Fempower Dr. Andrea Kraj

Happy International Women's Day!  In honour of International Women's Day, Fempower is releasing this special episode on the Powerful Women, the Mana Wahine, of Hawai'i and the Power of Land. This episode was recorded live onsite in Waikiki, Hawai'i and is a cumulation of Dr. Kraj's research and learning as a Fulbright Scholar on exchange. Dr. Kraj works with Indigenous communities, sustainability and community power for energy resilience. In this episode, Dr. Kraj speaks with Native Hawaiians Aunty Ku'uipo Kumukahi, an entertainer, award-winning recording artist and record producer, as well as an educator, social worker and administrator, currently the director of the Ho'okela Hawaiian Cultural Center at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, and Aunty Jenine Heleloa, director of the Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society, founded by Aunty Ku'uipo. They discuss the power of land, the proper way to pronounce Hawaiian words, the importance of reciprocity in Hawaiian cultural values, and the deeper meaning of ALOHA. This powerful trio of women get to the depths of what is means to be part of a Matriarchial society, the Wahine (women) of Hawaii and the importance of reverence for the land and its people in the preservation and conservation of the land for future generations, and our need to Malama (take care of) the land. This episode is filled with golden nuggets of wisdom from Hawaiian values and teachings. And you'll get a treat of Hawaiian Pidgin language and get to know what the locals really think. Of course we talk about the Sustainability of this remote and sacred land, that energy is everything and the interconnectedness of it all; and Aunty Ku'uipo tells us about the power of poetry in preserving the land, the history of the place and its people and the protection of land rights - and how she set precedent in a court case using mele (song) and hula (dance) to make a case. The Mana Wahine of Hawaii remind us of how powerful we all can be, when we come together, as careholders of our land and resources: "Give someone kuliana and you awaken their mana." -Twinkle Borgess, Wai'anae. Full show notes and links at www.fempower.ca; link to the Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society www.hmpshawaii.com
 

On today’s episode, we talk about Joy, seeking joy, what happens when joy get interrupted by trauma and rewiring for joy in order to choose joy everyday. Today has been 1-year of “pandemic living” or lockdown and insecurity. The weight of which has left us all living with this collective trauma.  Today’s guest is Keira Poulsen, the founder of the Awaken Podcast, is a mother to 5 amazing children. She is also an intuitive, energetic healer and creator. Keira is a spiritual entrepreneurship coach for Lightworkers, healers, change-makers and leaders. She helps women create their soul work and successful businesses derived from their gifts and purpose. Keira believes that now is the time that leaders are awakened and share their light with the world. She is also the founder of Freedom House Publishing Co. where she helps writers and thought leaders become published authors! At Freedom House, she focuses on liberating authors and readers with powerful messages of light!
Keira believes that we all have a deep purpose that the world needs. And when we connect up to The Divine and remember our own inner Divinity, we can create massive change in this world.
I hope you enjoy this episode and find ways that you too can rewire to find joy!

In this episode we celebrate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the people behind these businesses, the mom and pops, the CEOs, the people who are keeping our economy running during these incomprehensible times. Today’s guest is CEO Heidi Reimer Epp of Botanical Paperworks. Heidi and I originally sat down to record this episode about 10 months ago, in the early days of the pandemic. But, it couldn’t be timelier to release this episode then today – when 10 months later we look back on all we have collectively gone through and reflect on the lessons learned. We need to pause and celebrate the CEO – the toughest job in an SME, the burdens we carry and the decisions we need to make to survive: as a company, as individuals and as families. The topics Heidi and I discuss and the wisdom that she shares are relevant today as we navigate this pandemic, still under lock down in many areas, including mine.

2021 has had a tumultuous start in some regions - this is a reflection of many deeper issues in our society. This first episode of season 4 of the Fempower podcast discusses why we need to reevaluate our relationship to, and usage of, social media and calls on doing our individual part to address our role in the matrix; how we can regain our self-sovereignty of our information that we consume and contribute online, and the structures that exist to enable you to do just that. As we discuss in this episode, all information for our show is on our website www.fempower.ca along with links to the podcast for listening. You don't need to use a platform other than our 100% owned and operated website to consume our information. We are leading by example of how we can own our information, curate it accordingly and ensure our listeners and readers are able to see our content as is. You get it how it is here, which has always been core to our values - real advice from real women about real life. And there's no better value than authenticity. Thank you for being here and sharing your precious time with us. We'd love to here from you - feel free to message us or email. You can sign up for our mailing list.  And as we stand by this new reality which will likely turn into a policy around here very soon, we will be stepping back from distributing content on platforms that we do not wholly own and operate. You can read more about this on our blog at www.fempower.ca

Dr. Andrea Kraj reflects on the end of the year 2020, what kept her away from the mic until now and she picks two key words to sum up her take on the year, calling on all to continue to "Love Big Right Now". www.fempower.ca

On today’s episode, we talk about Love and Purpose. It is the season of love afterall, falling just days after St. Valentines Day. I reflect on what love means to me now and what we can make of St. Valentines Day to bring more love into our lives and the world. And somehow this all timely came together with our episode on the power of purpose. There’s a quote that I live by, and I share with you in this episode, about Love, falling in love and how this particular quote fell into my life at a pivotal time and has made all the difference. Today’s guest is fittingly a colleague of mine in the power industry as well! Angella Rainford is doing remarkable work in the solar industry in the Caribbean and it all stems from her deep connection to her own purpose. In this episode we talk about:
Community impact Gender impact and inclusion The result of having more female inclusion in power projects The money multiplier effect of local investment How bumps along her way lead to the wisdom she achieved Failure as a reflection point on your purpose Being on the edge as a catalyst for change The skill of scaling back Progress for changing the world Her life growing up in Jamaica The value of steady long-term patience Her next endeavours More at www.fempower.ca