You Belong Here with Beth Ruffin

Join us in this episode as we chat with Ken Elliott, a seasoned Professional Web Developer and Digital Brand Consultant from Columbia, SC.

With over 20 years of experience, Ken has shaped creative brand concepts for 500+ clients at BKreative Media Solutions. Beyond his tech prowess, Ken is a community builder, founding a local creatives support group and co-organizing the Columbia WordPress Meetup chapter. Discover Ken's insights into web development, social media, and online marketing, and learn about his passion for family time, travel, and tinkering with tech gadgets.

Don't miss this engaging conversation at the intersection of technology, community, and creativity!

Connect with Kenhere:

In this episode, we're joined by Ellen, the passionate owner of Crazy for Ewe, a knitting haven. Ellen takes us back to 1983, sharing her humble beginnings with brushed acrylic, aluminum needles, and a Woolworth's pamphlet. Despite an initial tight, matted creation, she was hooked on knitting's allure.

Discover Ellen's love for custom-fit sweaters and vibrant accessories, as well as her fondness for intuitive stitch patterns and the oddly satisfying art of finishing touches. In 2002, after a hiatus, she fulfilled her dream of opening Crazy for Ewe, a cozy space echoing her own introduction to knitting.

Join us for a delightful chat with Ellen, exploring the warmth, creativity, and community that defines Crazy for Ewe. Whether you're a seasoned knitter or just starting, this episode promises inspiration and a peek into the heart of a knitting enthusiast. Welcome to the world of stitches and stories with Ellen!

Connect with Ellen here:

Join us for an inspiring episode as our guest, Sherry Jones, shares her perspective and her mission to empower women globally. Discover the daily practice that transformed her life and learn how she equips women to break free from stagnation, embrace authenticity, and fulfill their God-given assignments.

Explore the transformative power of words as Sherry applies biblical principles, addresses negative self-talk, and shifts mindsets. From impactful coaching services to inspiring messages on various stages, she's on a mission to help women leverage their words for personal transformation.

Say yes to the Journey, and don't miss this insightful conversation on embracing authenticity and unlocking your true potential with Sherry Jones.

Connect with Shelly here:

In this week’s episode, we’ve had the pleasure of talking with Joanna Rawbone MSc, the person behind Flourishing Introverts. 

Joanna created Flourishing Introverts with two main goals: 

(1) to question the preference for extroverts in business and education and 

(2) to empower introverted individuals to embrace their natural strengths without pretending to be someone else. 

She starts by helping quiet introverts discover and confidently use their strengths through group coaching programs and one-on-one sessions.

With a strong sense of purpose and enthusiasm, Joanna collaborates with companies and organizations to promote the valuable and gutsy contributions that introverts can bring to their businesses. It's a practical demonstration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Joanna Rawbone is determined to change the bias toward extroversion and help introverts reach their full potential. We can't wait for you to hear her thoughts on our podcast.

So, put on your headphones, get cozy, and let’s look at a different perspective with Joanna. 

You definitely don't want to miss it!

Connect with Joanna here:

“Understanding pain changes pain” – Lorimer Moseley This week, I chat with Deana Tsiapalis, pain coach, about how pain works and what we can do to recover and heal. Join us this week as we discuss:

• Understanding how pain works
• Recovery & healing
• Managing pain
• Self-compassion & self-permission
• The biopsychological model of pain

Join me this week as I speak with author & executive coach, Gigi Gilliard.

This week, we discuss:

• How to know your cup is empty
• Discovering your strengths
• Understanding where your strengths lie and what you need to display them
• Remembering your past successes
• The power of small beginnings
• Focusing on the one

Author of The Loud Brown Round Girl, The Inclusion C.O.D.E. (2020) and Hello Beautiful, Get Well Soon (2021), Gigi Gilliard owns and operates her learning and organizational development consultancy – (affectionately referred to as GGD).

A graduate of Rutgers University, (New Brunswick, New Jersey), with a Bachelors in Sociology and Communications, Gigi is a triple-certified Master Coach in the disciplines of leadership development, executive coaching and coaching for presentation/speech delivery for C-suite executives. She has also earned the prestigious and coveted Certified Diversity Executive, CDE ® distinction from the respected Society For Diversity/ Institute for Diversity Certification. Renowned for her work in the DEI&B space and leadership development, Gigi masterfully coaches professionals of all levels through the mindset and skill-building shifts necessary to help them elevate as inclusive leaders of influence.

