Fat Joy with Sophia Apostol Sophia Apostol

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Sophia has created a workshop specifically for listeners of this podcast who are interested in exploring the fat experience through writing. Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to learn more. For $50 off any Firefly workshop, use code: FATJOY

Elle Baez (she/her) is the brilliant singer-songwriter of the runaway hit “I Love My Body.” Elle shares her own journey to body positivity, including being bullied, being sent to fat camps, and struggling with eating disorders. Music became a way to heal from fatphobia, and Elle reflects on how making the music videos with fat actors was a deliberate way to showcase body diversity and representation. And, she sings for us, too!!

Trailblazing Latina singer-songwriter Elle Baez is taking over with her innovative pop-soul music and message. Real, authentic, and relatable, Elle is a representation for womxn who have been craving seeing themselves in the spotlight. She empowers and inspires others through her captivating hooks, body positive music videos, versatile writing style, and motto of self-love. Her newest hit song “I Love My Body” has gone viral on social media with with over 2.5 Million Hits. The song along with her summer 2023 hit “Fuego” were both featured in Rolling Stone’s “Songs You Need To Know," and she was named 2023 Entertainer of The Year at the Full Figured Industry Awards. As a songwriter, Elle has been featured by the Grammy’s. She has opened for charting artists Bea Miller and Leah Kate, been featured in Pop Sugar Magazine, NPR and went on a VS Pink Sponsored Tour.

Please connect with Elle on her website, Instagram, TikTok, and the Curvy Artists Collective.

This episode’s poem is called “For Keeps” by Joy Harjo.

Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.
Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.
Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to see if any of our cozy writing workshops are for you. For $50 off, use code: FATJOY
Charis Stiles (she/her) wants us all to feel like we belong, are accepted, and are worthy of love. Often, the barriers to feeling this way stem from wounding that was out of our control, however there’s a lot we can do to repair, heal, and rebuild a sense of self. Charis describes how we can examine self-limiting beliefs, separate out what are real external barriers and what are internalized barriers, and let go of shame and perfectionism.
Charis is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s a therapist, educator, and activist. In addition to proving therapy, she trains organizations on proving fat positive care. She’s taught social work at San Jose State and been a clinical supervisor for new therapists. She identifies as fat, queer, white cisgender (elder) millennial, managing daily life with an autoimmune disorder. When she’s not working, she’s reading romance novels, watching lots of cat TikTok, and trying her hand at ceramics.
Please connect with Charis through her website.
This episode’s poem is called “Starfish” by Eleanor Lerman.
Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.
Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.
Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

A bonus minisode where each guest answers 10 surprising questions with unexpected results. Hilarity ensues.

Please go to Firefly Creative Writing to see if any of our cozy writing workshops are for you. The Fall schedule will be on the website for July 11th. For $50 off, use code: FATJOY

Crystal Maldonado (she/her) is a young adult author with a lot of feelings that she’s channeled into romcoms for fat, brown girls. She shares what it was like to write the stories she wished she’d had when she was growing up, the gatekeeping she had to overcome to get published, and her ‘glimmers’ writing practice that connects her to joy each day.

Crystal has written several books, including The Fall of Whit Rivera, which People Magazine called a “pumpkin-spice-latte-flavored treat”; Fat Chance, Charlie Vega, which was a New England Book Award winner, a Cosmopolitan Best New Book, and a Kirkus Best YA Fiction of 2021; and No Filter and Other Lies, which was named a POPSUGAR and Seventeen Best New YA. Her middle grade debut, Camp Sylvania: Moon Madness—a paranormal summer camp story featuring two fat besties, co-written with #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy—releases in spring 2024.

Please connect with through her website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and tiktok.

This episode’s poem is called “My friends got married today…” by Yesika Salgado.

Connect with Fat Joy on the website, Instagram, subscribe to the Fat Joy newsletter, and watch full video episodes on YouTube.

Want to share some fattie love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.

Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.