Erica and India discuss their intentions for the shows Pause on the Play® and Flaunt Your Fire®.  After nearly 300 combined episodes, they pause to explore how to use them as continued resources and how to stay in the loop about future projects.

Ready to dive deeper?

Keep in touch and find out what we’re up to at pauseontheplay.com

Diet culture is everywhere.

What we consider healthy. What we consider unhealthy. The foods that we’re taught are good for us and the ones that we’re told to stay away from. How we think about food, health, and wellness is shaped by a culture steeped in white supremacy culture.

There is so much more nuance available to us around food, health, wellness, and culture–not to mention enjoyment–when we break down the binary of good vs. bad foods, healthy vs. unhealthy people.

Dalina Soto, MA, RDN, LDN joins Erica for a conversation about diet and wellness culture, why ancestral and cultural foods too often get left out of the conversation, and the policy and systemic influences on what we think of as “healthy” food.

In this discussion:

• Why we need to expand binary thinking about nutrition and health
• How nutritional guidelines in the US leave out large swaths of cultural and ancestral foods
• The impacts of stress and other social determinants of health on the body, and why that’s a policy failure not a personal one
• Taking guilt and shame out of doing what you can with what  you have when it comes to food

Connect with Dalina Soto, MA, RD, LDN:

• Your Latina Nutritionist
• Instagram: @your.latina.nutritionist
• TikTok: @yourlatinanutritionist

Resources:

• "Anotha One"
• Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall
• Fearing the Black Body, Sabrina Strings
  
  

Ready to dive deeper?

Connect with values-aligned entrepreneurs and employees across titles and industries inside The Pause on the Play® Community. 

Join a network of individuals committed to making their values explicit, evolving the way they show up for themselves and each other, and growing their influence together. 

Get access to community conversations, live Q&As and workshops, and our whole library of evergreen resources.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

​So often, our goals and the way we feel about success come from what we’re supposed to want, what we’re supposed to do, and how we’re supposed to act and feel once we achieve those goals.

But being truly satisfied with our achievements means defining success outside of the “shoulds.”

Amanda McKinney joins Erica for a replay from a live conversation within The Pause on the Play Community about success, accidental entrepreneurship, and maintaining a balance between your business and your life.

In this discussion:

• Why it’s essential to pause and consider what you actually want from your business
• Why you can’t separate your values from the way you do business
• How to bring your values into the way you build your business

Connect with Amanda McKinney:

• Website
• Why Not You?: An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success
• FREE Guide to Defining Success
• Instagram: @theamandamckinney

Resources:

• 173. Diverse Perspectives: Reconsidering the Meaning of Success

Ready to dive deeper?

If you want to participate in live conversations like this one with Amanda, join us in The Pause on the Play Community.

Inside the Community, you’ll get access to live conversations, workshops, community conversations and Q&As, plus our whole library of evergreen resources.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

How do your identities impact the way you show up at work and how you interact with work culture?

How we move through the world is influenced by white supremacy, colorism, and capitalism, and it can have profound impacts on our working life and our physical and mental health.

And while none of us can extract ourselves entirely from these systems, it may be possible–even necessary–to say enough is enough and forge a new path.

Gabi Day joins Erica for a conversation about identity, work, capitalism, and her journey out of the corporate world to entrepreneurship.

In this discussion:

• How toxic educational and work environments impact mental and physical health
• How tokenism and gaslighting uphold systems of oppression
• Making the personal political by showing up with your values in life and work

Connect with Gabi Day:

• Bright Body
• TikTok: @itsgabiday
• Instagram: @mybrightbody

Resources:

• What is gaslighting? Examples and how to respond.
• Mind in Motion Therapy on Instagram: @minds_in_motion_therapy
• Blair Imani on Instagram: @blairimani
• Imani Barbarin on Instagram: @crutches_and_spice

Ready to dive deeper?

How do I share my values when they aren’t related to my work? 

We’ve been conditioned to show up to work as our “professional” self and leave our personal beliefs behind. But the truth is, values inform every area of our life, so why try to compartmentalize?

Each month in The Pause on the Play® Community, we explore one specific way to make your values more explicit. Our curated connections and learning experiences will help you challenge harmful norms, show up as an imperfect ally®, and live in alignment.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Have you ever felt like you betrayed yourself?

We live in a culture that teaches us to forsake our own wants in favor of serving others. We operate from a place of “I’m fine,” and get stuck in functional freeze, even when from the outside it appears we’re successful.

María-Victoria Albina joins Erica for a discussion about resentment and obligation, setting and holding standards, and tending to your nervous system as you pursue embodiment and change.

In this discussion:

• Changing the narrative on obligation
• Why setting standards and boundaries is a part of a self-reclamation
• How our nervous systems get stuck in functional freeze
• Why pushing too hard for ourselves to change can backfire

Connect with María Victoria Albina:

• Website
• Instagram: @victoriaalbinawellness
• Feminist Wellness Podcast
• Anchored: Overcoming Codependency

Resources:
Embodiment, Agency, and Choicefulness with María-Victoria Albina

• Download María-Victoria’s Free Meditations and Exercises
• Ratchet and Respectable Podcast
• Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, Susan Cain

Ready to dive deeper?

Change happens best when you have support. Find a community of like-minded individuals committed to helping each other show up and own their values in The Pause on the Play Community.

Members get access to community conversations, office hours, Q&As with Erica and India, live workshops, our library of resources and replays, and more.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

As seasons shift, our thoughts may turn to growth and transformation.

And it’s worth taking a pause to consider what you might need to let go of in order to continue to grow.

