Yuliana Kim-Grant's Phoenix Tales Yuliana Kim-Grant

Honoring the Fragility of Life with Jimin Han
Today Yuliana is joined by Jimin Han, the author of the novel, A Small Revolution. Born in Seoul, Korea, Jimin grew up in the United States, eventually attending Cornell University and earning an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing can be found in a number of publications, and A Small Revolution, her first novel, has appeared on many ‘Best Fiction’ and ‘Must Reads’ lists. Jimin currently teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and Pace University, and today she takes us on the journey of how the passing of her mother left her heartbroken but still gave her strength to continue writing.
Jimin begins by delving into the event that redirected the course of her life - her mother’s passing, how that event strongly affected her, and the further strain it put on her relationship with her father. She discusses how she channels rage and becomes more protective of her energy and space as a writer, and describes the way that realizing how fragile life can be makes us slow down to catch our breath. The episode rounds off as Jimin talks about playing the piano, be it Beethoven or ABCs, and how it resonates with her life. Having learned just how very precious each and every day is in our lives, Jimin has gained much wisdom which she shares with listeners here today.
 
Episode Highlights:
The event that redirected the course of Jimin’s life - her mother’s passingStepping into our own after a parent’s deathHow rage made Jimin more protectiveThe concessions Jimin madeHow a sense of mortality affects our decisionsJimin’s second bookNavigating a strained relationship with a parentThe preciousness of time and how it makes us slow downGetting comfortable in a certain amount of discomfortPlaying the piano
 
Quotes:
“As writers, we want to make complex characters, we want to live in the nuances of feeling.”
“As writers, we need to be more protective of our time and our sort of emotional and mental space.”
“I feel that a lot of the lessons that she was able to teach me, I feel that I still carry her with me.”
“What...I want my children to learn from me, and what I wanted them to be able to say is ‘Yes, my mother did write the book she wanted to write.’”
“I wish I'd recorded her. I wish I had been able to stay up and listen to everything else she wanted to say. I look back and I wish I'd been able to spend those moments.”
“Every day is so precious.”
“How is it that we just assume life is just going to go on? And yet we have to make plans. That’s the best way to live is to make those plans.”
“I didn't give myself that breathing space and now, I try to schedule a few big things a week, as opposed to, in a day. Maybe a few things in a month as opposed to a week...just not forcing yourself.”
“I've just learned that if I wait a little longer, then the answer comes."
“I think what it taught me ...that... for many years...and I will just speak for myself that I had made a lot of concessions and I feel that after my mother died I was able to see more clearly how I should be more protective. As writers we become more protective of our time, sort of emotional and mental space. All of that has become more clear to me.“
Links:
Phoenix Tales Homepage
Phoenix Tales on Instagram
Phoenix Tales on Spotify
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Welcome to the Phoenix Tales Podcast
Show Notes: 
Welcome to the premier podcast episode of Phoenix Tales, a show about women overcoming challenges in their lives, and, like the Phoenix, being reborn with their lives reimagined. Joining our host, Yuliana Kim-Grant, this week is Ginger McKnight-Chavers, author of In the Heart of Texas. A graduate of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and Harvard Law School, Ginger was a practicing lawyer when challenges in her personal life inspired her to pursue another course, resulting in her own Phoenix Tale which she shares with listeners here today.
Ginger begins the conversation by describing those challenges which she faced, the traits she possessed which kept her moving forward through them, and how she came to possess them. She goes on to describe the insecurities she faced in her career as a woman of color, her feelings of being an imposter and the impact this had, her advice for empty nesters on re-engaging with the world, and giving yourself permission to pursue your passion. The episode concludes with Ginger sharing the song that she feels best describes her life. Eloquent, insightful, engaging, and thoroughly inspirational, Ginger and her tale of remaking her life provide the perfect foundation and springboard for what you can expect to hear in upcoming episodes of the Phoenix Tales podcast.

Episode Highlights:
The challenges that redirected the course of Ginger’s lifeThe traits that kept Ginger moving forward through her challenges and how she came to possess themThe insecurities she faced in her career as a woman of colorHer feelings of being an imposter and the impact upon herGinger’s advice for empty nesting listeners to re-engage with the worldGiving yourself permission to pursue or reignite a passionThe one song that describes Ginger’s life

Quotes:
“I stopped seeing myself as an attorney who just liked to write in my spare time to taking writing seriously, and it transformed my life.”
“I'm the kind of person that thinks about things and analyzes them before I react for better and for worse.”
“I just became this sort of serial kind of multitask or tunnel vision kind of machine.”                                                                                             
“As a writer, you know, I think most of us feel like an imposter.”
“You belong there, but there's just a little something going on underneath the surface.”
“You're watching the world in order to navigate it because you feel like you're not one of those people that just waltzes down the red carpet.”
“You're always on the lookout for a situation that could be harmful or dangerous.”
“Am I at the in-law's house or in my family home? Just that undercurrent of you're never sure when someone's going to push you out the door.”
“It is a blessing to have really supportive and grounded parents and grandparents that were very active in your life.”
“Black women are the biggest demographic of readers in America.”
“I went with a small press, I hired my own publicist. I had already plotted out what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to...

