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When was the last time you did something just because it was “easy”? On the show today, I’m sharing how I spent 80% of the last 10 years doing what was easy and fun, instead of what was fulfilling and empowering and why I’ve switched. We’re talking why “following you passion” is the wrong way to live, and why following your purpose is the right way.

The key points:

• What is the problem with a life based on passions? Hint: they don’t last long
• What living in alignment and following your purpose means?
• Why you need to pay attention to what feels right, not just easy.

Reading the show notes? Send me a DM on Instagram telling me what your alignment moment is and why it felt right.

Important links:

• http://www.alifemoreconscious.com/purposeoverpassion
• Facebook: Meredith Carle
• Instagram: @alifemoreconscious

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Have you ever started doing something, and then it's done? On the show today, I share the 5 core steps for breaking through habits and mindless routines in order to take control of your actions and start living in alignment with your dream life.

The Steps:

1. Reflect on your current life.
2. Solidify your current dream life vision.
3. Define your purpose.
4. Define your values.
5. Identify how your dream life actually looks and start living towards that vision.
6. Also covered,
   • An overview of habits and why they’re not always so straight-forward.
   • Growth versus fixed mindsets
   • The nine CORE life areas

Important links:

• http://www.alifemoreconscious.com/breakmindless
• Facebook: Meredith Carle
• Instagram: @alifemoreconscious

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What do Olivia Youngs, Elizabeth Joy, Blythe Hill, and Meredith Fineman all have in common? They’re living by their values.

They each chose different starts and follow different paths, but they all are living the way they do because it matters to them. And that’s what this episode is about, a simple recap of the season and our interviews here.

From simple living and secondhand shopping, to human rights missions and sustainable consumerism. These women have pursued their purpose and found a passion for building A Life More Conscious.

Visit the website: alifemoreconscious.com/insights/wrapup

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Meredith Fineman got into the secondhand world early. The (not-so-)hidden world became her loophole to getting the designer pieces she dreamed of. Yet, years later she’s received much more from it than expected. She’s found the history of clothing and the people that wear them, the stories of the shop owners who care for and curate the treasures, and the innate sustainability of secondhand.

In this episode, we talk about the sustainability behind secondhand, including the thrift, consignment, resale worlds. And Meredith shares some of her tips for buying and selling secondhand (in the Coronavirus pandemic) and for finding brick-and-mortar stores after.

We discuss:

• [2:20] Publishing in a pandemic and Meredith’s main ‘hustle’
• [6:00] The ideas behind It Never Gets Old: A Firsthand Account of All Things Secondhand (and Sustainable)
• [11:00] Meredith’s secret designer clothes loophole of secondhand shopping
• [14:54] All of what Meredith owns is secondhand (except for a few things…)
• [20:07] Meredith’s reasons for not shopping fast fashion (sadly, part of this answer got cut off from our connection, but you can get a lot more about these reasons from other episodes here)
• [21:14] How is secondhand more sustainable?
• [22:16] Tips for secondhand shopping and selling during a Pandemic (AKA Online)
• [25:10] What is the future of the secondhand industry?
• [28:41] Tips for finding consignment shops
• [31:46] How Meredith’s new book Brag Better will help people live more consciously by intentionally communicating your value and your values.

Our Guest - Meredith Fineman

• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Meredithfineman.com
• Finepoint.co

About the It Never Gets Old podcast

It Never Gets Old is a podcast hosted and created by Meredith Fineman and produced by Sarah Lane. INGO is an exploration and celebration of the second-hand economy, from sustainable fashion to resale, consignment, vintage, and the stories we tell around what we wear. (From the INGO website about page)

I’ve included a list of key INGO episodes on the blog post for this episode (link here)

• Listen to the show!
  • ITunes
  • Spotify
• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook

And get Brag Better, Meredith's soon-to-be released book about shameless self-promotion and showing the world that you are qualified (even if you're quiet). The book will be out on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. And you can get the (New) free chapter on the book's website or the May 8th episode of the INGO podcast. This chapter is about "How to Brag Better Online and From Home."

• Website
• @bragbetter on Instagram
• Purchase here!
• Libro.fm *referral link (but price of membership is less than the price of the book & you can support a local bookstore!)
• Barnes and Noble
• Amazon

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What started out as a simple creative style challenge has grown into a multi-million dollar campaign against one of the largest illicit industries, human trafficking. In 7 years of the campaign, thousands of participants, women and men, have joined together to wear a dress (or a tie) for the month of December in order to call attention to the industry through the campaign, Dressember.

On the show today, I talked with Blythe Hill of the Dressember Foundation which orchestrates and oversees this annual campaign. We talk about what is human trafficking, the potential and actual impact of a community on issues, reclaiming the dress, and being an advocate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before you get too far, are you interested in chatting with me about designing your dream closet? If so, sign up for a discovery call here.

We discuss:

• [ ] What is trafficking
• [14:30] How the Dressember foundation started
• [18:05] The potential of the growing movement
• [21:01] The impact of International Justice Mission
• [25:10] The Power of a Community
• [29:30] #youcandoanythinginadress and reclaiming the dress
• [36:20] The Ethical Fashion Directory, the purpose behind it, and transparency in standards for recommendations
• [41:20] Reasons for opening the 2020 campaign early
• Check out the show notes for pictures of how advocates are fundraising during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• [47:41] What is something you’ve learned from doing the Dressember campaign?

Our Guest - Blythe Hill

Blythe is the CEO and Founder of the Dressember Foundation which she runs alongside her life in Los Angeles with her husband, young child, and dog—Friday.

Instagram: @blythehill

About the Dressember Foundation:

The Dressember Foundation leads the advocacy and fundraising campaign, Dressember, an annual campaign in which thousands of people have committed to wearing a dress (or tie) for the entire month of December, no matter their climate, in order to advocate and fundraise for anti-trafficking efforts led by the fifteen organizations that partner with the Founda tion. Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised $10MM USD and resourced dozens of anti-trafficking programs across the US and the world.

And all of that was initiated by our guest, Blythe Hill, who started Dressember as a simple style challenge which then grew to what it is today.

Dressember has received press attention from the likes of Forbes, Glamour, InStyle, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, the TODAY Show, among others. And in 2019, Blythe was named one of InStyle's 50 Badass Women, alongside powerhouse ladies like Michelle Obama, Christine Blasey Ford, Angela Davis, and Gayle King.

