KPHRED Work - Life Balance Radio

Jim Pehkonen
Out On the Skinny Branches
In the first segment, Jim Pehkonen introduces himself..

You get to learn about Jim and what this podcast is going to be about.

Welcome to Out On the Skinny Branches!

Mary Farias & Chloe Rachel Gallaway
Economy Creators
**What if the story inside you carries medicine—not only for the people who may someday read it, but first for you?**

In this episode of Economy Creators, Mary Reiss Farias sits down with author and Story Medicine Guide Chloe Rachel Gallaway for a beautiful conversation about memoir writing, emotional memory, healing, family, creativity, becoming a writer, and finding the courage to tell the story that keeps calling you.

Chloe is the author of *The Soulful Child: Twelve Years in the Wilderness*, a memoir inspired by her extraordinary childhood growing up on 500 acres in the wilderness of northern New Mexico.

With no electricity or running water, Chloe's childhood education happened as much through nature, animals, gardening, chores, survival, and family as it did through traditional academics.

She didn't begin formal school until age 12.

And yet she became a writer.

Chloe shares the remarkable evolution from putting a period after every word as a child, to writing endless run-on sentences, to studying poetry and writing, and ultimately becoming a published memoirist who now helps other people discover the stories within themselves.

But her journey didn't begin with believing she was a writer.

For years, the book lived inside her.

People told her, “You should write a book.”

She still hesitated.

Then came a catalyst.

After the birth of her daughter, Chloe returned to the mountain where she'd grown up to introduce her baby to her father. Seeing her aging father while holding her newborn daughter brought the passage of time into startling focus.

She realized her father wouldn't always be there.

And suddenly, writing the story mattered more than writing it perfectly.

That decision eventually led Chloe to something deeper than writing craft:

**Story Medicine.**

Chloe believes our stories are not stored solely in our intellectual memories. They also live within our bodies, emotions, sensory experiences, and relationships.

Rather than beginning only with structure, grammar, scenes, or the technical requirements of writing, Story Medicine invites writers to move out of their heads and into the emotional memory of their experiences.

The result can be something much bigger than simply finishing a manuscript.

It can become a process of meaning-making, integration, wisdom—and healing.

Mary and Chloe explore:

• What Story Medicine is and why our stories carry meaning
• How to begin writing when your story feels too big
• Moving beyond perfectionism and fear of writing “correctly”
• Why writing craft matters—but doesn't necessarily need to be the gateway
• The difference between writing *about* a memory and dropping into the scene
• How emotional and sensory memory can deepen memoir writing
• Why nature, music, sound, breath, and the body can help unlock stories
• Finding beauty alongside pain in our personal narratives
• Writing honestly about family while recognizing that memoir is told through your own lens
• Chloe's experience sharing her memoir with her parents and siblings
• How writing helped create healing within her family
• The relationship between visibility and telling your truth
• Why you don't need an extraordinary or dramatic life to have a story worth telling
• Becoming the writer you may not yet believe yourself to be

Chloe also shares an important distinction for anyone considering memoir:

Your story is yours to tell through your lens.

Other people may remember the same events differently. That doesn't eliminate your experience or your right to tell your story.

For Chloe, the intention behind telling that truth matters. She approaches memoir with an intention toward healing rather than harm—even when the story contains difficult experiences.

Her own memoir demonstrates what can happen when we allow craft and emotional truth to work together.

And perhaps Chloe's most important message is for the person who has been quietly thinking:

I have a st

Mary Farias & Andre Alexander
Economy Creators
What if the success you've worked so hard to create is actually costing you the life you wanted it to give you?

In this episode of Economy Creators, Mary Reiss Farias sits down with Andre Alexander, the Freedom Architect, for a thought-provoking conversation about freedom, success, entrepreneurship, self-worth, relationships, and designing a business around the life you actually want to live.

Andre works with business owners and executives who have reached a point where success is costing more than they expected. His work helps them rethink and redesign the way they operate so their success supports their lives instead of consuming them.

Growing up in the Caribbean gave Andre a very different perspective on success.

His philosophy is simple but powerful:

Success is meant to be enjoyed now—not deferred to some mythical point in the future.

