Better Angels: Women Creating Change

Why are we so afraid of getting older? The truth is that most people are happier the older they get, but our culture is focused on triggering all our fears about the worst possibilities. And most of us don’t even realize how much we’re buying into ageist ideas and language. Ashton Applewhite is a leader in the growing movement to raise awareness of ageism and dismantle it. In this conversation, she talks about how  fears of getting older can actually harm our health, calls out some myths, and gives us some tips on reframing how we think and talk about age. Ashton is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, and co-founder of the Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse, blogs at This Chair Rocks, and is the voice of Yo, Is This Ageist? 

Episode Links:

Instagram: @thischairrocksThis Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against AgeismTED talk: Let’s End Ageismthischairrocks.comoldschool,info yoisthisageist.com 

Breaking the Age Code by Becca Levy

Find all episodes of Better Angels: Women Creating Change

Follow our weekly free newsletter and join our community at betterangels.substack.com

Follow Susan Ferry Price:

IG: @susanferryprice

Twitter: @susanferryprice

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

By now we all really understand that sitting back and watching isn’t going to create the world we want to live in. But sometimes we don’t know how to get started and how to effectively fight for change. Today’s guest, Eileen Flanagan, traces her activist awakening to the years she spent as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana during apartheid, but it wasn’t until she was in her late forties that she found her voice as a climate activist and in teaching others how to effectively advocate for change. Eileen, who was raised Catholic in Philly who later became a Quaker, is currently campaign director of the Earth Quaker Action Team. Ahead of the 2020 election, she was Trainings Coordinator for Choose Democracy, which trained nearly 10,000 people in nonviolent strategies to prevent a potential coup. Eileen names the key roles every movement needs to succeed and has advice on finding your place as an activist, replacing fear with strategy, and recounts her journey to embracing a rebel role in fighting for climate justice.

Episode highlights:

* Why marches don’t usually lead to lasting change.

* Learning what makes activism effective.

* The four key roles needed for change.

* The downsides of ‘polite’ activism.

* Replacing fear and anger with strategy.

* Staying positive during difficult times.

* Why Eileen became a Quaker and what it means to her.

Learn more:

Eileenflanagan.com

Eileen’s online courses in effective activism

Earth Quaker Action Team

IG: @eileenflanaganauthor

Twitter: @eileenflanagan

Eileen’s books:

Renewable

The Wisdom to Know the Difference

Find all episodes of Better Angels: Women Creating Change

Follow our weekly free newsletter and join our community at betterangels.substack.com

Follow Susan Ferry Price:

IG: @susanferryprice

Twitter: @susanferryprice

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

Whether a T-shirt costs $5 or $100, it  can take 100 human hands to make it. Most of those are the hands of women who probably aren’t being paid a fair wage and often are working long hours in often unsafe conditions. When we’re stocking our closets or grabbing a cute new top on sale, we don’t think much about the true costs of our choices. In this episode, Ayesha Barenblat, founder and CEO of Remake, connects the dots between the clothes on our backs and climate and women’s issues. Ayesha is a social entrepreneur with a passion for building sustainable supply chains that respect people and our planet. With over 15 years of leadership in promoting social justice and sustainability within the $3 trillion clothing industry, she founded Remake to mobilize citizens to demand a more just, transparent, and accountable fashion industry. Ayesha breaks down the complex issue, separates fact from fiction about fast fashion and luxury brands,  lets us know which steps we can take to support the women who make our clothes and help protect our planet, and asks: how can we make it cool to buy less?

Key points in this episode:

* The fashion industry’s environmental impact.

* The lack of transparency around wages.

* The truth about both fast fashion and luxury brands.

* The power of regulation and how we can support better laws.

* The truth about donating your clothes.

* Making it cool to buy less.

* How Ayesha found her purpose.

Learn more:

remake.world

Instagram: @remakeourworld

Twitter: @remakeourworld @abarenblat

Getstix.co

Instagram: @getstix

Instagram: @susanferryprice

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

What would a pro sports league look like if the athletes made the decisions? In this episode, pro volleyball player Cassidy Lichtman talks about coming out of retirement to play with Athletes Unlimited. Launched in 2020, Athletes Unlimited is a network of women’s pro volleyball, basketball, softball and lacrosse leagues where the players run the show. They're making decisions from recruiting to civic leadership to uniforms, and playing a shorter season in a single city to make it easier for women athletes to continue their pro careers in the U.S.. Cassidy, a former member of the USA volleyball Women's National Team, a two-time all American and an academic all American at Stanford, and member of AU’s board, tells us how the league is changing women’s sports, its new model for fan participation, and the importance of making an impact on and off the court.