• Website: https://www.dressember.org/
• Instagram: @Dressember
• Facebook: @OfficialDressember
• Join the 2020 Campaign
• Don’t want to commit yet, but want to contribute to COVID-19 grants? Donate through my Campaign page: Meredith's Campaign**

Links referenced:

• The Ethical Fashion Directory - https://www.dressember.org/directory
• Schedule a call with me & we'll start discovering the core values driving your dream closet and more! (https://resources.alifemoreconscious.com/discover)

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Conscious Consumerism (and Fashion) is a great place to start when moving towards a better life, according to Elizabeth Joy. And I agree.

Listen to today’s show as we talk about Conscious consumerism, choosing Conscious, and why sustainability and ethical living matters in today (and tomorrow’s world). We even talk about conscious consumerism in the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic that is hitting the world right now.

We discuss:

• Take time to learn about the issues while you stuck inside due to #coronavirus and #selfisolation.
• Start by consuming less (maybe even take on a shopping ban) to help make quitting fast fashion easier.
• Take care of your clothes. They'll last longer than you'd think.

Our Guest - Elizabeth Joy:

Elizabeth is the founder of the blog, Conscious Life and Style. She is passionate about the exploration of a life based on intention and impact and loves to dive into the many complex topics that make up ethical, sustainable, and intentional living. Her blog is dedicated to making conscious living accessible through ethical fashion guides and step-by-step resources.

Conscious Life and Style:

• Website: consciouslifeandstyle.com
• Instagram: @consciousstyle

Links referenced:

• Ethical Fashion Guides, courtesy of Conscious Life and Style
• The True Cost, a documentary about the fashion industry and the issues inside it.
• Earth Overshoot Day
  • Plus, what's your personal Overshoot Day? My current date is July 27th, whoops.

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On the show today, I share the first step in building your conscious wardrobe—uncovering your clothing values. Listen to get step-by-step directions on uncovering the issues and creating a priority list to simplify the process.

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Many people seek conscious living as a way to be more intentional with their lives. Olivia Youngs is no different. After becoming a mother, she started to downsize and simplify her life, while learning about the ethical and sustainable issues, and then applying them to her lifestyle. Now she runs an amazing blog, Simple Liv & Co, and owns a new coffee shop, Simple Coffee Co. She's prioritized simple living her life and her family.

On the show today, we talk about her journey to conscious living and she shares her advice for people interested in getting into ethical and sustainable fashion. Make sure to listen to get all her tips.

We discuss:

• [01:50] Seeking intention after becoming a mother
• [06:10] Moving into an RV and starting a sustainable coffee shop
• [13:05] Slow living and making decisions
• [15:36] Dressember and human trafficking activism
• [22:30] Identifying conscious brands
• [32:00] Prioritizing secondhand, then ethical brands
• [39:20] Sustainable living and 2019 low-waste challenge
• [43:05] Wrapping up - the BEST advice

Our Guest - Olivia Youngs

Olivia is a wife and mother of three beautiful girls living in the mountains of Colorado. Since getting interested in simple living and minimalism following motherhood, Olivia has shared her passion for these, along with sustainability and ethical fashion, with the conscious community through her two incredible businesses, her blog Simply Liv & Co and her coffee shop, Simple Coffee Co.

Blog - Simply Liv & Co:

1. Website: http://simplylivandco.com/
2. Instagram: @simplylivandco

Coffeeshop - Simple Coffee Co

1. Website: https://www.simplecoffeetabernash.com/
2. Instagram: @simplecoffeeco

Links referenced:

• http://simplylivandco.com/blog/conscious-consumerism-how-to-tell-if-a-brand-is-ethical
• Apps for brand suggestions
  • Good On You
  • DoneGood
  • And one more we'll be talking about next week!

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And Season 2 is here!

Join us this season as we're diving into how to build a conscious wardrobe that aligns with your life, style, and values. I'm talking with individuals who have guided my conscious journey as we explore conscious fashion and the many issues and impacts of the fashion industry throughout our lives and the world. Each guest brings amazing advice and tips from their experience learning, living, and leading consciously.

And every week, I’ll be sharing lessons and advice that I’ve learned in regular solocasts that will help guide you in building your own conscious wardrobe.

Subscribe now to get notified when new episodes are released, thanks!

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Their are many social issues in our world—human trafficking, plastic pollution, child abuse and sexual assault to name a few. And these issues can generally be separated into the Human issues and the Earth issues.

But here’s a reality check, it’s all connected. Every issue is connected to every other issue. And every individual is connected to every issue, whether they know it, want it, or not.

And here’s one more thing, it’s part of our responsibility as humans to move society towards change. Here’s how.

See the full show notes at alifemoreconscious.com/insights/6

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Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new decade. So why not, instead of doing the same old yearly goal setting (and missing), you build a foundation for a better life instead. In this episode, I talk about how to build that foundation by establishing your purpose and defining your core values.

Sign up for the Free Email Course here.

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This week on the show, I'm talking about what makes a lifestyle, and more generally, a life—conscious.

Listen to the episode for my thoughts on how everybody and everything is connected in this world, the flexibility of conscious living, and the impact of your core values.

Happy holidays! <3 Mer

Mentioned in the show:

• Six degrees of separation theory
• A Selfish Plan to Change the World by Justin Dillon

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There's a call to end trafficking that has been around since the dawn of civilization. And that throughout history has lead to several abolitionist movements across the globe. And now it's our turn to answer the call, what are you going to do to help end trafficking today?

This month on the podcast, I've been sharing about the unseen world around us named human trafficking, or in some cases more accurately - modern-day slavery—as part of my participation in the month-long fashion challenge Dressember.

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Dressember is a social campaign to raise awareness and funds for anti-human trafficking efforts. If, after listening to this episode, you feel called to donate to support the fifteen organizations that have partnered with Dressember, please do so via the links to my campaign page. They can be found here in the episode show notes and in my Instagram bio.

This year, I have a goal of raising $1000 for Dressember and its partner organizations to support programs that aid in the prevention of trafficking, as well as the rescue of victims and the holistic aftercare programs for survivors of trafficking.

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On this last episode of the Dressember series, I want to invite you to join me, and the many other campaigners out there, in answering the call to end trafficking.

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There's a call to end trafficking — and it's an invitation for us to do something about the pain of 40.3 million people in the world.

And everyone who is listening to this knows it. We have to decide how to answer it for ourselves because the way that each of us answers it will be different for everyone. From the student in college just wanting a voice in the world to the mother who needs to step away from the crazy world to live her way.

The path to ending human trafficking is one that will be taken by as many as there are trapped within its reach. It has already been taken by millions who have helped end it in the past, but now it's our turn. Let's answer the call that Dressember and many others have shared with the world.

