Karen Walrond is a writer, photographer, lawyer, author, and leadership and activism coach—a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator trained in Brené Brown's work on vulnerability, courage, shame-resilience and worthiness, as well as in positive psychology coaching from the Wholebeing Institute.
She is a bestselling author on the subjects of tapping into your superpowers and how to work for change in the world without losing your joy. Karen's latest book, The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change Without Losing Your Joy, will be published by Broadleaf Books in November 2021. She also has contributed both photographs and essays to books on self expression and faith, including Disquiet Time: Rants and Reflections on the Good Book by the Skeptical, the Faithful, and a Few Scoundrels, a compendium co-edited by Cathleen Falsani. Find Karen's Books HERE

​Karen is a sought-after keynote and TEDx speaker, who has spoken to small groups, as well as audiences comprised of thousands. Karen has spoken throughout the United States and abroad  on the topic of thriving through leadership development, the magic of creativity, the value of cultural and racial diversity and inclusion, and the power of social media. She has appeared on both local and national television and in other news media, including PBS, Huffington Post, CNN.com and The Oprah Winfrey Show.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Texas A&M University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center, and remains an active member of the State Bar of Texas. Karen was one of 2016's 40 over 40 Women to Watch, as well as one of YWCA-Houston's 2016 Outstanding Women of the Year.

Karen's website: Chookooloonks.com
Karen on Twitter: @Chookooloonks
Karen on Instagram: @HeyChookooloonks
Karen's Podcast: The Make Light Show

Kaitlyn Barrett  and Cathleen Falsani are co-hosts of the Artist Care and Feeding Podcast.

ACAF Twitter: @ArtistCareNFeed
ACAF Insta: @ArtistCareFeed
Kaitlyn Insta: @kaitlynfaebarrett
Kaitlyn LinkedIn: Kaitlyn Barrett
Cathleen Twitter: @godgrrl
Cathleen Insta: @godgrrl
​Cathleen LinkTree: @GodGrrl
Cathleen Latest: Look for the Light
Mark Insta:@markrivet

Kaitlyn Barrett  and Cathleen Falsani are co-hosts of the Artist Care and Feeding Podcast.

ACAF Twitter: @ArtistCareNFeed
ACAF Insta: @ArtistCareFeed
Kaitlyn Insta: @kaitlynfaebarrett
Kaitlyn LinkedIn: Kaitlyn Barrett
Cathleen Twitter: @godgrrl
Cathleen Insta: @godgrrl
​Cathleen LinkTree: @GodGrrl
Cathleen Latest: Look for the Light
Mark Insta:@markrivet

Kaitlyn Barrett and Cathleen Falsani are co-hosts of the Artist Care and Feeding Podcast.

ACAF Twitter: @ArtistCareNFeed
ACAF Insta: @ArtistCareFeed

​Kaitlyn Insta: @kaitlynfaebarrett
Kaitlyn LinkedIn: Kaitlyn Barrett

Cathleen Twitter: @godgrrl
Cathleen Insta: @godgrrl
​Cathleen LinkTree: @GodGrrl
Cathleen Latest: Look for the Light

Mark Insta:@markrivet

RIVES is a poet, storyteller, author, speaker, event host, paper engineer, night owl activist, and since 2013 has been curator of the Museum of Four O'Clock in the Morning. He is a frequent speaker at the TED conference (in fact he is one of a rare few presenters who have six talks on TED.com) and he has been a regular host of TEDActive and TEDYouth. Rives appeared on Seasons 3–6 of HBO's Def Poetry Jam and was a member of Team Hollywood, which won the 2004 National Poetry Slam. He also starred alongside model Bar Refaeli in the 2008 Bravo special Ironic Iconic America, touring the United States on a “roller coaster ride through the eye-popping panorama of American pop culture.”  Rives also appeared as the “first 2.0 poet” in a series of ads for telecom company Orange S.A., and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and appeared on NPR's All Things Considered. 

As a poet, Rives' way with words has been called a “demonstration of what the English language is capable of.” He is known for humorously layered and heartwarming pieces such as “Kite” and “Mockingbird," as well as for his use of multimedia in his performances, seamlessly intertwining images, video, and often the audience members themselves with his poems. 

Rives has written and paper engineered several pop-up books for children and adults. Flat pages can't contain his storytelling, even when paper is his medium. The pop-up books he creates for children unfold with surprise: The Christmas Pop-Up Present expands to reveal moving parts, hidden areas and miniature booklets inside. Early in his career, Rives worked at Intervisual Books, under the leadership of Waldo Hunt. Two pop-up books, with paper engineering by Rives--The Consummate Cigar Book and  If I Were A Polar Bear--were finalists for the Movable Book Society Meggendorfer Prize for Best Paper Engineering. 

