Host Nadia Imafidon speaks with Kim Castillo (they/she/siya), a queer person who was born, raised, and educated in Davao city, Philippines. We chat about her journey to the U.S. and navigating the process of becoming an American citizen, what it's like to be in fellowship with Filipino-Americans, people who take up too much space and her advocacy for marginalized communities in the virtual landscape of remote work.

At age 23, Kim immigrated to the United States where they experienced culture shock, and the most drastic shift to their lived experience and identity via the process of assimilation. Over the course of the next decade living in the US, Kim managed to build a career combining their love for facilitation, technology, and organizational development.

Kim has worked numerous odd jobs from the age of 16 (researcher, writer, DJ, call center agent, producer, web developer, video editor) and studied psychology. While at university, they contributed to research on extrajudicial killings, peace-building, disaster resilience, and collective suffering, displacement, and sojourns of indigenous people. They currently live in Los Angeles, California.

Host Nadia Imafidon speaks to her current mental health state and first experience with personal training after 2 decades of being disconnected with her body. As a Black woman with body dysmorphia, this is what it's like to face the fear of seeing yourself head on.

In this episode, Nadia Imafidon speaks with Ashley Ellerson, a Black mental health professional who works in community healthcare in Seattle, WA. We chat about misconceptions about suicide, the levels of suicidal thoughts, what it's like to struggle with your own mental illnesses while taking care of others' mental health, how to set boundaries for emotional availability (aka how to keep your peace), and the systemic factors that contribute to suicidality.

Looking for resources?

Project Lets

https://therapyfundfoundation.org/

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

https://www.multiculturalcounselors.org/

https://openpathcollective.org/

https://mhanational.org/

National Alliance on Mental Illness

https://www.crisistextline.org/ (text 741741)

988 national crisis line

https://www.peerwa.org/ (for Washington residents)

Content Warning: Suicide. In today's episode, Subrina Singh chats with host Nadia Imafidon about her life with bipolar disorder in honor of September's Suicide Prevention Month. We chat about the lifelong battle against suicide and how to best prepare for it, her experience being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in her teens, and how Subrina has dedicated most of her life to surviving each and every day.

Subrina shares her mental health journey as a way to support, advocate and create awareness for mental health. She is a contributing author in an anthology of Sikh love stories, Her Name is Kaur and Brown Girl Magazine’s first ever printed anthology, Untold. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Asian and Asian American Studies from Stony Brook University and a Master’s Degree in South Asian Religion & Philosophy from Columbia University. She has been featured on TV Asia’s Shades of Shakti and has collaborated with organizations such as National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and NYS Department of Mental Health & Hygiene “Today, I Thrive.” She is committed to using her experience with mental illness to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental health, especially in the South Asian community.

And what the heck is acculturation? In this episode, Nadia Imafidon speaks to Mike Valdez, a first-generation Dominican who recently left a 15-year career in tech to pursue counseling psychology because of the freedom therapy has brought into his own life. We chat about resilience as the new kale, how the process of "acculturation" led Mike to shed his Latinx identity in favor of American ideals, and what it feels like to struggle with finding a balance between the values and beliefs of his country of origin and of the United States.

Mike hopes to work with underrepresented communities that need mental health support but struggle due to the many systems that make life more difficult for them. Mike believes that we can all use mental health support to not only rewire our past, but to also know how to better empower ourselves against the oppression that we may face day in and day out. He knows that therapy tends to be stigmatized, that access to it privileged, and sees this as part of his duties to improve for all, in becoming a culturally aware and attuned therapist.

For those interested in the reading, see Yung Pueblo's, Clarity & Connection.

Listen as Host Nadia Imafidon shares her recent experience hitting a major personal milestone of completing her first half marathon and how that's shifted her relationship to her mind and body, but more importantly, her relationship to her depression.

"Every time you unpack a shadow, every time you confront a pain, every time you have compassion for your fear, you're liberating someone else, too. And I think that's really magic." In this episode, Nadia Imafidon chats with Nellie Coffy, an entrepreneur, writer and artist working at the intersection of tech, creative liberation and wellness. We chat about building your own ladder as a Black entrepreneur (with tips on raising capital), feelings of worthiness and the healing work of crying, allowing yourself to be mad and confronting your own shadows.

She is the co-founder and CEO of Sun Chaser, a next generation beverage brand on a mission to reimagine drinking. With her latest project, lightbeams, she shares personal stories on all things personal liberation, spiritual development and inner transformation. Some of her spiritual teachers include James Baldwin, Eckhart Tolle, and Gary Zukav.

You'll notice this week's guest is a bit younger than you might have expected. In this episode, Nadia Imafidon chats with long-time friend Rosie Lopez, a 9-year-old West Coast girl whose dad says, "she is most def a Latina fml." We chat about the pressures of perfectionism, how young people have important voices, and her love for music and quality time with family (including hanging with the host in-person for this interview!).

Rosie is a Mexican-American who loves riding horses, reading, doing crosswords, playing soccer, painting abstract art and helping people. She has many talents, but most notably plays the bass and ukulele, and enjoys singing music by Olivia Rodrigo.