#28 - F*ck the algorithm, Feed the ancestors

Episode 28: F*ck the Algorithm, Feed the AncestorsWhat happens when you stop trying to fit into the algorithm and start listening to the wisdom of your ancestors?In this episode of Shapeshifter, the first one after a long while, I’m sharing some of the experiences that have been shaping me lately, from my time in Brazil with the Huni Kuin Indigenous community to turning 42, watching my daughter prepare to leave home, and stepping into a new chapter of womanhood.We reflect on the lessons I’ve been learning about identity, belonging, creativity, ageing, desire, and the kind of wisdom that comes with allowing ourselves to change. We talk about reconnecting with our body and sensuality, questioning the stories we’ve been told about getting older, and embracing the parts of ourselves that no longer need to prove anything to anyone.Let’s make space for what comes next, trusting the timing of our lives, and remembering that we don’t have to fit into someone else’s expectations – no more!In this episode, we explore:F*ck the Algorithm, Feed the Ancestors: A reframe around thinking differently about creativity, visibility, and what it means to create from a deeper place of truth.Identity, Belonging & Finding Home: Reflections on living between cultures and realising that belonging doesn’t have to mean choosing just one part of ourselves.Desire, Sensuality & Reawakening: How reconnecting with my body has opened up new questions about pleasure, expression, and the freedom to feel fully alive.The Wisdom of the Abuela: Growing older, a new version of womanhood, grounded and quiet confidence unlocked!Creativity, Change & Making Space: how to allow your ideas to unfold at their own pace, and trusting the timing.The Knitwear Collection & the Feeling of Being Held: The story behind my latest collection and how clothing can become an expression of the body, softness, and self-acceptance.Spirit of the Jaguar: A look toward the next chapter and the experiences that continue to call us forward.This episode is a reminder that it’s ok to take a long break, because you’re out there living your life so that you have stories to tell. Your people will be waiting for youResources & Mentions:Spirit of the Jaguar, an ancestral land based immersion in El Salvador, 23rd-30th January, 2027 – download full info hereThe Big Bush Energy knitwear collection is coming, get your name on the waitlist hereRed Moon Passage, a beautiful book on Menopause as ritual and ceremonyLetters that arrive like lighting into your inbox – juicy stuff! Sign up hereHere’s Kate’s Instagram – if you ever need knitwear support, she’s your woman!It’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Let’s connect on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch, or send me an email at [email protected] – I read and respond to all your messages.Help me share the joy!If this episode stirred something in you, leave a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform so others can find us and remember too.I’ll see you in the forest 🐆✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

What if vulnerability and creativity weren’t weaknesses — but the truest form of strength?In this episode of Shapeshifter, I sit with Rena, an artist, healer, and creator, to explore the transformative power of crying, vulnerability, and ancestral connection. From the intimate moments of shedding tears to the tactile joy of silk painting, Rena shares how she turned her lineage, intuition, and life experiences into a living practice of self-expression, connection, and healing.Recorded with honesty, laughter, and song, this episode is a gentle reflection on the ways our bodies, hearts, and creativity guide us — often more wisely than our minds.Join us as we explore:The Healing Power of Tears: Why allowing yourself to cry is not weakness, but a release of cortisol and a path to joy, endorphins, and connection.Vulnerability as Permission: How showing up fully, even when it’s uncomfortable, gives others a “permission slip” to do the same.Heightened Senses & Intuition: How Rena’s unique ways of sensing the world—through hearing, touch, and energy—inform her creativity and work with women.Doula Work & Life Guidance: The magic of intuition, life cycles, and holding space in both birth and creative practices.Ancestral Wisdom & Textile Legacy: How Rena’s Yaya inspired a lifelong love of weaving, crochet, and storytelling through textiles — transforming laborious work into art, connection, and healing.Art as Story & Healing: The power of creating pieces that carry stories, pass on energy, and connect generations.Song & Presence: Rena shares a snippet of her song Saga Po, a reminder of joy, love, and embodiment through sound.This episode is for those who feel deeply, who create from the heart, and who are seeking ways to live fully, vulnerably, and joyfully. Artists, healers, mothers, space holders, and those who hold stories close — this conversation is for you.✨ Connect with RenaRena’s Instagram — follow for silk art, storytelling, and creative expression in motionRena’s Bespoke Scarves 🧣 — explore her silk-painted creations and commissioned pieces on her websiteRena’s LinkedIn — connect for collaborations and professional enquiries🌿 Remember: Showing up fully is a gift — to yourself, and to the people who need to see that it’s possible.It’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

