We Don't Talk About That!
By Miyah Byrd
We Don't Talk About That!May 26, 2023
We Don't Talk About Therapeutic Gardening
Miyah talks with Jordan Payne about the impact of therapeutic gardening for children who’ve experienced traumatic events. Jordan shares stories about how children respond to therapeutic gardening, the effect of ACES on a young child, and how resiliency is bouncing back after tough times.
About The Guests
Jordan Payne is a husband, father, Student Minister at Lifespring Christian Church, and the Executive Director of Sprouting Minds. He’s worked in education and the nonprofit field for over a decade. He believes that children (and adults!) need autonomy, control, and safe spaces & relationships to develop their resiliency. You can send a message to Jordan through his LinkedIn, Anchor/Spotify, or contact Sprouting Minds here.
Resources
Factors in Resilient Outcomes Study
Episode Transcript
*Intro Music segues into soft, jazzy Background Music*
Miyah: Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening. Wherever you're joining us, whenever you're joining us, thanks for listening. I'm Miyah Byrd. I'm your host for We Don't Talk About That.
If you’re an adult, you may not give a second thought to the power of making choices for yourself. But autonomy is an important life skill that develops in childhood. The ability to make a conscious choice and to exert control on your environment. For children who face traumatic experiences that often rob them of choice and control, therapeutic gardening could be helpful.
Today, I’m talking with Jordan Payne, the founder and ED of Sprouting Minds. Sprouting Minds seeks to inspire immersive, trauma-informed, and strength based therapeutic horticulture, developing at risk youth's resiliency and psychological well-being.
When did you start Sprouting Minds? Was that like, right at the beginning of the pandemic? Or a little bit after?
Jordan: Oh, no. So I was–before I started working at the church now, I was actually a social worker. And that was, this is all back in like 2019. And I got to the point there in my social work, where I would hang out with the kids for like, the first four or five hours in the day, and then we have three hours of just writing our case notes and billing insurance. And I got to the point where I, it was so repetitive that I found a way to do it for myself. This might not work for everybody else that does it. But I got it done pretty quickly.
We Don't Talk About....Chronic Pain
Miyah talks with Sheena Deering and Lauren Gibson about their experiences with chronic pain and chronic illness. Sheena and Lauren share their stories around the US medical system, relationships, and how this impacts their day-to-day life.
About The Guests
Sheena Deering is a wonderful friend, wife, and mother of four. She currently works in a local public school and is heavily involved in her church community. Lauren Gibson is a great friend and wife. She likes to play video games, watch Sailor Moon, and collect interesting things. You can send a message to either of this episode's guests through Anchor/Spotify.
Episode Transcript
*Intro Music segues into soft, jazzy Background Music*
Miyah: Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening. Wherever you're joining us, whenever you're joining us, thanks for listening. I'm Miyah Byrd. I'm your host for We Don't Talk About That.
Did you know that 20.9% of US adults, according to the CDC, had chronic pain in 2019? Chronic pain is often invisible. It can be a symptom of chronic illness, or be-you know, because of a previous trauma. We're going to be talking about the differences in stereotypes and stigmas
of different groups and gender roles.
So today's session, I'm talking with Sheena Deering and Lauren Gibson about their different experiences in the US medical system, dealing with and trying to diagnose the sources and causes of their chronic pain and just the day-to-day life of living with it.
Sheena: Hi, I'm Sheena Deering. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorder and arthritis. Among other things.
Miyah: Among other things.
[Click to Continue Transcript]
We Don't Talk About Burnout
Miyah talks with Laura Hartley about burnout, capitalism, and the dark side of productivity. Laura shares her experiences with burnout and how it's a systemic vs. individual issue.
About The Guests
Laura Hartley is the founder of Public Love Enterprises and Public LovEd, a school committed to helping changemakers unlearn and dismantle systems that inhibit our thriving, while visioning and seeding a more just, regenerative & loving world. She is an activist, writer, and coach. You can send a message to this episode's guest through Anchor/Spotify or find her at laurahartley.com, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
*Intro Music segues into soft, jazzy Background Music*
Miyah: Good Morning. Good Afternoon, and Good Evening. Wherever you're joining us, Whenever you're joining us, thanks for joining. I'm Miyah Byrd. I'm the founder and host of We Don’t Talk About That, and today's session is about burnout.
