Ep 122: Representation Matters, with Janessa St. Pierre

HELLO EVERYONE! I know it's been a hot sec but what can I say? Mama's on vacay! It's fair to say this one was SO WORTH going back to the keys for.  Meet Dallas Barnes, CEO of Reya Health - a digital platform for personalized contraceptive counselling. Dallas created her company to help people with ovaries navigate their birth control journey. If you're like us, it's been a wild fucking ride figuring it out with NO guidance and you'll be screaming alongside the episode: ME FUCKING TOO!  In our RWWC custom, we retrace some of the steps which led Dallas to where she is today and how Reya Health came to be two years ago. Sadly too many of us are familiar with feeling dismissed or unserved by the medical community when negative side effects arise. Funding for research in marginalized genders' health must be prioritized in order for a lot of us to avoid unnecessary trials and tribulations. Help us spread the word, echo our plea for more research funding and help yourself with Reya Health. The app launches September 1st, and while the website and services are currently only available in Canada, if you are able to help Dallas cross borders do get in touch.  Topics: the challenges of starting your first business, celebrating small wins, discovering your sexuality, accessing the RIGHT birth control methods for yourself, setting boundaries, safety and access to information, advocating for yourself, feeling validated. Mention: Dr Sarah Hill. Give @reyahealth a follow and as always please do share this episode if you've found it helpful! With all my love, C. xox --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

