Nicole shares about seeing her own potential and how we are all meant to shine. Ashley speaks about being her true authentic self and why it is so important to show up as you. And Brooke explains why she stopped caring about what other people think and why it's so important to allow others to be themselves. New and fresh beginnings are on the horizon, and we are so excited to see what happens from that, so here is to 2022!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Brooke talk about the ebbs and flows of motivation and inspiration. Brooke shares about how she is usually full of inspiration and often works many hours while it feels inspiring and exciting. However, she has recently been in an ebb of this feeling and started to beat herself up with all of the should’s, “I should be doing this”, “this should have already started”, etc. In the midst of a middle of the night self-beating, she got curious about the 'shoulds' and started asking, "is that actually true?". Ashley, also shares what she has experienced with this “lack of motivation” and together they explore if a lack of motivation is really ever a problem or if it is just a trap we get ourselves caught in?
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, in honor of Veteran’s Day this week, Stephanie reflects upon the concept of service. She discusses how humans are wired to want to serve and help each other. Tune in to hear how opportunities to serve are all around us and in doing so, we change our world!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole talks with SPARKING Change Intern, Emily Johnson, about what she has seen differently for herself. Emily shares her insight about trying to fix her feelings by reading books, going shopping, doing all the things she loves to try and make herself happy but realized none of it was working. Listen to hear more about what she realized after watching our snow globe demonstration and how her realization helped her feel ok even during these difficult times.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Stephanie are excited to talk about the creative potential that resides in each and every one of us. They share their own personal examples of pointing themselves in a direction and taking things step by step without having a clear idea of the "road map" or the end result. Once we can tune into that potential and not concern ourselves with the inevitable thoughts of self-doubt, magic can happen! We are natural born creators. Tune in to be inspired to know that YOU have the same creative potential as Steve Jobs and the guys who invented the newest "just walk out" technology at Whole Foods!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Jena shares a little about what she has been seeing differently and how impactful it has been for her. She explains why the way you show up to someone and the way you communicate is so important. Choosing to have conversations and truly listening is where solutions come from. Listen to hear why Jena thinks communication is key and why you attract more bees with honey!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise discuss their recent experiences in seeing how powerful thought can be. The power of our thinking can really take over and limit us from doing something and we can innocently get trapped in it, but when we understand how thought works, we can actually do the thing we are afraid of! Jena shares her experience with a recent surgery and how powerful her thinking was about that procedure. Nicole expresses her fear of needles but when understanding that fear is just coming from thought, she was able to go donate blood voluntarily!
In this episode of the Find your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Ashley talk about all the chaos that has happened in and around their lives recently, and how they were able to navigate through the chaos a little more peacefully than others might expect! Listen to hear all about floods, car accidents, and craziness that is their lives at the moment, and what they saw in the mist of the chaos that helped them to make the disasters a little less messy in the process.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson shares what SPARK has to offer until the end of the year in honor of Suicide Prevention and Awareness and then dives deeper into how to be helpful to those who are suffering. She explains why we at SPARK approach this topic a little differently and why it is important to be heard on a neutral level. Speaking to the SPARK and health inside someone who is experiencing a busy and suffering mind can help uncover their resilience. Listen as she shares why this approach is beneficial when helping someone.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson shares her brother’s story and the impact of suicide loss from a loved one. Last week, Nicole released a blog sharing her perspective as a young girl, losing her father due to suicide. This week, she shares her brother Seth’s story. Last year in 2020, Seth ended his life by suicide. As this situation is still very fresh to her and tough to talk about, Nicole shares how this experience with a clearer understanding of mental health and resilience, made it a little different than it was when she was a child and unaware of her SPARK. Nicole expresses her feelings throughout the experience and how she navigates through with compassion and love for her brother and explains how she understands her brothers heartbreaking experience - how his thoughts took over the moment he was in so innocently.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, in honor of suicide awareness month, Nicole Wilson and Kathryn Bonney share their stories and experiences on suicide and why bringing awareness around it is important. Kathryn shares her history with suicide and how learning this simple understanding about the human mind has helped her overcome those strong and overwhelming feelings that used to wash over her and caused many suicide attempts. Kathryn shares her eye-opening moments and how she got through it to be here today and bring awareness around the mind and suicide prevention. Nicole shares her experience with the loss of two people in her family due to suicide and how she has noticed, since learning about the mind, the innocence in those lowest moments of her father and her brother. Bringing awareness around the mind and mental health is so important and everyone deserves to understand it. Your SPARK is always there, even when it feels really covered up. This is why we at The SPARK Initiative want to bring awareness around suicide this month. To help everyone who has felt the overwhelming feelings of suicide, a survivor of suicide, or a survivor of suicide loss, we are here for you. Your mental health matters to us and we are here to help you see your SPARK inside.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie shares another incident that almost led to a nervous breakdown. In a complete betrayal of her trust, her son charged $1200 in video games to her credit card. While efforts to get the money refunded have failed, something inside her is telling her that it’s ok. Stephanie explores how this could possibly be true when all evidence points to the contrary. Join Stephanie in her raw, ongoing exploration of the unknown where it appears that it might be possible that WE are ok even when IT'Snot ok.
A few weeks ago, Brooke and Ashley shared about their experience working with a group of inspiring women from the Falkenburg County Jail in “The Healing Power of Presence” podcast. In this weeks’ episode, they reflect on their time teaching SPARK’s Insight to Well-Being Program with this group and how the space created allowed the women to teach themselves and SPARK their own insights. Brooke and Ashley also share a few letters the women wrote. Listen as the participants, themselves, explain why understanding their mind and their emotions helped them to see others in a deeper way and created unexpected connections that led to the whole group coming together despite all their differences.
*There were two quotes shared on this podcast that were in letters the ladies in jail wrote out. We wanted to give credit to the two authors who wrote these quotes.
The first quote is from Nicola Bird’s A Little Peace of Mind book. “When we look back there were always little signs that we were heading off course, but we were so caught up in our self-conscious worried thinking about ourselves that we either didn’t hear them or completely ignored them, but life happens in service of us and it keeps attempting to wake us up until we have no choice but to listen.”
The second quote shared was from the same book and was a quote by Dr. Dicken Bettinger. “Your psychological suffering is simply a function of mistaking your own thought content for truth.”