Expressing the Fullness of Who You Are with Kim Thai
Joining our host, Yuliana Kim-Grant, this week is Kim Thai, an Emmy-award-winning producer, writer, activist, and mindfulness teacher. She is the founder of GaneshSpace, a community organization dedicated to creating spaces to dismantle internalized oppression and explore identity through the lens of intersectionality. Kim shares her Phoenix Tale today of how she rediscovered herself after her divorce.
Kim begins the conversation by sharing the event that redirected the course of her life: her divorce. She talks about experiencing heartbreak and turning to yoga at the time and how this event set her on a path of discovering her life and finding independence. In this self-discovery, Kim found herself exploring her sexuality and embracing her queerness. She discusses the challenges of being the only person of color in a room and how her life experiences have made her create impacts geared towards encouraging diversity. She also talks about unlearning the generational trauma passed on to her from her parents’ experiences as refugees. The episode concludes with Kim talking about Ganesh and sharing the one song that describes her life- a song about acceptance and stepping into the world and knowing you’re enough.
Episode Highlights:
The event that redirected the course of Kim’s lifeExperiencing heartbreak in divorceFinding yoga in a time of needHow Kim embarked on a journey of independence and self-discoveryKim’s exploration of her sexualityWhat does queer mean now? - Kim’s pieceThe challenges of growing up as an Asian American in TexasObserving from a distance as one different from othersGenerational trauma- staying in survival modeMigrating to TexasKim talks about GaneshThe one song that describes Kim’s life.

Quotes:
“It was a very interesting time for me in the next couple years to be able to really kind of find myself and find the parts of me that still needed to be woken up when to be discovered.”
“We both had that sort of mindset that we were each other's person.”
“We kind of grew into different people than we were when we first met at 17. ”
“It was a lot of deep diving of getting reacquainted to the core of who I was.”
“I didn't have to necessarily completely understand who or why I was attracted to someone and or have to identify, but it was more just me being open to it. And that was really the practice for me at that point.”
“I don't want to be put into a box, I don't like want to have to restrain my identity in any way, whether it's my sexual identity, or my racial identity, my gender, whenever in order to fit a system that may or may not be able to really let me express the fullness of who I am.”
“My boundary has become a lot more clear. And I'm a lot more strong at holding it with when it comes to discussions about race”
“I’m Asian all the time!”

Links:
Phoenix Tales Homepage
Phoenix Tales on Instagram
Phoenix Tales on Spotify
Phoenix Tales on Facebook
Kim's Homepage
GaneshSpace...

Love, Pain, Grief, and Learning How to Overcome with Cat Partheniades
On this week's episode, Yuliana welcomes Catherine ‘Cat’ Partheniades to the show to talk about the moment she found out she was adopted. She was 30 when this happened, and shortly after this discovery, both of her adoptive parents passed away. Today she chats with Yuliana about reckoning with her parents’ lies, experiencing resentment, and her intense periods of drinking to repress the emotions she didn’t know how to deal with or even want to deal with. It was only upon finding her biological family that she found solace in her identity and her parents’ decision to withhold information from her.
After coming into contact with her birth mother through Facebook, Cat remembers meeting her in Brazil as a blissful moment where she finally found the missing piece that she hadn’t quite been able to place in her life before. Kim and our guest go on to talk about both Cat’s birth and adoptive parents, and the pair close out the episode by talking about her experience healing from grief and complex emotions. It’s certainly been an interesting ride for Cat Partheniades, but, as you will hear, she doesn’t want this narrative to dominate her life. After all, she is so much more than that.
Episode Highlights:
Cat finding out she was adopted at 30 Her parents’ liesExperiencing resentment toward her parents Setting pain asideFeeling like she’s betraying her parents Finding her biological family through FacebookThe quest for Charlotte’s birth momReunification with Charlotte’s biological familyCharlotte’s coming outIdentity strugglesHealing from griefEd Sheeran’s Photograph

Quotes:
“Facing the health challenges of both her parents, she finds out that she's adopted, even amid the pain of losing her parents and this life altering discovery, she finds a way toward acceptance of her life and more importantly, herself.”
“I did get into contact with my biological family, and at that point in time, I finally felt that I was at home with myself— with the universe in a sense - because when I met my biological family, that's where I belong, in a sense. It has nothing to do with the adoptive side not loving me or anything like that.”
“I knew that because growing up, my father was Greek, my mother was Brazilian. And the story that they told me was, they tried to have a baby for like, 16 years, and I was the miracle baby. And instead of having me here in the States, where my mom had no family, they decided to take my mom to Brazil to be around family.”
“I think initially, I was so overwhelmed with knowing that I was going to lose my parents, then eventually dealing with grief. I wish I didn't have to deal with the adoption part of my life. I found it to be very overwhelming, to be very honest. I did a great job in hiding those feelings from people.”
“When you look at the bigger picture, how can I be mad at people that wanted to love me and protect me so hard? That's what I kind of started to learn and that's what gave me peace with everything.”
The moment I saw my bio mom, I knew it was her. How did that feel? “Oh my god, I felt like I was floating. I felt like I wanted to throw up and cry. It was just so overwhelming, but it was so beautiful. My wife got to witness all the emotions all at once where she told me the story. She told me that everyone in the family knew about me. And she also told me that she's been waiting for me for 33 years to contact her because when she gave me away for adoption, she left me with a letter. When I wanted to, I could contact her, but my family never gave me that letter. Thank God for Facebook. ”
“Thankfully, they're both really great people, both sides of my bio family are amazing and

