Empowering Appalachia

Hiiiii y'all! We are back! Tune in to hear from East SM, who joined us in 2021 to discuss what empowerment is to her. She mentioned in the first recording that she was writing a book and that book is now born! I hope you'll tune in to hear about her writing journey and to hear how you can find her book! East's author website where you can find all things her book: https://theartisteast.comYou can find her on Instagram @East_s.m._author If you're curious about East's divination artistry work, find her on Instagram  @AppalachianAllegories.https://www.instagram.com/appalachianallegories/To support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show(https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

Hey y'all! I know the podcast has been a little quiet. We are working on lining up some awesome interviews. Please join us and tell your story! Find us at empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com To support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show(https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

Ever been curious about energetic work? Meet Angeyln Nicholson, a trauma therapist and metaphysical healer who has been working for the last several years in Knoxville. She discusses her work creating energetic safety via grid work and individual healing modalities. We discuss empowerment and the draw to Appalachia and the ways that independence can be woven with asking for support and help. To connect with Angelyn or to check out her services or products more: https://colorofkismet.comTo support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show(https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

Welcome to episode 5 of the podcast! Kristy shares her story of growing up in Scott County, Tennessee, and finding that in order to be empowered, she had to lean into the struggle. Coming from parents who didn't have formal education, she had to find her own way through the formal education system (aka academia). She discusses her experience as a mother, therapist, wife, daughter, and sister. She tells us her love story about leaving Appalachia in order to feel like she belonged before returning back. She hopes you will lean into the struggle, knowing that you belong. No matter what. No matter who you love. If you want to touch base or ask Kristy questions, here's her email address: Kristy.Manresa@4CTherapeutics.hush.comTo support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

Welcome to Episode 4 of this second season, y'all! I know it's dropping a day early but we believe in the power of numbers and 2/22/22 is some powerful stuff. I can't wait for you to hear about Porsche and her work as a doula and as a founder of Knoxville's Black Doula Collective. She discusses her joy in empowering birthers (people who birth) and her challenges being a doula in covid times. Porsche discusses her own empowerment in helping others find education about how to educate women about the decisions they can make for their reproductive health.Connect with Porsche on Facebook & Instagram @soulsisterswellnessandbeautyYou can follow the Black Doula Collective here on Facebook.You can follow them on Instagram @KnoxvilleBlackDoulaCollectiveEmail them at knoxvilleblackdoulacollective@gmail.comHere's a recent article about their work: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/health/2021/06/18/knoxville-black-doula-collective-pregnancy-maternal-infant-mortality/7638660002/To support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

Happy February y'all! February 2022. Listen in this week for a conversation with Taylor, a nonbinary queer human who has found empowerment through finding their worth outside of the work setting. They discuss how that journey went, where they have found empowerment, and how their work as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) has been interwoven and at odds with worth. Trigger warning for mention of ABA therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis) which I understand some folks have experienced as a form of abuse. Other folks in community feel it has directly impacted their lives in beneficial ways. I don't have enough knowledge to weigh in a professional opinion here so I'm linking you to a couple articles, if you want to follow up. Article 1  and Article 2.If you want to be in contact with Taylor, you can do so at: @johniejools on InstagramEmail: taylormesha71@gmail.comTo support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

Y'all! It's 2022! It's season 2. Welcome to our interview with Sean Bryant, badass social worker, human, and founder of Bryant's Bridge, a transitional house for LGBTQIA Youth in the area. Sean has been a social worker for many years and considers this house their life's work. Sean discusses their story and how they came to understand their own mother as an inspirational figure as a person who "stands in the gap" of care for others and how this translates to the work Bryant's Bridge is doing now. Check them out online: https://www.bryantsbridge.orgHere's their FacebookYou can also email them at bryantsbridge@gmail.comTo support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show

Hey y'all! We are back! We are launching Season 2 with this episode. Because you gotta start 2022 with Season 2 for the beauty of the number synchronicity. In this episode, I interview my bestie and soon to be yours, Dr. Bree Conklin. Dr. Bree is an LCSW, with a Doctor of Social Work, and has recently opened the second animal sanctuary and therapeutic care farm in the United States. She talks to us about her own grief journey, her passion for making sure all humans feel belonging, and about finding the beauty and care of the mountains so comforting that she and her husband moved here after a life born and raised in Pensacola, Florida. She and her husband, Lyle, now live  in Knoxville with all their dogs (6) and their carefarm animals. You can find more about the Starlight Carefarm here: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starlightcarefarm?lang=enIG: https://www.instagram.com/starlightcarefarm/FB: https://www.facebook.com/starlightcarefarmWebsite: thestarlightfoundation.orgTo support the podcast: First of all, tell your cousin, mama, and friends from the holler!Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaSupport the show

