To The People
By Youth To The People
To The PeopleJul 28, 2021
What Needs to Change for Women in Sports? Ft. Olympic Fencer Ysaora Thibus
Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus is the CEO of her career, and she’s fully in control. Ranked the number-one fencer in France and third in the world, Thibus has won 14 French championships and seven world championships—and this year, she’s off to her third Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. YTTP first planned to work with Thibus as part of our Beautiful People series alongside her partner and fellow Olympic fencer, Team USA’s Race Imboden, but travel restrictions kept her grounded in Paris—almost 4,000 miles from the shoot in New York. Ahead of the Olympics, she chats with To The People host Alyssa Shapiro about taking control of her career, building a platform for women in sports to share their stories, and what female athletes really need. To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com.
Save Yourself, Save the Planet ft. Leah Penniman, Co-Founder of Soul Fire Farm
Are you ready to go deep today? Maybe a little spiritual? For this episode, we’re pulling inspiration from the concept of deep ecology—an approach that involves reconfiguring our systems in order to preserve ecological and cultural diversity. We have a physical and energetic connection between ourselves and the planet, and our wellbeing and the earth’s wellbeing are inextricably tied, and we’ll talk about that—and the mutual healing of both the land and the communities who live there—today with Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm.
Dream With Pride
Without dreams, we accept the world as-is. Dreams fuel the future. They give people power. To hope. To act. To unite. Together, we can build a world that’s inclusive of all—one where no matter race, gender, identity, expression, or sexuality, all are protected, valued, heard, seen, loved, and equal. We're closing out Pride Month with stories from members of our community—Sean Garrette, V Go, Jessie Giammalva, and Drew Hazelhurst—about how they dream with pride and help others to do the same. To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com.
What We Can Learn From First-Generation Families
Wellness, unity, love, and community are central to what we’re doing at YTTP—and those themes were at the heart of our limited-edition collaboration with Kids of Immigrants last month. This week on the podcast, we’re looking at the roles of wellness, unity, love, and community in the experiences of first-generation families—specifically those of three of our teammates. For more on the KOI collab, check out their episode of the podcast and Beautiful People. Find YTTP online at youthtothepeople.com.
How To Find Community When You Feel Lonely (+ Mental Health First Aid)
[TW: This episode opens with a personal account of miscarriage.] Mental health is connected to every part of who we are. In this episode, we’re having an honest conversation about it with two leaders in the mental health space—Elyse Cohen, VP of Social Impact + Inclusion at Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, and Tramaine EL-Amin, Assistant VP of Strategic Partnerships at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Along with host Alyssa Shapiro, Cohen and EL-Amin discuss mental wellbeing, Rare Beauty’s commitment to bridging access to mental healthcare, Mental Health First Aid, and more.
To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com.
Love 2 The People
We’re teaming up with Kids of Immigrants to create a limited-edition collection of skincare and apparel in celebration of KOI’s five-year anniversary. Both KOI and YTTP take pride in the journey it took to get to where we are today. We share in our goals, energy, and the importance of self-love—so it’s no surprise that the collaboration highlights self-care and how it shapes the way we connect with those around us. In this episode of To The People, YTTP co-founder Greg Gonzalez is joined by KOI co-founders Daniel Buezo and Weleh Dennis to discuss building their brands from the ground up, practicing self-care, and spreading love to those around us. To learn more about Daniel, Weleh, and Kids of Immigrants, click here to watch their episode of Beautiful People.
How to Achieve Your Skin Goals
All skin is normal. And no matter your skin type, achieving your skin goals can be a delicate balance. Whether your skin is experiencing dehydration, dullness, or the changing atmosphere, it can be helpful to think of skincare regimens like recipes—with each ingredient chosen carefully to contribute to your desired skin goals. In conversation with host Alyssa Shapiro, Youth To The People’s Director of Education Laura Cline talks all things skincare—why we believe all skin is normal, what every skin type needs for healthy skin, and her favorite powerful, results-oriented routines.
How To Vibe with Nature Wherever You Are
Have you vibed out with a tree lately? Whenever you notice yourself feeling untethered, spending time among trees will help guide you back to where you need to be. It’s self-care, it’s being well, to be among trees. To breathe in the fresh air, to hear birdsong, of course—but also to just vibe out in the forest! Our guest today is Willow Defebaugh, editor in chief of Atmos, a digital platform and biannual magazine that explores the connection between climate and culture. Their work is always insightful, often full of deep quotes and imperative facts about the earth, its energy, and always bringing it full spiral back to our pure human experience—and for this episode, they've joined host Alyssa Shapiro in conversation about connecting with nature wherever you are.
Find Youth To The People online at @youthtothepeople.
Advice For You[th]: Womxn Leaders
In Advice for You[th], we get to ask our friends to share their words of wisdom for our community, and create a space for intergenerational conversations. Last season, our Advice for You[th] episode featured Rhea Wolfram, a 101-year-old lifelong educator. For today’s, we’re joined by Alyia Gaskins—a candidate for city council in Alexandria, Virginia—who talks with Jade Walker from Gen Z Girl Gang about the road to running for leadership at the local level with the help of our friends at She Should Run.
Decay + Regrowth
Have you ever thought about mushrooms? Like, really thought about them.