In this final episode of the Dressember series, I want to share some of the many ways that you can fight human trafficking in your life and our world - starting today.

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Number 1. You can support Dressember, and in turn, support organizations working to end trafficking.

For some, the easiest way to act against trafficking is to help others do the work. This doesn't mean that you aren't helping; it's delegation. It means you are providing the fuel that another's engine will use to do work.

By supporting these organizations financially, you fuel the global movement that directly helps other humans by helping those harmed by trafficking and preventing others from becoming involved.

Here are some of the organizations that Dressember supports and their mission in the fight:

• International Justice Mission provides rescue and aftercare support of victims of trafficking around the world while working with local law enforcement agencies to bring criminals to justice.
• A21 works in 12 countries throughout the world to reach out and educate people, rescue current victims, and restore and empower survivors with direct support in the ways that they need it.
• Cast, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, is a Los Angeles-based organization focused on services for survivors and advocating for anti-trafficking policies and legislation.
• Truckers Against Trafficking is working to educate the millions of individuals working in the trucking, bus, and energy industries about trafficking. And to empower them to report potential instances of trafficking that they see while out on the road.
• And, Love146 which provides prevention education for youth in schools and aftercare programs for survivors to help end child trafficking and exploitation.

Any support you can give will help them carry out their missions and bring our world one step closer to ending trafficking today.

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Number 2. You can look out for possible victims and report any potential cases to the national entities working to investigate the reports. So that they can rescue the victims and, ultimately, prosecute traffickers to bring justice for the victims and survivors.

In the last episode, number four of the Dressember series, I shared a list of signs of trafficking. I'm not going to reread the list here, but it is written in the episode blog post, and I will link to the page on the Polaris Project website for the full list.

Recognize the Signs | Polaris

• The individual is not free to leave or come and go at will
• Is under 18 and is providing commercial sex acts or is not under 18 and appears to have a pimp or manager overseeing their work
• Is unpaid, paid very little, or getting paid only through tips
• Works excessively long or unusual hours
• Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous
• show signs of physical or sexual abuse, physical restraint, or confinement
• Shows signs of poor hygiene, malnourishment, or fatigue
• Has few or no personal possessions
• Is being frequently monitored
• Is not in control of their own identification documents
• Shares scripted, confusing, or inconsistent stories

By reporting possible instances and cases of trafficking, you can contribute to the rescue of victims and the arrest of traffickers that not only will end one situation. But will also continue drawing attention and awareness to the issue.

The numbers for reporting to the National Human Trafficking Hotline are 1-888-3737-888 or text the word "help" to BeFree (or the number 233733).

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Number 3. You can speak up to share what you know and act on what you value and believe to get rid of the slavery in your lifestyle.

Anti-trafficking efforts aren't just prevention, rescue, and support programs run by non-profits or governmental organizations. You can make decisions and take actions that show you don't want to support trafficking in your life.

I chose to be deliberate about where I got new items for my life by choosing ethically-manufactured products whenever possible. By buying ethically, I show support for a different type of manufacturing industry where the lives of everyone involved are valued and supported.

And this is where I want to address the challenge that kept me from acting for years. There are sooo many issues with our world and societies today; how can I, as one small person, impact the world?

And here's the answer, one small person can impact the world by making small decisions that send a big message. And will eventually, just like a snowball rolling down a hill, grow into a more significant movement that can build on the decisions and actions of others.

When I realized this answer, I had one more question - but how do I know where to start?

And I realized that you know where to start by understanding what you care about and what issues impact those cares. And that's what you start with.

For me, I value and care most about the other humans in my world, and so human trafficking was where I started. I could have started with reducing my environmental impact, but that, though very important, was not the most important for me. I had learned in my research on human trafficking that the supply chains which use slavery are the same ones that make the most significant negative impact on our environment. While those supply chains that used ethical-manufacturing often had supply chains that cared about sustainability as well. And so by focusing on the one issue of trafficking, I was going to be voting for and impacting global sustainability practices along the way.

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And with that, could you do one thing?

Choose one way to impact trafficking today either from this list or from just what calls you.

Justin Dillon, who founded Made in a Free World which created and runs the Slavery Footprint survey, wrote in his book that to start making an impact, you need to "find your riot." You need to understand what makes you upset and what makes you fight. For me, that was human trafficking and the slavery we interact with every day. For you, I don't know, but it's something - go and find it.

The call to end trafficking has been out there since the dawn of civilization and throughout history, lead to several abolitionist movements across the globe. And now it's our turn to answer the call, what are you going to do to help end trafficking today?

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And if you're having trouble "finding your riot," I want to invite you to join the waitlist for my first online course. This course will give you my workbook guiding you through my process for discovering core values along with detailed explanations of the question prompts. These values are the core values that guide you toward your actions, whether you know them or not. Uncovering these values will help you understand what issues are the most important to you. And this understanding will guide your future decisions and actions to build a life that is better for you, better for our society, and better for our planet.

This course will be a little more than one section of a more extensive course that I will be launching soon that will be about how to live according to those values.

When you sign up for the waitlist, I will send you a copy of my Roadmap to Conscious, which gives an overview of the process that will be covered in the future course.

I will share more information on the course soon. But for now - let me know what you think about this series, human trafficking, and the course over on Instagram at A Life More Conscious.

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Thanks for joining me on this final episode of the Dressember series. I hope you gained value from these shows and now understand human trafficking a little bit more.

I hope you continue following along with A Life More Conscious here on the podcast and on Instagram. I'm looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming episodes.

Love y'all, and hope this episode helps make your life a little more conscious.

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Resources:

• Our Work | International Justice Mission
• Where We Work | A21
• Cast LA | Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Human Trafficking | About Cast - Cast LA
• Truckers Against Trafficking • TRUCKERS AGAINST TRAFFICKING
• Programs | Love146

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Every type of trafficking that I've discussed today can occur anywhere in the world whether there are regulations against it or not, and they can occur to anyone at any age and any time. And anyone and everyone can and will interact with trafficking whether they know it or not.

This week on the podcast, I’m going to be sharing about the unseen world around us named human trafficking, or in some cases more accurately - modern day slavery—as part of my participation in the month-long fashion challenge Dressember.

Dressember is a social campaign to raise awareness and funds for anti-human trafficking efforts. If after listening to this episode, or before, you feel a call to donate to support the fifteen organizations that have partnered with Dressember, please do so via the links to my campaign page found in the episode show notes and on my Instagram account.