Episode Highlights:

• Why Cassidy came out of retirement
• Why AU plays in a single city
•  How the team structure changes how she plays
• An unprecedented level of power for the athlete
• Deciding to play in Texas and make an impact
• The new ways athletes are connecting with fans
• Volleyball as the biggest sport no one talks about
• Athletes using their influence to help kids build life skills

Episode Links:

Athletes Unlimited
Path Sports

Twitter: 
@CassidyLichtman
@AUProSports
@susanferryprice

Instagram:
@CassidyLichtman7
@auprosports
@p.athsports
@susanferryprice

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

Are you ready to make a change in your life? Or are you ready to make a transition? If you think they're the same thing, you're not alone. But understanding the difference is a crucial first step if what you're longing for is a transformational shift in your life.After achieving a major milestone in her own career, Linda Rossetti found herself consumed by an unexpected mix of feelings that she struggled to name. She responded by making a series of changes that didn't  help. Linda began researching what was really going on in her own life and that of many women she knew. Today the former tech entrepreneur and executive is a consultant and author guiding other women through periods of upheaval and uncertainty.  Tune in to hear Linda explain the key aspects of her research and for guidance on navigating the sometimes rocky and lonely terrain of moving from one phase of life to another. 

Key Points in This Episode:

• Identifying the fundamental distinction between transition and change.
• The periods of transition that both Linda and Susan went through and how they first attempted unsuccessful changes to address them.
• How Linda first started investigating the concept of transition.
• The first step in transitioning: Becoming aware of the origins of your expectations.
• The second step in transitioning: gaining a deeper understanding of the role of emotions.
• The feelings of loss that can come with transition.
• How hurdles and barriers can prohibit us from embracing and pursuing transitions.
• Why experimentation is necessary to guide one through a transition.
• Why an educated and conscious approach is beneficial to transitioning.
• Practical steps for connection and finding support during these periods.
• How to disrupt previous beliefs about ourselves and foster new connections.
• The concept of the COVID pandemic as a persistent trauma and how people react to that trauma differently.
• How truly exploring transition can bring you into closer alignment with who you are.

Quotes:

“We use “change” and “transition” interchangeably, when in fact, what I've learned in researching this notion of transition in women's lives for more than a decade, I might add, I found that they mean very different things” — @LindaARossetti [0:03:13]

“Transitions occur when there's a shift in what holds value or meaning to us. And what's happening when we're transitioning is we're reconstituting how we think about something.” — @LindaARossetti [0:03:54]

“My newest favorite definition for transition is, it's an invitation for a deeper connection to ourselves. And that's something we need to consciously take”. — @LindaARossetti [0:21:54]

“From my research and my work, I would say it is universally positive, that if somebody chooses to explore what transition might mean, the inflection point in their life is extraordinary.” — @LindaARossetti [0:36:05]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Linda Rossetti Website

Linda Rossetti on LinkedIn

Linda Rosetti on Twitter

Women and Transition: Reinventing Work and Life

Destination U

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

When Bronx native Ivelyse Andino witnessed the inequities in the healthcare system firsthand, she did something radical. Andino gathered neighbors around her kitchen table to talk about their experiences. Those conversations became a cornerstone of the company she soon launched to transform healthcare for underserved communities. Radical Health--the first Latina-owned and operated Benefit Corp in NYC — combines the power of conversation with technology to help people navigate the system and advocate for themselves. In this inspiring conversation, Ivelyse talks about channeling anger into action, the crucial first step any founder can take to build confidence, addressing inequality in health care, the lessons of bootstrapping, changing the conversations we have about our health, and her single best piece of advice for everyone dealing with a health issue.

Highlights from this episode:

The experiences that led Ivelyse to start Radical Health 
Her early career in healthcare and her mother’s illness
The first step she took to prepare to become a CEO
How she chose her company’s name
Combining tech and talk to help people navigate the healthcare system
Addressing systemic problems in a broken system
Shifting power to give people more agency over their health
The power of bootstrapping to ensure a sustainable company
Why Radical Health doesn’t call people patients
Ivelyse’s advice for everyone to transform their healthcare experience

Links in this episode:

Radical Health
Radical Health on Instagram
Radical Health on Twitter
Radical Health on Facebook
Susan Ferry Price Instagram
Susan Ferry Price Twitter
Susan Ferry Price Website

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, has fulfilled an ambitious vision to build both a foundation with an interdisciplinary humanitarian mission and an intentionally-designed space that embodies hope and peace. Housed in the sinuous, innovative River building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, Grace Farms focuses on programming in five areas--justice, nature, community, faith and the arts--with a particular emphasis on addressing modern slavery and advancing gender and racial parity. Sharon is taking an entrepreneurial approach to tackling a wide range of social and cultural issues, including pivoting early in the pandemic to supply PPE, developing an ethical supply chain, creating Design for Freedom, a movement to end modern slavery in the building industry, and launching a social venture, Grace Farms Foods. In this conversation, Sharon talks about the importance of setting clear goals for a project, hiring a values-aligned team, how her previous experience running a clothing brand helped prepare her, the importance of making a commitment to a goal, and how each of us has a role to play in asking how the products we use are being made. 

