Fat Joy with Sophia Apostol

Six conversations. So much creativity. And one last invitation.In this final episode of the Creation Lab Capsule Collection, Sophia wraps the series with gratitude, reflection, and a return to ritual. After realizing she forgot to include poetry at the end of these episodes, she closes things properly with a poem.She reflects on what the guests stirred in her, the creative risks she’s taking in her own life, and the deeper theme running through it all: fat joy as resistance.This is also the final invitation to join Fat Joy Creation Lab, as Applications close on Friday, February 20, 2006. Please visit https://www.fatjoy.life/creation-lab for program information and the Application form.Keep connected with Fat Joy:Fat Joy InstagramFat Joy website

In this episode of the Fat Joy Creation Lab capsule collection, Sophia talks with longtime fat liberation educator, podcaster, and consultant Vinny Welsby (they/them) about building meaningful work over time without burning out or shrinking yourself to fit.They explore creativity as a source of joy, a tool for connection, and a quiet force for cultural change. From podcasting before feeling “ready,” to building a consulting practice that brings fat liberation into corporate spaces, Vinny shares what it looks like to make things imperfectly and keep going anyway.In this episode, they talk about:Why your first drafts, first episodes, and first offerings are supposed to be messyTurning an idea into a Minimum Viable Product instead of waiting for perfectionFat visibility as an act of resistance, especially in business and leadershipThis episode is for you if you’re holding an idea that won’t leave you alone — and you’re ready to take one imperfect, brave step toward bringing it into the world.To learn more about how you can tap into your creativity and take an idea from napkin scribble to something alive in the world, check out the Fat Joy Creation Lab. Applications close February 20th!!!Vinny Welsby (they/them) is a fat activist and diversity, equity and inclusion leader. They are a world-leading expert on dismantling anti-fat bias and diet culture, a TEDx speaker, podcast host and best-selling author. Vinny is trans-non-binary and is dedicated to shifting how society views fat and queer bodies through education and compassion.When Vinny isn’t talking about DEI stuff they love snuggling with their dog, cross-stitching swear words and singing in a pop choir.Website: www.fiercefatty.comWebsite: www.weightinclusiveconsulting.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fierce.fatty/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weightinclusiveconsulting/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fiercefattyConnect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

In this episode of the Fat Joy Creation Lab capsule collection, Sophia sits down with community organizer, baker, and spiritual practitioner Erica Joy (they/she) for a wide-ranging conversation about co-creation, identity, and what it means to build liberatory offerings without rushing the process.Erica shares the story of co-creating Cosmic Healing with her sister (the multiple-person readings kay does are called "synastry") and also dives into Erica’s newest offering, Cooking Fulla Joy, a liberatory approach to food, cooking, and pleasure that actively divests from diet culture. Erica speaks beautifully about food as connection, nourishment, and joy, and why cooking support must be emotional, embodied, and communal, not prescriptive.In this episode, we explore:Co-creating with different people brings unexpected giftsCreativity as leadership, organizing, and future-makingFood, cooking, and pleasure as liberatory practicesBuilding offerings from lived experience and integrityThe power of affinity spaces and creating what you needed but couldn’t findThis episode is a love letter to multi-passionate people, co-creators, and anyone longing to make something meaningful without having it all figured out first.To learn more about how you can tap into your creativity and take an idea from napkin scribble to something alive in the world, check out the Fat Joy Creation Lab. We start on March 3, 2026!Erica Joy is a Black, fat, queer, enby who is continually machete-ing The Hydra of cishetero + anti-Black fatphobic messaging that they've received since childhood. She has been planting and cultivating a field of liberation-centered evergreens + perennials that honor her + their communities. Erica has several creative passions that ebb and flow through life, and some that stay constant like baking and cooking. Their lifelong love for food, the kitchen, and cooking has led her to begin a set of offerings called Cooking Fulla Joy to support folks through their relationship with and practices of this major aspect of life.General link to all things Cosmic Healing: https://linktr.ee/cosmichealingfamCooking Fulla Joy newsletter: https://comradery.co/cookingfullajoyEmail: cosmichealingfam@protonmail.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/itsericafullajoyConnect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

