Chart Your Career

Heidi and Ellen take questions from Patrice and Emily. Patrice was on one of our first podcasts during which Heidi told her that the Spring of 2023 was going to hold great changes for her. Much has happened in the past few years, so she was checking back in. 

Emily recently had a baby and is ready for her second act, but does not know where to start or what to do. She is feeling entrepreneurial, has lots of hobbies and interests, and is looking for another source of income.

They also talked about the endings of many of their favorite series- Somebody Somewhere; Succession and Ted Lasso. And they are looking forward to The Bear; Theater Camp; Past Lives; You Hurt My Feelings; and No Hard Feelings.  Lots going on!!

Heidi and Ellen are thrilled to be in conversation with Ann Randolph, the award-winning playwright, performer, and pioneer in interactive theater. What makes Ann’s work so special is that it touches upon the dark, messy, uncomfortable aspects of what it means to be human. Audiences leave Ann’s shows feeling cracked open and cathartically transformed, like it’s finally OK to share feelings they never thought they could share. 

Her latest show, "What's Your Story," invites audiences on an audacious journey of hilarity and heartbreak, encouraging them to explore their own life narratives within the theater. With previous productions like "LOVELAND," which won multiple awards in San Francisco, LA, and Washington DC, Ann's work delves into themes of grief, offering writing workshops for healing and reflection.

She has also achieved success with solo shows such as "SQUEEZE BOX," produced by Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, and has been recognized as a spoken word artist, with appearances on NPR and PBS. Her immensely popular "Write Your Life" workshops are held in cities throughout the U.S., with annual stops at renowned retreat centers like Kripalu, the Omega Institute, and Esalen.

As part of her dedication, she offers a daily online writing program called "Your Story Matters: Unmute Yourself," providing individuals with a platform to unleash their voices and share their stories with the world. Ann's next workshop begins on June 19th.  You can sign up at annrandolph.com. 

Heidi and Ellen are thrilled to be in conversation with Ann Randolph, the award-winning playwright, performer, and pioneer in interactive theater. What makes Ann’s work so special is that it touches upon the dark, messy, uncomfortable aspects of what it means to be human. Audiences leave Ann’s shows feeling cracked open and cathartically transformed, like it’s finally OK to share feelings they never thought they could share. 

Her latest show, "What's Your Story," invites audiences on an audacious journey of hilarity and heartbreak, encouraging them to explore their own life narratives within the theater. With previous productions like "LOVELAND," which won multiple awards in San Francisco, LA, and Washington DC, Ann's work delves into themes of grief, offering writing workshops for healing and reflection.

She has also achieved success with solo shows such as "SQUEEZE BOX," produced by Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, and has been recognized as a spoken word artist, with appearances on NPR and PBS. Her immensely popular "Write Your Life" workshops are held in cities throughout the U.S., with annual stops at renowned retreat centers like Kripalu, the Omega Institute, and Esalen.

As part of her dedication, she offers a daily online writing program called "Your Story Matters: Unmute Yourself," providing individuals with a platform to unleash their voices and share their stories with the world. Ann's next workshop begins on June 19th.  You can sign up at annrandolph.com. 

This week we revisit our interview with Shannon Watts, the founder and a full-time volunteer with the nation’s largest grassroots group fighting against gun violence, Moms Demand Action. 

We looked at the major career events in Shannon's life, starting from the fateful day, December 14th, 2012 when the heartbreaking and tragic school shooting took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Shannon was moved to reach out via a small Facebook post to other moms who were also outraged by the tragedy and the rest is history.

With nearly 10 million supporters and a chapter in every state, Moms Demand Action and its partner, Everytown for Gun Safety, have stopped the NRA’s priority legislation in statehouses roughly 90% of the time, and passed hundreds of gun safety laws across the country, changed corporate policies and educated Americans about secure gun storage. This grassroots movement helped break through the logjam in Congress and pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun safety bill in 26 years.

Shannon is also active in recruiting and training women to run for office at all levels of the political spectrum. She was named one of Glamour’s 2022 Women of the Year and her book, Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World, was released in May of 2019.

