The Power Of Stories Podcast

SayItForward.org
  • 5.0 (13)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

The Power of Stories is a new podcast BY women, ABOUT women, and FOR women. In this podcast, we are inviting courageous women from around the world to share the experiences that are shaping their path to empowerment. In each episode, you will hear stories that remind YOU that you are not alone…stories about resilience, overcoming fears, pursuing your dreams.. AND believing in yourself. This podcast is hosted by... Sharon Kathryn D’Agostino, a passionate advocate for the empowerment of women and girls everywhere, and founder of the storytelling platform, SayItForward.org and.... Yodit Kifle Smith, a creative dedicated to making sure the voices and stories of women are heard. We are grateful to Lisa DiGiovine, Editor/Co-Producer of The Power of Stories Podcast for agreeing to share her advice and expertise. Lisa is an Emmy nominated non-fiction producer, writer and director. Her many credits include writing and producing for CNN, E!, Dr. Phil, Discovery, The Outdoor Channel, Lifetime and NBC. And many thanks to Cali Wang for composing the Intro / Outro Music for this podcast. Listeners can connect with us at SayItForward.org and on our social media pages:Instagram and Twitter: @SayItForwardNow Facebook: facebook.com/sayitforwardnow

  1. DEC 4

    Jenny Caven, United Kingdom

    Jenny Caven grew up in Southern Africa where she saw the impact of inequality and oppression due to apartheid. Her sense of fairness and justice, along with a love of language, led her to study politics and journalism. As life brought other responsibilities  Jenny found success in the corporate world. However, it was not fulfilling her need for self-expression or to ‘give back’ and that’s why, later in life, she chose to dedicate more time to writing and to working with Footage Foundation, a global feminist organization that uses advocacy and intervention to support women, and other marginalized groups worldwide.  In this episode, Jenny discusses life events in the past five years that caused her to reexamine her priorities, leave a successful corporate career, and pursue a new path in which she could have a greater impact on making a difference… becoming a member of the Footage team in 2022, supporting their work... how her extensive travels and her studies at university broadened her world-view and her recognition of the ways we connect with people whose languages and experiences are different from our own… working for an environmental journal and meeting her husband… her decision to pursue communications and corporate communications rather than traditional journalism… her childhood experiences in a family that moved thirteen times in thirteen years, and how this gave her “a good resilience to change”… the importance of being enabled and allowed to dream of what you want to achieve… not being limited by what others tell you you should be… and when we are in a difficult place, the possibility of imagining something better.

    14 min

  2. NOV 20

    Urmi Basu, India

    Urmi Basu is a gender rights activist who has a degree in social work. In 2000, Urmi founded the organization, New Light, a registered charity started in Kolkata that looks after sex workers and their children. She has been working for women’s rights and the rights of marginalized people for 25 years. Urmi sees herself as a warrior for compassion, peace, and love. Urmi received the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2018, an award from the Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development to women or institutions working to advance the empowerment of women. In this episode, Urmi discusses what inspired her to launch New Light as a young mother, using her own money and a contribution from a friend, to begin helping women working in the red-light district in Kolkata by caring for their children…  expanding services over the years, providing safe shelter, nutritional support, recreational facilities, medical coverage and medical insurance for children… then, adding care for the women, offering HIV-care, nutritional support, family planning advice, medical care, legal aid, and community awareness programs… fighting gender -based violence… protecting young girls from being trafficked… community support for her work and for the work of New Light... the importance of patience… the honor of being awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar and the opportunity to visit the Rastropati Bhavan with 49 other Indian women chosen from all walks of life… the influence of her politically parents early in her life and their message to speak up in the face of injustice… why she describes herself as “a warrior for compassion, peace, and love”… the importance of listening to other women and taking lessons from their examples.

