Epics Podcast

In this episode of the Epics podcast, Alex interviews Mac McGregor, also known as the Gender Sensei, who is an activist and public speaker focused on creating a world where people can be their authentic selves. Mac talks about how martial arts impacted his life, his transition, and the importance of looking at gender norms in a new way. He also discusses his book, Positive Masculinity Now, and his self-help workshops for men to develop healthy masculine qualities and overcome toxicity. This conversation is an insightful exploration of how to combat hate and discrimination through understanding and education.

Mac McGregor is the author of Positive Masculinity Now and is known as the Gender Sensei. Before his transition, he was a successful female athlete and inductee to the U.S. Karate Hall of Fame and a business owner. Mac has served as the Seattle City Commissioner from 2011-2016 and acted as a keynote speaker on the subjects of masculine behavior and sexuality. He runs several self-help workshops for men to develop healthy masculine qualities, learn about the queer community, and to overcome toxicity. Mac is a dedicated, heartfelt activist and educator who focuses every part of his existence on creating a world where people can feel free to be their authentic selves.

The listener will learn about Mac's background in martial arts, their personal journey with gender identity, and their work as an activist and educator on topics of diversity, gender, and healthy masculinity. The episode offers insights on how to look at gender norms in a new way, including the importance of re-examining gender biases and stereotypes, challenging traditional gender norms, and embracing differences. Mac also discusses the concept of yin and yang energies and how they relate to gender norms and masculinity.

Timestamps:

[00:01:34] Martial arts as a soulmate. [00:06:05] Positive Masculinity. [00:09:42] Gender neutrality in martial arts. [00:13:02] Rare opportunity in sports. [00:16:11] Transitioning as an athlete. [00:20:23] Women's rights in sports. [00:24:10] Creating change from within. [00:27:38] Gender journey and martial arts. [00:31:56] Men learning from women's experiences. [00:35:48] Gender socialization and beliefs. [00:41:30] Redefining gender norms. [00:43:53] Masculine and feminine energies. [00:50:55] Masculinity and nurturing. [00:53:46] Challenging traditional masculinity norms. [00:55:27] Learning from Different Experiences. [01:00:27] Safe space at conventions. [01:02:54] Don't Miss Our Epic Stories.

I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

Today’s episode is a joint episode that is being released both here on the Epics Podcast but ALSO on the SHPE Out Loud Podcast!

SHPE (the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) is the nation’s largest association dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field. There is a huge disparity between the Hispanic population and their representation in STEM.SHPE raises awareness, provides access, and prepares Hispanic students and professionals to become leaders in STEM. Our members are driving innovation, the global economy, and a prosperous Hispanic community.

I have had the privilege of producing their podcast, SHPE Out Loud and our joint episode today is a preview to an upcoming series on their podcast. In November I got to be a part of their National conference recording testimonies of their amazing members.These testimonies are being released weekly on the SHPE Out Loud podcast and I highly recommend you going to listen to them because I was able to interview so many incredible people there!

One of the great people I had the pleasure of interviewing in November was Emily Anne Vargas, who is our guest this week! Emily Anne is a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California. Her story is one of breaking barriers and achieving success in the face of adversity. As a first-generation college graduate and engineer from a family of Cuban immigrants, she has paved the way for future generations to follow in her footsteps. Emily Anne has also been actively involved with SHPE since 2013, serving in multiple leadership positions, including as the youngest Vice-Chair for the SHPE National Board of Directors in nearly 50 years. 

On this episode we dive into her unique journey and gain insight into the importance of representation and community support in pursuing a career in STEM

I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

This week I have the pleasure of sharing with you the story of Sherisse Bisram.Sherisse is a professional dancer, dance teacher, now an empowerment mentor, public speaker and Someone that has never fit into a box or conformed to societal expectations.

Growing up in a volatile household and as a woman of color in a predominantly white area added understandable hardships and like all young women, Sherisse faced unwanted attention. In addition, she was undermined by society for being outspoken in her opinion rather than playing to the expected norm of being “seen and not heard”. Understandably she was forced to build resilience, and as a result, at 23 she noticed that she had difficulty showing vulnerability and emotions. Sherisse realized that this was not a healthy way to live, with this in mind, she decided to embark upon her own journey of self discovery.

Sherisse has taken the pain and hardships she has faced and used them to become the authentically empowered version of herself that she has always wanted to be.

If anyone wants to continue to follow Sherisse on her journey I will have links to her website, her social media AND her new podcast “Permission to Shine” which is out now!