This year, I have a goal of raising $1000 for Dressember and its partner organizations to support programs that aid in the prevention of trafficking, as well as the rescue of victims and the holistic aftercare programs for survivors of trafficking.

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Today, I’m talking about some of the many ways that we all may interact with trafficking in our everyday lives .

But, before we get going, I want to make a few notes about the show today:

1) that any scenarios or situations given throughout this episode are hypothetical, unless otherwise stated.

2) I will be uploading a transcription of the episode on my website alifemoreconscious dot com soon after each episode is released where I will be linking to all resources used and referenced in the episode.

And 3) in the episode, we will be discussing some difficult topics involving forced labor and commercial sex operations-I am not going into detail on these topics in this episode, but may in future episodes. So please learn with caution and push your comfort zone, but don’t jump out of it. Feel free to stop listening to the episode or reading the blog posts at anytime and don’t feel bad about it. By showing up for this opportunity, you have already opened your mind to the issue—this is simply an opportunity to learn more about human trafficking.

Now that that’s said, let’s get on with the show.

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I said yesterday that we interact with human trafficking every day. And I mean it.

I'm not assuming that everyone has a domestic servant that's being trafficked, or hires a person being prostituted, or watches pornography every day. But I am assuming that you wear clothes, eat food, and use stays at hotels - after all, how else are you listening to this podcast?

Even in the US where the majority of cases reported to the national human trafficking hotline are sex-trafficking-related (about 70% of cases), we interact with labor trafficking every day.

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While everyone's lifestyle and daily routine are different, we can likely all agree that we share these four areas of interactions in common:

Clothing, and other item manufacturing

Food, agricultural production, harvesting, processing

Technology, the designed- and marketed-for-extinction electronics that are produced en mass every year and thrown out soon after

And, general services - from hair and nail salons to domestic servants and maid services, traveling sales crews, and more.

The vast majority of daily interactions will be with the production of goods - whether that be clothing, food, or technology.

Most of this manufacturing happens around the world, but there have been several recorded cases of it in the US, in sweatshop factories in which men, women, and children are forced to work for below-minimum wage rates in working conditions with long hours and hazardous conditions.

In 2013, the Rana Plaza factory fire led to the deaths of over 11 hundred garment workers caused by an unsafe building structure and unsafe procedures including employing more than the building's maximum occupancy and ignoring recommendations to condemn the building the day before the accident.

But sweatshops aren't only used for the production of clothing and other soft goods, many foods and electronics are produced with conditions extremely similar to the garment industry sweatshop factories.

Take chocolate and tomatoes for example.

The average cost of a child slave to work on a cacao plantation is $250. these children are usually either kidnapping victims or being held in debt bondage as they attempt to pay off their accrued debt to the plantation operators with the little money they make working.

Now most people who I have talked about trafficking in chocolate production to have said: "I don't buy that kind of chocolate." So I will normally ask them, "where was your chocolate made and grown?"

Only 5% of cocoa used comes from a farm that has been certified to have non-slave workers. That means the other 95% can't be proven to show whether it does or does not use slaves.

In the US, we see this sweatshop-like working conditions in the agricultural industry, like with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' twenty-year fight about the working conditions on tomato farms in Florida. They won the battle in 2015 after seven slavery cases came from Florida to federal court. Some of the farms the workers were on would pay little to nothing for each day of work, require workers to live in company housing with high rent (think a mobile home with 20 people sharing the space), and no breaks during the long 10-to-12 hour days.

So yes, even in the US, some of our food is produced with slavery conditions, leaving people in situations just like those of older forms of slavery.

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These are only a few of the many ways goods manufacturing industries and products that utilize sweatshop labor. And that is all before the goods come to you, the consumer. What happens after you get rid of an item is another story.

But we need to move on, let's talk about the service industry.

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The service-industry is about as broad of an area of industries as is the manufacturing-industries. But the one addition is that sex trafficking and the areas it encompasses are also included.

Some services where trafficking and exploitation are used are salons & spas, hotels, cleaning services, traveling sales crews, nanny services. And many of the manufacturing-industry areas can also be considered service-industry, especially in agricultural manufacturing like with the chocolate and tomato farms.

Let's talk about three of these service areas:

• Health and beauty industry with massage parlors, salons, and spas
• Hospitality - hotels and motels
• and domestic work

Quick note: All of the information used in this section comes from a report from Polaris Project titled The Typology of Modern Slavery in which Polaris looked at data from the National Hotline to create a comprehensive list of the types of trafficking found in the reports made in the US.

These service-industry sectors can include either instances of labor trafficking or labor exploitation depending on whether the victims are being forced to perform the service - which would be trafficking by the means of force, fraud, or coercion - or if they are voluntarily choosing the sub-standard conditions because they have no other options. In many instances, these are difficult to distinguish, and in some, impossible to. They do get treated differently when it comes to action against the situations, but they are both bad conditions.

Massage parlors, salons, and spas have long been known to have ties with trafficking and slavery. Some are fronts for commercial sex operations with the workers being forced to have sex for payment. The victims are mostly women from Asia who came to the US as an immigrant looking for work.

Other times the salons and spas are legitimate businesses, but they exploit their employees for profit. These employees, also typically adult women from Asian countries, are often recruited through fraudulent practices typically by local recruitment agencies in their home countries who offer promises of better wages and working conditions, as well as educational and immigration benefits. These victims are forced to work long hours with minimal breaks and pay. Some locations even hold their victims to an "intern" period where the new employee doesn't get paid but works long hours to learn the services.

The Polaris Project's report gathered all of the data from December 2007 through December 2016 and found that there were 124 trafficking cases and 510 labor exploitation cases involving the hospitality industry in hotels, motels, resorts, and casinos.

These victims work as desk attendants, bell staff, and housekeeping. And this trafficking and exploitation can occur intentionally or unintentionally in any and all businesses in the industry as sometimes the traffickers may be in the management staff at the hotel or be a subcontracted recruiter who doesn't let the management know about their practices.

These trafficking victims are often held in debt bondage as the trafficker makes them pay off any costs that they may have accrued, based on the trafficker's word. Most of the victims are women and men from Jamaica, the Philippines, and India and are in the country with an employer-specific visa.

And lastly, trafficking in domestic services makes up the largest sector of trafficking cases with over 11 hundred cases in the period from 2007 to 2016. These situations involve victims beings forced or required to take care of many of the household tasks including cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children for long hours with little chance to leave the home. And they are also frequently forced to perform sexual acts for their employers.

Victims can come into the situation via fraudulent recruitment practices similar to the other service-industry sectors, by forced marriage, or voluntary acceptance of the position because it's the best option.

