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A new year is often a time of reflecting on the past and planning for the future, but it’s important to remember that where we are right now matters.   And as content creators, it matters that you share what’s going on with you and not forget yourself in the process of interviewing others or providing value through teaching.    Erica and India get together to share where they are right now and why it’s important for content creators to let their audiences get to know them.   In this discussion: Why content creators should share their personal experiences Erica and India’s experiences becoming homeowners How Erica put her values into action through her recent move A different take on boundaries and how that’s helping Erica navigate online dating   Resources: Watch The Banker  Use OfferUp Buy Nothing Project Ready to dive deeper?   If you’ve enjoyed the conversations on this podcast, you may want the chance to ask Erica or India your questions, and you have the opportunity to do that in The Pause on the Play® Community.  You’ll also get to meet and be in community with a global group of values-driven individuals and join conversations and get feedback on situations in your work like hiring or marketing and in your life, like voting with your dollars or the messy middle of moving or online dating. Learn more at https://pauseontheplay.com/community

“Charge your worth.” It’s a common refrain, but it can carry a different weight for members of the BIPOC Community in ways that make it difficult to resonate with. And unpacking it isn’t always an easy process. In this replay from Elaine Lou Cartas’s Color Your Dreams podcast, Erica, India, and Elaine unpack what it means to charge your worth as women of color and allies, the importance of women of color and allies working together, and how charging what you’re worth impacts how you can give back and be accessible to your community. In this discussion: Why “charge your worth” gets complicated for members of the BIPOC community Why accounting for your needs in your pricing is about more than literal costs How being clear on your values supports your offers, content, and knowing when it’s time to make a shift How “cancel culture” misses the nuance in accountability and Imperfect Allyship®   Connect with Elaine Lou Cartas: Elainelou.com Color Your Dreams Podcast Join the Color Your Dreams Newsletter Instagram: @elainelou_ Ready to dive deeper? Listening to conversations is passive. World-changing impact and transformation happen when you take part in the conversations, get feedback, share your stories and experiences, and get support in integrating your values and discoveries into your life and business. The Pause on the Play® Community is a space to do just that. Learn more at https://pauseontheplay.com/community

Sometimes it feels like you have to know everything. Or at least pretend that you do. It takes self-awareness and vulnerability to admit that we don’t know what we don’t know. But adopting a beginner’s mindset, and reminding ourselves that there is always something out there to learn, keeps us open to opportunities and connections along our journeys. Parker Stevenson joins Erica for an honest conversation about approaching the world, your business, and your clients with a beginner’s mindset. In this discussion: Defining a beginner’s mindset How ego and fear get in the way of leading with a beginner’s mindset How balancing confidence and a beginner’s mindset can help you navigate challenges The positive impact of approaching client relationships with a beginner’s mindset Connect with Parker Stevenson: Instagram: @evolvedfinance Financial Foundations Audio Course - Evolved Finance Ready to dive deeper? When you’re considering brand visibility or your Imperfect Allyship® efforts, your mindset will show up. Having a beginner’s mindset and being open to what’s possible really does make a difference. In The Pause on the Play® Community, a beginner’s mindset is a focal point of our community. We’re all beginners. We’re always learning. There’s always something valuable for each and every one of us has that we can learn from, and there’s so much beauty in doing it together in community. Learn more at https://pauseontheplay.com/community

Participating in modern society is interdependent by nature.  But in the United States, individualism and exceptionalism are part of the dominant narrative of how we relate to success, failure, and each other.  Erica discusses how the winter holidays can be a useful illustration of how interdependence and individualism show up for us in school, work, and in our relationships and communities. In this discussion: Defining individualism and interdependence How the holidays provide a foil for observing these paradigms in our lives Three questions to help you define where and how individualism and interdependence are showing up for you   Ready to dive deeper? Interdependence does not have to be cumbersome or heavy. In The Pause on the Play® Community, you can join us for Collaboration Speed Dating, our answer to traditional networking events where we connect the diverse membership of the community with people seeking guests and collaborators, to share opportunities with each other, and to support each other’s work. These fun, fulfilling, and supportive events are just one way that we explore interdependence within the community. Join us for full access to events, conversations, Q&As, workshops, and our library of evergreen resources and replays. Learn more at: pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: White Supremacy Culture, Minnesota Historical Society Individualism - White Supremacy Culture