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Stephanie Fox asked her mom, Shirley, to join her to discuss a recent harrowing experience driving to the top of the Continental Divide in Colorado. While they are happy to have done it and lived to tell the tale, both of their minds convinced them that death was a real possibility. On the other hand, the other passengers in the car were either having the time of their lives or totally obvious to any danger. Stephanie and Shirley reflect on the power of the mind, how it created their experience and the relief that was available to them by closing their eyes and going to their happy place.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Ashley share about their experience of presence inside jail. They share what they have seen about listening while truly being present with someone, and the connection others feel from this. They talk about the different ways many of us are taught to listen and the truths they have seen about listening.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK podcast, Nicole Wilson reintroduces some familiar faces. SPARKING Change Interns, Sadie and Zaria discuss their upcoming group project IGNITE and what inspired it. They have focused on the impact they wanted their project to have, what each group member wanted to bring to the table, and the population they wanted IGNITE to reach. This group of interns all have aligning passions and collaborated to SPARK something amazing; from expressive art to life skills and financial literacy, tune in to catch up on the latest in their community.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Nicole Wilson introduces SPARKING Change Intern, Zaria Jean-Baptiste. Zaria shares her experience with the internship program and what she has seen for herself on a personal level. She explains how prior, she had everything in life planned out on a timeline – from graduating school to getting married and having kids. She learns that the way the mind works, and how the world can sometimes throw us off track, we can adjust and know that even though things don’t go as planned, that we are still ok and resilient throughout the process. She also shares how the one thing she wants to always remind herself of after she completes the internship is that she never has to go searching for herself in the world, that everything she needs and has is already inside of her. Whether it’s her SPARK guiding her to do something different or take a step back, she knows to trust it and that her ability to adjust and create is always within.
In this episode, Brooke Wheeldon-Reece and Ashley Hunt reflect on their personal experiences with conflict. While Brooke used to run towards conflict, Ashley used to run away from it, and they discuss how they’ve learned to handle confrontation in healthier ways. They also express how important it is for one to be in a clear state of mind when bringing up issues and the significance of responding as respectfully as possible. Tune in to learn how caring about your relationships means trusting that the people close to you can handle those difficult conversations!
In this episode, Brooke Wheeldon-Reece and Ashley Hunt reflect on their personal experiences with conflict. While Brooke used to run towards conflict, Ashley used to run away from it, and they discuss how they’ve learned to handle confrontation in healthier ways. They also express how important it is for one to be in a clear state of mind when bringing up issues and the significance of responding as respectfully as possible. Tune in to learn how caring about your relationships means trusting that the people close to you can handle those difficult conversations!
In this episode, Stephanie recounts a recent backpacking experience in which she put her physical limits to the test! In an intensive training prep for a backpacking excursion, Stephanie found herself on the verge of giving up after hours of strenuous hiking and climbing. However, when given just a little hope that she could have a chance to stay at a relaxing lodge if she continued, she was able to make it! Listen to hear how hope and her SPARK gave her the energy and willpower to finish her journey!
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about a recent webinar they both attended with Kirk Souder, Co-Founder of Enso. On this webinar, Brooke expressed some concern about limiting thoughts to Kirk, and then both she and Ashley had insights into what each of them were doing that may be getting in the way of SPARK growing as large as it can. Listen as they share their insights, and just how sneaky invisible thoughts can be and how limiting they can become.
In this week’s episode, Stephanie welcomes a special guest from SPARK Australia, Nicole Montgomerie. Nicole has been a teacher for the last 16 years working with kids from ages 4-14 years old. Nicole and Stephanie talk about her experience implementing the SPARK Mentoring program with kids ages 5-7. In particular, Nicole reflects on how much the kids have resonated with the activities, especially the characters of Curious the Dragonfly and his “treasure,” another metaphor for innate well-being and resilience. She describes how useful these metaphors and common language can be when dealing with school-wide issues that require social and emotional skills. She also shares some lovely stories of how kids have been able to better navigate their emotions through understanding feelings and having insights around thought and their minds. Tune in to hear how young learners in Australia have been impacted by SPARK!
In honor of Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness month, Brooke speaks with a very special guest, Brianne Grebil. Brianne was not only a caregiver for her mother the past 5 years, she also recently released a book about her experience, Love Doesn’t Care if You Forget. In this episode, Brianne shares what her experience has taught her about life, relationships, and being human with other humans (on and off social media). Listen as Brooke and Brianne sift through her lessons learned and uncover that in each lies a lesson for us all.
More about Love Doesn’t Care if you Forget: a touching and heartfelt account Brianne’s experience caring for her mother, while they both navigate the changing landscape of onset dementia and what that means for their relationship as the disease progresses: https://www.loveanddementia.com/book.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson and SPARKING Change Intern, Jayda Reece, speak about how they navigate through anxiety. Jayda shares her experience as being a young teen with anxiety and now understanding how the mind works has helped her overcome many obstacles that used to limit her. Nicole shares about how we get so used to saying “I AM Anxious” or “I AM Depressed,” that we sometimes think that’s who we are. In fact, we are not any of those things, we are so much more than our feelings! When we realize that, we remember our potential and our SPARK shows back up for us every time. Navigating anxiety can sometimes seem impossible but when we understand that it’s okay to have anxious thoughts and it’s all coming from the inside out, limitations start to be less intense and situations that once looked dreadful or scary, look more possible.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Ashley and Stephanie share why they are still flying high after the Boost conference last week. The Boost Collaborative provides high quality professional development opportunities for after-school providers and we are honored to be their partner. In addition to presenting at the conference, they had the pleasure of experiencing many of the wonderful speakers, including Principal Hamish Brewer, aka The Education Disrupter. Ashley and Stephanie reflect on him, his way of being, and how his connection with kids has been a total game-changer in his school. Through this discussion, they address one of the challenges mentioned by participants – fostering connections when all you get is push-back.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, in honor of PTSD Awareness month, Brooke Wheeldon-Reece and Nicole Wilson talk about how “PTS,” Post Traumatic Stress, is our body’s natural way to react to a past traumatic experience. They share how when understanding how the mind works, PTSD doesn’t look as scary and helpless when aware of what is happening in the moment. As they share their own stories about PTSD, they both see how clear it is that the mind is just doing its’ job and even though it’s uncomfortable and sometimes scary, it’s just our minds' best suggestion to warn us and keep us safe. When we see how that works, PTSD starts to look a lot more like PTS and that it will eventually pass and we will feel better. Even under our traumatic experiences, we are always OK and our wellbeing is always there.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson and SPARKING Change Intern, Carys Mullins join together and talk about the importance of understanding how the mind works in honor of May Mental Health Month! Carys shares what she has seen for herself to be true when learning about the mind and how it has impacted her. She shares how being you is all you need, and there’s no need to recreate or rebuild yourself – everything you need is already inside of you, and everyone should know that!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson and Stephanie Fox talk about May - Mental Health Awareness Month! Nicole and Stephanie discuss the importance of how SPARK approaches mental health in a way that pulls the health (SPARK) out of everyone, instead of putting bandages on peoples mental illnesses. We find it extremely helpful for those suffering with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, etc. to see that underneath the illness is REAL mental health waiting to be seen. As long as we keep pointing to that, the seriousness of the illness tends to weaken naturally. We also share the importance of why this is true, FOR EVERYONE! The more we point to everyone’s health, the more it will start to peek through and people will start to see their own potential and capability to do the things they thought were impossible.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson and one of our SPARKING Change Interns, Emily Johnson, talk about Emily's experience since being in the internship program. She shares her passion to be a judge and what she noticed shadowing in the juvenile detention center to push herself even more towards creating the change she wants to see in the justice system. Emily also brings up how she has a whole new perspective on insecurities and how she no longer feels limited by what use to hold her back from doing the things she loves, and that no one else should either. Her passion to create change shines bright and we can’t wait to see the approach she brings to the justice system and to help those who feel stuck in it.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk with 3 of our SPARKING Change Interns about their experience shadowing at the Juvenile Detention Center. Brandon, Macy and Sadie share what they enjoyed the most and why they think it's important for the group of teen boys to understand how their mind works.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie and Ashley talk about the “quarantine 15”. You know, the 15 lbs. give or take that many people added on their body during quarantine?! Stephanie shares that she added some “plump” to herself and then shares how she recently caught herself believing the thought “I can’t do XYZ with this weight.” Ashley and Stephanie then share the insights they have seen surrounding weight, and how much they have allowed themselves to miss out on, simply by believing a stubborn thought!