In this episode of the Fat Joy Creation Lab capsule collection, Sophia sits down with fashion, beauty, and lifestyle creator Angel Edme (she/her) for a spacious, honest conversation about visibility, boundaries, creativity, and the audacity it takes to take up space in a bigger body.This episode weaves through themes of self-trust, immigrant family identity, body liberation, and the real tension of making a living through creative work without suffocating the creative spark itself. Angel speaks beautifully about taking baby steps toward self-love, choosing discomfort as a path to growth, and why audacity is her guiding word for the year ahead.In this episode, we explore:What it’s like to be deeply visible online and still set boundariesHealing people-pleasing in real time, not just in theoryCreativity as a practice of self-trust and emotional regulationThe tension between creative freedom and financial survivalAudacity as a fat, liberatory practiceIf you’ve ever felt the pull to create something meaningful but worried about visibility, judgment, or whether you’re “allowed” to take up space, this conversation offers both permission and companionship.To learn more about how you can tap into your creativity and take an idea from napkin scribble to something alive in the world, check out the Fat Joy Creation Lab. We start on March 3, 2026! Angel Edme is a NYC-based fashion, beauty, and lifestyle creator known for her colorful, confidence driven approach to personal style. Angel blends storytelling, education, and everyday moments to help people feel seen and inspired. A first-generation Haitian-Jamaican American and former film/TV producer, she uses her platform to celebrate inclusivity, creativity, and the joy of self-expression.Instagram: https://instagram.com/angel_edmeTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@angel_edmeYouTube: https://youtube.com/@angel_edmeWebsite / Substack: https://angel-edme.substack.comConnect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

What if creativity doesn’t require you to be healed, fearless, or finished?In this intimate and soul-rich conversation, Sophia is joined by Asifa Sheikh (she/her), a writer, poet, and Firefly Creative Writing facilitator, to explore what it means to create from the whole self, including grief, rage, body, memory, and hope.In this episode, they explore:How creativity can be a place of belonging and agency, especially when the world feels unwelcomingWhy grief isn’t a block to creativity, but fertilizer for deep, meaningful workThe relationship between grief, rage, and creative fuel and how both can be alchemized into artWhat it means to create while holding multiple marginalized identitiesThe myth that creativity should feel effortless and why the fight is part of the processThis episode is an invitation to stop waiting until you’re “ready,” healed, confident, or unafraid — and to begin creating with the parts of you that feel messy, tender, or unfinished.To learn more about how you can tap into your creativity and take an idea from napkin scribble to something alive in the world, check out the Fat Joy Creation Lab. We start on March 3, 2026!Asifa loves to write and is a writing coach at Firefly Creative Writing. Alongside her role at Firefly, Asifa also serves youth in the community. She is a loving mom to her two cats Consuela and Cicero and enjoys playing the handpan in her spare time.Learn more about Asifa: https://fireflycreativewriting.com/asifa-sheikhConnect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

Amanda Sabater (she/her) joins Sophia on the Fat Joy Podcast’s Creation Lab Capsule Collection. In this conversation, they explore the spiritual side of creativity — the inner nudges, intuitions, and moments of mystery that shape how ideas arrive. What begins as a chat about making art becomes a deeper reflection on what happens when creativity feels less like a task and more like a relationship.They discuss the tension many of us feel:How do we stay connected to our creative selves when life feels heavy?How do we trust the impulses that feel both exciting and uncertain?Together, they talk about the practices that help them tune in — rest, ritual, movement, and simply paying attention — and the barriers that make it hard to hear our own inner wisdom. Throughout, there’s an invitation to see creativity as a sacred companion that keeps reaching toward us, even when we’ve gone quiet.If you’ve ever sensed that your creative life is also a spiritual life, this episode will feel like coming home to yourself.To learn more about how you can tap into your creativity and take an idea from napkin scribble to something alive in the world, check out the Fat Joy Creation Lab. We start on March 3, 2026!Josephine “Amanda” Sabater is an award-winning producer, artist, and trauma doula who births heart-centered moments that nurture self-trust. A mixed-race creator in a bigger body, she shapes decolonized, fat-liberatory experiences that honor and heal lineage wounds. Her creative collaborations include NAAFA, BronxArtSpace, the U.S. State Department, Condé Nast, Teen Vogue, NYU, and Eventbrite.Follow her soul-led work:Website: www.sacredwitnesss.comIG: @sacredwitnesssNewsletter: sacredwitnesss.substack.comConnect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

