Cultivating Passion Podcast

My guest for this episode is the amazing Kate Austin. Kate is a LGBTQ+ advocate and blogger based out of Philadelphia. I met Kate almost two years ago. I kept on seeing her posts show up in my suggested feed on Instagram and I finally checked out her account and quickly realized she was based in Philly and she was vegan. I remember sending her an email basically saying “We’re a Philly-based vegan brand....your a Philly-based vegan influencer....seems like the universe wants us to meet!”. After I sent her some of our Franklin & Whitman products, I invited her and her girlfriend Sarah to one of our Yoga For The Pups charity events. The events are crazy for me. There’s a million moving parts and I pour every ounce of my being into them. I remember I was running around like a crazy person before it started and suddenly something caught my eye. An attendee walked through the door and she was wearing one of my favorite sweatshirts. My incredible friend Rachel runs the amazing Miss Rachel’s Pantry in Philly. It’s not only one of the best vegan restaurants in Philly, it’s one of the best restaurants around, vegan or not. Rachel, a future guest on the show by the way, sells this awesome old school gray sweatshirt that just says LASAGNA in big block letters on the front. It’s hysterical and amazing at the same time, and the person walking through the door wearing that sweatshirt was Kate. I knew right there and then we were gonna be tight.

In this episode our conversations ranges from talking about being vegan and the ups and downs of belonging to such a vocal community...to her story of coming out to her parents and what life is like when your family doesn’t support who you are...to her engagement to her amazing partner Sarah and how the picture of it in Paris went viral, which lead to to the two of them being on Ellen.

I love Kate because she always speaks her mind and is a total open book. We’re wired the same exact way and I could talk to her for hours and hours. She’s always makes me laugh and I couldn’t be happier that she agreed to be a guest.

I can’t thank her enough for being so genuine and transparent, especially when talking about how her relationship with her parents fell apart once she came out to them. I think you probably hear me sighing in the background at least a hundred times as she tells the story because, as a parent, I couldn’t even fathom no longer having a relationship with either of my daughters because of who they were and who they chose to love. I am so glad she was comfortable enough to tell her story and I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Connect With Kate:
Kate’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateaustinn/?hl=en
Kate and Sarah On Ellen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fzix4EQKVg
Kate and Sarah’s Paris Engagement Photos: https://howtheyasked.com/howsheasked/kate-and-sarah/

I am extremely excited to introduce my guest Remy Park.

I first met Remy a few years ago. I was throwing a Franklin & Whitman’s Yoga For The Pups charity event and my friend Caitlyn Shoemaker, @frommybowl on Instagram, was coming to Philly to be a part of it. She asked me if her friend Remy could come down from New York to be a guest. From the moment I picked Remy up at the train station I knew we would be friends. We got along immediately and have been close ever since. Over the last few years she has been a part of several of our charity events, both in Philly and NYC, and we’ve attended different events together as well from The GOOD Fest to Expo West.

In this episode we start out talking about how Remy went from working a full-time job to making the leap to make her website and social platforms her new career. Most of the conversation, however, focuses on her battle with both her eating disorder and addiction issues. She shares the stories of how they both started, the toll they took on her teen years, and how she found a new balance in life and made focusing on her health, both mental and physical, a priority.

Remy is one of my most favorite people in the world. She’s so creative, smart, and she always makes me laugh...and I couldn’t be happier that she agreed to be a guest. I couldn’t thank her enough for being so genuine and transparent, especially when talking about her mental health and addiction issues.

I hope you enjoy our conversation!
Connect With Remy:
Remy's Blog: https://veggiekinsblog.com/Remy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veggiekins/Remy's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@veggiekins?lang=en

I am extremely excited to introduce my guest for this episode, Nikki Brafman.
I would be doing Nikki a disservice if I called her a “business coach”. Instead I will use her own words. Nikki likes to say she shows up for entrepreneurs as a strategic, tactical, and spiritual coach. She focuses on teaching them how to reduce chaos in their lives and businesses. I can say first hand, as a former client, she does EXACTLY what she says she does!
I first met Nikki last year through a mutual friend. My friend could tell I was overwhelmed with my business, Franklin & Whitman, and it was growing clear that I needed to talk to someone about it. I had never worked with a business coach before so I really had no idea what to expect. Little did I know that not only was I signing up for a business coach, but I was gaining a new close friend.
In this episode we start out talking about how Nikki went from working for entrepreneurs to working with them as a coach. As our conversation grows more personal, we dive into her time living in Israel and how it changed her outlook on day to day life. We round out the conversation focusing on how Nikki discovered the personality model, Human Design, and how she quickly became obsessed with it and realized she could use not only to work on herself but also use it as a tool when dealing with her coaching clients.
Nikki likes to say self-excavation is a crucial practice for creatives and entrepreneurs and it can look like a different and unique process for each individual. She strives to give permission for people to seek help in good times and bad. She’s done that for me and I cannot thank her enough for it. I couldn’t be happier that she agreed to be a guest and I hope you enjoy our conversation!
Connect With Nikki:

• Nikki's Website: https://www.nikkibrafman.com/
• Human Design: https://www.nikkibrafman.com/human-design-for-business
• Nikki's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkibrafman/
• Human Design For Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humandesignforbusiness/

In this episode I welcome Georgie Morley as the first official guest on the podcast. Georgie is a coffee-loving creator of her blog, georgiemorley.com, and the Chasing Joy Podcast, an online platform that inspires joy and personal growth through compassion and self-discovery.

I first met Georgie a few years ago at an event Franklin & Whitman was sponsoring. Over the years we’ve grown closer, she’s been a part of several of Franklin & Whitman’s charity events, and, last year, I was lucky enough to be a guest on her podcast. Instead of recording it remotely, I flew up to Nantucket and spent time with her, her awesome husband Chris, and her amazing family.

In this episode we start out talking about how Georgie went from working in marketing for a large beverage company to making the leap to bet on herself and create her own brand. As our conversation grows more personal, we pivot to a deeper level talking about her ongoing battle with depression and how she brings a layer of compassion and awareness around mental health to all her work.

When I came up with the idea of this podcast I remember saying to myself “someday I hope Georgie will be a guest on it” and now she’s the first guest. In the episode I learned a ton about Georgie and also a ton about what it means to host a podcast. I hope you enjoy our conversation, I know I did!
Connect with Georgie:

• Georgie's Blog: http://georgiemorley.com/
• Georgie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgiemorley/
• Chasing Joy Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chasing-joy-podcast/id1200321568
• Gal Pals Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gal-pals/id1465664059

In this brief intro episode, Christopher Cieri talks about the reasons behind the "WHY" of the podcast and how the writings of Simon Sinek and Brené Brown helped inspire him.