A Varied Life

Variety is the spice of life! Our podcasts tell the real life stories of people who added variety to their routine for a happier and more interesting life. Listen, be inspired, and contribute!

Marge - Sewing fro Grateful Garment 04/28/2019

Marge - Sewing fro Grateful Garment Marge has a lot on her plate. In addition to working and being the volunteer coordinator at fabMo.org she sews garments for an organization called Grateful Garment, a California-wide not-for -profit that sews clothing for victims of sexual assault who need to surrender their clothing to the police for testing. Listen to her talk about her work for Grateful Garment in a 20 minute interview. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/9562904

A Passion for Baking 04/11/2017

A Passion for Baking Catherine Wong loved baking ever since high school. In college she was the go-to-girl for all things sweet and yummy but when it came to choosing a career baking had to take a step back. Catherine staid with the food theme, though, and became a food scientist. For years she created sauces: developed new ideas for pizza sauces, pasta sauces, meat sauces, tried, changed, improved and came up with intriguing flavors. But baking remained her true passion. After work she would rush home and start exploring with sweet ingredients, developing new flavors, trying to recreate what she experienced during her travels, e.g. French macarons. 2015 Catherine decided that she wanted to make her passion her profession. She now runs a small bakery, creates new intriguing flavors and learns first hand that marketing is hard. Listen to my interview with her! /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/5255267

JW House - A Home Away from Home 03/16/2017

JW House - A Home Away from Home JW's story is an inspiring one. The young, terminally ill boy together his doctor raised funds to create a place for people who care for family members or ,over ones at the nearby hospitals. A inviting place to have a meal, take a shower, enjoy some peace and quite, talk to people who are in a similar situation or find a sympathetic ear among the staff and volunteers. Jim is one of those volunteers. he spends his Sunday evenings at JW House doing house hold chores like washing dishes and making sure the house is inviting and friendly but more importantly, he supports their visitors, helps those who help others buy listening, encouraging and simply being there for them. Listen to my interview with jim and be inspired what the vision of a few and the dedication of many can achieve. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/5174407

From Graphic Design to Selling Handmade Items 02/14/2017

From Graphic Design to Selling Handmade Items Patti always had a talent for and interest in design and spent most of her professional life as a graphic designer for a number of companies and organizations. From an early age on, she was also a avid sewist and two years ago she took the plunge and combined her passions and talents and started designing and sewing her own line of linen home products and home decor items and selling these handmade items online. Listen to the interview to learn how Patti designs, manufactures, markets, sells and ships her products and be inspired to start following your passion as well - and maybe even make money doing it. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/5084806

Reading Partners: Helping Kids to Become Proud, Confident Readers 02/01/2017

Reading Partners: Helping Kids to Become Proud, Confident Readers When Vivian was asked by a friend to help out with the Reading Partners program when a number of tutors suddenly departed she and her husband said yes. Little did they know that they would still be Reading Partners five years later, driving to an elementary school once a week to work with kids who have fallen behind on their reading. Listen to Vivian speak to learn how much fun it is and how little time it takes to help a child master that important skill. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/5045903

Act for Great Apes 01/23/2017

Act for Great Apes After Susan Lutter stopped working for money she was looking to "work from the heart". She volunteered to work with Koko, the chimpanzee who was talked sign language and thought that work fund her true passion: a sanctuary for orphaned gorillas and chimpanzees in Cameroon. She visits the sanctuary twice a year and spend a lot of the rest of her time raising funds for the sanctuary and the surrounding communities and organize the logistics to get critical projects done. If you ever doubted that one person with a vision, passion and energy can make a difference - they will be dispelled when you listen to Susan speak about her work. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/5017784

Teaching in Laos 01/18/2017

Teaching in Laos Sometimes a small change just isn't enough and so - occasionally - I will bring you the story of somebody who did something radical. All her life Jutta wanted to teach and part of her professional career was spent on doing just that. Her other passion is traveling. During a trip to Laos she spoke with many of the local people and found out how eager they are to learn English. After returning home she found out that she had been laid off from her job and everything fell into place for her. She sublet her apartment, packed a suitcase and booked flights to Luang Prabang, where she had spent some time during her travels. What was meant to be a few months working and living in Laos turned into four and a half years during which Jutta taught at the local temples and started a girls only English class in her home. Listen ton the podcast to learn more about her adventures. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/5003298

Volunteer Diver 01/02/2017

Volunteer Diver Andy Frazer is an accomplished and experienced diver. During a trip to the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences he realized that he can combine two of his passions: diving and volunteering by becoming a volunteer diver at the aquarium and helping with the monumental tasks of keeping the algae at bay and the anemones well-feed while entertaining the visitors by waving and high-fiving them and raising awareness of critical conservation issues. Listen to this interview to learn more about the rewards of being a volunteer diver. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4957293

Sharing the Love of a Pet 12/06/2016

Sharing the Love of a Pet When Sandra rescued her dog Ginny a from a shelter she soon began looking for a way to share the affection of her little friend with people less fortunate. She also wanted to work with elderly people and found the perfect combination in a pet therapy program. In this interview Sandra talks about her - and Ginny's - experiences with the program. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4888918

Engineer by Day, Writer by night 11/13/2016

Engineer by Day, Writer by night P. G. has her plate full, she is a software engineer by day with a 2 hour commute, a young son and a husband. By night and in moments of relative calm she is a writer. She has something else: seemingly limitless energy and an enthusiasm for writing that is infectious. After speaking with her I want to do nothing more than get that unfinished manuscript out and not stop writing until it is done. P.G. has written and published 4 books since she started writing barely a year and a half ago. You can find them . /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4826269

Advocate for a Foster Child 11/02/2016

Advocate for a Foster Child When a friend took Moe Rubenzahl to a Board meeting of Child Advocates of Silicon Valley he immediately liked what he saw: an organization training people to become court appointed special advocates for a foster child. After serving on the board for three years Moe took the next step and became a court appointed special advocate - or CASA - himself. Listen to this interview to learn more about becoming a CASA and the rewards of giving back to a child in need. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4795097

Rewards & Challenges of Teaching Yourself a New Skill 10/28/2016

Rewards & Challenges of Teaching Yourself a New Skill All his life Venky enjoyed music. He listend to a broad variety of genres - from the traditional and modern music played in his native India to pop and rock - but he never learned how to play an instrument. Now in his 40s with a young son who is learning how to play the guitar, Venky decided that it was time to take his love of music to the next level and learn how to play an instrument himself. He choose the guitar and decided to take the "teaching yourself" approach. Listen to the podcast to find out how keeps himself motivated, sets goals for himself and the resources he is using. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4783307

A Former City-Girl Turns Bee-Keeper in Montana 10/28/2016

A Former City-Girl Turns Bee-Keeper in Montana Pamela started being a bee-keeper this year on her 10-acre homestead in Montana. She is committed to raising healthy pollinators with honey being a bonus. Learn how she handles challenges with the local bears, avoids getting stung and how easy it was to get started as a bee-keeper. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4783277

How Trekking in Peru Led to a Passion for the Tango 10/24/2016

How Trekking in Peru Led to a Passion for the Tango This is an interview with Shekar Patel who discovered his passion for dancing the Tango when he was getting ready to hike the Inca Trail in Peru. Now he takes classes twice a week and goes to festivals whenever possible. Listen to the podcast to hear his story and to get some pointers on how to get started yourself. /episode/index/show/avariedlife/id/4770229

A Varied Life

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