This is the time of year we’re the most contemplative about where we are in our own lives - and it’s for that reason I’m so excited to introduce you to today’s guest. Lynn Chen is an actress, activist, and food blogger who’s been seen in countless TV shows and films, serves as an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association, and has not one but TWO blogs. The Actor’s Diet, which Lynn started in 2009 as a sort of journal to help her make peace with her food after years of eating disorders, it’s now one of the most influential food blogs on the web, with some of the most longevity at that. AND, she’s got a podcast, the Actor’s Diet Podcast! Her other blog is called Thick Dumpling Skin, a phenomenal body-image blog that’s centered around the Asian American community.

We ended up talking for close to two hours – Lynn shared so much of herself with me, and with us, that I really, really wanted to be mindful to do each word and thought and story and lesson justice. She’s in a majorly transitional time in her career right now, and that can be really scary – I went through the same thing multiple times – where you’ve pretty much built your identity being one thing, and then you decide to change directions from that. I don’t care what kind of career your in or what your life looks like, it’s something we all experience, but we usually hear people talking about it AFTER it’s happened. I’m honored Lynn opened up about this to me.

We dive deep in this episode, but the one theme that kept popping up was learning how to accept what is, and then moving forward from there. We talk about the way blogging’s shifted over the last six years, Lynn’s choice to move away from acting and why success isn’t always what it seems, the lessons she learned while she was trying to get pregnant, and the unexpected strategy she’s used to cope with everything from the sudden death of her father a few years back to her long history with eating disorders. We also talk about rejection, comparison, and how to make your mark by being exactly who you are.

It gets deep and it gets emotional and we both cry a little, but I promise, just like anything else with WANT, this is really about hope, taking what’s handed to you, and asking yourself, where can I go from here.

Today’s guest is Negin Singh, the Founder and Artistic Director of cARTel: Collaborative Arts LA, and currently the Director of Inspiration (real title) for top Augmented Reality developer DAQRI. She’s been featured on the White House Blog, spoken for the big-wigs at places like NASA, and was named one of the top 30 Indian Entrepreneurs under 30 by India Current Magazine.

If you’ve ever wanted to create something in your life – whether it’s theater, a business, a product, whatever – you KNOW how many hoops there are to jump through and how often it is that the good stuff never gets out into the world simply because people don’t have the resources or funds to let their extraordinary talent or vision live. As you’ll hear from Negin, cARTel was formed to solve that problem and take away those barriers that usually end up preventing really fantastic art from every even happening. They’ve put on critically acclaimed concerts, film festivals, circus and theater events, live radio shows, spoken word performances, art installations…most of which have been held in unexpected places like parks, vintage stories, pool parties, living rooms, and pretty much any place that’s anything BUT traditional.

Back to DAQRI - if you're anything like me, you read the words "Augmented Reality" and thought...what? Basically, as Negin taught me, AR is where technology meets the “real world.” Think Google Glass and projects like that. The fact that Negin is the leader when it comes to creating such literally life-changing, visionary projects absolutely blows my mind.

Negin is actually a friend of mine from college. I’ve had the honor of watching her grow and flourish for the last decade and completely shift the way others think about what it means to CREATE. What's more, is that every step of the way, she's championed other artists, other woman, and even when we were competing for the same roles, she never let me forget what a joy it was just to be "it it" together.

In this episode, we talk about body image and fitness experiments, Negin’s tweendom in Dubai (and her most embarrassing childhood memory), capitalizing on what makes you different, recognizing your privilege, and how she turned her frustration with the system she was supposed to prescribe to into a movement so big that their annual music festival got called out by a certain “-chella” festival ;)

We also talk about not fitting in, not following rules, and about how you really don’t have to have a degree or background in something in order to succeed at it.

If you’re a creative of ANY type, you’ve ever felt different, or you’ve ever wondered how you’re going to get your message out into the world, I think you're going to really resonate with Episode 003.

Today's WANTcast guest is Danielle Beinstein, an LA-based Astrologer, meditation coach, spiritual counselor, and co-founder of the New Moon Circle in Venice Beach, CA, which gives women a sacred space to set intentions, form bonds, and heal their lives from the inside out (on the new moon of each month, of course).

I first met Danielle Beinstein at a cocktail party a few months ago, and by the end of the night we’d pretty much locked down our first friend date because I could just tell this was a woman I needed to have in my life . It was probably after she told me that she was, like me, an introvert usually confused for an extrovert AND an HSP, or a highly sensitive person.