    19 min

  3. NOV 6

    Patience Poni Ayikoru, Uganda

    Patience Poni Ayikoru is a Ugandan activist, lawyer and Member at the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers. She is enthusiastic about women’s inclusion in governance and gender equality. Patience has a keen interest in Women’s Rights. She has been a champion in several leadership spaces and has attended several platforms for great leadership and debate. As an advocate for gender justice, Patience created a platform for young girls and women in her community in the rural areas of Koboko, West Nile region of Uganda to discuss the many challenges that young girls and women face. In this episode, Patience discusses observing gender inequalities in her community as a young girl, even though she did not experience this in her own home… asking a teacher how she could help those whose voices were not being heard and being told that she could become a lawyer or judge… inclusion and the importance of asking why others are being left out of discussions that affect them… why she decided to support young girls and women in rural Uganda… launching a volunteer-led organization, now known as Femme Talk, with initial financial support from her father… creating a youth-led initiative that connected organizations working to end teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence, and child defilement in the illegal marriage of young girls to older men… her commitment to mentorship and to keeping girls in school… the role of the media in increasing awareness of the challenges that girls face… the importance of collaboration and the collective voice in overcoming resistance to change… the untapped potential of girls in rural areas… the role of formal and informal mentorship in our leadership journey… staying true to our values… and the advice to “use your voice to tell your story.”

    18 min

  4. OCT 23

    Jennifer James, USA

    Jennifer James is the founder of Social Good Moms, a news site about pressing global issues for women and girls. She has written over 70 articles for the Gates Foundation and has written for women's and girls' issues for ELLE and Cosmo South Africa, and Huffington Post's Impact. She has been named a Fast Company Most Generous Social Media Maven and a ONE.org social media game-changer. Jennifer has reported about women's and girls' issues in Africa, Asia, and South America. She currently serves as an Oxfam Sisters on the Planet. In this episode, Jennifer discusses what inspired her, as an early mom blogger, to launch Social Good Moms in 2012, creating a website community for about 25,000 mom bloggers… partnering with nonprofit organizations to spread awareness about global health issues, particularly maternal health issues as well as child and adolescent health issues… organizing mom bloggers online to create a community sharing information about the work nonprofit organizations were doing to address global health issues that women and girls faced… being among ten mom bloggers chosen by One.org to travel to Kenya to report on women’s health issues… identifying opportunities for mom bloggers to visit other countries with nonprofit organizations, blogging to raise awareness of health issues and to support positive change… as a mother, wanting to create a world that is better for her daughters… her interest in building a new community of women who want to increase awareness of women’s and children’s health issues here in the United States and globally… the importance of having “the voices of everyday moms be heard”... the opportunity for new moms to feel empowered to use their platforms for good… and encouraging us all to chase the things we are passionate about because, as Jennifer says, “Don't wait! Chase it and you might really surprise yourself.”

    16 min

  5. OCT 9

    Eimear Chaomhánach, Ireland

    Eimear Chaomhánach grew up in a beekeeping household in Dublin. As an undergraduate and postgraduate of Irish Folklore in University College Dublin, she spent many years researching the lore of bees and beekeeping in Irish and international folk traditions. This work is the culmination of academic and field research, alongside very personal experiences as a beekeeper's daughter, shadowing her father's beekeeping practice for more than forty years. Eimear has worked in the arts and heritage sectors in Ireland for more than twenty years and is currently a director on the board of The Stinging Fly literary magazine. In this episode, Eimear discusses her book The Keeper of Bees — Bees and Beekeeping in Irish Folklore and how the tradition of beekeeping was transferred from her grandfather to her father to her… how growing up in a beekeeping household, she learned the rhythm of the beekeeping calendar, season by season… her family’s appreciation of Irish music, Irish dancing, Irish instruments, and the Irish language… how Irish folklore, heritage, tradition, and history were essential parts of her upbringing… studying Irish folklore at University and becoming a folklore collector… how her love of folklore led her to her own unique relationship with bees… appreciating the magic of a beehive, a matriarchal society led by a queen, where all of the worker bees are female… how folklore enriches us with a deeply rooted connection to the past… and the importance of encouraging people to be their unique selves and to claim their own voice.  You can learn more about Eimear Chaomhánach at https://beefolklore.ie

    16 min

  6. AUG 28

    Celebrating 100 Episodes of The Power of Stories Podcast!

    In this 100th episode, cohosts Yodit Kifle Smith and Sharon Kathryn D’Agostino gratefully celebrate the inspiring women who have shared their stories in this podcast by women, about women, and for women. Yodit and Sharon take you behind the scenes as they discuss what they have learned about podcasting, what has surprised them along the way, and their deep appreciation for the stories of women everywhere.