As always, if you have any topics you’d like us to talk about, or you’d like to be a guest on our podcast, please email info@thesparkinitiative.com!
In this special edition episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, we share with you an episode from another podcast called The Entrepreneur Playground that Brooke and Ashley were a guest on. Martin Dara, who is the host of this fun and unique podcast, recently asked Brooke and Ashley to be a guest and they couldn't wait to have a conversation together. In this episode, you will get to hear the conversation they had, all about the importance of fun and play, not only in life, but work as well!
If you'd like to listen to Martin's podcast, you can find it by clicking here. You can also connect with Martin on Linkedin here.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, we ask... Have you ever had one of those days when even the smallest task seemed too hard? When showering was just too much to ask? Tune in to hear Stephanie’s experience of her “funk” yesterday and how she dealt with it. Using the metaphor of making soup, she describes how noticing her internal “ingredients” is super helpful in managing this funk. She also points out that this simple self-awareness is really all that’s needed to not get overwhelmed by and prolong our funky moments.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson talks with one of our SPARKING Change Youth Interns, Brandon Evans. Brandon shares why he wanted to take part in this internship with The SPARK Initiative and what he has taken away from it so far. He explains how his passion and SPARK’s mission align and why it’s a perfect fit for the change he wants to create in our community. Brandon also states in this episode, “The mind is powerful, and when we can understand how it works, that’s when we can help others.” With that said, Brandon is the founder of a local nonprofit called Project 100, feeding the homeless and cleaning the streets in the Tampa Bay area. Since creating Project 100 in 2017, Brandon shares how his business has evolved into mentoring and reaching the youth in the community. We are excited to have Brandon on our team and can’t wait to see what else we can create together for our community!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson talks with Sadie Moore, one of our SPARKING Change Youth Leadership Interns, about her perspective on what she took away from the SPARK Facilitator training. This was our interns first opportunity to dive into our SPARK mentoring programs and gain insights for themselves. Sadie shares about her favorite activities, what she found helpful for herself, and why she thinks it’s important for kids to understand this.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole Wilson interviews Macy Hembd, one of our SPARKING Change Youth Interns. Macy talks about her experience participating in the February SPARK Facilitator training. The SPARK Facilitator training gave our 10 interns a great opportunity to get hands on experience in our mentoring program lessons and to learn a lot about how the mind works. They got to team up with people who have purchased our curricula from all around the world and engage in some amazing training activities. Listen as Macy shares what she sees differently since participating in the training and some of her favorite lessons from the program.
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Stephanie share why they are excited to be participating in #SELday with millions of others throughout the world. They discuss why they believe social and emotional learning is foundational to all learning and life, and the uniqueness of SPARK in this field. Everyone is invited to learn more about and participate in #SELday on March 26th, 2021! https://selday.org/
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie talks about how after months of suffering, she is finally no longer living in a state of fear due to her thinking about the mouse who used to live in her house. She reflects on what life was like when she was in that state and the huge difference in quality of life now that she is no longer in it. In this more relaxed state, Stephanie wonders about the possibility of simultaneously being afraid and feeling at peace with it. In other words, not being afraid of being afraid. Such freedom from fear has huge potential for humanity. While Stephanie has been able to get some distance from her fear in other situations, when it comes to rodents, it might be a bridge too far!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Ashley talk about the constant dichotomy people seem to be up against between following your inspirations (your SPARK) and following your responsibilities. They explore their own insights around how easy it is to be tricked by the thought that we have to choose when in reality if we just learned to trust our SPARK, the rest would be taken care of. Be sure to listen to the end to hear how learning this helped our most recent 2nd grade SPARK student realize he could actually throw a football with TOM BRADY! Finally, in honor of the Super Bowl this Sunday- GO BUCS!!!
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
― Howard Thurman
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Ashley Hunt and Jena Travise talk about their habits and how they see them in a different way. Listen as Ashley shares what she has learned about habits from Dr. Amy Johnson and how it has helped her to see that habits are just your brains best way of trying to help you out. When you understand how something works, it just makes it easier to navigate. Recognizing your habits and seeing your habitual thinking behind them is helpful in breaking those unwanted ones so don't beat yourself up for having them. When you are nicer to yourselves, that is when change happens, so give yourself grace and get curious about those habits. To hear more about habits from Dr. Amy Johnson check out her website at https://dramyjohnson.com/habits/unwanted-habits/
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Brooke reflect on week 1 of 2021...and why they still have hope. Listen as they share how they navigate the uncertainty of the world and make the case for innate resilience rather than an uphill battle to rebuild it. This is a conversation worth a reflection.
In this podcast, Ashley and Brooke are joined by Brooke's teenage daughter Jayda. They all came together days prior to 2021 and discussed what each of their hopes and dreams would be for 2021.
Listen as they reflect on what they have learned from 2020, and what they hope comes from 2021.
Disclaimer: If you have not watched Soul, this podcast episode contains SPOILERS, you have been warned!
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley are joined by Brooke's daughter Jayda. They all recently watched the Pixar movie Soul, and couldn't wait to come together and talk about it!