Erica shares her thoughts on releasing the ideas and narratives you no longer want to hold, creating space to grow, and affirmations to support you along the way.

In this discussion:

• Identifying and releasing the ideas and narratives that you no longer want to hold
• Integration and gratitude as you evolve and grow
• Affirmations to support you as you identify what you need to release

Ready to dive deeper?

Considering how you want to evolve and grow happens best with support. You can connect with values-aligned individuals across titles, industries, and experiences inside The Pause on the Play® Community.

Evolve the way you show up for yourself and others while growing your influence and amplifying your impact on your journey of Imperfect Allyship®.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Goal-setting can bring out the perfectionist in many of us. 

When our goals don’t account for our imperfect humanity, it leads to burnout and feeling like a failure. Getting stuck in the mentality that there is one course of action or one right way to do things doesn’t honor what we learn and experience along the way, even when things don’t go to plan.

Betsaida Lebron joins Erica to discuss setting J.A.N.K.Y goals that allow for imperfection, changing course, and getting outside of your comfort zone to make real change.

In this discussion:

• How improv and play can help you manage fear and get outside your comfort zone

• Setting goals that account for your humanity and capacity

• How perfectionism in goal-setting holds us back

• Why changing course doesn’t mean starting over

• How making sure your goals are aligned with your values helps you shape real change

CONNECT WITH BETSAIDA LEBRON:

• ImprovEQ
  
  
• Instagram: @playfulleader
  
  
• Connect with Betsaida on LinkedIn

READY TO DIVE DEEPER?

We’ve been conditioned to show up to work as our “professional” self and leave our personal beliefs behind. But the truth is, values inform every area of our life, so why try to compartmentalize?

Each month in The Pause on the Play® Community we explore one specific way to make your values more explicit. Our curated connections and learning experiences will help you challenge harmful norms, show up as an imperfect ally®, and live in alignment.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Your values are the foundation for every single thing that you do.

Yet sometimes, we think we have to leave those values at the door when we go to work, whether in our own businesses or as team members for others. But your values come with you wherever you go.

Erica and India discuss rethinking how your values show up in your business, getting explicit about them, and why being clear on your values helps you build lasting relationships with your team, your clients, and your audience.

In this discussion:

• Why it’s important to understand how your personal values show up in other areas of your life

• Building the foundations of company values and brand values

• How using psychographics allows your audience to evolve with you and build real relationships with your business and your brand

Ready to dive deeper?

Take a pause with your team to consider how your values can be infused into your work and company culture with the Implicit to Explicit Masterclass.

Get clarity on what your values are, why they matter, and how you can move forward integrating them into your work. 

Learn more about the Masterclass and how to sign up at pauseontheplay.com/explicit

Doing the work of shifting systems toward equity and equality can take a massive toll physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

It’s easy to feel like you’re not doing enough when you’re working against systems that existed long before you. But it’s important to remember that it’s not your debt to pay.

Erica shares a reminder about the debts that we owe, and the importance of doing the work in community.

In this discussion:

• Why you can’t internalize the debts created by preexisting systems

• Honoring both your capacity and responsibility as you do DEI work

• Why community and interdependence are vital to paying the systems’ debts

Resources:

• Tabitha Brown’s Instagram post

Ready to dive deeper?

None of us are meant to do this work alone. And not only should we not do it alone, we need to do it in community.

Inside of The Pause on the Play® Community is a space for interdependence and support as you navigate your Imperfect Ally® journey. The Community offers member discussion, workshops, resources, Q&As, and more to help you along the way, and so that you can witness others’ journeys as well.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

When you’re working toward creating more equity in your business, it can be tempting to use demographic labels to diversify your client list and work with underrepresented communities.

But assessing a potential client for fit is about more than labels. 

Guest host Cher Hale discusses why she chose to shift her business to working exclusively with underrepresented voices, how she sets and keeps her boundaries around client fit, and how she supports clients on their DEI journeys.

In this discussion:

• Cher’s process for evolving her ideal client and how she vets for values alignment

• Why demographic labels and DEI awareness aren’t enough to make someone a client candidate

• The combination of criteria and direct questions that Cher uses to assess for fit

• Why Cher says it’s important to acknowledge the limits of your ability to support your clients

Connect with Cher Hale:

• Gingko PR

Ready to dive deeper?

We’ve been conditioned to show up to work as our “professional” self and leave our personal beliefs behind. But the truth is, values inform every area of our life, so why try to compartmentalize?

Each month in The Pause on the Play® Community, we explore one specific way to make your values more explicit. Our curated connections and learning experiences will help you challenge harmful norms, show up as an Imperfect Ally®, and live in alignment.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Getting involved in the speaking industry is one way to build your thought leadership and support yourself or your business. 

But that journey isn’t the same for everyone. There is more work that needs to be done to make the speaking industry more equitable.

Danielle Tucker joins Erica for a conversation about the speaking industry, building thought leadership, and how people of color can be more visible and get paid well for what they do.

In this discussion:

• Where more accountability and responsibility are needed to bring equity to the speaking industry

• Why making change in the industry requires collaboration between speakers of color and allies in positions of influence

• How to build your visibility in ways that feel good and support your goals

• What it means to be a thought leader in a beneficial and impactful way

Connect with Danielle Tucker:

• Professional Speaker Websites

• Expansive Thought Leadership

• Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn

Resources:

• Danielle’s 25 Speaking Essentials Checklist

Ready to dive deeper?

If you want support in broadcasting your brilliance join Danielle and the other amazing members of The Pause on the Play® Community.

Get the knowledge and support you need to bring your voice to the world in a community that is working together and invested in each other’s success and wellbeing. 

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community