Under her brand Gigi Gilliard: Author| Speaker | Executive Coach, Gigi utilizes dynamic content and facilitation to share remedies designed to help organizations in the areas of leadership development, inclusive leadership, and inclusion strategy. She helps these organizations build solutions that encourage and embed inclusion, while coaching behaviors that promote the attitude of belonging. A stalwart enemy of exclusion and inequality for any group anywhere, DEI&B, (diversity, equity, inclusion, AND belonging) is her specialty. She has helped to popularize the moniker DEI&B and believes that creating the sentiment of belonging is a crucial, and often missed, part of the inclusion conversation.

Recognized as “a conversation architect,” Gigi is a prolific orator and deeply skilled facilitator. An intuitive empath, she is regularly sought-out to lead the most difficult, painful, and challenging conversations about “otherness “and race. Here in the United States, she is excitedly partnered with several East Coast based C-suite executives and their teams like, Ryan Health, Hachette Book Group, Hudson River Museum, Young Audiences New York, Penguin Random House, and globally across the pond with Tempo Recruiting.

A native and resident New Yorker, Gigi is devoted to her faith, family, and equality. She is committed to elevating principles of belongingness and inclusion to those interested in championing these crucial behavioral changes in their workspaces… and in their lives.

Connect with Gigi here:

This week’s guest is Dayna Heckstall, Clinical Social Worker, and Founder of Ms. Well and Woke. She is on a mission to spread Mental Health Awareness from the Black Millennial perspective. Ms. Well and Woke creates a community of wellness aimed toward educating and motivating the masses. Dayna enjoys spreading her message of betterment through music, physical fitness, and therapeutic services. She describes herself as a plant enthusiast socialite who enjoys traveling and R&B music.

On this week’s episode, we discuss:

• Getting comfortable with the uncomfortable
• Acknowledging when you need help
• Giving yourself permission to grieve
• Being present in the moment
• Using the present as your North Star
• Moving from trauma to healing
• Focusing on the small wins
• Collectivism
• Finding the right mental health provider

Links mentioned in this week’s episode:

“Your goals need to be bigger than your fears.”

This week’s guest, Julia C. Rock, provided that nugget of wisdom in this week’s episode and I could NOT GET ENOUGH!

Julia C. Rock is a career and leadership development coach who has helped hundreds of ambitious Black and POC professionals break through career plateaus to secure six figure salaries and fulfilling job opportunities. Through her company Rock Career Development, she helps Black and POC former athletes and professionals in transition successfully find their next career play. Through her signature coaching methods, clients can secure dream positions while earning their value and then some. Julia is a published author, co-authoring two new books: The Six-Figure Athlete and Athlete to Entrepreneur (available soon). She has been featured in several major publications and platforms, including: Fortune, Business Insider, Monster, Blavity, and xoNicole.

This week, we discuss:

1.    Our tendency to disqualify ourselves

2.    The barriers we face when job searching

3.    Be willing to do the work

4.    Ask, Learn, Invest

5.    Knowing when it’s time to transition your career/job

6.    The connection between your why and your impact

7.    Aligning with your why

8.    Finding worth outside of your job title

 Connect with Julia here:

Co-Founder of ThinkDEI, Sushmita Kirkland is an accomplished DEI professional that provides astute & proven strategies and tactical visioning for organizations to shift their Diversity, Ethics & Inclusion journeys.

Join us this week as we discuss:

• Feeling othered
• Global citizenship
• Defining success for yourself
• Leading with your why
• Using your why as a filter
• Sharing your story

Sushmita is a published children’s book Author, TEDx speaker and a serial entrepreneur, that is never afraid to challenge the status-quo. Having lived in 7 countries and traveled to 42 countries, Sushmita comes with a strong multicultural and inter-cultural knowledge combined with her linguistic skills of speaking 4 languages fluently and 3 at intermediate levels. She helps leaders and organizations shift behaviors through cultural coaching, customized facilitations & consulting to create more positive outcomes and align teams to profoundly increase their feeling of belonging. Her approach is deeply rooted in empathy, intent and integrity that helps our clients see their blind spots through self-reflection.