I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, so that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

🎙 Show Notes: EpicsPodcast.com/episodes/sherissebisram

My guest this week on the show is Shermin Kruse. Shermin has a widely diverse background and range of expertise, but more importantly is just a beautiful human being. She is a , lawyer, speaker, professor, TEDx producer, writer, and idea curator, currently teaching at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Sher is a TED and TEDx talk producer (having produced more than 60 different TEDx talks and various TEDx music videos), a TEDx speaker, and a negotiation and leadership consultant specializing in weaponizing empathy and stoicism.

On the list of many things we were unable to talk about is her best-selling novel “Butterfly Stitching,” which was inspired by the true experiences of herself and the women in her family before and after the Iranian revolution.

We were able to spend some time talking about her childhood in Iran during that dangerous time as well as her experiences as an Iranian woman in law school during 9/11 and so much more.

I highly encourage you to watch her TedTalk, and if you are interested in buying her book I will have a link to that as well!

As always, if you use my link to buy her book it will not only support her as the author but it will be buying it from a local bookstore, AND the Epics Podcast will get an affiliate commission so you will be supporting us as well!

I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

This week I have a fellow podcaster join me, and her name is Evelien Kong. A producer and Director by day Evelien Kong founded Reppin Podcast with more than 25 years of experience and a myriad of credits that range from producing award winning documentaries with MTV to crafting digital content with Law and Order SVU. She’s worked with Hollywood heavyweights like Mick Jagger, Mylie Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon, Kerry Washington, JJ Abrams all the way to President Biden. As the founder and host of Reppin, Evelien is committed to sharing stories of people from all walks of life and cultures to bring true representation to the media.

Evelien is a Chinese American and proud new yorker, but more importantly an amazing person. We chat on this episode about being the daughter of immigrants, recently being made aware of her ethnicity, her career in entertainment, and a lot about storytelling and finding the humanity in life.

What part of Evelien’s story impacted you today? Reach out on social media @EpicsPod everywhere and let me know what your favorite parts of this episode are.

Be sure to follow and subscribe to the Reppin Podcast as well as the Epics Podcast so that you don’t miss the next epic story.

I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

Our guest on this week’s show is J.P. (DARE Boh-goh SEE Yahn). JP has done many different amazing things in his life including being a classically trained shakespearean actor and Chief Diversity Officer. Given the amazing person that JP is I’m sure that we could have easily made whole podcasts about either of those, but the reason that I invited JP on is because he is the founder of the Queer Armenian Library.

We were able to talk about his childhood in multiple countries, deciphering the multiple identities that he grew up with and searching for the Home that he belonged in.

The absolute hardest thing about producing this podcast is limiting our conversations, because JP and I really could have gone on for so much longer about anything and everything! Among the topics that we were unable to cover is JP’s podcast. JP is the host of “This Queer Book” where he has conversations with guests from across the LGBTQ rainbow about the queer books that saved their lives.

I was really moved by JP and his story. Being able to hold what appear to be contradictory identities so gracefully and so naturally wanting to share with others that they are not alone is so inspirational. It’s a story that we can all learn from regardless of who we are.

Welcome back to the Epics Podcast. I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

This week on the show, I am sharing with you my conversation with Ethan Nkana.

I reached out to Ethan as a fellow Denverite and entrepreneur and I was thrilled that he was able to come on the show and share his story with us.

Ethan began his career in hospital administration as a Human Resources intern after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration & Public Relations. Over the next decade, Ethan would grow his skill set to include leadership roles in hospital finance, physician contracting and compensation, hospital operations, and healthcare strategy.

He earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Dayton, and in 2020 before the pandemic Ethan found himself jobless for the first time in his career after having spent 10+ years working in hospital leadership, which ultimately led to him starting RMPA (Rocky Mountain Physician Agency), a sports management agency whose clients are physicians instead of elite professional athletes, because physicians are at a distinct disadvantage when negotiating contracts and salaries with hospital executives.

Ethan is a real kick ass person above all else and..

I was able to talk to him about so many meaningful topics such as

• moving to Puerto Rico in his childhood,
• Creating a career in hospital admin and leadership and world that he had to live in that was different from the world his white counterparts inhabited.
• And ultimately we got to talk about Ethan starting RMPA and how that has enabled him to live his life as the fullest and best version of himself as the Jerry Maguire for Doctors.

Ethan and I joked before recording that he woke up on a different side of the bed today and was ready to go off. And I’m so grateful that he did because he shared so much vulnerable insight from his story that made a really powerful impact on me coming away from our conversation.

Welcome back to the Epics Podcast. I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

I absolutely adore my guest this week!