What if leadership didn’t ask you to climb higher, speak louder, or move faster — but instead invited you to root deeper? In this episode of Shapeshifter, I share a living philosophy that’s been growing within me for years (but I didn’t know it!): Leading like a tree.Recorded in the presence of winter trees, birdsong, and big blue skies, this episode is a slow, honest reflection on leadership, legacy, and the deep exhaustion many of us feel with the dominant models of success, urgency, and visibility. This isn’t a strategy-heavy episode, it’s an ancestral remembering, rather than a terrestrial one.Join me as we explore:Why Traditional Leadership No Longer Fits: Questioning urgency, extraction, hierarchy, and the idea that it’s “lonely at the top.”Rooted Leadership: What it means to lead from lineage, ancestry, and the body — not from algorithms or market gaps.The Tree as Teacher: Understanding leadership through roots, trunk, branches, fruit, leaves, and soil — and how this living architecture applies to your work and life.Fulfilment Beyond Metrics: Why multi-six-figure success without nervous system safety and joy isn’t success at all.Visibility Without Burnout: Honouring cycles, seasonality, and presence without betraying yourself.Leadership That Lasts Generations: The story of living tree bridges in India and why true leadership is often for people we’ll never meet.A New Way Forward: Introducing Lead Like a Tree — a living practice for those who are done with forcing, hustling, and performing.This episode is for the shapeshifters, the quiet leaders, the artists, witches, space holders, mothers, elders, women of depth and creators who feel the call to do things differently. Slowly, honestly, and in reciprocity with life itself.If your work took 20, 30, or 50 years to fully bloom… would you still do it? If the answer is yes, this episode is for you. 🌿 Remember: you were never meant to do this alone. Let’s grow something that outlives us. LEAD LIKE A TREE – a living practice for those that don’t fit inside traditional leadership models, we begin February 17It’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

In this raw, and nuanced, reckining filled episode, Shapeshifter returns from a short break and I speak about the noisy world we live in — and what it really means to find your role within it. From political flashpoints across the globe to the addictive hit of online outrage (takes one to know one), I share how easily we can get swept up in cycles that make us feel alive… while quietly distracting us from the deeper, harder work in our own homes and spirits.This is not a call to disengage. It’s a call to discernment. To choosing where our fire truly belongs. And it’s a reminder that when the world grows louder, our roots can grow deeper. Anchored in the soil of legacy, spirit, and your calling.In this episode we explore: • The addictive dopamine of outrage and why it feels like action • How world events outside the West (Nepal, Panama, Mozambique, Colombia) can shift our perspective • Why online noise can mask unfinished inner work • The grounding practice of rooting deeper when the world rattles • Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Ecosystem Map and the roles of healer, disruptor, storyteller, weaver, and more • Letting your purpose unfold in its own time (my journey with Ancestral Awakening) • The gift of not forcing your calling to “pay the bills” — and what happens when you give it time • A preview of Blood and Bones, my Día de los Muertos gathering with Eda, an Amazonian medicine woman Resources & Mentions: • Conversation with Eda, Medicine Woman Episode 17: This is not community help • Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Ecosystem Map, find out more here • Ancestral Awakening waitlist for 2026, join hereBLOOD & BONES day of the dead gathering with Eda, icaros, cacao and connection – join the waitlist hereIt’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

In this radiant, real, and sometimes ridiculous episode, I sit down with my luminous friend Franca—spirit-channel, clarity-weaver, queen of sequins and silence. We talk about what it really takes to speak your truth in public, the invisible risks of visibility, and the awkward tension between “I want to share this” and “What if I get cancelled?” (Spoiler alert: block and bless, darling.)We cover everything from commenting on Instagram posts with actual courage, to the truth about menopause (hint: it’s not always a liberation parade), to channelling spirit in the kitchen with a pot of bean soup. It’s raw, deliciously witchy, and full of technicolour permission to be in the mess and the magic.Franca shares her journey with HRT (and the surprising reconnection to spirit that followed), the birth of her alter-egos Queen and Chiquita, and how the art of being seen is always shapeshifting.Whether you're someone who’s mid-transformation, hiding drafts in your reels folder, questioning the vibe of “wellness perfection,” or just here for the petty rage and the sequins—this one’s for you.In this episode we explore:The art of sharing your voice without self-censorshipWhy we second guess our intuition Losing and reclaiming your spiritual connection in midlifeDancing in the dark as a portal to channellingChiquita & Queen: Franca’s fierce, funny, illustrated alter-egos born from menopausal chaosWhat it really means to channel—and how to trust it, even if it feels made upWhy creativity is a fun, messy, divine transmission (yes, even when the phone hits your face)___🌿 Resources & Mentions:Franca’s website and her instagram – follow for on point biz and life guidance with a side of sass and glitterAfrica Brooke’s book The Third PerspectiveThe College of Psychic Studies websiteThe Joy Witch’s substack___Ancestral Awakening is open for applications, my most honest and transformative offering yet, opens this September. If you’re ready to go deep into your lineage, roots, and ancestral memory, so that you can build a spiritual spine (trust me, your business doesn’t need another funnel) there’s a spot for you in the circle. JOIN HEREIt’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