For those of you who are thinking this might be getting a little too hippie dippie groovytime for you, I promise you, you’re in for a surprise. I am, admittedly, a little hippie dippie groovytime myself, but the reason I was drawn to Dani was…she’s got this intellectual, pragmatic, reason-based side of her that is able to boil down more esoteric matters to be incredibly accessible, relatable, and highly personal. Turns out, she has a crazy academic and business background, so something I really wanted to talk to her about was how this highly off-the-beaten path career took shape, when it was nothing that was anywhere where she thought she wanted to be her entire life.

In this episode, we talk about how to balance being an introvert with extroverted tendencies, adapting and protecting yourself as an HSP, or highly sensitive person, and Dani’s windy, highly untraditional path from living in Manhattan in a super competitive world to ending up in politics to finding her way into the entertainment industry, to trying out tech, to a degree in Spiritual Psychology (which I didn’t know was a thing) from university of Santa Monica and ”coming out of the astrology closet”, She also talks about following your heart, conscious friendships, and, my favorite, what the planets in your chart say about where you are in your own personal growth cycle which will NOT look like anyone else’s.

Bonus? Dani’s also giving away a copy of the New Moon Circle journal on the site! Head over there for all the details and some little teaser images which are absolutely stunning.

One more little public service announcement, there’s some pretty fun stuff going on in these next couple months, so be sure to subscribe to pod, and to the WANT newsletter so we can share the fun together, there are some super cool events coming up, and way more weekly content, so I’d love to see you there.

Welcome to the WANTcast: the Women Against Negative Talk Podcast - lessons in moving forward fearlessly and spreading the good word.

I cant even tell you how stoked I am to be sharing this very first podcast with you. Today’s guest is – she’s more than inspirational, she’s electric.

I first met Delia Brown a couple years ago when she became an indoor cycling teacher at Equinox, and was instantly drawn to her down to earth, inclusive, sassy but soulful personality.

As I got to know her, these little pieces of information started to surface. Like that she rapped. Or that she swam in the ocean every morning. Or that she was literally a famous artist - like art-history-books-famous. Big time fame.

And earlier this year, something else surfaced: that she had been diagnosed with, in her words, a pretty gnarly strain of cancer. So just so you know, she is in remission as of last month – and it’s not the cancer I wanted to talk to her about per se, but her perspective on life that could have only been achieved with the solid base of self-awareness she’d cultivated her entire life.

In this episode she talks about falling into a creative depression that lasted years, doing things because they’re scary, finding role models that reflect who you know you can be, and - of course - her rap career (she opened for Wu Tang Clan once, btw) as well as her appearance on Daytime TV (which I had zero clue about before I recorded this). If you are into living life to the fullest – yes, I‘m going to be that general – this episode is for you. I love her and I know you will too.

Little disclaimer: I’m still figuring this whole podcasting thing out, so if there’s some sound wonkiness, vocal ticks and habits that just won't quit, etc, please go easy on me. I'm only human, and only figuring this out as I go along. To go along with the theme of today’s episode, making this honestly scared the living bejeesus out of me. Good –scary, not my-intuition-is-screaming-to-stop scary. But my life philosophy is that anything new that’s really worth doing is always a little scary at first, and moveover that fear is a sign youre on to something big. So my hope is that today is the start of what is something huge, not just for me and not just for the guests, and not just you as an individual, but for all of us as a community – because in order to make a positive change in ourselves and in the world, we need to work together to set the example.
 
I honestly cannot say enough about this amazing woman, so I’ll just let you listen to the episode. Enjoy.

tags: self-help, wellness, art, career, cancer, health, fitness, fame, personal stories, interviews, women, women in podcasting

Welcome to the WANTcast: The Women Against Negative Talk Podcast - lessons in moving forward fearlessly and spreading the (good) word.

I'm Katie Horwitch, the host of the WANTcast and founder of WANT: Women Against Negative Talk.

Each week, I'll be bringing you interviews, stories, and inspiration to help you live the life you're meant to lead and being the YOU you want to be by shifting around your negative talk patterns. We'll discuss body image, self worth, relationships, career, community, and all kinds of pragmatic positivity.

The WANTcast launches on Tuesday, September 1st! Hit the "subscribe" button now to get the first episode delivered directly to your phone, iPod, whatever you're using - can't wait to start off with a bang.

Dive in. Dig deep. Be the YOU you know you're meant to be. I'll see you in September!