On a recent Disney trip, Ashley first learned of this movie when she saw a shirt at Disney that read "Find Your SPARK". Well, if you know us at SPARK, you know that's our tag line for everything, it's even the name of this podcast, so naturally it stopped Ashley in her tracks! Once she googled the movie, she immediately told everyone at SPARK that we all needed to watch this movie!
In this episode, we dive into the meaning behind this powerful movie, and why it was so exciting for all of us at The Spark Initiative to watch. We share what we each took away from it, and Jayda, Brooke's teenage daughter reveals the insights she had and why she sobbed for 5 minutes straight once the movie ended.
Also, if you worked on this film, we would LOVE to talk to you!!! We LOVE this movie so much and are so passionate about it's meaning, it's why we do what we do! So reach out, we would love to speak! info@thesparkinitiative.com
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Brooke, Ashley and Jena reflect on all the growing pains, learning curves and growth spurts of 2020. They share about all of the unknowns that Covid-19 brought and how it forced them to be more in the moment without even realizing it. They talk about how some pretty amazing things came from not knowing and how life just has a way of taking care of us and points us in the right direction if we are open to it. They also share about how things never really slowed down at the SAPRK Initiative and this past year really created more space for learning and creativity. So much has happened in 2020 that has given us the opportunity to reflect on, get curious about and see things that we didn't see before. Listen as they reflect on their experiences in the past year and the awareness that it brought.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, poor Stephanie is really feeling the fear of mice. She dreads the evening when they become active, is sleeping upright with the lights on to ensure they don’t break through the crack in the bottom of her bedroom door and is considering all options to rid her of this fear, including moving. Her son Alexander, on the other hand, is quite delighted by the new life in the house and doesn’t see the problem – talk about separate realities! Will Stephanie have to move? Will the Christmas cat solve her problem? OR will she be able to solve it herself, taking no action whatsoever? Tune in as she shares about her dilemma and current thinking.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Ashley Hunt and Nicole Wilson talk about how their mentoring classes have been going post quarantine. As you may know, SPARK is normally in a handful of local schools at this time facilitating SPARK Mentoring Programs. Since quarantine has ended and schools are open in their community, they have found it challenging to get into schools because of the district’s new rules due to COVID. Ashley and Nicole share their excitement on facilitating SPARK in a local private school and explain the changes they see and how you can always adjust and make an impact on kids! They also share how adjusting to these times have created so many new and convenient ideas for their organization and the people they work with. Listen as they share, SPARK Community - Now vs. Then! As always, if you have any topics you would like to hear for the next SPARK Podcast or would like to be a guest star, please email us at info@thesparkinitiative.com.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, tune in to Stephanie interviewing one of our newest partners - Lashica Johnson. Lashica is a mentor and Youth Development Professional with the Boys and Girls Club in Garden Grove, CA. Stephanie and Lashica chat about the recent training, how it was different from previous trainings that Lashica has done, and why she is excited about bringing the Spark curriculum to the teens that she mentors. We are so excited to have them as partners and can’t wait to hear about all the SPARK's they alight!
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie is inspired by something she read in Glennon Doyle’s Untamed and shares a very personal letter that she wrote to her “unwell” self from the perspective of her well or True Self. She talks about how the things she worries about in her unwell state like health insurance, money, retirement and her son not having a yard or a pool, look totally different when she is in a different state. When she is feeling her True Self, she somehow knows that everything is taken care of and “lack is hard to understand.” She is sharing this letter on her 44th birthday, as a gift to you!
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Ashley along with James Hird, the principal of Horizons Academy Alternative School, are guest speakers on an episode of Michael Neill's "Might Help, Can't Hurt!" They talk about how educating students and teachers about how the mind works not only allows them to study and learn more effectively but creates a solid foundation for having "difficult but necessary" conversations about societal issues. Listen as they share about their own experiences and the impactful work they do.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Jena shares about her past experiences of feeling lost, stuck and not living life to the fullest. She talks about how she used to look for outside things and people to fix her and make her feel happy. Once Jena learned about how the mind works, she is now able to see life through a whole new lens and navigate with so much more love for herself and others.
Listen as she shares, Where Happiness Truly Comes From.
In this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie shares a couple recent experiences which clearly indicated to her that she was living from her Spark. She first speaks about her experience of feeling jealousy and resentment to then feeling love and excitement after not being told about a good friends’ wedding. Stephanie also shares about how she found it easy to have a difficult conversation with someone close to her, after she had been putting it off. Once you recognize it, the feeling of living from your SPARK vs your ego is very obvious and useful!
Listen as she shares, How You Know When You are Living From Your Spark.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss why they feel that youth are the answer to the division in the world today. They share how they have seen others, as well as themselves, get caught up in being “right” and how much of a disservice it is to only see one side of things. They reflect on conversations they have had with youth, and the common factor they have seen is that the youth today are so curious, and we need that curiosity now more than ever. Brooke shares about how this simple idea led her to create the SPARKING Change Internship Program, designed to do just that, foster the curiosity of our youth, and help them to be leaders of change in their own community!
At the end of the podcast, they share ways that YOU can help with this program! If you would like to help The Spark Initiative win grant money that will go to this brand new initiative,
click here: https://acommunitythrives.mightycause.com/story/K80tvf?fbclid=IwAR1c8dHEibdRRoSfK3kK6z5sFSypcTcxNYT9H30HD4c3l_gLJnOS9xQJtuI
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke speaks with Adam Gross, a 22 year old counseling major who lives in North London. Adam speaks about how understanding his inner critic instead of trying to change it, has helped him see his world and life differently. Listen as they shares, Finding Peace with my Inner Critic
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie talks about some very useful insights she had while training some of the Rebels for Peace members, a youth-led group working to end violence in Chicago. Her insights were around a problem she presented to them regarding the dilemma of balancing online schooling and work. Who would have thought her most useful parenting advice to date would come from a group of 22 year-old, single men with no kids, from the south side of Chicago!Listen as she shares, Insight from the Unexpected! - A Training Experience with the Rebels for Peace Members
In this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole talks about the support group she facilitates with an organization that SPARK partners with called, Selah Freedom. Their mission is to put an end to sex trafficking and bring light into the darkness of survivors. Nicole shares her experience when meeting with the survivors weekly, and how she watches them uncover and transform their lives to become clearer versions of themselves. It’s a beautiful journey and Nicole is deeply impacted by these women every week. Listen as she shares, Sharing the SPARK with Sex Trafficking Survivors.