If you’ve taken in the last few episodes, you may be aware that inside The Pause on the Play® Community, we have a curated exploration called Create Space to Take Care of Yourself. This month, we’re leading by example and taking some time to care for ourselves, so the podcast will be on pause until January 3, 2023. In the meantime, dig into the archives, continue to vote with your dollars, and you’re always welcome to connect with us inside The Pause on the Play® Community.

Fall and winter holidays are steeped in traditions for many of us, from Thanksgiving turkey to Christmas lights. Whether they came into our lives with our families of origin or through later relationships, it’s worth considering how those traditions do or don’t align with our values, and if we can reshape them, or shape new traditions that honor our values and the history behind these celebrations. Erica and India discuss Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in the context of history, in the lives of children, and how they’re reconsidering traditions in their own lives. In this discussion: Why we need to consider the histories behind holidays like Columbus Day and Thanksgiving How schools perpetuate holiday myths and Christian narratives Balancing childhood wonder with transparency and honesty in our relationships with children Giving context to Indigenous People’s Day and Thanksgiving   Ready to dive deeper? When you’re in the process of reconsidering your normal and questioning how your values show up in your life and work, it’s always helpful to have support. The Pause on the Play® Community was designed to foster these kinds of conversations and considerations with office hours, Q&As, community conversations, and resources available to members on the Imperfect Ally® journeys. Learn more at: pauseontheplay.com/community

Creating space to pause is vital to our well-being and to the ability to make the impact we want to create by participating meaningfully in change. But pausing isn’t accessible in the same ways to everyone. In many ways, the ability to pause is a privilege. Erica and India discuss the intersection of pausing and privilege, with some key examples of how those concepts have shown up in their lives and in the lives of people around them. In this discussion: Why the word “pause” is central to the Pause on the Play® brand and podcast What it means to pause in our lives How privilege shows up in the ability to pause The intersection of pausing, privilege, and generational trauma  Ready to dive deeper? Join The Pause on the Play® Community for our newest curated exploration, Create Space to Take Care of Yourself. This evergreen collection of resources and workshops, including Ixchel Lunar’s “Decolonizing Time: Centering the R.E.S.T. Recipe,” journal questions and prompts, and the Allyship Meditation Sound Bath to help support you in taking care of yourself.  Creating space to pause and care for yourself is a privilege, but it is so important when we do have the ability to create it. Learn more about this curated exploration and all the benefits of Community membership at: pauseontheplay.com/community

Many of us struggle to give ourselves time and space that isn’t taken up with work, family, friends, television, music, anything to distract us from silence. But reconsidering your normal, and living with your values and the impact you want to create, takes time. It requires that we learn how to get comfortable with stillness, and to care for ourselves. India and Erica discuss how they make space to reconsider their normal and to care for themselves, and share their thoughts on handling their schedules, getting comfortable being by themselves, and honoring your nervous system when things are tough. In this discussion: How India and Erica approach taking real time off for rest Why doing nothing and staying in the present with ourselves is so hard What the culture gets wrong about our nervous systems How to build in time to live your values   Ready to dive deeper? In The Pause on the Play® Community, members have on-demand access to Ixchel Lunar’s workshop called “Decolonizing Time: Centering the R.E.S.T. Recipe.” Ixchel shares how our concept of time has been colonized, stolen, commodified, and outsourced, and how we can liberate our flow and create conditions to partner with time rather than getting caught in the hustle. This workshop is just one of the evergreen resources available to Community members, along with live workshops, Q&As, co-working hours, and conversation with others on their journeys of Imperfect Allyship®. Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