Recently, with our Cathleen, Rives began hosting Nighthawks Hangouts, invitation-only online gatherings for night owls, nighthawks, dawn-treaders, night shifters, midnight ramblers, lifelong and situational insomniacs, apprentice vampires, and those who are more likely to stay up until than to wake up at dawn, and who often find themselves awake when much of the rest of the world is asleep. ​

Kaitlyn Barrett and Cathleen Falsani are co-hosts of the Artist Care and Feeding Podcast.

Our special minisode guest Ben Davis is a singer/actor originally from Indianapolis. He has lived in New York City for the last 19 years.
Ben enjoys an international concert career and has been seen on TV and in films around the world. Ben's father, Howard, passed away in 2014 after a battle with esophageal cancer. Every year since on his birthday, today, February 4 (which is also World Cancer Day), Ben has held a #PizzaForHoward #PizzaForHowie fundraiser—eat pizza; take a picture; post it on socials and tag dear Howie (who loved pizza); and donate $1 to the American Cancer Society.
We'd be grateful, if you are able, to join us in remembering a remarkable man and helping those at the forefront of the battle to eradicate cancer. CLICK HERE to donate.
​

Cherie B Tay (she/they) is a queer, BIPOC, gender non-conforming voice actor and multimedia creative artist. Cherie's working voice over genres include animation, commercial, e-learning, IVR, narration, podcasts, and trailers. In addition to being a voiceover artist, they are also a Broadway stage manager, professional photographer, videographer, and ukulele teacher.
​Broadway and tour credits include: Hadestown, Amélie, Gettin' The Band Back Together, War Horse, In the Heights. Cherie's photography work has been featured in The New York Times, Vulture, Time Out, Forbes, and numerous other publications.

​Cherie's TikTok: @cherieb.tay
Cherie's Insta: @cheriebtay
Cherie's Twitter: @CheriBTay
Cherie's Website: cheriebtay.com
Cherie's YouTube channel: CherieBTay

Kaitlyn Barrett and Cathleen Falsani are co-hosts of the Artist Care and Feeding Podcast. Our special minisode guest Kelley Weber is an award-winning actor, teacher, spiritual director, and knitter. ​

Kaitlyn Insta: @kaitlynfaebarrett
Kaitlyn LinkedIn: Kaitlyn Barrett

Cathleen Twitter: @godgrrl
Cathleen Insta: @godgrrl
​Cathleen's LinkTree: @GodGrrl
Cathleen's Latest: Look for the Light

Mark's Insta:@markrivet
Mark's Twitter:@rivetmark

Kelley's Insta: @kells_shwell
and @a_spiral_space
Kelley's website: www.aspiral.space
Kelley's Substack: A Spiral Space

​ACAF Twitter: @ArtistCareNFeed
ACAF Insta: @ArtistCareFeed

​***Spoiler Alert!***   

Do NOT listen to this episode UNLESS you have already watched the movie!!!!

Really. We mean it. 
Go watch In & Of Itself and then come back and listen to this episode. 

Seriously. So. Many. Spoilers.

You've been warned. 

***Spoiler Alert!***    

Derek DelGuadio's In & Of Itself is streaming on Hulu now!

Welcome to the dark corners of our pop-culture minds....

​Leah Lax is: A word person. A people person.
One of those creative sorts who has to try to walk around as an ostensibly rational person. (The pandemic has eased that problem.) A secret cellist. And a collaborator, perhaps because she thinks in terms of music she isn’t very good at making herself. Leah is also a refugee from extreme religion, who has seven grown kids. Leah’s memoir Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home is the only gay memoir ever to come out of the Hasidic world. It was on many “best of” lists, Susan Stamberg read it on NPR, and it is soon to be an opera by Grammy-nominated American composer Lori Laitman.
​Leah’s next book project is Not From Here, about how she rediscovered America through stories told her by immigrants and refugees, and why that matters. Leah has written four major projects based on interviews with interesting people: a touring photo exhibit, a large scale opera (Houston Grand Opera), a spoken word performance piece (the Houston Symphony), and her forthcoming book.

Twitter: @LeahLax
Facebook: LeahLaxAuthor
Leah's Website: LeahLaxAuthor.com 
​Leah's Amazon Author Page: Leah Lax