In this weeks episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Nicole talk about a profound post they came across that reminded them both, when coming from a place of love, answers will always arise. They reflect on recent times that they lost sight of this and “got off track” when focusing on all the chaos going on in the world. When we do this, we are trying to find solutions from the world, rather than inside ourselves. That’s when there’s no connection to humanity and life can feel off. Listen as they read this post with you and share their insights they got from it.
Listen as they share, The Difference Between Looking At The World Divided & Looking At The World Inside You.
Below is the Facebook post referenced in this podcast by Dominic Scaffidi.
"In recent months this group "blew up" with arguments and polarization. Just like the rest of the world. I stepped back and have not been involved much. When I dropped by occasionally, I noticed strong arguments for the "right way to think"; and the "right perspective" that all good people must hold. You are with us or you are against us. You either see it this way and ACT NOW - or you are part of the problem. We must rise up before it is too late! That seemed strange for a community that is drawn together to explore and share this understanding. It's interesting to notice that when things get REAL, it appears that having this understanding doesn't make much difference. We were unable to be with each other in a way that's much of an example for others (who do not have this understanding). I wondered how Syd might guide us. I went back to his old talks to see if he had any guidance. I learned he was a bit of an activist who ultimately changed his ways. Here are his thoughts. It's as if he's speaking to us about today's world... "To direct people back inside is the only way, the only way, that we'll ever have harmony in this world. And this harmony includes pollution, people starving to death, people killing each other, people robbing each other. So on and so forth. Countries fighting. There is no way. There is absolutely no way in the world can peace and harmony come to the world via our conscious minds. There is no government in the world. There is no person in the world smart enough to do it. Because there is no answer. There is no answer from outside. But if we travel inside and start to realize that all life is a conscious state, and as we get into this divine state, the world will change round about you. As the world starts to change round about you, you go into harmony, have happiness, tranquility, peace, love, understanding. Put them all together and it's what the Bible calls God. Because God is the purest of love. And only this love can solve the world's problems, all the world problems, it's the only way. They can try 10 Million ways outside and all they'll be doing is carrying on the illusion in another form.You must raise the level of consciousness of mankind to find this happiness. Jesus Christ tried it. He raised the level of consciousness of people. This is why they healed themselves. Because as he raised their level of consciousness, they became in harmony with the rest of the world and with their inner self. And when this happens, you're sicknesses vanish. You can pay your debt off to society within a second. To be hanging on to silly, petty, stupid sicknesses to keep us in our place. When you find how beautiful life is, you don't need them, you become free. The only freedom that exists in the world is in your inner self via a conscious state because all life, all life is a conscious state. There is nothing outside. These words don't make sense to you. They're not meant to . Because there is no words can explain it. You can only explain it as closely as possible, as simply as possible. The simpler the better. So I try to explain it. But it doesn't turn out right. Because it's not the words you've got to hear. It's what's beyond the word. And this comes as an experience. It comes as a direct experience from hearing. Not listening. Hearing. Which is a totally different thing. Because when you truly hear, you get a new experience. You raise your level of consciousness. The higher your guide is speaking, the better it is for you. The simple reason, if you hear him when he's speaking high, that's exactly what you're gonna do is go high.If you talk about petty things like politics, things like this. I've already told you, you'll never solve the problem. Not until you go inside, then you change the world. Because the world is inside you. It really is. Everything is inside you right now. All your happiness that you've ever wanted. All the joy you ever wanted. All the money you ever wanted. All the health you ever wanted. All the security you ever wanted. It's all inside you.......Two year ago, just over two years ago I was so concerned with the world you wouldn't believe. I was into unions, fighting with the bosses, tons of governments, Vietnam, race discrimination. Every one of them got me so uptight. Those other guys doing all this to those poor people. About the people starving throughout the world. And I was uptight all the time. I was sick from it. This is what made me sick. Because all my worries, all my stress, thinking about the rest of the world. And when I found this little secret, things changed. Because I started to realize there was nothing out there at all. That all the secret and all the happiness lies inside. Now since that time, I am sure, absolutely sure, I have done more in the past year for humanity than I would have done in 10 million years of the old Syd Banks. And anybody that's ever heard. Really heard. They too have started to change the world. Because everybody they talk to changes. People are changing very rapidly. Their health has been changing. Mysteriously. So called mysteriously. Their sicknesses have been vanishing. This is how I can answer that. Once again, you can't solve the problem outside. You must go inside and each individual soul in the universe must find his own utopia. Then when he finds it, then he comes out in full blossom and gives all this love and all this knowledge to change the level of consciousness of the universe. And this is the only way you'll ever have peace on earth."- Sydney Banks, It's That Simple, A talk in Courtney, B.C. circa mid 1970's"
Find out more about Dominic Scaffidi here at https://www.dominicscaffidi.com or https://m.facebook.com/groups/597623504209154
In this week’s episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Nicole share what they have noticed about parenting before understanding how the mind works vs. after understanding. They talk about moments of parenting when situations feel really tough but how great it is to understand that they don’t have to sit in that feeling and it will pass eventually.
Ashley also shares about the Online Parenting Program coming up in September. We are offering this course to the public on a sliding scale. Simply pay what you can, between $50 - $295. If that is still out of reach, please email info@thesparkinitiative.com for special arrangements. We do not want to turn anyone away. Remember, as a non-profit organization, all profits go directly back into our community and local programming. This course is deserving to all our parents out there and especially during these times, we want to serve you!
Click here for more details on the SPARK Online Parenting Program.
Now Listen as Ashley and Nicole share, Appreciating What We Know Now As Parents!
In this week’s episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Nicole share what they have noticed about parenting before understanding how the mind works vs. after understanding. They talk about moments of parenting when situations feel really tough but how great it is to understand that they don’t have to sit in that feeling and it will pass eventually.
Ashley also shares about the Online Parenting Program coming up in September. We are offering this course to the public on a sliding scale. Simply pay what you can, between $50 - $295. If that is still out of reach, please email info@thesparkinitiative.com for special arrangements. We do not want to turn anyone away. Remember, as a non-profit organization, all profits go directly back into our community and local programming. This course is deserving to all our parents out there and especially during these times, we want to serve you!
Click here for more details on the SPARK Online Parenting Program.
Now Listen as Ashley and Nicole share, Appreciating What We Know Now As Parents!
In this week’s episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Nicole and Jena share their insights on finding motivation to be healthier, after allowing insecurities to take a toll on them, they rediscovered their confidence and motivation to feel better and do better. They will be sharing more with you on how new thought always brings new feelings and experiences, when we learn to let go of the ones that limit us!
Listen as they share, Discovering the Motivation Inside You!
