Building Tribe Through Consciousness & Character with Dondre Whitfield
Release Date: 09/09/2025
The Unexpected Pregnancy & The Birth of a Conscious Community with Tylah Jordan
Circle This
In this episode, Dre welcomes storyteller and community-builder Tylah Jordan for full circle conversation about the unexpected pregnancy that changed the entire trajectory of her life. Tylah opens up about discovering she was pregnant just one month into a new relationship, while navigating the weight of secrecy, shame, and a religious upbringing where she had never known anyone who became a mother outside of marriage. What could have been an isolating chapter instead became the doorway into a new identity, a deeper spiritual maturity, and the beginnings of Unfiltered...
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Sobriety, Self-Discovery & the Truth About “Fun” with Abby Calabrese
Circle This
In this episode, Dre sits down with influencer, speaker, and sober-living advocate Abby Calabrese to explore what happens when we stop numbing and start feeling. What began as a 100-day challenge for Abby became a life-changing journey back to her truest self. Together, she and Dre unpack how our culture glorifies alcohol as a social glue, how “performing vulnerability” has replaced true emotional honesty, and how radical self-truth can set us free. This episode invites listeners to look at their own attachments, whether to...
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Call To Connection: It’s Time To Take It Offline with Dre & Em
Circle This
Recorded in New York City where it all began, Dre and Em reflect on how everything in life unfolds in systems, patterns, seasons, and cycles. They circle around their love–hate relationship with social media, exploring the irony of creating a podcast about connection while spending so much time in virtual spaces and what happens to our nervous systems, creativity, and sense of belonging when we finally gather in person. They also touch on the rise of “outsourced intimacy” from dating apps to digital wellness and how we’re losing the art...
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No Permission Needed: Processing Pain through Creativity with Alicia Coppola
Circle This
In this episode, Dre welcomes actor, writer, director and all around creator, Alicia Coppola, a woman whose artistry and honesty are inseparable from her healing. They reflect on meeting and circling in countless audition rooms, and how they intuitively unsubscribed from the narrative of competition and scarcity. Alicia opens up about grief, loss, and how creating art has always been her way to understand and alchemize pain. She shares about her latest chapter: relocating her family to support her child’s athletic dreams, giving away nearly everything...
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Space, Grace & the Secret Sauce to Lifelong Friendship with Leigh Kilton Smith & Kristin Hahn
Circle This
In this episode, Dre is joined by two beloved friends and returning guests: producer and screenwriter Kristin Hahn and acting coach Leigh Kilton Smith. Together, they circle around how they’ve navigated decades of friendship—through grief, distance, conflict, and reconciliation—and what it really takes to sustain intimacy over time. They speak to the discipline of giving one another space and grace, the courage of telling hard truths, and the sacred act of creating magic with and for one another. Beyond friendship, this conversation dives into the realities of...
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The Art and Science of Circling: How Real Connection Can Heal Us with Dr. Avanti
Circle This
In this powerful episode of The Healing Catalyst, Dr. Avanti Kumar Singh welcomes Dre, to explain the profound impact of women's circles on healing and connection, drawn from her two decades of facilitating these communal story-sharing experiences. Dre shares how this ancient practice is making a modern-day comeback, and why it's more essential than ever. The conversation explores the science behind communal experiences, such as the role of mirror neurons and the release of oxytocin, often called the “bonding hormone,” which is released during emotionally safe,...
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Circle This: One Year, Infinite Ripples with Dre & Em
Circle This
In this anniversary episode, Dre & Em reflect on the lessons and breakthroughs from their first year of recording Circle This. From battling perfectionism and self-criticism to learning the art of “progress over perfection,” they share the highs, lows, and unexpected gifts of the creative process. The conversation flows through gratitude for every listener, message, and share—the living proof of The Ripple Effect. Together, they unpack the myths around working with friends, how astrology helped them honor each other’s creative blueprints, and why following curiosity...
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Practical Magic & The Power of Re-patterning with Anne Emerson
Circle This
In this episode, Dre circles with artist, intuitive coach, and spiritual midwife Anne Emerson to explore the power of re-patterning the beliefs that keep us stuck in old stories. For over five decades, Anne has guided people through Holographic Repatterning™, a therapeutic technology that uses applied kinesiology to trace issues and blockages that appear as problems in our present experience. These blocks can be emotional, mental and even physical, and seem impossible to unravel. The issues are anchored in our unconscious from past traumas, but appear in our present as...
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The Truth Is Funny: Comedy, Courage & Creative Freedom with Manon Mathews
Circle This
On this episode, Dre welcomes comedian and creator Manon Mathews to circle around the wild ride of new motherhood and the courage it takes to keep creating through it all. Together they unpack the loneliness that comparison creates, the surprising freedom in radical honesty, and the way pain can be our teacher. Manon reflects on her creative process — embracing spontaneity, catching inspiration before it dissipates and committing to share from wherever she is. This is a conversation about creative freedom, the power of laughter, and the...
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Peace Begins With Me: How to Stay Soft When Life Gets Loud with Bex Urban
Circle This
In this episode, Dre circles with teacher and facilitator Bex Urban on the mind-body connection and the practice of staying soft when life gets loud. Together they explore how our quirks can be our superpowers, why shadow work is a doorway to deeper self-acceptance, and how the most intimate relationship we’ll ever have is with ourselves. From meeting old patterns in new ways, to updating our inner “operating system,” to regulating the nervous system with the simple mantra Peace Begins With Me—this conversation is a reminder that we can change our minds, soften...
info_outlineOn this episode, Dre sits down with actor, author, conscious leader and soul brother, Dondre Whitfield to circle around listening as an act of love, the dance between divine feminine and masculine energies, and the distinction between male vs. man.
Despite their opposing appearances and backgrounds, Dre and Dondre first recognized each other as “tribe” when they met at the High School of Performing Arts. It was here where empathy was learned and forged through listening to one another’s struggles, discovering the universality of pain. They reflect on how those lessons in emotional intelligence still guide them today.
Together, they explore why affirmation is one of the most activating gifts we can give to each other, and how we need to feel seen and heard to survive. Dondre shares insights on partnership, parenting, and the importance of being a model for what we wish others to mirror.
From redefining what it means to be a man of service, to embracing both divine feminine and masculine energies, this conversation invites us to consider what true balance looks like—not perfection, but enough to create alignment with our divine assignment.
Dondre shares the way he walks through the world, seeing everyone as necessary to our shared ecosystem, and remembering that when we listen with love, we have the power to change the world.
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Circle This is proudly sponsored by Sow to Speak for the month of September. Listeners receive 20% off when you sign up with the code CIRCLE.
Learn more here: UNmuted Program Details Highlighting UNmuted—a powerful resource designed to support high-achieving female leaders, especially moms in senior-level roles. UNmuted helps women navigate difficult conversations with confidence, courage, and grace. Or visit sowtospeak.com for more information on all their offerings and programs.
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Follow: @alldondre
Learn More At: https://www.dondrewhitfield.
Stay connected with the Circle This team:
@andreabendewald @circlethispodcast
@emkratter @goodmessmedia @talkwithtrace
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