It is not uncommon to hear of domestic trafficking cases involving domestic and international government employees and representatives.

This is also one of the sectors with the broadest range of possible victims--children, along with women and men of all ages.

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Every type of trafficking that I've discussed today can occur anywhere in the world whether there are regulations against it or not, and they can occur to anyone at any age and any time.

And anyone and everyone can and will interact with trafficking whether they know it or not. So to finish off this episode, I want to help you be able to act on what you see. So here is a list of signs of trafficking to look for throughout your life:

• The individual is not free to leave or come and go at will
• Is under 18 and is providing commercial sex acts or is not under 18 and appears to have a pimp or manager overseeing their work
• Is unpaid, paid very little, or getting paid only through tips
• Works excessively long or unusual hours
• Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous
• show signs of physical or sexual abuse, physical restraint, or confinement
• Shows signs of poor hygiene, malnourishment, or fatigue
• Has few or no personal possessions
• Is being frequently monitored
• Is not in control of their own identification documents
• Shares scripted, confusing, or inconsistent stories

This is a basic list that I got from the more extensive list available from the Polaris Project. Please check the linked list out to see more.

If you do ever come across any of these signs, please report it. It doesn't take long and can be completely anonymous. It's better to report the possibility with all the information you can gather than to ignore the situation and let it keep happening.

Some ways to report possible trafficking:

Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-3737-888

or text the word "help" to BeFree or the number 233733

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If you have more questions, message me on Instagram or send me an email and I can connect you with more information and resources to learn more.

And please if you’ve been gaining value from these episodes, consider donating to my Dressember campaign page linked in the show notes and on the transcript post available on alifemoreconscious.com.

And if this topic piques your interest, or you are excited to start learning more now--subscribe to this podcast. And follow along on Instagram where I will be sharing facts about sustainable and ethical issues, links to my newest podcast, and other random tidbits from my journey toward conscious living.

And lastly, check back tomorrow, December 6th, when I will be talking about more ways that you and your community can answer the call to help end human trafficking.

Love y’all and hope this episode helps make your life a little more conscious.

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Resources:

• Polaris Project
  • Polaris-Typology-of-Modern-Slavery.pdf
  • Recognize the Signs | Polaris
  • Polaris_National_Hotline_2018_Statistics_Fact_Sheet.pdf
• Other
  • List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor | U.S. Department of Labor
  • Labor Trafficking and Forced Labor Exploitation
  • You Need to Know: The Slavery Conditions on Tomato Farms | HuffPost
  • 8 Things You Didn’t Know Were Made with Sweatshop Labor | Green America
  • Why Won’t We Learn from the Survivors of the Rana Plaza Disaster? - The New York Times

View Details

Trafficking is a complex issue that intersects and diverges at each branch opportunity. For example, domestic servitude can also be debt bondage and can also become sex trafficking. Come along for today’s episode to learn more about some of the most common types of trafficking around the world.

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Hey y'all! My name is Meredith Carle and this is A Life More Conscious. A podcast for individuals wanting to build a conscious lifestyle by diving into the unseen social issues in our everyday lives and living in alignment with our core values.

This week on the podcast, I’m going to be sharing about the unseen world around us named human trafficking, or in some cases more accurately - modern day slavery—as part of my participation in the month-long fashion challenge Dressember.

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Dressember is a social campaign to raise awareness and funds for anti-human trafficking efforts. If after listening to this episode, or before, you feel a call to donate to support the fifteen organizations that have partnered with Dressember, please do so via the links to my campaign page found in the episode show notes and on my Instagram account.

This year, I have a goal of raising $1000 for Dressember and its partner organizations to support programs that aid in the prevention of trafficking, as well as the rescue of victims and the holistic aftercare programs for survivors of trafficking.

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Today, I want to give you an overview of the many faces and forms of trafficking in our world today.

But, before we get going, I want to make a few notes about the show today:

1) that any scenarios or situations given throughout this episode are hypothetical, unless otherwise stated.

2) I will be uploading a transcription of the episode on my website alifemoreconscious dot com soon after each episode is released where I will be linking to all resources used and referenced in the episode.

And 3) in the episode, we will be discussing some difficult topics involving forced labor and commercial sex operations-I am not going into detail on these topics in this episode, but may in future episodes. So please learn with caution and push your comfort zone, but don’t jump out of it. Feel free to stop listening to the episode or reading the blog posts at anytime and don’t feel bad about it. By showing up for this opportunity, you have already opened your mind to the issue—this is simply an opportunity to learn more about human trafficking.

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Now that that’s said, let’s get on with the show.

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In a world with an estimated 40.3 million victims of trafficking, there are two main forms of trafficking and many subtypes that range from the typical eye-catcher of sex trafficking with pimps and prostitutes to the more accepted forced or child marriage, to the more clandestine form of domestic servitude.

But what are they and who are the victims?

Anyone and everyone could be a victim - female or male. youth or adults. rich or poor. Though the specific types of trafficking they could be involved in change, any individual could be a victim of trafficking - in the US and beyond.

A teenage girl or boy could be recruited for a modeling job away from home and after accepting find themselves being forced by their bosses to create pornography or to perform sex for pay.

A mother could be recruited to work in a factory to make clothing for markets abroad but find that the actual pay is much less than she was expecting or told and that the working hours are significantly greater and leave her with little time to take care of her family while trying to make money to support them.

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Here are a few numbers for you based on values from Polaris Project's The Facts page:

• 75% of trafficked populations are women and girls - meaning an estimated 30.2 million female victims.

• And 25% of the total are children - meaning an estimated 10.1 million child victims of trafficking.

• 81% of the total are involved in forced labor - meaning an estimated 32.6 million victims of labor trafficking.

With numbers like that it is crucial to understand the ways and reasons that people are trafficked in the ways that they are.

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Like I said, the most common type of trafficking is labor trafficking at a whopping 81% of all trafficking.

It's not necessarily the most common type in the US, but it is the type that most people will interact with most frequently.

Let's talk about the sub-types:

Forced labor includes any time an individual is unwillingly forced to perform work. Forced labor is used in many industries including manufacturing, agriculture, sales, and service industries.

This can include forms of trafficking almost identical to the traditional understanding of slavery, as well as sweatshop labor & low-income labor in which individuals are paid, but only to a level significantly below the necessary living wage of the country while being placed in significant health risk and having little opportunity to change their situation based on any of the means of trafficking - force, fraud, or coercion.