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the upcoming school year. Local schools here are set to reopen in the next couple of weeks, and we have heard very strong opinions on the decision of sending kids back or not. Brooke and Ashley discuss their decisions and how they came to the decision for themselves, as well as share what they have heard on social media, and even with close friends trying to decide.
They share about the importance of understanding what is right for you and your children, may not be what is right for someone else, and that is okay! Listening to that SPARK inside, will help guide each person individually to make the right choice for them!
In this episode, Stephanie reflects on a couple examples of how knowing about her SPARK has recently helped her and her 6 year-old son deal with kitchen disasters and Minecraft moments! Listen as she shares their experiences.
As always, if you have a topic you would like us to talk about or if there something you would like to hear more on, please let us know!Email us at info@thesparkinitiative.com
In this episode, Ashley and Jena share their recent events about how they have each experienced feeling left out.
They speak about how this feeling can lead them to making assumptions and becoming even more disconnected, but allowing for time, space and understanding, a whole new perspective can be gained. They talk about how these feelings can feel really big at times, but they will all settle eventually and that is so helpful and refreshing to know.
Listen as they share their experiences and insights.
In this episode, Ashley and Nicole share about resent insights they have had about the importance and appreciation for their state of mind.
Ashley shares about getting caught up in her thinking, and then the unhelpful "should's" that unfolded for her. She talks about how she recognized this, and how it was helpful moving forward. Her problems suddenly didn't seem as big as she had thought, and answers came for the solutions that she needed.
Nicole speaks about a recent event as well, and shares how understanding state of mind was helpful to navigate through it.
Listen as they share their experiences and insights.
In this episode, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk about personal resentment and how this understanding of the mind has helped them let go of past experiences that weighed them down and live life a lot lighter.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley share about what they are seeing new about separate realities, and appreciating diversity within us all. They share what they have seen about both, everyone being one, and also recognizes and appreciating the differences in us all.
The both listened to a recent talk at a conference and saw many things from it in regards to parenting, but then, as the week has gone on, they have zoomed out to see this in all areas.
Listen as they share their insights around understanding being one of the most important in conversations.
In this episode, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk about insights they have had and things they have seen this past week after attending a recent Conference called "Life 2.0". They share how beautiful it was to see people gather from across the world via Zoom, all connecting, sharing and learning more about themselves and each other, especially during this current time in the world.
Listen as they share, Insights and Connecting from Around the World.
In this episode, Ashley Hunt and Nicole Wilson talk about their perspective of connection, human to human, and how so many solutions can be uncovered from that place. Diving deeper beneath the surface, we can see that humans are all connected through love.
In this episode, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk about their perspective on returning back to the old/new “normal” way of life, as things are starting to fall back into place from COVID-19. Listen as they reflect on how we, as human beings, adapt to change without trying. Our SPARK will always be there no matter what circumstances we face in the world.
This episode was recorded live on Facebook for our first ever live podcast! We had lots of fun seeing all of our listeners!
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the new CDC guidelines that were just issued on how schools should resume post COVID-19. This has been a HOT Topic this week and we thought a podcast on this topic may be beneficial to many.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley are joined by former teacher and Children’s book author, Stephanie Fox. Stephanie was on last week to talk about her books with Curious the Dragonfly and we teased that we would have her back on this week for an exciting announcement!
Listen as we talk about how we are joining forces to bring Curious and SPARK to more children all around the world! We are so excited and can’t wait for you all to hear about our plans!
If you would like to find out more about our brand new curriculum you can visit our page here!
In this episode, Ashley interviews former teacher and Children’s book author, Stephanie Fox.
Stephanie shares what lead her to writing children’s books, and where the idea of her characters came from. She also shares the process of knowing deeply her vision for this new character, and how she followed the next step even when she was not sure “how” it would work.
Listen as Stephanie shared stories of how her characters are helping children all over the world understand their feelings and where they come from!
To find out more about Stephanie and Curious, including how to purchase the book: The Adventures of Curious the Dragonfly: Search for Good Feelings, you can visit her website: https://stephanieafox.com/
Also, Curious is coming to the SPARK curriculum in a very big way! If you would like to Pre-Order our Child Curriculum, which includes Stephanie's book, you can do so here:
https://sparkcurriculum.org/product/pre-sale-spark-young-child-5-8-years-old-curriculum-online-membership/
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the impact that unknown exceptions has on us, especially during the current Pandemic!
This episode is the forth in our Parenting Series!
If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship.
In this episode, Jayda interviews Rohini Ross about parenting. Rohini is the mom of two teenage daughters and offers a wonderful perspective on parenting.
Rohini graduated with a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and a Certificate in Consciousness, Health, and Healing. She went on to become a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, and is known for her specialization in Spiritual Psychology. She also became a Certified Transformational Coach with Michael Neill and completed the Pransky & Associates Mentorship Program where she trained in the Three Principles.
If you would like to learn more about Rohini, please visit her website: https://rohiniross.com/
This episode is the third in our Parenting Series!
If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship.
In this episode, Nicole joins Ashley to talk about recent events with COVID-19. They share about all of the changes that have been happening, and what it's been like to be a parent through all of the uncertainty. They share how they each have had moments of "jumping in the panic pool" and then what they have seen after getting out of the panic.
If you would like to join the free webinar series they mentioned, Staying Sane During Uncertainty, you can register at this link:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/upQrceiurzMs3aiQZAWf0uQygtE1dmg0Yw?_ga=2.201302054.988087826.1585063725-1535653976.1548795546&fbclid=IwAR1u-CV8fu8pUGW5mpc2JjADNy_TdAdaVH-m3g7cXWK_FvAoobCrMBou0q0
This episode is the second in our Parenting Series! Brooke and I feel that we have learned so much while parenting, and understanding how the mind works, so we wanted to do a special series on this very topic!
For the next several weeks, you get to listen to Brooke’s teenage daughter Jayda as she interviews parents of all ages. If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship.
In part two of the series, Jayda interviews Cathy Casey. Cathy's work ranges from corporate consulting with blue-chip companies through to the public sector such as health and hospital programs, government organizations, and juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. She is also a very seasoned parent with a unique prospective on this subject.
Be sure to listen to the end for information on our brand new SPARK Parenting Program as well as a special discount code for our listeners!
This episode is the first in our Parenting Series! Brooke and I feel that we have learned so much while parenting, and understanding how the mind works, so we wanted to do a special series on this very topic!
For the next several weeks, you get to listen to Brooke’s teenage daughter Jayda as she interviews parents of all ages. If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship.
In part one of the series, Jayda interviews Dicken Bettinger. Dicken shares about parenting from a place of knowing your child has well-being inside (their SPARK) He talks about how his parenting changed, and what he hopes everyone would know.