Her name is Chelsea Elliott. She is the Founder & CEO of Sōmōcom Lab and creator of the EQ Kids Crew! ® The Social-Emotional Card Game for Kids. Using her childhood mental health challenges, her company helps adults create emotionally healthy and safe environments for kids while building kids’ confidence, resilience, and communication skills through emotional wellness.

Be sure to let us know what you learned from this episode by reaching out on any social media @epicspod and make sure that you are subscribed so that you don’t miss our next Epic story!

Welcome back to the Epics Podcast. I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

This week on the 15th episode of the Epics Podcast I am joined by a fellow podcaster Bob Gatty.

Bob has a podcast called “Lean to the Left”. Bob spent a career in journalism and politics working on both sides of the isle and now works on the Lean to the Left Network is now his way of refusing retirement. The network consists of two podcasts, a blog and more that features commentary on timely topics from the perspective someone who used to be a political insider, but is now on the outside looking in. They are fact-based, they also reflect thier own perspective -- which usually means "A Little Lean to the Left."

As you might guess this episode dives a little deeper into politics than we usually do on this show, but by no means is the focus.

Bob and I spent our time reliving some of Bob’s favorite stories from his reporting career and discussing the political ties of the media as well as how the shift to opinion based media has contributed to the political division in our country.

While obviously some political views are expressed in this episode, I want to reiterate that Epics does not want to declare any sort of political alignment. We are interested in people’s stories and how they effect social issues in our world. Politics plays a part in Bob’s story and therefore it wouldn’t be appropriate to avoid it in conversation or edit it all out afterwards. I want to remain respectful of everyone and their views, as always, while acknowledging the role that they all play in their stories regardless of if we agree with them or not.

I really enjoyed my conversation with Bob, and he actually interviewed me on his show not long before this interview took place! So be sure to check that out as well.

There is so much that we can learn from Bob’s story and insight after working in the press for so long, I think he brings valuable insight into our current relationship with our media and news sources in addition to having some great stories to share!

Welcome back to the Epics Podcast. I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

This week, on the 13th episode of Epics, I’m so pleased to announce my guest Dr. Elijah Nicholas.

A twelve-time published author, Dr. Elijah Nicholas is also an Actor, and Advocate. He was assigned the female sex at birth, so Elijah spent almost half of his life in the US Military, as a woman before retiring from the US Air Force as a Lt Col in 2012.

He started his gender reassignment from female to male in 2018 at the age of 48.

We were able to cover a variety of topics in our interview such as his experiences of racism, navigating gender roles both pre and post transition, and his new book “Madoodle”!

Madoodle is an LGBTQI+ friendly family & children's book featuring Madoodle (aka Madison), a ten-year-old girl whose Uncle Pete was once her favorite Auntie Mary. And it is based on Dr. Elijah's personal experiences with family as he navigated his gender transition.

Buy Elijah’s book Madoodle! The link on this episode. As always that will not only support Elijah but a local bookstore near you AND this podcast!

Welcome back to the Epics Podcast. I started this podcast because I believe that the foundation of hate and discrimination in our world comes from a lack of understanding of those who are different from ourselves. We plan to combat that by hearing everyone's stories, that we can better understand them, be a part of creating real positive change.

Reggie D. Ford is an author of the bestselling book, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, mental health advocate, and social justice activist. He is a first-generation college graduate of Vanderbilt University, he runs RoseCrete Wealth Management and speaks to audiences about financial empowerment, overall wellness, and the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

We spend a lot of time talking about his childhood being raised by a single mother and being exposed to white dominated spaces. He is so inspirational and vulnerable with his story and I can’t wait for you all to hear it!

To continue to follow along with Reggie’s Epic story follow the links below to his website, socials and to his book, The Perseverance Through Severe Dysfunction: Breaking the Curse of Intergenerational Trauma as a Black Man in America! Now remember, if you buy PTSD from the link below, you are not only supporting Michael and you are not only supporting the podcast but you are also supporting a local bookstore near you!

If you have made it this far, congratulations! This is the fifth episode of the pod and it is a special episode for me. For this episode I interviewed Michael Milton who is the co-founder of Pandemic Donuts and was my first interview IN PERSON! Michael graciously invited me down to their bakery for the interview which was so much fun, but was slightly louder than recording at my desk behind a locked door to keep noisy children out. Every once in a while you may hear some background noise from the coffee shop next door, but that is an acceptable price to pay for the joy of hearing Michael’s story face to face.