Highlights of the episode

How the idea for Grace Farms came about
Its mission of advancing good through five initiatives
The role of architecture in creating a more just world
Building a values-aligned team
How Sharon’s entrepreneurial experience prepared her
Developing an ethical supply chain
Human trafficking as a priority issue for Grace Farms
How the Design for Freedom movement began
Working together to rid the building industry of forced labor
Pivoting during the pandemic to address urgent needs
Creating a social venture business as an income stream for non-profits
The importance of asking how products are being made
Grace Farms Foods’ ethically sourced products
Partnering with chef Siliva Baldini to creates a Fair Trade cookie
An entrepreneurial ethos as key to non-profit success

Links in this episode

Grace Farms
Grace Farms Foods
Design for Freedom
Grace Farms on Instagram
Grace Farms on Twitter
Grace Farms on Facebook
SANAA
Sharon Prince LinkedIn
Silvia Baldini
Astonish Media
Susan Ferry Price Instagram
Susan Ferry Price Twitter
Susan Ferry Price Website

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

Small Business Saturday is coming up on Nov. 27, reminding us to do some of our holiday shopping at small companies and the local businesses that keep our communities vibrant and create jobs. But what more can we do? In Northern California, six grassroots organizations have come together to create an innovative model to fund and support small businesses in the East Bay, an area hard hit by gentrification as well as the pandemic. The Real Peoples Fund provides financial and other resources to help entrepreneurs who are often locked out of bank loans or lacking the resources and networks to start and run their own companies. This conversation  with Tash Nguyen, chair of the fund, is an inspiring reminder of the power each of us has to step up and work collaboratively to make our communities stronger. Tash describes how her experience as a community organizer and formerly incarcerated person led to her desire to work for a just economy, how the Real Peoples Fund started and operates, the importance of partnerships, working with foundations on a new model of supporting entrepreneurs, and helping heal financial trauma. 

Highlights of the conversation:

• How Tash became interested in restorative economics
• How six community organizations decided to tackle economic inequality
• Partnering with groups with expertise to develop the fund’s model
• The fund’s mission-driven loan criteria
• Working with foundations aligned with their values on a new model of funding 
• Understanding systemic racism in the financial system.
• Healing financial trauma and closing the wealth gap
  
  

Links in this episode:

RealPeoplesFund.org
Real Peoples Fund Instagram
Rockefeller Foundation
Runway
Community Visions
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Communities for a Better Environment
Oakland Rising
Restaurant Opportunities Center
Restore Oakland
Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative
Susan Ferry Price website
Susan Ferry Price Instagram
Susan Ferry Price Twitter
Astonish Media Group

 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

Instead of asking people you meet to help with your career or business, what if you asked what you can do for them? That shift is key to building connections that not only support your success but bring more meaning to your life--something we’re all looking for more than ever. Susan McPherson has put all she’s learned as a serial connector and social impact leader into the three-step formula described in her new book,  The Lost Art of Connecting.  Founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy focused on social impact, Susan has advice for introverts and extroverts alike on using technology wisely, being intentional about building  community, identifying what you can offer to others, learning how to listen, connecting with people outside your bubble, and following-up gracefully after meeting new people. You’ll never dread networking again.

Highlights of the episode:

• How to use technology without being used by it
• The gather, ask, do methodology for connecting
• Assessing your own secret sauce before reaching out to others
• Susan’s tips on following-up and introducing others in your network
• The importance of learning how to listen
• Building trust to create long-term relationships
• Reaching outside your bubble for fresh ideas
• Advice for leaders to better connect with their employees

Links mentioned in this episode

The Lost Art of Connecting

Susan McPherson on Twitter

Susan McPherson on Instagram

McPherson Strategies

Julian Treasure TEDtalks

Susan Ferry Price website

Susan Ferry Price on Instagram

Susan Ferry Price on Twitter

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com

Lindsay McCormick had one of those business ideas that make you instantly ask: why didn’t someone think of that before?  Lindsay was a TV producer when she began thinking about all the landfill waste we make when we toss out toothpaste tubes. Soon she was talking to dentists, learning about chemistry, and mixing up ingredients at home to create the first all-natural toothpaste tablets.

From that clever idea she went on to build a multimillion-dollar oral care brand with a line of all-natural and sustainable products including mouthwash and a whitening gel. Just last month, Bite expanded into a new area of personal care products--deodorant. Bite has launched the first 100% plastic-free deodorant with compostable refills. Bite is still Bite--but now its name stands for Because it's the Earth.  Listen in on a great conversation about building a conscious company,  customer loyalty, turning down investors, and easy steps we can all take to help the planet.

Find the full transcript here.

Highlights of this episode:

The first steps Lindsay took to figure out how to make toothpaste sustainable.
How she went from $6,000 to $200,000 in sales in a few weeks.
Why she turned down a deal with Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban and Kevin O'Leary.
Creating a brand story that resonates with customers.
What it really means to be a transparent brand.
Choosing to keep Bite's products palm-oil free despite the costs.
Lindsay’s favorite--and easy--everyday choices for a better environment.

Links mentioned in episode:

Astonish Media Group
trybite.com
Bite
Bite on Instagram
Bite on Twitter
Lindsay McCormick LinkedIn
Lindsay McCormick Instagram
Lindsay McCormick Twitter
Susan Ferry Price Website
Susan Ferry Price on Instagram
Susan Ferry Price on Twitter

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit betterangels.substack.com