It’s not a ladder, it’s a spiral case! In today’s episode we have a layered, spiralling exploration of artistry, creative integrity, and the sacred economics (can economics be sacred!?) of living a life paid for by your gifts.What do you call it when your work doesn’t fit into the boxes of “business” or “hobby”? When it’s too magical to be reduced to content, too alive to turn into a funnel, and yet—yes—you still want to be paid? And be paid well.This is a love letter to the shapeshifters. To those who refuse to call themselves content creators, CEOs, or scalable machines. Who build altars and communities. Who trace their business model back to the ancestral fires, not marketing dashboards.Join me as we explore:Calling vs. Content: Why your work is not content and why calling it that might make your body recoil.Redefining Success: How to live a life paid for by your gifts without turning your creativity into a machine.The Voice of Doubt: Giving space to the inner critic obsessed with metrics, funnels, and “doing it right”… and offering it a wise response. Yes, I’m literally shifting between voices and personas here!Sacred Trade: Why exchanging your magic for money isn’t sleazy, it’s part of your legacy.The Spiral Staircase Model: Building a life and body of work that grows inward, outward, and upward—at your own rhythm and in cycles that flow.For the artists, mystics, witches, and misfits who:Feel allergic to strategy but still want to thriveWant to be profitable without selling their soulsHave a “thing” that moves others, not because of a CTA but because it’s real, ancestral, and aliveThis one is for you.You don’t have to call yourself a CEO to be taken seriously.Your work is sacred. And yes, it can pay your bills, feed your family, and buy you that ticket to the Orkney islands.___🌿 Resources & Mentions:Rena's sacred scarvesEpisode 7 – Don’t Require Your Art to Pay Your BillsThe Somatic School – Body-Oriented Coach Training (get in touch if you're curious)__Coming soon: Ancestral Awakening, my most honest and transformative offering yet, opens this September. If you’re ready to go deep into your lineage, roots, and ancestral memory, there’s a spot for you in the circle. Join the waitlist for Ancestral Awakening hereIt’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

What if the real question about AI isn’t what it can do—but what it will never be able to feel? In this episode of Shapeshifter, I wade through the noise of automation, convenience, and productivity to reflect on something deeper: what makes us human, and why that matters more than ever.Join me as we explore:The Rise of AI: What ChatGPT and other AI tools are doing for us—and to us.Feeling vs. Function: Why the body matters, and why AI’s lack of a nervous system means it can never truly blush, tremble, or fall in love.Textiles, Memory & The Goss: How women have passed ancestral wisdom through threads, gossip, and sacred mess for generations.Ceremony vs. Simulation: The danger of replacing embodied ritual with digital efficiency, and why presence still holds the power.Choosing Slowness: Why in a world that’s speeding up, artists and shapeshifters are being called to zag—to slow down, gather, stitch, and remember.This episode is a love letter to the handmade, the heartfelt, the imperfect, and the deeply human. If you’ve ever felt like your soul is whispering “don’t forget the pulse,” this one’s for you.Coming soon: Ancestral Awakening, my most honest and transformative offering yet, opens this September. If you’re ready to go deep into your lineage, roots, and ancestral memory, there’s a spot for you in the circle. Join the waitlist for Ancestral Awakening hereWILD ART JOURNALING in my garden – we’ll next commune with the art of making, led by the wonderful Moyra Scott, find out more here and book your spotIt’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

