"It was like a Sunday, and I woke up - my mom doesn't often bring me the newspaper because I was a kid, and I didn't really wanna read the newspaper - but one day she did, and I flipped through it. And I remember they said they had a city council meeting the next week and I was like 14. And I just wondered, 'What does a city council do?'

So I said, 'Mom, when you get off work, can you drive me to a city council meeting?' And luckily my mom and I are on the same page about a lot of things. So she was like, 'Yeah, sure. I'm gonna drive my 14 year old to a city council meeting. Of course that's gonna happen.' And I attended. And then I go in. 

Being so straightforward with you, I remember thinking my town is about 50-50 Black and White, and we don't unfortunately have a lot of other racial and ethnic diversity. 

But when I walked in that room, it was me 14 year old, little Black girl, and everyone else over there was minimum 65 year old White guy. And I just remember being very confused about that.

Because if our town is 50-50, why aren't 50-50 represented in city government?"

Meet Eboni Freeman, a fellow Emory alum who is passionate about advocacy work in corporate and nonprofit spaces. She is also the founder of Wonder Stars of the Universe (https://www.wonderstarsuniverse.com/about), a brand with the intention to spread a message about equity and inclusion through podcasting, blogs, and creative writing. Eboni excels at disability inclusion and accessibility work. We have a conversation on what it means to actually create change in the world, and the patience that requires. If you are curious about diversity inclusion or accessibility work, feel free to reach out to Eboni and listen to the conversation!

"I think serendipity is a big word for me too. And I also think that it's somehow comforting to me and something that I talk to my children about all the time. I think it's wonderful if you know what you want to do, if you have a passion from the get go, but, the reality is not that for a lot of us. 

And certainly that was the case for me. You have so many opportunities to find your way and to change your mind and, you know, to reinvent yourself and to eventually fall into something that really drives you, that you find interesting and compelling that you want to dedicate your time to.

And so I think sometimes there's so much pressure when we're young and when we're, you know, I mean out of high school and getting into college to figure out exactly what to study, what you want to be. And the reality is, you know, hopefully life is long and you get multiple chances to figure out what your purpose is."

Meet Ghila Sanders, a friend I connected with through Amelia, a previous podcast guest. Ghila and I share a wonderful conversation about the boundary between work and passion, and how we can work towards minimizing that boundary through creativity. We also discuss what her travels back home to Italy have taught her and the insights about life she has gained from being a mother. I know it has been a while since an episode has been released, but I am happy to return with this specific conversation and more to come soon! 

"Sometimes, you know, you smile and have eye contact with someone else who's dancing salsa on this random Central Park corner. And you'll be like, 'Oh! like, you know, that human connection!' And so, I love that. I think the world is a book itself, so I'm able to read those pieces and kind of like imagining their story. I was walking on the street and there's like so many faces coming, you know, there's all these crowds. And to start imagining the life story of the other person? We don't typically make eye contact here in New York City. I don't intentionally make eye contact with strangers on the street. But I kind of like, just look at them. I mean, not intentionally, but thinking about, 'Okay, well, what is this person living through right now?' And I think it brought a lot of empathy. It's always like based on nothing, but it brought a lot of empathy inside of me because I'm just thinking about the stories behind those strangers, which I find comforting, strange enough, after a year of basically isolating."