    15 min

  7. AUG 14

    Ilona Joy Saari, USA

    Ilona Joy Saari, a former showroom model on Seventh Avenue in NYC, is a freelance writer who’s worked in many genres, from television/film to essayist to rock’n’roll press to political campaigns.  She was a NY Deputy Press Secretary for President Jimmy Carter, a press liaison for both Jimmy Carter's Democratic Presidential conventions and has written many speeches for celebrities stumping for presidential candidates and women’s issues for the Clinton Gore campaigns and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Her essays have been published in newspapers such as the NY Daily News and others across the country and she is a past contributor to HuffPost.  As the author of three novels in her series "Mystery Chronicles of NY Women," she is currently working on her 4th book for the series, titled "Seventh Avenue".  Now living in Ojai California, she is the food and wine columnist for the glossy magazine, Ojai Quarterly and feature writer for the Ojai Monthly.  in this episode, Ilona discusses her first book, Freeze Frame, originally written as a screenplay and then expanded into a mystery book… her roots as a New Yorker who loves the city… writing her second novel, White Gloves and Rob Roys, a mystery about a young reporter and four older women, characters who had been on Ilona’s mind for many years… feminism and the women’s movement… the importance (and challenge) she faces in keeping track of the many threads she creates in writing her mystery novels… how her work in story development and television, especially as a story editor, made it easier for her to write her mysteries… persevering and not giving up… her gratitude for having a supportive husband… and the advice that we first understand what we want to do and then find other women who are successfully doing that. You can learn more about Ilona Joy Saari’s books at her author website-> ilonajoysaari.com

    15 min

  8. JUL 17

    Hira Mehta, India

    Hira Mehta is a retired banker, author of six books, podcaster, voice actor, and filmmaker who focuses on bringing awareness to social causes. In 2024, she made a statement at the UN Convention, New York, on Aging Rights, speaking on behalf of Silver Innings, a non-governmental organization in Mumbai working toward creating an elder- and dementia-friendly world. At the convention, Hira spoke about the rights of senior citizens to healthcare and access to health services. Hira calls herself “a happy senior, crushing stereotypes one day at a time, living life queen-sized.” In this episode, she discusses how the death of her mother made her reflect on the many things her mom had wanted to do but never got to experience—and how that realization inspired Hira to consider what she, herself, still wanted to get out of life. From spreading her wings and beginning her writing career, to the significance of myna birds and their emotional connection to her mother. She initiated Instagram Live interviews during the pandemic to stay connected with friends—a project that grew into over 180 interviews, including a few with celebrities. This eventually led to the start of her podcast, Rewire Life in 1½ Minutes with Hira Mehta, now on Spotify. She talks about the importance of trying new things, never fearing a “no,” her passion for dance and dance reality shows, her views on women’s empowerment, and the value of respecting others’ cultures and traditions. She supports the mission of Silver Innings in the field of dementia and Alzheimer’s and speaks about it in the short film (on YouTube) she made on the cause, “A Selfless Soldier.” Her love of writing led her to submit short stories in a contest. On winning, she continued writing and publishing stories, poetry, and books. And the reminder not to wait for tomorrow to do the things you want to do, but making time to do them now became her mantra of life. (India)

    18 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

The Power of Stories is a new podcast BY women, ABOUT women, and FOR women. In this podcast, we are inviting courageous women from around the world to share the experiences that are shaping their path to empowerment. In each episode, you will hear stories that remind YOU that you are not alone…stories about resilience, overcoming fears, pursuing your dreams.. AND believing in yourself. This podcast is hosted by... Sharon Kathryn D’Agostino, a passionate advocate for the empowerment of women and girls everywhere, and founder of the storytelling platform, SayItForward.org and.... Yodit Kifle Smith, a creative dedicated to making sure the voices and stories of women are heard. We are grateful to Lisa DiGiovine, Editor/Co-Producer of The Power of Stories Podcast for agreeing to share her advice and expertise. Lisa is an Emmy nominated non-fiction producer, writer and director. Her many credits include writing and producing for CNN, E!, Dr. Phil, Discovery, The Outdoor Channel, Lifetime and NBC. And many thanks to Cali Wang for composing the Intro / Outro Music for this podcast. Listeners can connect with us at SayItForward.org and on our social media pages:Instagram and Twitter: @SayItForwardNow Facebook: facebook.com/sayitforwardnow

Information

  • Creator
    SayItForward.org
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    106
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 The Power Of Stories Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Power Of Stories Podcast