Rena P. Dixon, PhD, MPH, MCHES has worked her entire career in the rural southeastern United States. Currently serving as the Director of Community Investment and Impact at Fact Forward, she oversees staff working on program development and implementation, evaluation and professional learning related to adolescent health. She has extensive experience on providing quality reproductive health services for adolescents and young adults. 

Join me this week as I talk with Dr. Rena Dixon about:

This week’s guest is Erin B. Haag, the creator of Pricing Overhaul™️. This proven method helps her clients shift their mindset around money and math, overhaul their pricing for profitability, and make more money inside their businesses than they ever dreamed possible. She is a self-proclaimed “Math Nerd,” serial entrepreneur, full blooded Capricorn, mom of 2, and lover of travel, wine, & cheese. She has over 20 years’ experience working intimately with numbers, metrics, and pricing for both large corporations and smaller, privately owned businesses.

This week on the podcast, we discuss:

• How money can help you have freedom to live the life you dream of, to pay the people who work for you abundantly, and to help others.
• Charging what you're worth
• Erin's Pricing Overhaul™️ formula
• Monthly client value
• Seeing what's possible

Episode 6: Take the Leap with Jason Szczuorowski

This week, we’re going to discuss how being in a constant state of fight is harmful and how we can get out of it.  

Inclusion is a behavior. You must make the intentional consistent effort to include yourself. Implement and improve. Practice. It’s time to include yourself so you can be the best version of yourself.

That goal you have. The dream you can’t shake. That passion you want to fulfill. The finish line you see in your future. It starts with including yourself.

Start this week with these 3 tips.

Do you ever find yourself questioning the impact you make on the world and asked yourself, 'What am I even doing?'?  In this episode we explore this question and discuss how you can remove the unrealistic expectations you put on yourself to truly appreciate what you do and the impact you make.  

Join me this week as I chat with Alexis Johnson about the inclusion of Blacks in the newsroom.

In June 2020, Alexis sued her employer, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, alleging the news outlet was engaging in racial discrimination and illegal retaliation. On May 31, Alexis posted a tweet about the different ways Blacks and whites are portrayed after acts of property damage. After catching wind of the tweet, her editors told her she could no longer cover stories on the Black Lives Matters movement across the city of Pittsburgh. Alexis had already planned stories on jailed protestors and social media efforts to raise bail funds which had to be shut down. Her suit states that white reporters who have posted similar social medial posts did not receive the same treatment. Because of the ongoing litigation, Alexis could not talk about the lawsuit with me during our conversation. But, you can read more about that story online. Let me tell you more about Alexis and her background.

Almost a decade of journalism experience, first appearing on the News Station of her undergrad college, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in communication & media studies. After receiving her Master degree in Media Studies & Production from Temple University, she went on to work as a production assistant at NBC-10 in Philadelphia. Her experience also includes working as a multimedia journalist at WVVA in West Virginia, a breaking news reporter for NJ.com, a freelance writer for Urban Islandz and a digital news editor at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette before landing her current role at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette as a Trending News Reporter. In this role, she is responsible for publishing multi-media content for post-gazette.com and all social media platforms.

Join me this week as I speak with Diversity Strategist Torin Ellis about the current state of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, how you can own this work for yourself, intersectionality, microaggressions, covering, and some common myths about the DEI work!

Canvases with Candace

Join me this week as Shanea and I talk about the queer community!

Rev. Shanea D. Leonard, B.A., M.Div. (they/them/theirs) is a modern-day abolitionist, pastor, teacher, consultant, community activist, and justice warrior. Shanea has been an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for over twelve years. A native of Philadelphia, they received her their B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. They has been serving communities and congregations in various capacities for over fifteen years. Pastor Leonard has done extensive work with urban areas to eradicate systemic oppression in the areas of race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic despair and has spent time doing international outreach in Africa, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Furthermore, they are  also the moderator of the Pastor’s Council for the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, a global network of faith leaders & communities with an affirming theology. Shanea believes that God has given them a burden for people whom others have disregarded, oppressed, forgotten, or simply don’t even see.

You can reach Shanea at:

Listen to this week's conversation with Brianne Benness as we discuss chronic illness.