In this first episode of the Fat Joy Podcast’s Creation Lab Capsule Collection, Sophia sits down with singer-songwriter Mary Lambert (she/her) for an honest, energizing conversation about how creativity weaves through her life, often in ways she didn’t expect. Mary opens up about the moments when her creative instincts went quiet, the surprising places they re-emerged, and the turning points that helped her reconnect with her own voice.Together, they explore questions many of us wrestle with:How do you stay creative when you’re overwhelmed?What do you do when doubt gets loud?And what if creativity is already showing up for you — just not in the ways you’ve been taught to recognize?Mary shares thoughtful insights about the pressure to “get it right,” the freedom that comes from lowering the stakes, and the tenderness of returning to self-expression after years of self-criticism. She also talks about the specific challenges and possibilities of nurturing creativity while living in a fat body, and how reclaiming creative space can become a powerful act of self-trust.Whether you’re trying to restart a stalled creative practice, craving more meaning in your day-to-day life, or simply wanting to hear from someone who’s walking that path with intention and honesty, this conversation offers both inspiration and real permission to begin again.To learn more about how you can tap into your creativity and take an idea from napkin scribble to something alive in the world, check out the Fat Joy Creation Lab. We start on March 3, 2026!Mary Lambert is a multi-platinum artist, author of the poetry collection Shame is an Ocean I Swim Across, and has performed on the Colbert Show, Ellen, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, and the American Music Awards.Mary’s website, Instagram, and TikTok.https://marylambertsings.com/https://www.instagram.com/marylambertsing/https://www.tiktok.com/@marylambertsingConnect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

Sophia shares why she's pausing the podcast, her biggest a-ha moments from 100 episodes, and how to stay connected to Fat Joy.This episode's poem is Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese."Mentioned in this episode:Fat Joy Newsletter- subscribe for free to receive the newsletter to your inbox.Fat Joy Writing Workshop- it's currently full, but if you're interested, let Firefly know and we'll offer it again soon. Keep connected with Fat Joy:Fat Joy InstagramFat Joy website

