This week I am sharing my conversation with Mike Robbins. Mike Robbins is a speaker and author of five books, including, Bring Your Whole Self to Work and We're All in This Together. I had a bunch of questions ready to ask Mike about his newest book. But our conversation went in an entirely different direction. And for that, I am grateful.

In this episode, Mike and I discussed the value and importance of talking about race, white privilege, and why being vulnerable is so important, now more than ever. Being vulnerable forces us to ask of others and of ourselves, “Can I trust you with my time, my space, and my voice?” The world is divided - vulnerability is just one way we can begin to open up to talk about and take action for social justice, equality, and civil change.  

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Mike’s idea and journey for his book, We’re All In This Together. 
• When he realized we are not all in this together. 
• Mike’s experience with understanding what white privilege means. 
• Acknowledging how our conversation is an example of centering whiteness. 
• One entry point to anti-racism can be helpful is if white people call forward other white people. 
• The importance of being vulnerable. 

http://yourkickasslife.com/342

This week I have an episode featuring Makenna Held. Makenna is someone who is wise beyond her years. She is a writer, educator, and serial entrepreneur. While she's most known for being ‘the woman who bought Julia Child’s house’, that is one of the least interesting things about her. Her business, personal, and leadership coaching is committed to exploring paradigms of the human condition including liberation, human potential, obliterating capitalism's hold on our souls, and the essence of suffering. 

Today, Makenna and I discuss the inheritance of whiteness by white people and why it is our job, (as white people), to unpack and dismantle it. We also discuss putting the focus on the value you provide to people rather than putting the focus on the value of money, how to begin to dismantle the patriarchy, and sitting with the uncomfortable in with personal growth. This episode is a perfect reminder that it’s never too late to make a change. 

In this episode you’ll hear:

• What Makenna means by “Whiteness is a sickness white people carry.” (5:00)
• Obliterating capitalism's hold on our souls and putting the focus on the value you provide, instead. (12:30)
• Where to start: dismantling the patriarchy or patriarchal structures. (18:03)
• Human design and why it is so important for women to trust their intuition. (32:12)
• How the concepts of cooking tie into personal development. (38:00)

http://yourkickasslife.com/341

Have you ever considered the deeper meaning behind personal development and the self-help industry as a whole? This episode with guest Andréa Ranae is guaranteed to get you thinking (and talking), and what she talks about affects everyone, not just coaches or someone in the self-help industry.

Andréa is a coach herself who wrote a blog post last summer titled, Why the Self-Help Industry Isn’t Changing The World, which went viral and has been shared thousands of times since. She believes there is a disconnect between our own industry and the work of social justice, and even offers a Coaching As Activism Program to her clients.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why did her post really strike a nerve with coaches and healers alike? (5 minutes and 15 seconds)
•  The reasons why the work of changing the world doesn’t stop at an individual (8:15)
• Why the lessons of the Law of Attraction are laden with privilege - if you are not systematically oppressed (8:51)
• Why focus on your identity but not how we have been impacted by dehumanizing messages about women? (16:39)
• How limiting beliefs are instilled in you and why you have to “name it to tame it!” (19:46)

As Andréa shares, “do-gooders” of the world often don’t want to bring “politics” and the stuff that’s happening around us into their work, but it’s something we can hide from. Her opinion is that self-love and self-care will not change the world, and I’m interested to hear from you about your thoughts on our conversation!