Shannon's story reminds us that one person can make a huge difference in tackling what seems like insurmountable problems. Tell everyone if they want to make their voices heard about gun safety to text 64433 or go to the Moms Demand Action website (momsdemandaction.org) for ways to get in touch with your representatives.

#momsdemandaction #shannonwatts #astrologyreading #astrologypodcast #careerpodcast #chartyourcareer #everytownforgunsafety

This week we revisit our interview with actor, comedian, improvisor, and director Lennon Parham, on the heels of her recent amazing directorial work with Somebody, Somewhere on HBO (the last two episodes dropped on Sunday).  

Lennon created and starred in Best Friends Forever and Playing House (with Jessica St. Clair) and has had recurring roles in Veep, Bless this Mess, Minx, and the animated series Little Demon. 

She has made a number of memorable appearances on television including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Netflix's Lady Dynamite, AMC's Mad Men, ABC's Schooled, and NBC's Parks and Recreation.

On the feature side, Lennon had supporting roles in The House, Horrible Bosses 2, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Other People.

Heidi and Ellen welcome the beautiful sign of Gemini. It is the season of connection, curiosity and intelligence. With the Sun in Gemini, we connect to share information, delight or 10,000 questions. We are here, there and everywhere. Who are you and what do you have to say? Write it. Speak it. Preach it. Converse about it. Let’s grow our wisdom through loving relationship. Heidi and Ellen look at the chart of Michael J Fox, a quintessential Gemini and talk about his new documentary, Still. Heidi reads the poem Never the Same by Rosemerrie Wahtola Trommer.

Heidi and Ellen were thrilled to talk to Abdi Nazemian, tracing the astrological arc of his bountiful career. Abdi is an author, screenwriter, and film and television producer. He has written four published novels, with a fifth, ONLY THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT, just released on May 9th, 2023. His first novel, THE WALK-IN CLOSET, was awarded a Lambda Literary Award for Best Debut. His novel LIKE A LOVE STORY won a Stonewall Honor and was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best young adult books of all time. He has also written for three television shows, including ORDINARY JOE, and written six produced films including THE ARTIST'S WIFE and THE QUIET. He has been an executive producer or associate producer on numerous films, including CALL ME BY YOUR NAME and LITTLE WOODS. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband, two children, and dog Disco. You can find him on Instagram @abdaddy.

Heidi and Ellen take questions from Jessica and Aurora. Jessica has been a social worker for about 15 years, primarily working with asylum-seeking immigrants and unaccompanied minors. This last year she unexpectedly was faced with intense burnout and health issues and left her job. She feels overwhelmed by exhaustion, and can’t find her way to her next chapter (9:22). Aurora is a working mom that got pummeled by pandemic life. Last summer, she left her job and has been learning about neurodiversity advocacy, and training in the healing art of hypnosis. She loves the work but is scared about moving forward. She wonders if she is cut out for entrepreneurial life (20:25). Ellen and Heidi also talk about the book, ‘Your Brain On Art’ by Susan Magsamun and Ivy Ross; the documentary Judy Blume Forever, the shows Succession, Somebody Somewhere, Bridgerton, and the movie Dune (31:04).

Heidi and Ellen take questions from Samantha and Gretchen. Both women used the downtime during the pandemic to write books. Samantha lost her job in museum education, and devoted her time to research and planning a book Last fall she released the first four (!!) novels. In February, she published the first in a spin-off series. She really wants to financially support her writing and also inspire others. She is considering adding coaching or self-publishing classes to her business. She wonders if she is taking on too much (7:30).  

Gretchen is a college professor and has taught art history for 25 years. During the pandemic, she started writing and within four months had a book! In her Young Adult novels, the main character travels through a painting or work of art and lands at the time of its creation. The characters learn about these historical periods and themselves. She wants to write a series of these books and also create curricular materials for high school teachers. She wonders if this idea has good potential (15:36).  

Heidi and Ellen also talk about the second season of Somebody, Somewhere and also the wonderful book by Maggie Smith,  You Could Make This Place Beautiful (27:26).