Rodaysha Red Ashes is a local drag performer who turned shyness, anxiety, and a casual conversation at Home Depot into a stage career that changed their life. In this episode, we talk about what drag actually teaches you about confidence, how sobriety reshaped their relationship with performing, and how their indigenous heritage shows up in everything from their drag name to the beaded earrings that start conversations.

This is one of those conversations that covers a lot of ground, from the nerves that never fully go away to the community that carries you through the hard parts. Rodaysha is honest about all of it.

Rodaysha Red Ashes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodaysha.red.ashes/

Who are we

Behind the Village is a podcast about how to live a life worth living. Real conversations about mental health, personal growth, and finding fulfillment.

Follow Us

Website: https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillagerCommunityNews/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevillagermagazine/

Newsletter: https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/

Chapters

00:30 How Rodaysha discovered drag

02:52 First performance and getting started

04:30 Performance as a lifelong pull

05:59 Where the confidence actually comes from

09:00 What drag means to Rodaysha

11:02 Evolving as a performer and the drag clown

13:20 Indigenous culture in drag and the story behind the name

16:24 How drag shaped their identity off stage

18:30 Sobriety, substances, and choosing yourself

21:57 Why the people around you matter

23:40 Advice for drag beginners

Reducing unhappiness isn't the same as being happy, and most people don't know the difference. In this episode of Behind the Village, we explore why avoiding what makes you unhappy only gets you to neutral, not fulfilled.

This is the introduction to our next podcast theme on hobbies and passions, where we break down one of the most important insights about happiness: you can spend your whole life removing sources of unhappiness, clearing your plate, avoiding discomfort, but at a certain point, there's nothing left to remove. You're just neutral. Real happiness requires actively pursuing something. It requires caring deeply about things outside of work, building communities around what you love, and making space for the hobbies and passions that give you something you can't get anywhere else.

You'll hear us discuss why hobbies aren't optional extras in a good life, how fear-based decisions keep you stuck, and why the people who light up when they talk about what they love are onto something essential. This episode sets the stage for conversations with people who've found belonging, purpose, and sometimes survival through the things they're passionate about, even when it's hard, even when it's inconvenient.

Who are we

Behind the Village is a podcast about how to live a life worth living. Real conversations about mental health, personal growth, and finding fulfillment.

Follow Us

Website: https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillagerCommunityNews/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevillagermagazine/

Newsletter: https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/

Chapters

0:00 Introduction

0:14 How to Be Happy vs Reducing Unhappiness

4:49 Why Hobbies and Passions Are Important for Mental Health

7:44 Finding Community and Belonging Through Hobbies

11:28 What's Coming in This Series

What happens when you build your entire identity around work, then realize it's not enough? In this episode of Behind the Village, we sit down with animator and production company owner Anne Douris to explore her journey from working 12-hour days to redefining what success actually means.

Anne opens up about the hard work of separating self-worth from productivity, why COVID forced her to confront what was missing in her life, and how becoming a parent completely shifted her priorities. You'll hear honest insights about learning to say no, the guilt that comes with slowing down, and why physical community matters more than ever in our low-stakes digital world. Anne's story challenges the hustle culture narrative and offers a different path forward for creatives trying to build careers that actually fit their lives.

Anne Douris Animation

Website: https://www.annedouris.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bossieperson/

Behind The Village Podcast

Website: https://villagermagazine.ca/podcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillagerCommunityNews/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevillagermagazine/

Newsletter: https://villagermagazine.ca/subscribe/

Chapters

01:03 - Learning to say no

02:55 - How COVID revealed that work wasn't enough

05:14 - Separating self-worth from productivity and performance

10:08 - Protecting your time and being present as a parent

16:00 - Trading city opportunities for family support and community

18:38 - Why physical presence matters more than digital connection

21:07 - Building a creative career through in-person connections