This week let me introduce you to Mili, from @barenaked_me! The forces of nature, otherwise known as Mili's mother, brought us together one fateful morning, over some Kajmak and Jaffa cakes. Today, about a year later, we finally sit down to share what we've learned about emotions. Mili is an empowerment coach, who works with women on finding their true emotional selves. Join us in discussing what empowerment feels like and the effects of discovering it. If you've cried yourself to panic lying on the floor, because of a story you've been telling yourself, this one is for you.  Topics: #bodyimage, #patriarchy, covid #cocooning, #motherhood and #dietculture, debunking self love, learning is cyclical, #trauma, adrenal consequences of stress, #negativeselftalk, #validation, #storytelling, #nuance and MORE!  This episode has some true nuggets of gold, belly laughs and rants, as is on brand in this podcast. If this conversation calls you, please share it with your friends. It is more important than ever that we find time for these conversations.  Topics:  Find Mili on Instagram if you find yourself called to work with her, or know someone who could benefit from this kid of self work. As always, I leave you with love, until our next talk. xx  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Hello lovers! Please meet the lovely Kristine. You might know her from @theportraitsessions or @persepective feminine on IG. She is here today to chat with me about definitions of intimacy, of community and of relationship models. Join us on this exploration of - well, our feelings, and - the effects of covid isolation on our non-monogamous relationships.   Topics: pendulum swings, being alone together, codependency, control and consequences, cohabitation in non-monogamy, emotions vs reason, fear-based decisions, *a rant* about the lack of resources for ENM, loving your partner in opposing ways, living authentic lives in the good and the shitty, online dating and SO MUCH MORE.  Come join us on this exploration of how we have learned to love, to have sex, to see ourselves, and to create community.  Please feel free to refer back to episode 96 with Devon for context if you are curious! Go check out Kristine and her beautiful, awe inspiring work. Thank you so much for listening and remaining faithful to our human explorations. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for future episodes! With all the love, C. x --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Hello everyone! We are closing off September, also known as Alopecia Awareness Month, with this vulnerable and rage-filled episode with Janessa St Pierre! Join us for this tour of the marks as she has experienced them, working in the film industry as a Black woman in Vancouver.  As usual, we go back to childhood and family, ballet dancing and high school socialization, to highlight how we got here. Listen in if you wanna rage with us about racism, misogyny, the male gaze and how toxic the filmmaking machine still is. Last but not least, Janessa takes the time and energy to share her Alopecia story with us and raise some awareness about the autoimmune disorder and its lack of representation.  Topics: reaching awareness of racist micro-aggressions, performative activism vs. accountability, belonging & internalized racism, inclusivity & imposter syndrome, toxicity in the film industry, the 3 different types of Alopecia, why is hair loss scary?, beauty standards, storytelling and the way it informs the collective self, and much more.  The first half of this conversation ties into a lot of stories featured by @iastories about the potential strike of film technicians in the US at the moment and I urge you to educate yourself about what it takes to make the TV shows and movies that you love, and amplify the voices fighting for our workers' rights.  Shout out to Jason ALM for introducing us way back when and to Sommer from @raisethatbarre. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it widely as the intent here is to spread a moment of vulnerability, togetherness and awareness.  With love, C. xox --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Hi everyone! Meet Erin Davidson, sex and relationship therapist from Vancouver, BC, here today to talk about her new book Break Through the Breakup. Join me in discovery Erin's story of the "reformed good girl/people pleaser" as we discover which rules she decided to scrap and how she ended up here. Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault content. We talk about unlearning religious sexual scripts and messages, highschool boyfriends in university, and embodying the attributes that we personally decided were valuable. What would happen if sex didn't exist? Or not in the way we conceive of it? Join us on this ride down my favorite rabbit holes.  Topics: Christianity vs Sex, hearts as the backpacks of our lives, heartbreak, shame & guilt, sexual debuts, therapy, processing sexual assault openly, #metoo, the power of writing, healing, the 3 Components of Self Compassion, and so much more!  For more about Erin, go to erinedavidson.com or find her on IG @erin.e.davidson. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast and sticking around. I see you and I'm so grateful for you. So much love, C. xo --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Hello weirdos. Meet my good friend Tony. Tony and I went to university together and have managed to stay in each other's lives in various capacities for the last 8 years. Today, in line with men's health month, we are here to talk about mental health and in particular, how it's affected Tony and what tools have helped him in difficult times. Join us for this walk down memory lane at UBC and how the last two years have shaped his relationships.  Topics: children of divorces, athletes and their outlets, #dormlife, the evolution of dating, communication skills, unconventional career choices, vulnerability and emotions, #videodates, going to therapy, reaching out and sharing with friends, and life advice from an auto-mechanic shop.  Shout out to the OG UBC Pit Pub and its survivors, as well as anyone who survived Gage towers. Also bonus embarrassing story of my boat accident at the end of the episode. You're welcome  Thanks so much for listening. We hope that as a society we can foster a more healthy mental environment for all people and dismantle the systems of shame that have previously prevented men from seeking and receiving mental healthcare. As always, Tony and I are here if you need an ear or a shoulder for support. You can reach him @t.ganto on IG and you know where to find me. With all the love, C. xo --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Hi friends, lovers and strangers, meet Ariel. Ariel comes to us this week thanks to Mark, to tell her story of addiction and recovery. Trigger warnings for eating disorders, addiction, mental health and sexual trauma. Please listen at your own discretion.  Ariel candidly recounts her childhood and adolescence, with the hindsight that recovery allows. We follow her along her journey from teen rebellion, through adventures and homelessness, into treatment facilities and life on the other side. If you've ever wondered how or why people are nice, you might wanna listen in to Ariel's revelation about pro-social behaviour and what happiness is.  Topics: bulimia, alcohol and drug addiction, trauma, rock bottoms and amends, homelessness, escapism, negative self-talk, the inefficacy of social safety nets and programs, emotions, NA & AA, sober dating & sex, healing, abortion, polyamory, and so much more!  Shout out to charlfordhouse.ca. Thanks so much for listening to yet another  story. We tell these with empathy and love in mind. If you know anyone who would benefit from hearing it, please do share. To get in touch with Ariel, you can find her @thattallgirlariel. With lots of love, your C. xo --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Friends, lovers and strangers - meet my darling dear friend Oona. Oona runs and co-founded a tech co-op called BRAVE, that provides services to prevent overdose deaths. Today, she discusses with me the myriad rabbit holes that brought her to her calling, as well as her personal experiences with grief that currently inhabit her heart.  We talk about the virtual supervised injection site app that she helped create and implement, and how technology continues to allow for tangible, actionable change (despite our growing disappointments with it). Join us for this very personal, vulnerable and rich episode about how life is senseless and we - and only we - ascribe it its meaning.  Topics: substance use, the #overdosecrisis & OD prevention, isolation, reaching out, social media, death, soulmates, taboos in the circle of life, rites of passage, grief vs pain, coping, colonialism, parenting, self-love, and so much more!  Oona's prompt and homework for the week goes as follows: in what ways do you currently put yourself at the center of your own life? If you do manage to do so, what tools do you use? Feel free to answer this question via email or by finding me on IG.  Thanks so much for listening. To support BRAVE, go to brave.coop. To get in touch with Oona, you can find her @the_oona_verse. Thanks again for spending this hour with us and don't forget to support this podcast any which way you can if this has brought you anything worth keeping. xx --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Hello lovers! Meet Josh! You might know him as Ivan in Amazon's comedy series Upload, but Josh is also a writer and hilarious human all around.  He takes me down memory lane as we explore his childhood in Baldwin Hills, LA and going to multiple denominations of religious schools. We share our common experience of having survivalist parents and coming out to our parents as creatives. Join us for this wonderful ride down some unexpected paths of conversation and some real deep shit.  Topics: favorite kinds of underwear, shame, immigrant mentality, our worst #weed stories, quarantine stories, parenting, #marriage, the impulse to create, OnlyFans for Crying, being #softandsquishy vs. tough love, vulnerability as strength, resilience, sexuality and boundaries, writing and MORE!  Reference: The Defiant Ones on Netflix, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, My Dad Wrote A Porno - the podcast.  For more about Josh, you can find him on IG @joshbanday or at joshbanday.com for more on his writing and VO/acting work.  Thanks again for joining us for this glorious rabbit hole of a podcast episode and I hope some of these topics will inspire you to have these difficult conversations with your parents, children and/or chosen family. With all the love, your C.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support

Welcome back my lovers. Well, this one is a personal one. My partner Mark recently recovered from COVID 19. We talk about what it was like: from finding out he tested positive, to balancing isolation from each other in a one bedroom apartment. The mental toll of this disease is unlike anything we've been through in our lifetimes and we get into those feels. Mark describes his symptoms, his fears and the impact of social media on his recovery. "We're stuck with each other, but I'm not even there," are words that haunt me still. Join in if you have experienced this situation and need to feel not alone in this. Or if you are curious and want to be prepared, should this happen to you.  Topics: #covid19, social isolation, the privileges required to actually quarantine, the strain on our relationship, resentment, fear, #boomers, the irony of survivalist mentality, shame, capitalism, Glennon Doyle's Imagination, anger and social stratas.  Please, please, please take this seriously. We are not out of this yet. I need you all to make it so we can continue to tear it all apart for a better reconstruction.  Ps: This episode was recorded outside so bear with us in the first few minutes of heavy breathing sounds. We are learning as we go here, always have and always will. Shoutout to Kevin Costner's Yellowstone for keeping me alive.  Thanks for being part of the journey and now more than ever, I send you all my love and well wishes. C, xo. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/runningwildwithchristine/support