Can you love New Orleans deeply and still challenge the city to do better?New Orleans native, author, educator and literary critic Khefa Nosakhere says not only can you but sometimes you have to.In this episode of the Leverage YOU Podcast, Casey Ferrand McGee sits down with Khefa to discuss his provocative third nonfiction book, No Fat Tuesday! The Trouble with New Orleans.The conversation begins with the moment that inspired the book, which was seeing someone camped out to secure a prime Mardi Gras parade spot and contrasting that enthusiasm with experiences Khefa had as an educator and his concerns about civic participation.From there, the conversation goes much deeper.Khefa and Casey explore the tension between celebration and progress, whether the people responsible for creating New Orleans' world-renowned culture are benefiting economically from it, the limitations of an economy heavily dependent on tourism, and why Khefa believes New Orleans must think bigger about attracting new industries and opportunities.They also tackle education, including Khefa's argument for bringing back the junior high school model, what young people need from adults and mentors, and why simply telling young people to "work hard" isn't enough.And ultimately, Khefa explains why No Fat Tuesday! isn't about tearing New Orleans down. It's about believing the city can do better, and being willing to start the difficult conversations necessary to get there.In this episode:The story behind No Fat Tuesday!Celebration vs. progress in New OrleansCulture as an economic engineTourism, wages and economic opportunityK-12 education and the junior high school debateVoter apathy and civic engagementMentorship for young peopleWhy your perspective has value — even when people don't agree with itWhat Khefa hopes his legacy will beYour story is your strategy. Your perspective has value. And sometimes leveraging your voice means having the courage to say what others won't.Subscribe to the Leverage YOU Podcast for more conversations about turning your experiences, expertise and perspective into impact.

What if the people you love could still hear your voice, your wisdom and your words of encouragement long after you're gone?In this episode of the Leverage YOU Podcast, I sit down with communications strategist and entrepreneur Nicolia Stevens, founder of The Remembrance Collection, a legacy preservation service helping families intentionally capture personalized video messages for the people they love.But this business wasn't born from a business plan.It was born from Nicolia's own experience with unimaginable loss.Between 2016 and 2017, Nicolia experienced 13 deaths in approximately 18 months, including the murders of her niece, her sister and unborn child, and her husband, along with the deaths of her grandmother, father and other loved ones. In the years that followed, recordings of some of her final conversations became treasured connections to the voices she could no longer hear in person.That experience eventually inspired a bigger question:What if we became intentional about preserving those messages before our loved ones were gone?In this conversation, Nicolia shares how an act of love for a grieving friend's family eventually became The Remembrance Collection—and how she is turning her lived experience into a service designed to help other families preserve their stories.We talk about:✨ Why hearing a loved one's voice can be so powerful after loss✨ The difference between remembering someone and receiving a message created specifically for you✨ Why families shouldn't wait until hospice to preserve their stories✨ Creating digital heirlooms for children and future generations✨ What families often discover they wish they had asked✨ Turning lived experience into purpose and entrepreneurship✨ How Nicolia is learning to Leverage YOU by using what she already has to serve othersAnd I share a story of my own about a conversation with my grandmother shortly before her death—a piece of family history I never would have known had I not taken the time to ask.This episode is about more than death.It's about being intentional with life.Because the stories, lessons, laughter and love inside of us deserve to be preserved.🎙️ Subscribe to the Leverage YOU Podcast for conversations with founders, CEOs, creators and changemakers who are turning what they know, what they've lived and who they are into meaningful impact.