In this episode of Rise + Rebel Podcast, Aya sits down with Michelle Doan, founder of Emani Vegan Cosmetics, for a conversation about beauty, intuition, sensitive skin, self-advocacy, and the courage it takes to build something from lived experience.

Michelle shares her story of leaving Vietnam as a child, spending time in a Thai refugee camp, growing up as an immigrant, and eventually creating a beauty brand after years of struggling with painful cystic acne and sensitive skin.

What began as a personal need became a clean beauty brand rooted in skin health, ingredient education, and helping women feel more confident in their own skin.

But this conversation goes far beyond skincare.

Michelle and Aya talk about trusting the “little whispers,” learning when to say yes and when to say no, building a business as a woman, overcoming shame, stepping out from behind the scenes, learning how to receive, and becoming your own advocate through every season of life.

We also explore practical beauty wisdom for sensitive skin, hormones, aging, menopause, skincare ingredients, and why self-care does not have to be complicated to be powerful.

This episode is for the woman learning to trust herself, advocate for herself, receive what is meant for her, and rise into the version of herself she used to hide.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Michelle’s journey from Vietnam to North America
• How cystic acne led her into clean beauty
• The birth of Emani Vegan Cosmetics
• Trusting intuition and the “little whispers”
• Saying yes, saying no, and taking the leap
• Women, shame, visibility, and learning to receive
• Why business mirrors back who you are
• Sensitive skin, acne, aging, hormones, and menopause
• The three P’s of skincare: potency, penetration, and proven results
• Becoming your own advocate in beauty, business, and life

Learn more about Michelle Doan and Emani Vegan Cosmetics here:
https://linktr.ee/emanicosmeticsofficial?utm_source=linktree_profile_share

Explore Emani, follow Michelle’s work, and support the brand she built from lived experience, sensitive skin wisdom, and a deep desire to help women feel confident in their own skin.

Subscribe to Rise + Rebel Podcast for conversations on creativity, entrepreneurship, identity, personal growth, and becoming who you were always meant to be.

What happens when the role you were praised for is no longer the role you are meant to play?

In this episode of Rise + Rebel Podcast, Aya sits down with comedian, podcaster, and creative Andrew Ginsberg — someone she first met years ago in the San Francisco corporate days.

Back then, Andrew was already funny, magnetic, and able to command a room. But behind the corporate role, the benchmarks, the praise, and the external validation, there was another question starting to rise:

Is this really who I am meant to be?

This conversation goes far beyond comedy.

Andrew and Aya talk about leaving the corporate script, finding your voice when there is no clear role to play, dealing with rejection, learning how to believe in yourself without applause, choosing love over fear, and trusting the creative ideas that are trying to move through you.

We also talk about entrepreneurship, manifestation, curiosity, the muse, the power of showing up, and how one unexpected idea turned into Andrew’s side project, Cannabis Curious Seniors.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt successful on paper but quietly wondered if there was something more honest, creative, free, and alive waiting underneath.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Leaving corporate life and stepping into comedy
• What happens when there is no script anymore
• Rejection, failure, and building emotional stamina
• Why external validation can keep us trapped in a role
• Manifestation, creativity, and following curiosity
• Becoming a vessel for creative ideas
• Why the journey matters more than the outcome
• Learning to trust the role that already lives inside you

Subscribe if you’re becoming who you were always meant to be.

Listen + follow Rise + Rebel Podcast on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Start here:
risewithaya.com/start-here

Guest links:
Andrew Ginsberg: AndrewGinsberg.com
Instagram: @thisisginsberg
Cannabis Curious Seniors: CannabisCuriousSeniors.com

What if courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to keep walking anyway?

In this episode of Rise + Rebel, Aya sits down with Carol Reid — speaker, coach, educator, caregiver, model, and contributing author of The Courage to Begin — for a powerful conversation about courage, healing, self-doubt, transformation, and what it means to begin from within.

Carol’s chapter in The Courage to Begin is titled Beginning From Within, and in this conversation, she shares what those words mean to her now. She opens up about finally telling her story, feeling exposed in the process, and discovering freedom on the other side of being honest.

We talk about fear, courage, caregiving, 12-step healing, learning to love the little girl within, claiming your space, and the moment Carol said yes to modeling at 70 — even though she was afraid.

This episode is a reminder that you do not have to feel fully ready to begin.

You can be afraid and still take the next right action.
You can carry doubt and still claim your space.
You can begin again from within.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What Beginning From Within means to Carol now
• How courage carried her through fear and self-doubt
• Why sharing her story felt both frightening and freeing
• Her journey through caregiving, healing, and 12-step recovery
• How she learned to see her own beauty from the inside out
• Saying yes to modeling at 70
• Why safe spaces matter
• The power of boundaries, support, and resourcefulness
• What it means to take the next right action

Subscribe if you’re becoming who you were always meant to be.

Join Aya’s Inner Circle:
risewithaya.com/start-here

Learn more about Carol at http://www.CarolReidSpeaks.com

Schedule a Complimentary Consult: http://calendly.com/carolreid

Connect with Carol Reid on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/reidempowermentllc