Chances are, if we’re talking about burnout, there's a few of you listening who’ve felt a little burnt out before. And for many of us, we try to sweep that feeling kind of under the rug. And we try to just keep going as far as we can go. And sometimes our body or life circumstances kind of forced us to slow down. And so for many overachievers, that's been an issue.
And then for many people throughout the pandemic, and kind of dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic, that's been something that we're struggling with. It turns out, there's many of us out there, so we're much less alone than we think.
And there's been a lot of polls and surveys around burnout. So, Gallup actually identified that approximately two thirds of employees across multiple fields say they're burned out.
Rebecca Joy Tromsness actually speaks a lot about parents returning to the workforce and being burned out, and the World Health Organization actually identified it as a crisis and an occupational hazard. So, yeah, that's real.
So we're not talking about it, though, as much as I might need to so I'm going to be talking with Laura Hartley today about her experience with burnout, her story, and a few ways to kind of overcome it, or tips and tricks to get over.
So, Laura, do you want to introduce yourself?
Laura: Yes, thank you so much for having me on the show. So, it's such an honor to be here. So, my name is Laura, I am an activist, coach, and I run an online school for changemakers. And burnout is a topic that's very close to my heart, because I've experienced it myself. So many of my friends have experienced it. It is, you know, I know the WHO classifies it as like, you know, an occupational hazard that can come from unpaid work as well. I've seen it rife across the activism. And so I think it's something we need to have a lot more conversations about, and start to understand the causes of it, and the healing in a lot more detail.
We Don't Talk About White Supremacy In Data
Miyah talks with Nicole Armstrong about workplace equity, how important data is to measuring it, and psychological safety. Nicole shares her experiences as CEO of Ellequate, a data-driven, human-centered workplace certification center.
About The Guests
Nicole Armstrong is the CEO & Founder of Ellequate. Starting as a Haile Fellow at People's Liberty in 2018, Nicole's company has certified 50+ nonprofits in the past five years and she regularly speaks at national conferences. You can send a message to this episode's guest through Anchor/Spotify or find her at her company website.
Episode Transcript
*Intro Music segues into soft, jazzy Background Music*
Miyah: Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening. Wherever you're joining us, whenever you're joining us, thanks for listening. I'm Miyah Byrd. I'm your host for We Don't Talk About That.
And today we're gonna talk about workplace equity, and the data we use to measure it. According to a 2022 Gallup Research survey, less than three in 10 employees, or 28%, strongly agree that their organization is equitable. When we talk about workplace issues, we usually are hearing about if a workplace is productive or effective, but how can a workplace be either of those if it’s inequitable? It might be a major reason why workplace engagement, employee engagement, employee morale flounders.
But how exactly do we measure workplace equity in the workplace? And how do we collect the data? And how do we make sure that the data we're collecting is as free of bias as it can be? Today, we're gonna be talking with Nicole Armstrong, the founder of Ellequate. Nicole?
Nicole
Hi, I'm Nicole Armstrong, I'm the founder and CEO of Ellequate, and we are a data-driven and human-centered employer certification for workplace equity.
Miyah
So we all know workplace equity has become semi, a hot topic, in today's climate. (laughs)
Nicole
(laughs) You could say that.
Miyah: A lot of nonprofits and businesses alike focused their efforts more on diversity, equity and inclusion. Some were successful, many less so. How has your work in helping to create equitable workplaces changed these past few years?
We Don't Talk Trailer
There's always been the rug.
This sweeping concept of we don't talk about that here.
How adoption is traumatic at times,
The joys of being a disabled artist,
How leaders really don't want to talk about race in the workplace,
Post-partum OCD,
Or, even, how to realistically build community.
Questions you only ask Google
Maybe whispered conversations among friends
If you love people and their stories,
in whichever way they come,
join us.
'Cause on this podcast,
we're tossing out the rug.