Episode 157 Kate Holby, co-founder of Ajiri Tea
Release Date: 03/15/2021
Episode 405 Jay Nachowitz
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest to today is Jay Nachowitz. Jay began his career as a professional trumpet player, then integrated his business skills as an entertainment agent and later became a financial manager. Jay’s passion for music and his genuine respect for musicians has allowed him to be both a music manager and financial manager, sometimes both for the same people. Jay has always earned his own income and has been driven by integrity and being a help to others, in a variety of ways. We discussed his positive attitude even in the face of adversity, and what it took for him to get out of his own way, to...
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Episode 404 What Love Does
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I highlight what love does. Whether we pay attention with love, interact with love or infuse love into ourselves, into our plants, pets, people or the planet, love makes a positive impact. Using the simple examples of plants, I marvel at what love does to my relationship to these sentient beings. What love does!! Love reminds us that we have more love in us than we realize. Love stretches and expands our hearts. Love stimulates the giving and receiving partnership. Love generates more love. What love does is nourish us, heal us and helps us grow. May we all...
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Episode 403 Be Present
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I share my experience of being present to two friends in hospice. Being present slows me down, drops me into a quieting center that allows me to align with the Divine. It is a deep honor to be invited into the dying process. I take that invitation very seriously and am grateful for the richness and blessings that unfold. I share two of the meditations that I say silently and aloud when gently massaging the feet of each of my friends. May we all allow ourselves to be a conduit of light, compassion, comfort and love. May we all know the power of being...
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Episode 402 Lynda Baldauf, Three Bluebirds
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest today is Lynda Baldauf, co-founder of the Swedish dishcloth Three Bluebirds. With mindfulness, humility and an open heart, Lynda and her Finland-born husband Lasse, started their company in 2013. Their Eco-friendly cleaning cloth replaces paper towels, rags and sponges, absorbs 20 times its weight and lasts 6-9 months. The cloth is made in the US with sustainable wood pulp, certified organic cotton and water-based inks so they are 100% compost-able with zero waste. You never know what a chance meeting will offer. I’m grateful that the stars aligned for me to meet Lynda in a...
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Episode 401 Kindness Matters
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I share a simple story that reminds us how much kindness matters. There is a powerful ripple effect in one small act of kindness. Genuine kindness aligns us with our true nature. It feels good to be both the giver and receiver of kindness. May this episode remind you that even in the midst of our chaotic current events, the simple act of kindness can move us to tears, water our souls, and help us be more fully present to what truly matters. Enjoy the podcast!
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Episode 400!!
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, we celebrate our 400th episode. I acknowledge the key role as producer that my husband Paul plays. I am so grateful for all he does to help me develop, support and sustain this podcast dream of mine. I also celebrate the growing grassroots movement that rallied over 8 million people to show up for No Kings 3 Protest on March 28th. I share some of the lyrics sung in the singing resistance groups all across the land. The words capture what shores me up in these troubling times. As we celebrate 400 episodes, may we all find small and large ways to stand in solidarity...
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Episode 399 Sheri Reuveni-Ulrich
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
My guest today is Sheri Reuveni-Ulrich. Sheri had been a speech therapist for nearly 25 years with special needs individuals, primarily on the autism spectrum. She also had a love for baking and often incorporated baking as an experiential activity for her students. Her “ah ha” moment occurred when she stepped back from the kitchen and witnessed her non-verbal students humming, laughing and finding their voices, while baking cookies. That ignited her desire to create a bakery, where she could provide meaningful employment to individuals on the spectrum. Rising Above Bakery, started...
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Episode 398 3.5%
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I explain the importance of Saturday March 28th’s No Kings 3 Protest. Research says that if 3.5% of the population actively participate in sustained peaceful protest, the people can topple an authoritarian regime. And we have an authoritarian regime that desperately needs to be toppled! 3.5% of our country’s population would be 12 million people. Let’s show up and peacefully take to the streets and encourage everyone we know to come be a part of the 12 million people, gathering in solidarity to unite, resist, and restore our democracy. Check out the Show...
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Episode 397 Tenderness
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
On this week’s episode, I build on the poem I shared last week titled Because by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. The poem is about opening our hearts, even when the world around us temps us to close it or protect ourselves from all the anguish and pain. The poem encourages us to make love matter even when it is easy to fall into despair. I’ve let that poem seep into me and it inspired me to look up more pieces on heart centering and tenderness. May we sit at the altar of our heart. May we breathe deeply, listen compassionately. May we embrace the tenderness that tunes us into our truth, the...
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Episode 396 Love, As If It Matters
Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire
I share a deeply inspiring poem on this week’s episode. My niece shared the poem with me and her great-uncle shared it with her and he claims that the poem so beautifully captures his beloved wife who died last year. So this poem is charged with loving hands, open hearts and wisdom from this world and beyond. May we take love seriously. May we give love wildly. May we be gentle with our insufficiency. May we stay open in the face of indifference, anger, cruelty and fear. May we love as if love matters, as if the world depends on it. Enjoy the podcast! Links:
info_outline My guest today is Kate Holby. Kate, together with her sister, Sara, and the appreciated support of their parents, started a small business 12 years ago, called Ajiri Tea Company. The Swahili translation of the word “Ajiri” means ‘to employ’ and that is exactly what the Holby sisters have done. Ajiri sources tea from small-scale farms in Western Kenya and employs 60 women in the Kenyan region to hand make all the packaging, using dried bark from banana trees. Ajiri asked the tea farmers and women where the profits should go, and they all agreed they wanted profits to be invested in education for the orphans in their community. 100% of profits goes directly to Orphan Education. Ajiri then hired two exceptional Kenyan social workers, who identify vulnerable orphans, providing the concrete financial support of school fees and living supplies, while also providing the emotional and psychological support to address their difficult living situations.
Ajiri cares about the quality of their relationships, from their empowering relationship to the farmers and women making packages, to their social workers and Ajiri scholars, to their phenomenal, loyal customer base who believe in the mission of this truly Kenyan company. And to think that the simple act of sipping a cup of Kenyan tea could have such a positive ripple effect on the lives of so many!
Check out the show notes for links to the Ajiri Tea website and their Instagram & Twitter accounts. Explore ways you can help support the inspiring work for this great company. Enjoy the podcast!
Links:
ajiritea.com
IG: @ajiritea
Twitter: @AjiriTea