Finding Peace and Purpose in a Journey through Healing with Dana Heller
Holistic self-care specialist Dana Heller joins Yuliana today to share her inspiring story with listeners. From the life changing doctor’s visit where she found out she had a brain tumour, to her experiences going through multiple surgeries, Dana has come out the other side to help others going through what she did and helping them to feel empowered and healthy once again.
The conversation begins with Dana talking about the event that changed the course of her life - finding out she had a pituitary tumor. She goes on to describe her experience after the first surgery and radiation treatment, the emotions she dealt with knowing she was battling something chronic, and finding meditation and yoga in tough times even when she was let go at work. Dana also details the impact the illness had on her relationships with her parents and how she continues to share her  journey and help others that are in the beginning stages of their diagnosis. The episode concludes with Dana sharing the one song that describes her life, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’, which reinforces her belief that ‘life is too short to just be average and not happy’.
Episode Highlights:
The challenging event that redirected the course of Dana’s lifeDana’s experience after the first surgeryThe importance of the growth hormoneFinding the silver lining in tough timesSeeking solace in helping othersNavigating the relationships with friends and family.Dealing with health and careerGoing through the tough daysThe one song that best describes Dana’s life
 
Quotes:
“I think when I found out that I had to have the second surgery, that was when they kind of hit me, the doors came open, and the feelings that I didn't feel at the beginning of it all came out.”
“Trying to find acceptance and surrender on some days is easier than others.”
“I've been through this journey to hopefully be able to help somebody else that is in the beginning stages of whatever's going on.”
“There's something beyond strength to be able to face that and face it in a way where you then just start to live your life managing this part of your life, and not letting it become the whole of your life.”
“Life is too short. And I just want to be happy. Worrying does nothing for me, whatever has happened in the past has happened, and worrying about the past or worrying about the future, and then you're not in the present.”

Links:
Phoenix Tales Homepage
Phoenix Tales on Instagram
Phoenix Tales on Spotify
Phoenix Tales on Facebook
Dana Heller.Com
Dana’s Instagram

Thriving After Illness with Dr. Susan Lovelle
Functional medicine practitioner, Dr. Susan Lovelle, joins Yuliana today for a truly fascinating conversation. Currently the Founder and CEO of Premiere Wellness, Dr. Susan spent 14 years as a professional ballet dancer after which she became a physician specializing in plastic surgery. In her current role with Premiere Wellness, she is thrilled to now be supporting women to heal from the inside out. In this week’s episode, she shares her tale of how she made life changes and regained control of her health after landing in the hospital multiple times, and how these events propelled her into finding a new purpose in helping others and making a difference in their lives.
Dr. Susan begins by recounting the event that redirected the course of her life - an illness that landed her in the intensive care unit three times. She then talks about her experience as the only plastic surgeon for miles and miles where she lived, how this took a toll on her health, and her subsequent commitment to make dietary changes and practice yoga.  Dr. Susan also delves into the health disparity found in African American communities and how she started a functional medicine practice to help others achieve wellness in a holistic manner. The episode rounds off with her advice regarding how to make changes in your life - listen, let go, and live.  As Dr. Susan states, the song “I am not Finished” resonates with her life, a fact that is made abundantly clear through her courageous and inspiring phoenix tale here today.
Episode Highlights:
The challenging event that redirected the course of Dr. Susan’s lifeDr. Susan’s experience as a plastic surgeonFinding herself in intensive careMaking changes after a relapseTransitioning from plastic surgery to functional medicineExploring the health  disparity in the African American communityStarting a functional medicine practiceSteps to mastering your energy at any ageHow to go about making a change in your lifeThe one song that resonates with Dr, Susan’s life

Quotes:
“I pushed myself to where I ended up in the intensive care unit three times in the space of one year.”
“It's time to stop believing that I can do everything and be everything to everyone. It was time to start taking care of myself.”
“When I first decided I wanted to go into medicine, it was because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives, and I just realized that, you know, I can make a better difference long term by doing functional medicine.”
“Food is a very important part of the culture of African Americans.”
“Listen, let go, and live.”
“Sometimes … you realize that this is not right for you at this particular point, that you might need to let go a little so that you can then reach out for something that's better. ”
“Whatever it is that floats your boat, that makes and brings joy into your life, is what you need to be doing, especially at this stage in life.”

Links:
Phoenix Tales Homepage
Phoenix Tales on Instagram
Phoenix Tales on Spotify
Phoenix Tales on Facebook
Premiere Wellness Homepage