While many of us are familiar with discussing consent in the context of sexuality, consent shows up in so many other areas of our lives. Consent may seem like a simple yes or no, but there are layers to what makes up true consent, and access to it can be a privilege.  Shannon Collins interviews Erica about how consent shows up in everything from health to hair to raising kids, even in our entertainment. In this discussion: How Erica defines consent in this moment How Erica is reprogramming consent in her life and in the lives of her kids through modeling imperfection and accountability When consent is an illusion or a privilege How consent shows up in DEI work, entertainment, and in the salon Connect with Shannon Collins: www.shannoncollins.com www.youthphoria.org Instagram: @shannoncollinsphoto Ready to dive deeper? Members like Shannon Collins make The Pause on the Play® Community what it is. Community members have on-demand access to the replay of Shannon and Stacie Lampkin’s workshop, “Sharing about kids online: Do you have their consent?”  In this workshop, Stacie and Shannon cover the basics of consent and boundaries when posting about kids online, and encourage participants to re-examine their approach to how they share about children in online spaces. This is just one of the evergreen resources available to community members, along with our conversations, screenings, Q&As, co-working hours, and more. Resources: Read Don't Touch My Hair!, Sharee Miller Read You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, Phoebe Robinson

Many of us are accustomed to viewing time as a resource we never seem to have enough of. The pace of our lives pushes us to constantly “make the most” of our time. That pace has a profound impact on us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But other ways of relating to time, outside the colonial paradigm, are possible. Ixchel Lunar and Erica discuss decolonizing time, relearning Indigenous cyclical time, and how to build a relationship with time where it is a friend, rather than a pressure. In this discussion: The four categories of colonial time How colonization and dominator culture separate people from place How to begin to build a friendship with time through prioritizing joy, pleasure, and connection to the natural world Why we have to accept the discomfort of liminal spaces as we journey toward decolonization Connect with Ixchel Lunar: Ixchel.Love Subscribe to Dragon Letters Instagram: @ixchel.love Ready to dive deeper? Actions that create the impact you seek happen when you are in community, when you are in conversation with others, and you allow yourself to be open and willing to discuss what's possible. It’s not always easy, but it is necessary. Having conversations where you are learning, unlearning, and relearning alongside your community are why The Pause on the Play® Community exists.  And sometimes on your journey to Imperfect Allyship®, it’s also necessary to pause and take care of yourself. That’s why we offer resources like our Allyship Sound Bath Meditation to help rest and soothe your nervous system. Resources like this and our whole library of evergreen replays and workshops are accessible on your schedule as part of your membership in The Pause on the Play® Community. Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Watch Dr. Brittney Cooper on The Racial Politics of Time, and read Eloquent Rage Learn more about Australian Indigenous thinker Tyson Yunkaporta

People talk about imposter syndrome all the time, in relation to how they feel at work or in social situations or just in life. But do you know where the term comes from? Erica revisits episode three of the podcast and gives her perspective on what imposter syndrome really is and how it can show up in our lives. In this discussion: The popular conception of what imposter syndrome means Why imposter syndrome may have more to do with who you’ve had to be than who you’re becoming How imposter syndrome shows up in the journey of allyship Ready to dive deeper? In the next curated exploration within The Pause on the Play Community, we’re discussing creating the space to take care of yourself. Real self care goes way beyond a hashtag and a bubble bath. We’ll be in community conversation about integrating taking care of yourself into your values and how you want to create impact in the world. Join us and get access to the community conversations and support, Q&As with Erica and India, live office hours, and our library of evergreen resources and replays. Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Read “The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention,” Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes

Business and work culture are always changing. And with more people pursuing entrepreneurship, whether they’re following their passion or because running their own business is the only way to juggle work and life, there are more opportunities for us to impact how we do work. To create the change we want to witness, and cultures that are more inclusive, more supportive, and more adaptable, we have to learn to reconsider our normal in work and in life. Racheal Cook joins Erica to discuss the impact on her business of reconsidering her normal and getting explicit about her values. In this discussion: How reconsidering your normal supports your business in being proactive, not reactive How a society-wide shift toward self-employment and entrepreneurship creates opportunities to dramatically reshape work culture How integrating her values into her business created more ease for Racheal and her team Why we need to stop relentlessly scaling up and putting celebrity entrepreneurs on pedestals Connect with Racheal Cook:  The CEO Collective Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Instagram: @racheal.cook Ready to dive deeper? Providing space for people to Reconsider Their Normal is one of the reasons we started The Pause on the Play® Community. Having a place, and community support, to be able to reevaluate and decide what feels like the best next choice for you, for where you want to go, the kind of impact you want to create, and the legacy you want to leave behind is what The Community is made for.  Community members get access to conversations, Q&As with Erica and India, office hours, workshops, and our entire library of evergreen resources and replays. Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Racheal recommends Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons Listen to Racheal on the definition of success on the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast Listen to Pause on the Play® Community members on their definitions of success on the Pause on the Play® podcast

Many of us are familiar with affiliate partnership programs and how they can help market our businesses and grow our audiences.  And partner programs can be an appealing way to bring your offer to a wider range of people without having to use marketing methods that aren’t in alignment with your values. But advice about building an affiliate program can be disingenuous, making it sound overly easy or even exploitative. Laura Sprinkle interviews Erica and India about the development of the Pause on the Play® Community, why they chose to have a partner program rather than focus on traditional marketing, how they designed a values-driven affiliate program, and what they’ve learned in the process. In this discussion: Why Erica and India developed Pause on the Play® as a podcast and a community How their affiliate program built off of the organic sharing they already had in order to form partnerships based on values and equity Common practices and misconceptions for affiliate programs that Erica and India wanted to disrupt How the program reinforces reciprocal relationships of giving and receiving Connect with Laura Sprinkle:  LauraSprinkle.com Rock Your Affiliate Program Instagram: @imlaurasprinkle Ready to dive deeper? We often discuss integrating our personal values into our businesses. We’ve been conditioned to show up to work as our “professional” self and leave our personal beliefs behind. But the truth is, values inform every area of our life, so why try to compartmentalize? Each month in Pause on the Play® The Community we explore one specific way to make your values more explicit. Our curated connections and learning experiences provide a space where you can ask questions, challenge assumptions, and process current events in real time. Members get access to monthly curations, workshops, live Q&As, community discussion, and our full library of evergreen resources and replays. Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

When it comes to our businesses, there are a lot of rules and “right” ways to do things that we’re told are just how it’s done if we want to succeed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can choose to do things differently. Brooke Monaghan joins Erica to discuss how she shows up in her business, reconsiders her normal, and rejects the rules in order to create sustainable, values-driven businesses for herself and her clients. In this discussion: How to begin to differentiate what narratives are yours and which aren’t Why we need to decouple success and sacrifice How embodying your values combats hustle culture How perfectionism shows up in the way we commit to narratives that aren’t working Connect with Brooke Monaghan:  Instagram: @Briggsmonaghan Transcend Your Dichotomy Podcast Free self-guided workshop Ready to dive deeper? The conventional thinking that says your values are separate from your business doesn’t serve anyone who is in business, or even us as consumers. Values are the underpinning for the actions you take, the conversations you have, and the impact you create in your business. If you’re ready for more conversations about reconsidering your normal in business and in life, join us at Pause on the Play® The Community. Members get access to community conversations, Q&As with Erica and India, live workshops, and evergreen access to our whole library of resources and replays. Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Erica recommends The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, Michael A. Singer Listen to Pause on the Play® Ep 3: Is It Imposter Syndrome? Listen to Pause on the Play® Ep 153: Truth, Self-Worth, and Imposter Syndrome

