Episode 318: Asheville Rising with Wendy White

We never understand why disasters happen, but we can use them as an opportunity to be more present, loving, and generous within our communities. Asheville has displayed the most incredible sense of community in the wake of the devastating hurricane that has squashed many homes and businesses and even taken lives. 

In light of this tragedy, we welcome Wendy White back to the show to discuss her newest project, Asheville Rising, and to hear about her plans to uplift this community with love. Wendy is the CEO of Continuum Consulting Services and the founder of the non-profit organization Let’s Choose Love. Today, her focus is on helping Asheville recover from the devastation of the hurricane through an incredible initiative that shares positive stories from the community and even provides grants to people with dreams of giving back. 

In our conversation, we delve into personal experiences during the hurricane, what inspired this incredible project, some of the inspirational stories Wendy captured on video, what her plans are for the videos, and so much more! Hear about the Let’s Choose Love grants, how they will work, the criteria to receive one, and how they will be monitored. We even discuss how stories of hope will inspire people to do good before hearing all about how listeners can contribute to the grant and get involved in the project. Finally, be reminded to acknowledge your feelings in order to work through trauma. Let’s use Asheville’s wonderful display of love and collaboration as an example of how we should aspire to handle similar struggles. Let’s choose love! 

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• Wendy tells us what the hurricane in Asheville was like for her and deciding to evacuate. 
• What inspired Wendy to create her new project and all about the interviews she conducted. 
• The lies being told about relief organizations and how the hurricane was politicized. 
• Wendy shares some of the inspirational stories she’s captured during this time. 
• The love and generosity in Asheville and how the incredible community will aid in recovery. 
• Wendy tells us about Asheville Rising and her intentions for the filming she is doing.
• Mass collaboration as a solution for some of these kinds of problems. 
• The criteria for rewarding Let’s Choose Love grants for this project and how they‘re monitored. 
• How stories of hope can inspire people to keep going through trauma and spread love too. 
• Some ways listeners can serve this project and contribute to the grant. 
• A reminder to acknowledge and feel your emotions if suffering from PTSD. 
• The importance of collaboration and prioritizing serving others. 

Transcript: Here

Links Mentioned:

Asheville Rising Intro: https://vimeo.com/1021070632/696a397406 

Sharon Spano:

Website: sharonspano.com

Facebook: facebook.com/SharonSpanoPHD

Instagram: instagram.com/drsharonspano/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sharonspano/

Book: thetimemoneybook.com

Contact: sharon@sharonspano.com

X: x.com/SharonSpano

The Other Side of Potential Podcast: sharonspano.com/podcast/