What if food was more than nourishment—what if it was a language of belonging? In this heartfelt episode of Shapeshifter, I share a story about beans, grief, and the tenderness of loneliness—woven together in a conversation that’s part memory, part ritual, and part invitation to see your own table in a new light.Join me as we explore:Ancestral Language of Food: How cooking—no matter how simple—can awaken memories and reconnect us to those who came before.The Ache of Loneliness: Reflections on the quiet sadness we carry and how moth energy reminds us to honour it, not fix it.Beans as Portal: The magic of gathering around a pot of beans, where honesty and shared stories nourish more than just the body.The Hummingbird and the Moth: How joy and grief can coexist at the table and why tending both is essential.The Power of Gathering: Creating spaces that honour our ancestors, feed our communities, and remind us that we are never alone.If you’ve ever felt the pull of a memory in the kitchen, the ache of loneliness at the dinner table, or the quiet knowing that the ancestors are always near, this episode is for you.Coming soon: Ancestral Awakening, my most honest and transformative offering yet, opens this September. If you’re ready to go deep into your lineage, roots, and ancestral memory—there’s a spot for you in the circle. Join the waitlist for Ancestral Awakening hereDREAMSCAPE aka the coolest cacao gathering ever – we’ll next commune with abuelita cacao during the summer solstice on the 21st June, book your spot hereIt’s here!!! The Joy Witch Cacao is now available to buy, from El Salvador to the world!Get your Mayan horoscope sign here✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

What if the question “Who do you think you are?” wasn’t a judgment, but rather a curious (and rather philosophical) exploration on being seen or not. Join me as we meander through the vast fields of Glastonbury alongside some sheep and other insects – to ponder on this question.In this episode of Shapeshifter, we take a look at both sides of the tortilla, the wound and the awakening. Many of us first may have heard it as a shutdown, a silencing. But what if it could also be a key to deeper self-understanding, ancestral connection, and creative liberation?Join me as we explore:The Dual Nature of the Question: How “Who do you think you are?” can be both a dagger and a doorway—and how to recognise which one you’re facing.Ancestral Amnesia: Why forgetting where we come from is a survival strategy and what it takes to begin remembering.Identity Beyond Labels: The tension between naming ourselves and remaining expansive in who we’re becoming.The Danger of Certainty: How the pressure to be “clear” or “certain” about who we are can actually limit our growth.Embracing the Unknown: Why not knowing is a powerful part of our becoming—and how to be with that mystery.If you’ve ever felt like you had to shrink, contort, or explain yourself just to belong—this episode is your invitation to reclaim the question “Who do you think you are?” and answer it on your own terms.Coming soon: Ancestral Awakening, my most honest and transformative offering yet, opens this September. If you’re ready to go deep into your lineage, roots, and ancestral memory—there’s a spot for you in the circle.Join the waitlist for Ancestral Awakening hereDREAMSCAPE aka the coolest cacao gathering ever – we’ll next commune withabuelita cacao during the summer solstice on the 21 st June, book your spot hereGet your Mayan horoscope sign hereBe the first to know when the Joy Witch's Cacao from El Salvador lands!✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.

What happens when visibility comes at the cost of integrity? In this fiery and raw episode of Shapeshifter, I share a story I’ve held in my body for years—a story of revenge, rage, and ultimately, reclamation. This is a journey through fashion as portal, identity as power, and the deep ancestral roots that help us remember who we the f*ck really are. Join me as we explore:Rage as a Compass: What it feels like to connect with your ancestral fury rising through your body and what it teaches us about betrayal, both from others and from the self.The Cost of Compromise: Ignoring clear red flags in pursuit of visibility, compromising your own voice and diluting your creativity.Fashion as Medicine: How a red hoodie became a sacred object, holding both the wound and the wisdom of my creative journey. Fashion, when held with intention, becomes a sacred portal for remembrance and returnRooting Instead of Reacting: How choosing integrity over popularity leads to inner power and leadership.Beyond Labels: Why I no longer identify as a “woman of color” and what it means to root in lineage instead of language.🧶 This story is a weaving — of red threads, ancestral fire, and deep feminine knowing. May it remind you to stay rooted, stay true, and never shrink your magic for palatability. When the world shakes you, your roots will hold you. – Caro GomezComing soon: Ancestral Awakening, my most honest and transformative offering yet, opens this September. If you’re ready to go deep into your lineage, roots, and ancestral memory—there’s a spot for you in the circle. Join the waitlist for Ancestral Awakening hereDREAMSCAPE aka the coolest cacao gathering ever – we’ll next commune with abuelita cacao during the summer solstice on the 21st June, book your spot hereGet your Mayan horoscope sign hereBe the first to know when the Joy Witch's Cacao from El Salvador lands!✨ Want more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram @carogomez_joywitch for deeper conversations on unconventional thinking, creativity, and spirituality!Spread the joy! Did this episode leave you feeling empowered or inspired? Help others find the same magic by leaving a rating and review on your favourite podcast platform. Your feedback is like fuel for the show, and it helps others discover the power within themselves.