Bonded labor or debt bondage involves an individual being confined to work they are unwillingly due because they owe money to their boss who may have paid for any transportation, plus room and board. This form of trafficking is not exclusive to labor trafficking, it can also be seen in sex trafficking and elsewhere.

Domestic servitude is when a person is forced to work in a home, doing housekeeping or nanny services, potentially without getting breaks and/or while getting minimal or no wages. The victims have often been willingly recruited to the position, but find themselves in worse conditions than they were told to expect when they arrive.

Child labor trafficking is defined by the International Labour Organization as any "employment below the minimum age as established in national legislation," including any of the previously mentioned forms of labor trafficking and more such as forced military service, child marriage, or child pornography (which can also be classified as child sex trafficking). These types of work can also be deemed as child labor if they are harmful to the health, safety, or morals of a child.

The United States government defines it as "the employment of a child under the age of 16 by anyone other than the child's parents or guardians, with some employment in non-manufacturing and mining industries permitted for children 14-16 as long as the child's health, well-being, and education are not negatively affected." [paraphrased]

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Sex trafficking is the type that most people think of first when asked about trafficking. But what is it really?

One of the main questions that come up is whether prostitution is trafficking - and the answer is yes, and no.

It isn't trafficking when an individual voluntarily chooses to prostitute themselves to make money to support themselves and their families. Except in the situation of a minor.

It is trafficking when an individual is being forced through force, fraud, or coercion to perform the sexual acts for pay by another individual. Or the individual is a minor who is performing any sexual acts for pay - this is because minors are not considered to be able to give proper consent in agreeing to the acts.

One of the lesser-known, but more disputed forms of sex trafficking involves forced marriage in which an individual, typically a minor, is sold (as if they were a piece of property) into marriage without their consent or knowledge. This is a form of trafficking that is more readily socially-accepted because it has been around for so long and is often viewed as just being part of capital-T Tradition.

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There are many more forms of trafficking including the much more hidden - organ trafficking in which people voluntarily sell or involuntarily have an organ removed for less than 5% of the final rate it will sell for on the black market, child trafficking for adoption, forced military service, begging ring operations, and more.

Trafficking is a complex issue that intersects and diverges at each branch opportunity. For example, domestic servitude can also be debt bondage and can also become sex trafficking.

But I've tried to lay out some of the most common forms of trafficking in this episode. If you have more questions, message me on Instagram or send me an email and I can connect you with more information and resources to learn more.

And please if you’ve been gaining value from these episodes, consider donating to my Dressember campaign page linked in the show notes and on the transcript post available on alifemoreconscious.com. If this topic piques your interest, or you are excited to start learning more now--subscribe to this podcast. And follow along on Instagram where I will be sharing facts about sustainable and ethical issues, links to my newest podcast, and other random tidbits from my journey toward conscious living.

And lastly, check back on tomorrow, December 5th, when I will be diving into the ways we interact with human trafficking throughout our everyday lives.

Love y’all and hope this episode helps make your life a little more conscious.

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Resources:

• Polaris Project
  • The Facts | Polaris
• Is There a Difference Between Low-Wage Work and Labor Trafficking
• Child Trafficking
  • Trafficking of children - Wikipedia
  • Child Labor, Forced Labor & Human Trafficking | U.S. Department of Labor
  • Child Labor | Enslavement of Children - End Slavery Now
• Forced Marriage
  • Forced Marriage | Trafficked Through Marriage - End Slavery Now
  • Child marriage: when is it slavery? - Anti-Slavery International
• Other
  • What is Organ Trafficking?

View Details

Slavery has been around since the dawn of civilization, and it still exists - here’s why.

This week on the podcast, I’m going to be sharing about the unseen world around us named human trafficking, or in some cases more accurately - modern day slavery—as part of my participation in the month-long fashion challenge Dressember.

Dressember is a social campaign to raise awareness and funds for anti-human trafficking efforts. If after listening to this episode, or before, you feel a call to donate to support the fifteen organizations that have partnered with Dressember, please do so via the links to my campaign page found in the episode show notes and on my Instagram account.

This year, I have a goal of raising $1000 for Dressember and its partner organizations to support programs that aid in the prevention of trafficking, as well as the rescue of victims and the holistic aftercare programs for survivors of trafficking.

Today, I want to give you a quick history of slavery on planet Earth across time and space.

But, before we get going, I want to make a few notes about the show today:

1) that any scenarios or situations given throughout this episode are hypothetical, unless otherwise stated.

2) I will be uploading a transcription of the episode on my website alifemoreconscious dot com soon after each episode is released where I will be linking to all resources used and referenced in the episode.

And 3) in the episode, we will be discussing some difficult topics involving forced labor and commercial sex operations-I am not going into detail on these topics in this episode, but may in future episodes. So please learn with caution and push your comfort zone, but don’t jump out of it. Feel free to stop listening to the episode or reading the blog posts at anytime and don’t feel bad about it. By showing up for this opportunity, you have already opened your mind to the issue—this is simply an opportunity to learn more about human trafficking.

Now that that’s said, let’s get on with the show.

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Dressember exists because human trafficking is an issue. But not because it's a new issue that we need to stop before it gets bad, but because it's a horrible issue that has destroyed millions of lives in the many years since its origination.

And I'm sure some of you are wondering, so why haven't I heard about it before? Doesn't that mean it must be new?

No, just because it wasn't seen doesn't mean it's new. It does mean we need to change that because trafficking is one of the oldest social ills of civilization.

Perhaps calling it by its second name might make the situation more clear - human trafficking is modern-day slavery.

Don't believe me? Listen to these definitions.

Here's a summary of slavery: Slavery is the condition in which one human being was owned by another. A slave was considered by law as property and was deprived of most rights ordinarily held by free persons. The relationship between slave and master was determined by power - the slave had none (or very little), and the master has all. The three main forms of slavery were domestic slavery, state-enforced slavery, and productive slavery. Each of these involved the slave being forced to perform work by an individual or structure with power that treated them as a piece of property and restricted their rights as human beings.

And the general definition of human trafficking - which I defined in yesterday's episode? A situation when "a trafficker's action taken through the means of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of exploitation."

The individual victims of trafficking are forced to work or perform an action by someone or an institution that has power over them and who can restrict many of their rights and freedoms.

I think they sound pretty similar, how about you?

Like I said, slavery is one of the oldest social ills in existence - it has been around since the dawn of civilization.

In any structure in which an individual could have power greater than another individual could and would lead to slavery.

The earliest records of slavery comes from the Code of Hammurabi in Mesopotamia. The same code of laws that stated an eye for an eye and a hand for a hand.