Many of us are aware of how our business values can get co-opted by the values and structures of capitalism. What may be less obvious is how our personal values can also be influenced by capitalist thinking. Capitalism is more than an economic system. Capitalism is a fundamental part of our politics, culture, and how we navigate our personal and professional lives. Tara McMullin joins Erica to discuss the far-reaching impacts of capitalism on our lives, the gamification of our values and goals, how our values get co-opted by imperatives for efficiency and productivity, and how we can begin to cultivate awareness and make choices that truly align with our values. In this discussion: Why capitalism is more than an economic system How the gamification of our lives keeps us striving for more “points” How capitalism creates the lens we use to shape our values How the system impacts how we view ourselves and our work How to build awareness and begin deconstructing the narratives of the system in your life Connect with Tara McMullin:  What Works Instagram: @tara_mcmullin Twitter: @taragentile Preorder What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal Setting Ready to dive deeper? We all have things we think we “should” be doing, and those influences can get in the way of acting in alignment with our values, especially when we aren’t sure how to take our values from static words to actions. Taking action with your values allows them to become guiding principles on how to respond, make choices, and create impact in your life and with your brand. Members of Pause on the Play® The Community have evergreen access Erica and India’s Jackson’s workshop, Reconsidering What You Know About Values, where you’ll find support in understanding how leading with your values can shift your brand and your life. Get access to the workshop and our entire library of evergreen resources by joining at pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Tara’s thoughts have been influenced by Games: Agency as Art, C. Thi Nguyen Listen to C. Thi Nguyen on the Ezra Klein Show Listen to C. Thi Nguyen on the Conspirituality Podcast Listen to What Works Ep 372: What is Money? With Paco de Leon Listen to What Works Ep 357: Building a Business Based on What Matters with Coach Mara Glatzel

Every one of us has an inner child, where our subconscious minds store emotional experiences from childhood. And those experiences and emotions shape the lens we bring into the present. For members of the BIPOC community, inner child wounds often intersect with the ancestral and generational traumas of the community. Healing is not easy work, especially when healing hasn’t always been accessible or normalized in the community. But it is possible. Evelyn Huynh and Erica discuss inner child wounds, ancestral trauma, and possibilities for healing. In this discussion: Why comparing, downplaying, and minimizing your inner child wounds impedes healing How inner child wounds intersect with ancestral trauma, especially in the BIPOC community Where inner child wounds and generational trauma most often show up in our lives How inner child wounds impact our Imperfect Ally® journeys Connect with Evelyn Huynh:  Evolve with Evelyn Tiktok: @evolvewithevelyn Evolve with Evelyn Podcast Book a Spark Session with Evelyn Ready to dive deeper? Healing is no small feat. It requires time and effort, but it also requires that you allow your body, mind, spirit, and soul to rest. Giving your nervous system a break allows you to be able to continue doing the work of healing. Members of Pause on the Play® The Community have evergreen access to our Allyship Sound Meditation Concert, created by Natasha Freeman of Lucid Living RVA. A sound meditation helps your nervous system relax and supports you in being able to access restorative rest. Get access to the Meditation Concert and our entire library of evergreen resources by joining at pauseontheplay.com/community

Most of us understand the concept of consent when it comes to bodily autonomy and permission. We know what it means to agree to or decline physical interaction. But consent has implications in many areas of our lives and businesses, and it can become confusing to consider how a broader definition of consent impacts the actions we take in relationship to each other. Autumn Witt Boyd joins guest host India Jackson for a discussion of how consent applies to legal agreements and contracts that we make in our businesses and how approaching your agreements through the lens of consent impacts your relationships with your clients for the better. In this discussion: How the cultural conversation about consent has increased and expanded Why getting informed consent for your agreements improves your client relationships Why it’s key to get consent and set expectations through values-forward community and group agreements  How to handle an agreement you didn’t consent to Where to begin auditing your contracts and agreements for values and consent Connect with Our Autumn Witt Boyd:  Instagram: @awbfirm How to Write Your Own Contract Guide Use code PLAY for 20% Off Templates Ready to dive deeper? Expanding our concepts of consent is part of the journey of an Imperfect Ally®. If you’re looking for support and community for your journey, Pause on the Play® The Community has resources, conversations, office hours, live Q&As with Erica and India, live workshops, and recordings.  Members also have evergreen access to the replay of a workshop on consent facilitated by community members Shannon Collins and Stacie Lampkin. Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Autumn recommends Consent (for Kids!): Boundaries, Respect, and Being in Charge of You, Rachel Brian