Andre challenges the conventional hustle culture that tells us to work harder, acquire more, remain constantly available, and hope that freedom and happiness will eventually appear as a result.

Instead, he asks a much more fundamental question:

What do you actually want from your life?

Mary and Andre explore how easily business owners can become trapped inside economies they created themselves. The business may be successful financially while demanding their time, draining their energy, affecting their health, or taking them away from the relationships and experiences that mattered in the first place.

Andre even challenges the familiar concept of “work-life balance.”

Why?

Because work still comes first in the phrase.

His alternative is **life first**.

Your career or business was supposed to help create your life. So when did the business become the thing around which everything else had to fit?

That question connects directly with the Economy Creators philosophy of intentionally building a YOU-Shaped Economy—one in which your business, work, relationships, health, interests, money, experiences, and personal growth support the person you want to become and the life you want to create.

In this episode, Mary and Andre explore:

• Why freedom is ultimately a choice
• How hustle culture can quietly consume the life you're building
• Why success should be enjoyed now rather than someday
• The difference between work-life balance and a life-first philosophy
• Why being constantly available isn't necessarily a sign of success
• How business can affect your relationships, health, energy, and ability to lead
• Why self-worth influences what you're willing to tolerate
• The importance of asking what you genuinely want from life
• Why awareness alone isn't enough—you eventually have to make a decision
• Andre's ARIS process for recognizing and creating change
• Why changing your results requires changing the way you think
• How relationships, referrals, conversations, and other people help build our economies
• Why entrepreneurs don't have to do everything alone
• How Andre transformed real conversations into his book, *Freedom Conversations*
• Why success should support your life rather than consume it

Andre also explains that creating freedom involves working on two sides simultaneously: the individual and the business.

You can have a well-run business, but if you're exhausted, burned out, disconnected, or struggling personally, your capacity to lead suffers.

Likewise, you can work extensively on yourself, but if you've built a business that requires everything to continually flow through you, the structure itself will keep draining you.

Freedom requires intentionally examining both.

And perhaps most importantly, it requires ownership.

You can recognize that something needs to change. You can know what you want. But eventually, you have to decide whether you're willing to create it.

As Andre reminds us:

“Freedom is a choice.”

And:

“Success should support the life that you want rather than consume it.”

That is the heart of creatin

Learn practical healing steps to wellness with actionable strategies from the experts at Rochester Clinic.

This presentation offers a clear guide to improving your overall health through structured wellness tips. Mei Liu and Dr. Jengyu Lai break down essential concepts to help you navigate your path to better health, focusing on sustainable habits rather than quick fixes. Whether you are beginning your health journey or looking to refine your current routine, these insights provide a solid foundation for your daily life.

By following these evidence-based healing steps, you will gain a better understanding of how the professionals at Rochester Clinic approach patient care and long-term wellness. The discussion emphasizes consistency and simple, effective methods that anyone can incorporate into their schedule. Applying these wellness tips can help you create a more balanced and manageable approach to your personal health goals.

Subscribe for weekly health breakdowns, and comment which wellness topic you would like us to cover next.

Join the Lotus Health Online Community: https://lotushealthfoundation.org/lotus-community

Watch on Youtube: https://youtube.com/live/DgQtwRbjTag

Maryjane Festus
Tech with Myla
🎙️ When Life Gives You No Options, You Create One

Not everyone gets the same opportunities in life. My guest lost both of her parents at a young age and had to take responsibility for her younger siblings. She later moved to Ghana, started her own salon, and found ways to build a life with what she had.

From using social media to promote her salon to selling clothes online, her story shows how determination, entrepreneurship, and technology can come together to create new possibilities.

In this episode of Tech With Myla, we talk about resilience, women, opportunity, business, and using the tools available to you to create your own path.

Sometimes, you don't get the opportunity you want. You create one. ❤️

Want to listen, participate, or start your own podcast? Check out Kphred Radio and join the community: https://kphred.com/

🎙️ Use my code FESTUS for a discount when you join.

Tech With Myla: Technology, opportunity, and real conversations. 🌍💻