Welcome to our first December episode where you'll hear this conversation with Savanna Lusk, who reached out about bringing awareness to folks in Appalachia who don't feel like they have all their shit together. She reminded me that everyone is in a different stage of learning and getting and being empowered and that its important to tell everyone's story, no matter where they are in their journey.Trigger Warning: Religious trauma & mention of suicidalityWant to reach out to Savanna, you can find her on Facebook @SavannaLusk or via email at savanna.lusk.ads@gmail.comPlease head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaImage credits: Savanna LuskImage description: Savanna (on the right, with her wife, Hannah, and their dog Diesel on their wedding day. Not pictured but honorable mention, Tigger and Rowena the cats. Music credits to the band Tellios.  You can find them on Facebook at Tellios.bandcamp.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

I hope y'all are ready to hear me discuss books, the importance of seeing yourself reflected in story, and generally welcoming you to a couch conversation with my wife, Stacey. Stacey is a high school English teacher, super cool LBGTQ human, and avid reader. She talks about her love of books, who empowered her as an adult, and the want she had as a kiddo for seeing herself reflected in literature. Trigger warning: Mention of LGBTQIA suicide. You can contact Stacey at msreece@yahoo.com or at stacey.reece@knoxschools.orgBooks Stacey referenced:   The God Box by Alex Sanchez (LGBTQ youth and religion) "It's Okay to Be Different" by Todd Parr If you are or love an LGBTQIA youth, please head over to The Trevor Project to read about how vital support is at preventing suicide in our youth.https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/estimate-of-how-often-lgbtq-youth-attempt-suicide-in-the-u-s/"The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey of LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 19.0% of LGBTQ youth ages 13–18 and 8.3% of LGBTQ youth ages 19–24 reported attempting suicide in the past year. Applying these rates to the estimates of LGBTQ youth living in the U.S. results in an estimated 503,073 LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13–18 and 209,917 between the ages of 19–24 who attempted suicide in the past year, for a total of 712,990 LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13–24."It's our last week of Giving November. Please support the podcast in anyway you can. Monetarily, you have options. See below. If you can't do that, please share our episodes with a loved one. Please head over to our Bonfire to order  your very own Empowering Appalachia Fundraiser ShirtPlease head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaImage credits: Christina Perkins Music credits to the band Tellios.  You can find them on Facebook at Tellios.bandcamp.comSupport the show

Welcome to our lucky 13th episode with Amberly Kelley-Dotson, a queer yoga instructor currently working and living in Knoxville. Amberly discusses all things empowerment, using movement and yoga to connect to ourselves and our bodies, and the importance of movement in her own world and life. We hope you are enjoying this weekly podcast for November. We will see you next week. Keep doing the damn thing! Amberly's website is: https://amberlyyogaandwellness.com/#You can contact her via her website! Please head over to our Bonfire to order  your very own Empowering Appalachia Fundraiser Shirt: https://www.bonfire.com/empowering-appalachia-shirt-drive/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=campaign_page&utm_campaign=empowering-appalachia-shirt-drive&utm_content=default&fbclid=IwAR2yVGe3yb6de8c7xzenW_9APb4ytDkiM0rpDpWzy10NXO8U2ARwp56czVAPlease head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaImage credits: Amberly Kelley-Dotson & Brianna RobinsonMusic credits to the band Tellios.  You can find them on Facebook at Tellios.bandcamp.comSupport the show

Welcome back, listeners! Tune in for our interview with Knoxville local music manager, Hannah Houser. Hannah is an Appalachian local and talks about her experience with empowerment, how she strives to empower her artists, and gives us a couple of resources to consider supporting this month. If you want to connect with her, you can find her at https://HannahHouser.com Those resources are: Bridge Refugee Services https://www.bridgerefugees.orgOur Whole Lives: Lifespan Sexuality Education, a Unitarian Universalist based comprehensive sexual education program: https://www.uua.org/re/owlPlease head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.AppalachiaImage credits: Hannah Houser & Bridgette Suzanne PhotographyMusic credits to the band Tellios.  You can find them on Facebook at Tellios.bandcamp.comSupport the show

Hi Empowering Appalachia followers! Guess what! Happy November! It's my 36th birthday!As a resident Scorpio sun & rising sign and Cancer moon (allll the feelings), I like to get reflective when my birthday rolls around.  So you're tuning in to hear me reflect on all things podcast and how amazing this experience has been and how amazing I'd like it to continue to be. For November, we are launching an episode per week! Please join us on Patreon and be entered to win a raffle gift basket! Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.Appalachia Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image Credits:  Christina PerkinsSupport the show

