Inspiring Stories

Michael Clogs

We are talking with people who serve our global and local communities as experts and policy creators. These have an influence on the community around us. As you listen you can gain tips to help you and your business gain more influence and sell more products in your local community. Remember People buy from those they recognize and trust. #inspiringstories #entrepreneur #business #iTunes #life #JOY Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/inspiring-stories--2917948/support.

  1. Lets talk about life with a disability

    APR 5

    Lets talk about life with a disability

    Emily Ava Gillespie (they/she) is an author, disability activist, and professional daydreamer.  They won the 2021 Dr. James Jamieson Influential Alumni Award from Nipissing University. Gillespie has a BA in Gender Equality and Social Justice and an MA in Critical Disability Studies. They earned a certificate in Creative Writing from Concordia University.   They have volunteered and worked in the disability community as an activist, researcher, peer support and facilitator for fifteen years. Gillespie is also an author and performance artist. Her work explores themes of memory, identity and mental health journeys. They enjoy working in community spaces and examining individual and collective experiences.  Dancing with Ghosts (Leaping Lion Books, 2017) is her first novel. Their poetry and short-stories can be found in several journals and anthologies. She co-edited Mighty: an Anthology of Disabled Superheroes by Renaissance Press published fall 2023. Her most recent novel is titled Wait With Me and was released in 2025. Emily's contact: https://www.facebook.com/Gillespie.Em/ Instagram: ava.emily.gillespie https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16337475.Emily_Gillespie?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ07tRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwa1BURDZHYk5zRG5rNHhNc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHp2CWBW74Ai9dVz7oWfEDfSOqZR1Bp3hZiFTZLm4EESAx5im2_QMdnreLz_k_aem_HG_afAuaBqaY8vCnxfOJyA https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/mighty-an-anthology-of-disabled-superheroes/9781990086533.html https://www.amazon.ca/Wait-Me-Emily-Ava-Gillespie/dp/1069635103 Ghofran Alyass is a disabled woman with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus and is the Founder of Beyond Abilities International, formerly known as Beyond Abilities. She is also a part-time professor at George Brown College, teaching in the Community Worker program. She holds a Master's of Education in Social Justice Education, specialising in Disability educational policy from OISE, University of Toronto. She also holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Disability Studies from the Toronto Metropolitan University, a college certificate in preparatory in Liberal Studies, and a college diploma in Community Services from George Brown College. She is a disability advocate, program facilitator, and author committed to advocating for equity, equality and inclusion of people with disabilities. Ghofran Alyass contact https://www.instagram.com/ghofran_author?igsh=MjdheGRvaXFtb3l5 https://www.facebook.com/share/1CW7dNEmce/ https://www.wroteby.me/ghofranalyass-author23 https://www.amazon.ca/You-have-24-Hours-Live/dp/1068916702/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1KL8IC9BA7RO6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pe99ve9UmuBVhqR3Ufje0w.7OxR5xzJ0Xg7MBRMTScYznAaEwhgaLO-KSs-vQvse8w&dib_tag=se&keywords=ghofran+alyass&qid=1775518003&sprefix=ghofran+alyass%2Caps%2C820&sr=8-1   Listen to Depictions Media https://depictions.media/lets-talk-about-life-with-a-disability/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/inspiring-stories--2917948/support.

    1h 31m
  2. M M De Voe the Fictionista Who Helps Writers Find Their Way While Caring for Their Children

    12/29/2025

    M M De Voe the Fictionista Who Helps Writers Find Their Way While Caring for Their Children

    M. M. De Voe is an internationally published fictionista who once danced for the Pope and later ran away with a group of jugglers. Five Pushcart nominations, two Editor’s Prizes, a Shirley Jackson Award, a Hugo nomination, two children, and several writing conferences later, De Voe has published in various genres internarionally and evwn co-wrote the book of a sci-fi musical which was produced off-Broadway in 2015. She was a Columbia University Writing Fellow and received her MFA under Michael Cunningham. in 2013, she founded the nonprofit Pen Parentis to help writers maintain their careers after having kids, a process described in her nonfiction guidebook for writers who are parents, Book & Baby. This guide won first prize at the 2021 NextGen Indie Awards in the category of writing guides. Her first book of fiction, A FLASH OF DARKNESS: Collected Stories of M. M. De Voe (Borda Books, 2023), was called “ominous, masterfully crafted psychological fiction” by Kirkus Review. As an inaugural member of the Lithuanian Writers of the Diaspora Forum, Mtravels to Vilnius every three years to keep her finger on the pulse of international fiction. She lives in New York City, where she is excited to release her first novel THE BOY WHO LOVED TREES in October 2025. https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Loved-Trees-ebook/dp/B0FWZ981TF/ref=sr_1_1?crid=W1TAVJ4OC75C&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vpwPMHP_rnB_txDl5XVpcbDzlPetsDJtIgD9Sp1pwXI.EKRG9XJB_zGnC0QNTF2NAw25GCsW4DNBAnWPcF5cx3o&dib_tag=se&keywords=mm+devoe&qid=1767039708&s=books&sprefix=mm+devoe%2Caps%2C208&sr=1-1   https://penparentis.org/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/inspiring-stories--2917948/support.

    45 min
5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

We are talking with people who serve our global and local communities as experts and policy creators. These have an influence on the community around us. As you listen you can gain tips to help you and your business gain more influence and sell more products in your local community. Remember People buy from those they recognize and trust. #inspiringstories #entrepreneur #business #iTunes #life #JOY Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/inspiring-stories--2917948/support.