If you would like to find out more about Dicken, you can visit his website by clicking here.
You can also purchase his book, Coming Home, from Amazon by clicking here.
Be sure to listen to the end for information on our brand new SPARK Parenting Program as well as a special discount code for our listeners!
In this episode, Nicole sits down with Kyle Reece so interview him. Kyle is Brooke's brother in law He came to us because he knew his brother Will had a dramatic shift once he learned about how his mind works, and Kyle wanted the same. Nicole begin working with him and through the last couple months, Kyle's perspective started to shift. Nicole asked if he would do an interview for our podcast and he agreed! Listen as he shares what this understanding has taught him.
In this episode, Nicole and Jena join the podcast to share some stories about how they have each experienced mom guilt. They speak about how they can get wrapped into the depths of the guilt, and how in another instance they can pop right out of it. Listen as they share what they have seen around this topic, and how they have gotten through it!
In this episode, Ashley and Brooke talk about what it means to them to appreciate other culture, by simply understanding what it is that makes up culture. They recently went on a tour in an Amish community with Jena and Nicole, (you will be able to hear Ashley smiling throughout this episode, because she is fascinated by their culture). They saw many things that were foreign to them, yet they had a very cool experience the whole day. They share their insights around culture this experience and what they saw from simply being curious.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss why, even with best intentions, sometimes trying to save others may do more harm than good. They share their stories of trying to save those closest to them and the outcome it has had on not only on those they are trying to save, but also the toll it takes on themselves.
In this episode, Ashley and Brooke have some very specials guest in the office, Jacqueline Hollows and Anna Debenham! Listen as they discuss their past week together working on a curriculum for prisons/jails, and the experience they shared running a class together in jail.
Jacqueline founded Beyond Recovery in the UK. Her and her team go into prisons across the UK, working with offenders and ex-offenders; community organizations and professionals within the Criminal Justice System and addiction services; and social entrepreneurs. To find out more about Beyond recovery, you can visit their site here: https://beyond-recovery.co.uk/
Anna Debenham founded The Insight Alliance in Portland, Oregon. The Insight Alliance works in prisons and in the community with a simple focus: Understanding the limitless nature of the human mind, and recognizing our own innate wellbeing. To find out more about Anna and The Insight Alliance, you can visit their site here: https://theinsightalliance.org/
In this episode, you will get to hear from Ashley, who is a self-proclaimed "recovering" People Pleaser, and Brooke who is a self-proclaimed "recovering" Control Freak. We say the word "recovering" in quotes, because let's face it, they are still doing it at times!
Ashley shares what she has seen recently about taking on other people's feelings, trying to fix them in order to fix her own discomfort. Listen as they discuss how seeing just a little bit about this has opened up a whole experience for Ashley when she is met with people who are anything less than happy ;)
Brooke also shares her go-to when faced with discomfort, which is controlling in order to try and fix her discomfort.
Ashley and Brooke share many stories of this, and why they see it slightly different now. So, if you are a People Pleaser, Control Freak, or know someone who is, then this episode is for you!
This episode is the first in our Parenting Series! Brooke and I feel that we have learned so much while parenting, and understanding how the mind works, so we wanted to do a special series on this very topic!
For the next several weeks, you get to listen to Brooke's 14 year old daughter Jayda as she interviews parents of all ages. If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship.
In part one of the series, Jayda interviews Dicken Bettinger. Dicken shares about parenting from a place of knowing your child has well-being inside (their SPARK) He talks about how his parenting changed, and what he hopes everyone would know.
If you would like to find out more about Dicken, you can visit his website : http://3principlesmentoring.com/index.html
You can also purchase his book, Coming Home, from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Home-Uncovering-Foundations-Psychological/dp/153280783X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1516743285&sr=8-3&keywords=coming+home+book
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the kids heading Back to School and ALL the feelings that go along with it! They share the angst, as well as what has helps themselves and their kids navigate as they start a new school year.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley unpack why you already know what to do and why guilt is never giving you the right answer.
In this episode, Ashley and Brooke talk about the simplicity of what they share. They often get people asking how something so simple can be helpful, so in this podcast they answer break down why.
In this episode, Ashley and Brooke talk about the importance of holding spaces for others, and what that really means for them.
In this episode, Ashley invites her mom, Lisa onto the podcast to talk about divorce and the changes Ashley saw in her mom once she truly realized who she is. Listen to this raw, honest conversation as Lisa shares her experience after divorce, the lows she felt, and what changed when she saw who she truly was under everything she thought she was.If you would like more information on the program Ashley mentioned, Creating the Impossible, go here: https://www.michaelneill.org/ctibook/If you would like more information on Kim Kaase, the coach who spoke with Ashley's mom, visit her site here: www.life-leap.com or email her kim@life-leap.com
Now that SPARK classes have wrapped up & school is out, Jena and Ashley share how their classes ended! They also share their most recent research findings!Listen as they share real stories of impact from the kids this past year and what they have seen to be most helpful when working with youth.
In this episode, Ashley invites Brooke's 14 year old daughter Jayda to join the podcast! Jayda shares what it is like to grow up with parents that truly know everyone has a spark inside. She talks about how she sees things differently than her friends when it comes to pressures with school and grades. Listen as she shares what has been most helpful to know and her advice for parents and teens.
This is part two of our recent podcast: Finding The SPARK Beyond Trauma. In part two, Brooke shares about a recent experience that occurred directly after part one was released, which had her seeing even more around this topic. Listen as she talks about her "okay-ness" , compassion and her unshakable SPARK within.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about what it truly means to find the SPARK beyond trauma. Brooke shares from personal experience and talks about what she sees differently now that she truly knows she has an unbreakable SPARK.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley reflect on their time in jail, while running their SPARK program that is!They share what the inmates saw throughout the 12 weeks, and discuss why an understanding of how your mind works is useful, and hopeful to those in jail. They also read a letter that one inmate wrote about what finding his SPARK has done for him.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about what they have seen when they truly see the SPARK in others.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the dredged T word...TESTING!After reading a few posts on Facebook from moms sharing that their kids were going to bed crying and scared for an upcoming test, Brooke and Ashley thought it would be a great topic to discuss.They share what has been helpful for them, when dealing with their own children's anxiety over testing and what has made a difference for them as parents.
In this episode, Nicole Wilson joins Ashley as they discuss insights they have seen from kids in their SPARK Classes. They are midway through the program and they share how much has already changed in some kids!
Listen as they share real stories of impact and why they think it's so helpful for kids to understand how their mind works.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about conflict, and what they have seen recently about staying neutral during conflict.