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Aubrey Gordon (she/her) is back! We’re talking about the amazing success of the film Your Fat Friend, how it changed her family relationships, and what it’s like being filmed over six years. Aubrey and Sophia share their experiences having conversations with non-fat folks about how to be good allies. Spoiler: not all of these conversations go well. Aubrey Gordon stars in the documentary film Your Fat Friend, is the author of You Just Need to Lose Weight and What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat, and co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast. Aubrey started writing as Your Fat Friend in 2016. She published exclusively under the pseudonym for four years, writing anonymously about the social and cultural realities of moving through the world as a very fat person.Please connect with Aubrey on her website and Instagram.This episode’s poem is called “my mother says kissing a man without a mustache is like eating eggs without salt” by Joy Sullivan.Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube. Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review. Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Sophia has created a workshop called Fat Joy- specifically for listeners of this podcast who are interested in exploring the fat experience through writing. Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to learn more about the Fat Joy workshop. For $50 off the workshop, use code: FATJOYKate Manne (she/her), philosopher and author of Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, shares her thoughts on why we struggle to see through diet culture, how the ‘thought-terminating cliche’ ends liberatory conversations, and if it’s possible to be anti-diet and also pursue intentional weight loss.Kate Manne is an associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University, where she’s been teaching since 2013. Before that, she was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Manne did her graduate work in philosophy at MIT and works in moral, social, and feminist philosophy. She is the author of three books, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women, and Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, which came out in 2024. She writes a newsletter, More to Hate, canvassing misogyny, fatphobia, their intersection, and more.Please connect with Kate through Instagram, X, her website, and her newsletter.This episode’s poem is called “to approach” by Raquel Salas Rivera.Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Tiana Dodson (she/her) explores how liberation consciousness requires hope and imagination, even when they feel impossible. Part of that exploration is rooted in exploring the ‘science of less’ and how being subtractive rather than additive can unlock new levels of awareness and help dismantle oppression. With a decade as a body liberation facilitator and a lifetime of lived experience as a fat, biracial, queer, neurodivergent person, Tiana Dodson is well-versed in what it is to exist in a multiply-marginalized body. As an active co-creator of the syllabus for liberation, her work addresses how personal, community, and global liberation depend upon each other. Through her consulting services, group offerings, and public speaking, Tiana highlights the ways these systems of oppression are bound together and how we can push back against them.Please connect with through her website, Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok.This episode’s poem is called “The Broken” by Alberto Rios.Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube. Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review. Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Sophia has created a workshop specifically for listeners of this podcast who are interested in exploring the fat experience through writing. Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to learn more. For $50 off any Firefly workshop, use code: FATJOYElle Baez (she/her) is the brilliant singer-songwriter of the runaway hit “I Love My Body.” Elle shares her own journey to body positivity, including being bullied, being sent to fat camps, and struggling with eating disorders. Music became a way to heal from fatphobia, and Elle reflects on how making the music videos with fat actors was a deliberate way to showcase body diversity and representation. And, she sings for us, too!!Trailblazing Latina singer-songwriter Elle Baez is taking over with her innovative pop-soul music and message. Real, authentic, and relatable, Elle is a representation for womxn who have been craving seeing themselves in the spotlight. She empowers and inspires others through her captivating hooks, body positive music videos, versatile writing style, and motto of self-love. Her newest hit song “I Love My Body” has gone viral on social media with with over 2.5 Million Hits. The song along with her summer 2023 hit “Fuego” were both featured in Rolling Stone’s “Songs You Need To Know," and she was named 2023 Entertainer of The Year at the Full Figured Industry Awards. As a songwriter, Elle has been featured by the Grammy’s. She has opened for charting artists Bea Miller and Leah Kate, been featured in Pop Sugar Magazine, NPR and went on a VS Pink Sponsored Tour.Please connect with Elle on her website, Instagram, TikTok, and the Curvy Artists Collective.This episode’s poem is called “For Keeps” by Joy Harjo.Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to see if any of our cozy writing workshops are for you. For $50 off, use code: FATJOYCharis Stiles (she/her) wants us all to feel like we belong, are accepted, and are worthy of love. Often, the barriers to feeling this way stem from wounding that was out of our control, however there’s a lot we can do to repair, heal, and rebuild a sense of self. Charis describes how we can examine self-limiting beliefs, separate out what are real external barriers and what are internalized barriers, and let go of shame and perfectionism.Charis is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s a therapist, educator, and activist. In addition to proving therapy, she trains organizations on proving fat positive care. She’s taught social work at San Jose State and been a clinical supervisor for new therapists. She identifies as fat, queer, white cisgender (elder) millennial, managing daily life with an autoimmune disorder. When she’s not working, she’s reading romance novels, watching lots of cat TikTok, and trying her hand at ceramics. Please connect with Charis through her website.This episode’s poem is called “Starfish” by Eleanor Lerman.Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube. Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review. Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to see if any of our cozy writing workshops are for you. The Fall schedule will be on the website for July 11th. For $50 off, use code: FATJOYCrystal Maldonado (she/her) is a young adult author with a lot of feelings that she’s channeled into romcoms for fat, brown girls. She shares what it was like to write the stories she wished she’d had when she was growing up, the gatekeeping she had to overcome to get published, and her ‘glimmers’ writing practice that connects her to joy each day. Crystal has written several books, including The Fall of Whit Rivera, which People Magazine called a “pumpkin-spice-latte-flavored treat”; Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, which was a New England Book Award winner, a Cosmopolitan Best New Book, and a Kirkus Best YA Fiction of 2021; and No Filter and Other Lies, which was named a POPSUGAR and Seventeen Best New YA. Her middle grade debut, Camp Sylvania: Moon Madness—a paranormal summer camp story featuring two fat besties, co-written with #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy—releases in spring 2024.Please connect with through her website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and tiktok. This episode’s poem is called “My friends got married today…” by Yesika Salgado.Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube. Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review. Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.