It's October y'all! Welcome to Episode 10 of Empowering Appalachia! This episode is chock full of resources for Knox local folks, specifically for our LGBTQIA folks locally. You're gonna meet Beau Knowles and if you know anything about the webpages that catalog local LGBTQIA businesses, then you probably already know Beau. But you'll meet her here, learn a bit of her story and hear how she is empowering all the LGBTQIA folks of Appalachia. You can reach Beau at KnoxLGBTbusinesses@gmail.com From Beau: " I've built websites to offer affordable support to businesses & resources to bring the lgbtqia+ community together. I help small businesses navigate social media, create hastags and marketing plans. I also host workshops via zoom. Courses such as lgbtq leadership, non-profit strategies, vision board building, and small business support. www.beauknowleslgbt.com #beauknowleslgbt Additionally I created a businesses and resources directory website to go along with my Facebook business groups established in 2013, Knoxville LGBT Friendly Owned and Operated Businesses. This website currently houses the Knoxville and East TN LGBT Directory as well. The webpages will have a calendar of events and news sections. I am assisting Knox Pride with their Community Resources, as well as other groups in Knoxville and surrounding areas. Please send events and press releases to knoxlgbtbusinesses@gmail.com www.knoxlgbtbusinesses.com  #knoxlgbtbusinesses #knoxlgbtdirectory #easttnlgbt #easttnlgbtbusinesses #easttndirectory #knoxpride  I do have a buy me coffee account www.buymecoffee.com/beauknowles or you can ask how to sponsor one of my directory websites."Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.Appalachia Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image Credits:  Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia)Support the show

I'm glad to be back with y'all doing this damn thing! Two weeks ago you heard about a resource here in Knoxville for folks who are houseless and today you are gonna learn more about a grassroots social media movement uplifting LGBT folks in Sevierville. Tune in to hear my interview with Winter Starkey, a founder of the Sevierville based Facebook group for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Winter shares the process of pandemic life bringing forth ways to connect via social media and finding over 1,000 LGBTQIA2S+ humans in the Sevier/Gatlingburg region. They discuss the region's first Pride march amidst worries and concerns of hate crimes. Winter discusses some events that have passed after our interview but not to worry, the group has several events coming up: All at the Sevierville Civic Center. All ages welcomeHalloween Party and Costume ContestOctober 24th 5:00 pm Free admissionDonation appreciatedThankful Holiday Potluck and Talent ShowcaseNovember 19th 6:00 pm Free admissionDonation appreciatedUgly Sweater Holiday Party December 16th 6:00 pm Free admissionDonation appreciatedIf you want to reach out to the Facebook group or contact Winter, you can find them on Facebook @ SevierLGBTQIA2S+Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.Appalachia Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image Credits:  Winter Starkey Support the show

Welcome back! This interview features Rosie Cross, who works at the Volunteer Ministries Center (VMC) here in Knoxville. Rosie works with folks who are unhoused both for outreach efforts and operates the Foyer program which houses up to 40 individuals who are experiencing homelessness in our community. Rosie discusses the process of getting permanent housing, the ways in which the Foyer serves folks uniquely—by keeping folks with their partners, by sheltering folks who might have interacted with systemic barriers to other shelter, and allowing folks to be housed with their pets. She discusses the importance of collaboration with other community agencies in supporting and helping our unhoused neighbors. You can get involved with VMC here: https://www.vmcinc.org Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear!   Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachia You can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Send us an email @ empoweringappalachiapodcast@gmail.com Facebook @ Empowering AppalachiaInstagram @ Empowering.Appalachia Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image Credits: Rosie Cross and VMC with image notes: "When a neighbor moves out of The Foyer and into their new home, they take a bird with them. These birds are handmade from scraps of clay that might otherwise have been thrown away.  They are all unique and none of them are perfect.  A bird is a reminder that no one deserves to be discarded.  With hard work and support from others, we can all take the scraps of our lives and form them into something new." Support the show

Content warning for folks who are sensitive to conversations around religion and religious harm. Trigger warning regarding sexual abuse, specifically in religious settings. Welcome back! Listen in to hear me interview Jonathan Burchfield, a fellow queer person who is currently living in Knoxville and doing such important work helping folks to recognize and be safe from pastoral abuse. Jonathan discusses his experience of growing up in a cult of Fundamental Independent Baptists and the impact those experiences had on his life. He discusses being empowered by knowledge, discusses his local librarian and reading books that weren’t condoned, as helping to empower him. Jonathan talks openly about his work to break the patterns of continued abuse and denigration on the part of the pastors/preachers who lead congregations. He is passionate about creating a network of safety for folks who have been harmed in settings where they are supposed to be cared for and held. He is originally from Indiana and Knoxville has been lucky enough to have him here for about ten years. Jonathan asked that we link to Helen Ross McNabb Center, who has brought him a lot of containment and help. https://mcnabbcenter.orgIf you struggle with this conversation or are particularly distressed, please send a text to 741-741 (a national crisis line) or contact the crisis line at Helen Ross IF you’re Knox local. 865-539-2409. Here’s the National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255The book Jonathan mentions is "Freedom of Mind: Combating Cult Mind Control" by Dr. Stephen Hassan. If you want to connect to Jonathan, you can find his work page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stoppingpastoralabuse/Here's a link to Jonathan's own book, Growing UP IFB, Reflections on the Toxic Environment of the Independent Baptist Movement (free on kindle; 9.99 for the print version) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091CRDD9K/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_apa_glt_fabc_WCP3EGX03T8TZSG925MG?linkCode=ml1&tag=220500b-20&fbclid=IwAR0rzruoUDb3BwNV6Y0eWDrh62nQmq1XywfFvrR3BdDMXmpHp7Jv2xabnJEPlease head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachiaYou can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image credits to Jonathan BurchfieldSupport the show