Brooke shares what happened recently when she did not stay neutral in a discussion and Ashley shares how a conversation she had turned out better than expected because of neutrality.
Listen as they share why this is helpful and important to understand.
In this episode, Ashley talks about moods and what she has found to be most helpful to know when in different moods. Ashley also reads some of their Facebook comments about what others have found to be the most important thing to know when understanding moods.
In this episode, Ashley is joined by Jena Travise and Nicole Wilson. Together they share what they have seen about the dreaded W word... weight loss! They share stories and talk about why an understanding of the mind helps them through their gains and losses.
In this episode we have yet another insightful conversation about the power of the mind and built in resilience within all of us. This time we are co-hosting the podcast with Mara and Eirik, founders of One Solution, an awesome organization we are partnering with that work with youth in the inner city of Chicago. This episode is a 4 way discussion about what it takes to empower youth from the INSIDE.
Here are some of the themes we touch upon in this Podcast. - Nobody is broken- The power of actually caring- Realizing our own inner resources to create change- How to stay solid in the face of adversity- Staying hopeful when working in difficult circumstances- Cultivating the spark within the coming generations- How we already KNOW how to live (hear a bunch of examples from kids)- How some things that looks wrong is actually wise. About One Solution:One Solution is a non-profit organization whose vision and mission is simple: They believe that there is a simple solution to many of the world’s most challenging and persistent problems. That solution is an understanding of how all global challenges originate in the human mind and can be directly addressed in the human mind. Change the thinking that drives global issues, and we can actually begin to solve our challenges, rather than dealing with the symptoms. You can find out more about One Solution by visiting their website: https://www.onesolutionglobal.org/
In this episode, Ashley shares how an experience with a homeless man in Central Park taught her so much about life, and herself. She shares what he spoke about and how she has come to reflect on it time and time again.If you'd like to here even more about the experience with Armando after listening to this podcast, be sure to visit Micheal Neill's Creating the Impossible Podcast https://www.michaelneill.org/ctipodcast/ and you can here a little from Armando himself.
In this episode, we invite Rebecca Perkins and Beatrice Arscott to join us in a conversation about their journey through anorexia.
Rebecca Perkins Rebecca has worked as a professional wellbeing and resilience coach for 11 years with both individuals and in groups across all ages and sectors. More recently she has focused her work with young people who are struggling with anxiety, panic attacks, addictions and eating disorders. She lives by the sea in South Wales.
Bea Arscott Bea lives and works in London where she grew up. Just over ten years ago she was diagnosed with Anorexia which she battled with for a number of years. She has now fully recovered has since become a mentor for an eating disorders charity and blogs regularly on the subject of recovery. Rebecca and Bea have recently published a book Recovery from Within: a mother and daughter’s journey through Anorexia.
In this episode, Brooke is back from vacation and talks about her experience traveling with 5 kids on a road trip. She reflects on this time last year when her niece and nephews first joined her family. She speaks about how much has changed over the course of a year and what she saw happen when she let go of her expectations on how things should be. Through this conversation, Ashley also reflects on what a difference a year has made to her. She shares about her parent's divorce this past year, the struggles her family felt throughout the year. She speaks about how she never could have imagined then the evolving relationship they all have now.
In this episode, Ashley invites Tiffany Gleason to join in on the conversation. Tiffany is a veteran teacher who has not only taught in typical classroom settings, she has also trained teachers and now teaches students virtually. Tiffany offer's a wealth of experience and gives us a teacher's point of view on how understanding something so simple can have such a big impact on not only the students, but the teachers themselves. She speaks about observing what happens in the classroom when students and teachers understand how their mind works. She shares why she feels it's helpful for kids not only emotionally, but academically as well. Listen as Ashley and Tiffany explore why connection and understanding the role state of mind plays is so helpful in not only the classroom, but everyday life.
In this episode, Nicole and Jena, The SPARK Initiative's mentors, shared what their students taught them this past year. They speak about their experience, being nervous and apprehensive at the beginning of the program, and then seeing how it all worked out in the end once they got out of their own way.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley invite John El-Mokadem to join them as they explore what it means to parent, knowing that their children will be okay and resting in that, rather than a place of "should-ing". You know, the my kids should be doing this, I should be this kind of parent, my kids should do well in school.
They share stories of their parenting fails, as well as lessons they've learned while navigating the ups and downs of parenting.
In this episode, Ivana Culham joins Ashley and Brooke. Ivana lives in the UK, is a wife and a parent to 3 children. She is a wellbeing coach who is very passionate about promoting wellbeing in young people through the work she does with youth and parents.
Ivana, Ashley and Brooke discuss kids, school, and parent/teacher conferences. Listen as they share their stories navigating through challenges, and what they have seen in helping their own children find success in school.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss what they have seen recently about less truly being more. They talk about about examples in their personal life and professional life where they see this to be true.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley share an excerpt from a staff meeting they recently had on bullying in a social media driven culture.
In this episode, we talk to Jena Travise, one of our SPARK mentors, about her experience in the classroom last week. She shares how the classes taught her more about herself, and helped her to truly see first hand what happens when you trust in yourself, and let your SPARK lead the way.
In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the power of collaboration when coming from a place of abundance instead of scarcity.
Karen DiMarco, RN BSN iRNPA. Nurse, mom, medical science-geek, business woman, refined butt-kicker, wellbeing-hacker, exploiter of unconventional ways of being deliriously happy, and founder of GetKare, LLC.
She's on a mission to help the lost, the discouraged, the sickly, the stuck, and the this-can’t-be-as-good-as-it-gets of the world. Find out that as-good-as-it-gets is their ‘factory default setting.’ https://getkare.com
In this episode, Jena Travise, The SPARK Initiative's Research Coordinator and Youth Mentor, joins us! She shares how finding her SPARK has transformed her relationships with others and how she has seen her confidence uncovered in an amazing way!
In this episode, we invited back Brooke’s husband, Will Reece back to share more about his experience with depression and how finding his SPARK helped him experience life differently.
Be sure to listen to part one for his back story on depression and how Brooke saw her husband change! This time, we didn’t allow Brooke in the room! Ashley asked him questions from our listeners and Will shares more about how meaningful this understanding has been to him.
Nicole Wilson is The SPARK Initiative’s Community Programs Coordinator and Youth Mentor. Nicole is responsible for organizing and planning with representatives and organizations in the community & mentoring the youth to further The SPARK Initiative’s mission.
Prior to her work here, Nicole was an Elementary School Student Aid for Hillsborough County Public Schools. Because she is passionate about working with youth, Nicole believes she is right where she belongs with sharing this understanding of the mind to children in her community.