But the structure of slavery existed long before then. Hammurabi reigned over the kingdom of Babylon from 1792 to 1750 B.C. But the earliest societies of Mesopotamia - Sumer specifically is considered to be the birthplace of slavery from which it later spread as the society became dependent on the stratified power structure that supported the practice.

Slaves in Sumer could come from many places - debt slaves - people who were unable to pay off their debts, voluntary entry, birth into a slave family, and capture in war. Many of the slaves came from within their own society.

Slaves would be matched and distributed to masters based on their skills and where they could best be used.

The institution of slavery became ingrained in the structure of society as the slaves became a primary source of labor used to bolster and grow the empire.

Nowadays, slavery is both very similar and very different. It is both highly visible and invisible at the same time - and still considered very important in the structure and growth of societies globally.

Today, slaves are used for all of the same purposes - domestic (in the home) work and as a labor force by governments and specific industries, including the commercial sex, clothing, and food industries. It is the cheapest way to get a labor force to do a job.

Today's slaves can enter the institution by force or supposed voluntary entry.

Some forms of trafficking are considered to be more like slavery than others, as some victims have basic rights and can be paid and supported within the institution. However, every form of trafficking involved the same elements as situations involved in ancient forms of slavery - all trafficking victims are forced to work or perform an action by someone or an institution that has power over them and who can restrict many of their rights and freedoms. Even when the victim is being paid and could theoretically leave the situation.

Modern-day slavery is thought to involve 40.3 million victims across the entire planet with about 80 percent of them performing acts of forced labor. 25 percent of the population is thought to be children and 75 percent of the entire estimate are women and girls.

Slavery has been an institution in all societies that have existed on planet Earth. And even when the societies attempted to abolish the institution, it still stuck around. Slavery was theoretically abolished in the US by the 13th amendment in 1865. But we know it still exists.

Domestic and productive slavery both exist - some of their forms are sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, domestic servitude, begging rings, child marriage, and forced military service.

And just as in ancient times private, public, and government institutions of slavery all exist. Forced labor of prison inmates is often considered a form of slavery.

Some slaves are paid for their work, some are given homes, but many are deprived of rights and true freedom at the same time.

Those individuals who work in sweatshops around the world could theoretically leave their situation, but they would leave the relative safety that they have by keeping their job. They could be blacklisted among factories and would be unable to find work elsewhere - as well, there could be no other options available to them. This lack of security outside of the job gives the factory operators power over the workers because of what could happen if the workers leave.

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And that is our quick history of slavery on planet Earth. In short, human trafficking is modern-slavery that closely mirrors the forms of slavery found in many societies and civilizations across the planet and across time.

In tomorrow’s episode of the Dressember series, we’ll be diving into some of major forms of trafficking today.

And though it will take decades - we will end slavery - that’s what our movement is all about - but before we can end, we must learn and start to take action.

Today is Giving Tuesday - if you’re listening this today, I would love it if you would help support the campaign by donating just a few dollars toward my target goal.

If it’s no longer Giving Tuesday? Please, still donate, we need all the support, all the time. You’ve come here to learn, now donate there to act.

To access any and all resources used for this show for definitions, facts, and/or other information see the citations in the episode blog post found on ALifeMoreConscious dot com. And you can see the latest posts via the link in the show notes or the links in my Instagram bio.

And lastly, check back on tomorrow December fourth when I will be diving into each of the most common forms of human trafficking that we interact with every day.

Love y’all and hope this episode helps make your life a little more conscious.

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Resources used:

• Polaris Project
  • The Facts | Polaris
• Free the Slaves
  • Slavery in History « Free the Slaves
• Anti-Slavery International
  • What is modern slavery? - Anti-Slavery International
• Other
  • slavery | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
  • Code of Hammurabi - HISTORY
  • Slavery | Ancient Mesopotamian Warfare

View Details

Human Trafficking makes an estimated one hundred fifty billion dollars per year in profits off of an estimate forty point three million victims - which is the largest number in the history of trafficking on this planet Earth.

This week on the podcast, I’m going to be sharing about the unseen world around us named human trafficking, or in some cases more accurately - modern day slavery—as part of my participation in the month-long fashion challenge Dressember.

Dressember is a social campaign to raise awareness and funds for anti-human trafficking efforts. If after listening to this episode, or before, you feel a call to donate to support the fifteen organizations that have partnered with Dressember, please do so via the links to my campaign page found in the episode show notes and on my Instagram account.

This year, I have a goal of raising $1000 for Dressember and its partner organizations to support programs that aid in the prevention of trafficking, as well as the rescue of victims and the holistic aftercare programs for survivors of trafficking.

Today, I want to introduce the issue to give you an understanding of what trafficking is—literally and legally.

But, before we get going, I want to make a few notes about the show today:

1) that any scenarios or situations given throughout this episode are hypothetical, unless otherwise stated.

2) I will be uploading a transcription of the episode on my website alifemoreconscious dot com soon after each episode is released where I will be linking to all resources used and referenced in the episode.

And 3) in the episode, we will be discussing some difficult topics involving forced labor and commercial sex operations-I am not going into detail on these topics in this episode, but may in future episodes. So please learn with caution and push your comfort zone, but don’t jump out of it. Feel free to stop listening to the episode or reading the blog posts at anytime and don’t feel bad about it. By showing up for this opportunity, you have already opened your mind to the issue—this is simply an opportunity to learn more about human trafficking.

Now that that’s said, let’s get on with the show.

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Human trafficking is all around us, in the clothing we wear, the food we eat, and the services we use, but what is it really?

Is it the kidnapping of an adult for the purpose of forced sexual acts or labor? Is it a child prostituting themself to make money to support their family? Is it a young man recruited from another country for a promising job, who can't leave because their employer is holding their passport documents? Or what about the home servant whose employer paid for her travel and daily expenses, but requires her to work to pay off the debt that has accrued before she can leave? How about the child who is required to marry a suitor by a family member who sold her to the suitor?

All of those are forms of human trafficking. But they aren't all. In the US and many countries abroad, the Palermo Protocol is used to determine whether a situation is trafficking or not. And that is done by defining these three elements - actions, means, and purpose.

Basically, the Palermo Protocol defines human trafficking as a situation when "a trafficker's action taken through the means of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of exploitation."

If this definition cannot be satisfied, then it is not trafficking - but that does not mean that the situation is okay.

Let's break down those elements:

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Action.

The Protocol requires the act of either recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the act to be considered as trafficking.

Practically, this means that anyone involved in the recruitment of an individual with the end purpose of exploitation of the individual can be considered as involved in the act of trafficking.