Content warning for folks who are sensitive to conversations around religion and religious harm.Welcome to our first September episode. Listen in to hear me interview my friend, Adam. Adam grew up in a community (Shady Valley) within Johnson County (my hometown) and discusses his experience in a particular denomination of Christianity known as the Church of Christ. He discusses his experience of hearing a particular sermon in which the way he empowered himself as a youth—reading—came into conflict with his experience of belonging in the church. Listen in to hear about how he began to ask questions and how he was empowered to question. Adam discusses the ways in which reading empowers him and how access to a variety of perspectives helped him to sort through his faith and engaging with considering that what he was raised to think and believe might not be the “right” answer. Adam and I discuss these topics with full knowledge of both of our vantages of privilege—his as a cisgender, white man and mine as a cisgender, white woman. You will hear me struggle a bit as a queer woman during this conversation, y'all and I consider it a testament to my friendship that I could safely hear his story. For some info about the county Adam & I are from, census data 2019, about 17,700   humans. 95.9% white, 11.6% of people in Johnson County have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Median household income is $36,000, Land area is 298 miles. Here’s a map: https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/tennessee/counties/johnson-county-map.htmlIf you want to connect to Adam, you can email him at fletchera1986@gmail.com Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Here’s our Patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachiaYou can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia  Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image credits to Adam FletcherSupport the show

Welcome back! Join East and me for a conversation about spiritualism, divinity, connection, and the realities of a young woman in Middlesboro, Kentucky and her librarian Judy, who empowered her through choice and reading. East is currently a dancer, dance-instructor, and divination artist in Knoxville, TN. She discusses her lived experience in her family, her capacity for touching into her spiritual realm, and her brand new book series that will be launched this winter. If you're curious about her divination artistry work, find her on Instagram  @AppalachianAllegories. https://www.instagram.com/appalachianallegories/If you want to know more about pole dance, check out Sheer Inspiration Pole Fitness on Facebook or Instagram. They also have a website to sign up for intro courses@ https://sheerinspirationpolefitness.polebuddy.com/studio/enrol/schedule.php?This episode is dedicated to our guest, East's, aunt Roma Fleming, who passed away not too long after we recorded earlier this month. Hold a moment of silence for her if you will. Content to be mindful of: Some discussion of religion, spiritualism, and fingers in boxes. (Tune into hear more about that). Please head over to Apple Music (or Spotify or wherever you listen) and leave us a review if you like what you hear! Also here's our patreon account. Sign up at your convenience for a monthly contribution to telling more stories. https://www.patreon.com/EmpoweringAppalachiaYou can also support us on Venmo @empoweringappalachia Also in case anyone else was just needing to know for curiosity sake, East's grandmother always said, "don't put your bag on the floor otherwise your money will know you don't care about it and fly away" (quotes are mine). Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios.Image credits to East. Support the show

Join me for a conversation with the current president of the Knox Pride Board, John Camp.  John discusses his lived experience of being empowered from an early age by his mother, and his work of paying that empowerment forward. He discusses exciting news on the forefront for Knoxville and a new Knox Pride resource center that's coming to town in September. We discuss what it means to live an empowered life and his hopes for helping LGBTQIA folks and our allies in Knoxville to do just that. He also discusses Knox Fringe which is a group of performers, artists, and "fringe arts performers ".  John is a part of a lot of exciting work here in Knoxville while tending to his family with his husband. Check out our conversation. To connect with Knox Fringe, you can find them on Facebook @knoxfringe. To connect with Knox Pride, head on over to www.knoxpride.com or on Facebook @knoxpridefest. Come connect with John (and me) at South Press Coffee on August 10th at 6:00 p.m. for a community forum about the new pride center! Song credits for "I deserve to be here" to the band Tellios. You may find them on Facebook or at https://tellios.bandcamp.comSee you in two weeks!Support the show