Michael started Pandemic Donuts with his girlfriend Gabrielle Henning after they both lost their jobs due to COVID. One thing that I really like about this story is that we all have a COVID story. It effected us all in different ways and it’s important to hear some of those stories that were different from our own to try and better understand how this pandemic impacted so many of us.

Michael was so much fun to talk to. Not only was he open and vulnerable with their story, but he is clearly someone who wants to make the most out of every day and is determined to enjoy life.

I found their story and approach to opening this business during a pandemic inspiring and insightful. It was fun for me to pull the curtains back on a local business that my family supports. (we get their donuts every week!!)

Pandemic Donuts delivers their delicious donuts (and delicious gluten free donuts) to your door if your door is in the Denver area, and their creative flavors change every week!

I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!

I am so pleased that Augustine Tanner joined me for the fourth episode of the Epics Podcast. Augustine is a black queer man from Chicago, Illinois and currently lives in the UK where he is about to be ordained in the Church of England.

Augustine and I had a great conversation about the dynamics culture and race as well as many other factors that have affected his life.

As a preacher and speaker he has spoken at several LGBTQ+ events such as the Stonewall National Workplace Conference, Pride, Glory Festival Manchester and has featured numerous times on radio for the BBC.

While Augustine does tell his story through a lens of Christian faith and references stories from the bible, I encourage you to listen even if that is not a faith that you believe in yourself. While his story may have a Christian spin, the wisdom that he shared is universal and important for everyone.

He is such an enjoyable man to talk to, capable of bringing joy into our conversation while also proving quite  thought provoking and challenging.

Augustine’s story is very unique and one that I was able to learn a lot from, I hope you can too!

Theresa Mitchell is the founder of Jhene Productions and executive producer of an upcoming documentary Life After Loss which is being created to bring light and truth to the struggles faced by black and brown women as they quietly suffer through miscarriage, infant loss, and infertility.

After suffering 3 miscarriages Theresa finally had her rainbow baby! Through these experiences she felt alone and isolated, thinking that her journey was one that few could understand. As she came to find out that this is an all too common story among black and brown women, she used her recovery and healing to find her voice and advocate for all these women who feel alone in their suffering.

Theresa so kindly shared her story with me and started such an important conversation with me about the disparity of care that black and brown women experience in our healthcare system as well as what she believes we can do to make a difference moving forward.

I was so moved by Theresa and her dedication to validate the feelings and experiences of so many women that are all too easily dismissed. Her mission to save as many babies and mothers from experiencing an inequitable level of care is one that we all need to learn more about and get behind.

Nick Elio is the Family Ministry Pastor at Denver Community Church (DCC) in Denver, Colorado. With a life spent in youth ministry and leading youth he has seen teenagers go through all sorts of struggles and ask some really hard questions.

In our conversation we discuss how DCC’s stance on full inclusion of LGBTQ affected his students and how the church has often done more harm than good to members of the LGBTQ community.

Nick was very generous in sharing his wisdom with me while we discussed what our motivations are when teens, children or really anyone approaches us with hard questions and vulnerability.

I really enjoyed chatting with this good friend of mine and I feel that the insights that he shares on this episode are really valuable as well as applicable to so many relationships in our lives!

On the very first episode of the Epics Podcast I was very fortunate to be joined by a friend of mine, Dr. Rev. Jose Silva.

Jose is the CEO of the Colorado Association for Infant Mental Health, and is the only person of color leading an infant mental health organization in the country.

Jose is a friend of mine who’s story I sought out right away for the podcast. When he was 14 years old, he witnessed his best friend being murdered seconds after having the gun pointed at his own chest. He is an individual who speaks with so much passion that you can hear as he is sharing this story on the podcast.

Jose has used that terrible moment in his life to catapult him into a lifetime of advocating for others and lighting fires under those who have gotten too comfortable.

We shared a conversation that touched on race, mental health and the experiences that children of color have at a young age in our school systems.

There is a lot that we have to learn from Jose’s story, I hope you enjoy the episode!

The Epics Podcast is here! But what is it?    My name is Alex Wait and I have a lot to learn. I see the discrimination in our world that continue to hurt and dismiss others that is fueled by a lack of understanding of those who are different from us.   

Through interviews and reflection I will hear from the ignored, the broken and the silenced of our communities, and what their unique stories are. I will lean into uncomfortable conversations and work to gain an understanding of hardships that are unfamiliar to me. Hearing someone's unique story has the ability to show us their humanity, which is now so easily lost or hidden. I hope to see the humanity in everyone to better understand others, honor their stories, and then be a part of sparking real positive change.  Everyone has a story, and we have not yet been told all of the stories worth telling.