Some recruitment methods used include getting a family member to send another off for a job offer, the trafficker getting involved with a potential victim via a romantic relationship, and/or abduction and kidnapping of potential victims.

The same goes for anyone involved in the harboring - the act of holding and or hiding of a victim, transportation, provisioning - the act of supplying a victim to another person, or obtaining - the act of getting the victim from another person. They can all be charged with human trafficking, provided the other two elements are fulfilled within their interaction period.

Quick side note about transportation. The act of transporting a victim from one location to another DOES NOT need to occur for the act to be trafficking. It is just one of the possible actions that are considered.

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Means.

"a trafficker's action taken through the means of force, fraud, or coercion..."

Force. Fraud. Or coercion.

If a trafficker uses the means of force, fraud, OR coercion then they could be charged with trafficking.

In other words, if someone is forcing another to perform an action by either:

• physical, social, mental, or emotional violence;

• and/or fraudulent actions on the part of the trafficker or traffickers such as lying about a job offer or relationship;

• and/or coercive actions such as threats to harm the victim or their family, threats to report the victim to the police and get them arrested for the acts they perform (such as prostitution which is illegal in most areas of the world), or threatens to withhold access to basic needs, like food or shelter.

Note here on the sex trafficking of minors. This element of means - force, fraud, or coercion - does not have to be satisfied. If they are made to perform commercial sex acts (ie. sex for payment) then they are trafficking victims.

These types of force being force, fraud, or coercion are not mutually exclusive and in actuality often occur together and at different times in the trafficking of an individual.

A woman could be in a relationship with an individual (male or female) where the other individual supports them, gives them gifts, and develops a close relationship. This is a process called "grooming." The relationship appears to be healthy and safe until something happens and the woman tries to end the relationship but is threatened with public humiliation among friends and family, withdrawal of gifts and support, and/or being required to pay back her partner for everything they have done for her. They can then force her to perform an act that they want her to because they have power over her. These threats have put the woman in a position where it is easy for her partner to exploit her for his or her gain.

This situation includes all of the types of means. Force to do what the partner wishes because they created a fraudulent relationship and coerced the woman with the threats.

If she is forced to perform an action by her partner, then the "action" element is satisfied, but unless the last element can be determined the situation cannot be called trafficking or the partner charged with trafficking-in-persons.

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Purpose.

This is probably the easiest element to explain. For this element to be satisfied, the individual in question must have performed the action with the final purpose of the exploitation of another individual.

In the story of the woman, if the partner had had the intention to traffic the woman, then the whole experience could be considered trafficking.

Now, if all of these elements can be satisfied by information from investigations, reports or other sources - then the trafficking charge can be made. However, it is super difficult to prove all three of these elements with testimony and evidence that would allow the case to be brought to trial and prosecution. Especially since trafficking is one of the case types that relies heavily on the story of the experience to gather the evidence to support and satisfy the elements.

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In 2018, the national human trafficking hotline received over 41,000 contacts from various methods which lead to 23,078 survivors being identified and 10,949 human trafficking cases. An amazing feat of reportings as the total number of contacts increased by 25% from 2017.

However, it is important to note that the Polaris Project, the organization that runs the hotline reports that there was an estimated 40.3 million victims of human trafficking throughout the entire world as of 2016 - which is the largest number of trafficking victims at one time in the history of trafficking on Earth.

It can definitely be difficult to believe and understand that human trafficking occurs today, in our modern society, but it does - just as it did back in colonial America, just as it did in the Roman Empire, and just as it did in Ancient Egypt

Within the United States, Polaris estimates that there are "hundreds of thousands of trafficking victims in the US when counting both adults and children as well as both sex and labor trafficking."

And that’s today’s episode, I hope you’ve collected a few ideas and facts about this issue to share with others during this month.

Lastly, check back on tomorrow, December 3rd when I will be presenting a quick history of slavery on our planet Earth.

Love y’all and hope this episode helps make your life a little more conscious.

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Resources used:

• Polaris Project
  • Is it human trafficking? | Polaris
  • Polaris_National_Hotline_2018_Statistics_Fact_Sheet.pdf
• National Human Trafficking Hotline
  • What is Human Trafficking? | National Human Trafficking Hotline
• International Labour Organization
  • Economics of forced labour: ILO says forced labour generates annual profits of US$ 150 billion
• End Slavery Now
  • Forced Marriage | Trafficked Through Marriage - End Slavery Now

View Details

With 36 days before the next decade, it's time to reconsider what you spend your time on this holiday season. And so in this episode, I'm giving you 15 ideas for activities to do instead of spending all of your money during the holidays.

If you enjoyed this episode, share it on your Instagram and Facebook and tag me in the post - @alifemoreconscious. Also, please subscribe so that you get updates when I release new shows.

Thanks again for sharing your time with me! Keep making your life a little more conscious <3

My Links:

• Instagram
• Facebook

Resources mentioned in the show:

• OptToAct by REI

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We are almost halfway through January, and it's statistically likely that you've fallen off on your 2019 resolutions. So here to inspire anew, we are talking about 15 ideas to start getting your conscious lifestyle on track for the rest of the year.

If you enjoyed this episode, share it on your Instagram and Facebook and tag me in the post - @alifemoreconscious. Also, please subscribe so that you get updates when I release new shows.

Thanks again for sharing your time with me! Keep making your life a little more conscious <3

My links:

• My E-books
  • The Conscious Closet
  • 5 Steps to a Conscious Closet workbook

Resources mentioned in the show:

• Episode 1: My Conscious Journey
• My E-books
  • The Conscious Closet
  • 5 Steps to a Conscious Closet workbook
• The Artist of Life workbook by Lavendaire
• GoodOnYou app
• Books mentioned:
  • Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
  • Swell by Liz Clark
  • The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
  • Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
  • Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary
  • The Lost Girls of Camp Evermore by Kim Fu
  • A Selfish Plan to Change the World by Justin Dillon
  • The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
  • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• The 11th Essential
• The Minimalists podcast

View Details

On this first episode of A Life More Conscious, I tell you about my history with conscious living. Why I started learning about it, who I've shared it with, and what I am continuing to do as a college student to help others on their journey to conscious living.

If you enjoyed this episode, share this episode on your Instagram or Facebook and tag me in the post - @alifemoreconscious. Also, please subscribe so that you keep getting updates when I release new shows.

Thanks again for sharing your time with me today, and happy 2019!

Things mentioned in the episode:

• The Slavery Footprint Survey

• Girl Scout Gold Award