In Youth To The People’s anti-racism, inclusion, and intersectional parity training, our instructor, Sarah Springer of Tissue LLC, spoke in so many words about the benefits of decay and how it’s an essential step to growth. It brought to mind a few things: one, how sometimes a bad trip is actually really good—sometimes the stuff that feels the hardest is often the most important. And the second, a quote from artist David Altmejd who said, “I think of decay not in a negative way, but in a sense of creating space for things to start growing.”
And the third? Mushrooms. They take what needs to be decomposed, decayed, and through their root systems, their mycelium, give us new life by turning that decayed matter into fruiting bodies. Not sure what mycelium are? No worries, you’ll understand why we’re talking about them soon. And if you’ll humor us, we’d like to take that thread through our conversation today, because there’s so much we can learn from nature.
To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com.
ADVICE FOR [YOU]TH
2020 has been one stressful year. In episode 05 of To The People, we’re joined by Rhea Wolfram, a 101-year-old educator and friend of YTTP who counteracts stress by building community. Born into the 1918 flu pandemic, she’s seen her fair share of wars, elections, and community building. In conversation with her 23-year-old friend and mentee, Megan Burke, Rhea says that community comes down to being connected with other people. Before that, Laura Cline, YTTP’s Director of Education, comes on to talk all things skin stress—what it looks like, where it comes from, and how to manage it.
We at YTTP hope you love this special episode as much as we do. That’s a wrap on season 00, y’all. We’ll catch you right here in the new year, for season 01—and we’re so ready for it!
To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com. This episode was hosted by Alyssa Shapiro, co-produced by Megan Burke, Manna Zel + Alyssa Shapiro, and edited by Manna Zel.
Bringing Wellness to the People
America has a wellness problem. And just like the concept of wellness, the lack of it is layered. Wellness requires rest, clean water, movement, community, care, and nutrition—things that have become privileges, when they really should be rights. Access to nourishment of all kinds is vital for wellness, and today, on To The People, you’ll meet a few of our friends who are dedicating themselves to bringing wellness to their communities.
Luis Mota volunteers with Alma Backyard Farms, a nonprofit that grows and distributes fresh, healthy foods in neighborhoods around Los Angeles and provides urban agriculture training to people who were formerly incarcerated. Then, you’ll hear from Aabi Abdun-Nafi, an organizer and yoga instructor who leads free yoga classes at Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC—and recorded a restorative yoga flow exclusively for Youth To The People. + Joe Cloyes, co-founder of YTTP, stops by to talk about skin health—and how it starts within.
To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com. To learn more about, or to get involved with, Alma Backyard Farms, visit them at almabackyardfarms.com. To learn more about Occupy DC, follow them on Instagram at @occupydc202. This episode was hosted by Alyssa Shapiro, co-produced by Manna Zel + Alyssa Shapiro, and edited by Manna Zel.
Deja Foxx + She Should Run Want All Women to Dream Beyond™
What does it mean to Dream Beyond™? At YTTP, we’re always asking this—especially as we gear up for a U.S. general election in which record-breaking numbers of women are running for office. In episode 03 of To The People, we’re highlighting a few members of the YTTP fam who are working to build up other women + femmes, increase their representation, and ensure their equitable futures. Get ready to meet American aesthetics pioneer Eva Friederichs through her grandsons and YTTP co-founders Greg Gonzalez and Joe Cloyes; Deja Foxx, founder of GenZ Girl Gang; and Erin Loos Cutraro, founder of She Should Run.
To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com. You can learn more about GenZ Girl Gang at genzgirlgang.com—and follow Deja online at @dejafoxx. For information and to get involved with She Should Run, one of YTTP’s voting partners, visit sheshouldrun.org. This episode was hosted by Alyssa Shapiro, co-produced by Manna Zel + Alyssa Shapiro, and edited by Manna Zel.
Céline Semaan Builds Sustainability Literacy + Climate Positivity
In episode 02 of To The People Podcast, you’ll meet Céline Semaan—designer, writer, advocate, and founder of the non-profit Slow Factory Foundation. In conversation with host Alyssa Shapiro, YTTP’s Editorial + Special Projects Director, Céline drops some knowledge on the importance of open education, decolonizing education, being involved in your community, and knowing who you are. And before Alyssa and Céline speak, YTTP’s Director of Education, Laura Cline, joins the podcast to talk clean skincare and answer the biggest skincare question of the season: how to adapt your skincare for fall, no matter your skin type.
This podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com. To learn more about Slow Factory, visit slowfactory.foundation. To The People is edited by Manna Zel and co-produced by Manna Zel + Alyssa Shapiro.
Deun Ivory Heals Through Joy
In the first episode of To The People Podcast, host Alyssa Shapiro—YTTP’s Editorial + Special Projects Director—is joined by Deun Ivory, multidisciplinary artist and founder of the nonprofit The Body: A Home For Love. But before that, YTTP co-founder Greg Gonzalez stops by to talk YTTP’s origin story and what it’s like to grow up in a skincare family.
To The People Podcast is a production of YTTP Studios. Find us online at @youthtothepeople or youthtothepeople.com. To learn more about The Body: A Home For Love, visit thebodyahomeforlove.org. To The People is edited by Manna Zel and co-produced by Manna Zel + Alyssa Shapiro.
Season 00 Trailer
In the first collection of To The People Podcast, host Alyssa Shapiro, Editorial + Special Project Director, meets virtually with changemakers, visionaries, and friends of the brand to discuss community, wellness, and advocacy—and what it means to Dream Beyond™. The conversations go deep: from healing trauma through joy, to decolonizing education, to building community.
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