Communication in the workplace can be fraught.  Bringing together groups of people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can create situations ripe for conflict and miscommunication. But we can shape workplace cultures where people feel witnessed, appreciated, and respected. Elaine Lou Cartas joins Erica and India for a discussion about creating space for difficult conversations in the workplace, the importance of behavior modeling from leaders, and how conscious communication deepens our relationships. In this discussion: How our backgrounds inform our communication styles Why it’s important to obtain consent and create context for providing feedback  Why leaders need to be aware of the communication styles they model to their teams How conscious communication deepens our relationships at work and in life Connect with Our Elaine Lou Cartas:  Elainelou.com Color Your Dreams Podcast Join the Color Your Dreams Newsletter Instagram: @elainelou_ Ready to dive deeper? We all need access to support on our Imperfect Ally® journeys. In Pause on the Play® The Community, we strive to create a space where members have the ability to be open, honest, and transparent, to share their experiences and expertise, to amplify others, and receive support from the community. Join us to get access to conversations, community, office hours, Q&A with Erica and India, live workshops, and our entire library of recordings and resources. If you are ready to be part of the Community, we are ready for you. Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Listen to India and Erica on the Color Your Dreams podcast, discussing Charging Your Worth and Imperfect Allyship®

Tone policing is a way of invalidating what someone is saying because of how they’re saying it. It goes beyond literal tone–too loud, too brash, too animated–and extends to using slang or African American Vernacular English and beyond. It often assumes that the speaker is uneducated, rendering their opinions or experiences as null and void. EK Powell joins Erica to discuss tone policing and respectability politics, how content creators are pushing back and influencing media, and why you can’t address everybody. In this discussion: How respectability politics and tone policing create an obligation to assimilate How content creators are pushing back against respectability politics How calling words slang or jargon applies different implied value to language Why showing up authentically means you can’t address everybody Connect with Our EK Powell:  Instagram: @whatsgoodenglish  TikTok: @whatsgoodenglish YouTube: What’s Good English Support EK Powell on Patreon Contact EK Powell Ready to dive deeper? Pause on the Play® The Community has the resources that support you and other values focused individuals in creating change and impact in our world together. Join us for conversations that address the questions and challenges that come up as you’re navigating visibility and values, Imperfect Allyship®, and the impact you want to create. Membership gets you access to live office hours, Q&A sessions with Erica and India, workshops, and our entire library of evergreen replays and resources. Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Listen to EK Powell on African American Vernacular English The origin of the term “Sea-Lioning”

Success is difficult to define. Everyone has their own take on what it means, and there is often a difference between how we think about success and how it shows up in reality. India and Erica discuss how they have defined success in the past, how the meaning of success has evolved, and share the perspectives of members of the Pause on the Play® Community. In this discussion: How the definitions of success we’re exposed to early in life create narratives of how we perceive ourselves and others Why we need diverse perspectives on the meaning of success Eight community members share their working definitions of success Connect with Our Contributors: Elaine Lou Cartas  Mim Jenkinson  Kim Wensel  EK Powell  Jetty Nieuwenhuis  Sean McMullin Emily Souder Shannon Collins Ready to dive deeper? The last thing we need is another echo chamber, perpetuating a single perspective on how we should live, love, and earn. If you know there’s more than one definition of and path to success, but haven’t found a place that encourages this diversity and divergence, good news: your search is over. READY TO FIND YOUR PEOPLE? Join us inside The Pause on the Play® Community Where entrepreneurs and brands reconsider “normal” in life and work. Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community Resources: Subscribe to the Pause on the Play® Newsletter Listen to Kim Wensel and Erica discuss the evolution of Pause on the Play® Listen to E.K. Powell on African American Vernacular English Listen to Jetty Nieuwenhuis on Unlocking Your F*ck It Factor Read Emily Souder on Defining Success at Mother Hustle Listen to Shannon Collins on Using Your Visibility and Influence from Behind the Camera Listen to Shannon Collins on the Wedding Industrial Complex Listen to Amenah Arman on Bad Art Read Laziness Does Not Exist, by Devon Price