Sylvia & Me Sylvia Beckerman

What better way to give thanks to being able to use your voice. International bestselling author Wendy Walker sets out to interview me, Sylvia Beckerman, CEO & Founder Life Après and Après Divorce. Author of psychological thrillers, Wendy has been a guest on the podcast numerous times and a speaker at several Life Après and Après Divorce events. So the question is...who better to uncover the story behind the story?

Why the journeys? And what was the beginning? 135 episodes later...135 extraordinary women and now for some answers. How a shy, divorced, single working mom of two found her voice and in turn, created a platform for so many women. A journey that started at the age of 65 and I'm still going strong six years later. Who knows what's next.

Tova Friedman, 'Daughter of Auschwitz', is one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust. She wants us to never forget. Never forget the innocent children who were murdered during the Holocaust.  Together with Malcolm Brabant, Tova is the co-author of 'The Daughter of Auschwitz', her story of resilience, survival and hope.

From the age of one, Tova lived through the Holocaust. In 1945 at the age of 6, along with other children in her barrack in Auschwitz, Tova entered the crematorium. A glitch took place and the children were told to get dressed and return to their barracks.

We continue our conversation with Laura Kaplan, author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. A member of the Abortion Counseling Service, code name Jane, Laura recounts the evolution of the organization. And the power of women helping women. Jane was a feminist underground of  diverse women who provided low-cost abortion services, counseling and referrals before abortion was legalized in 1973. With the Dobbs decision and the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the story is one that we are reliving.

Part 2 of our conversation...how the women took control after learning the doctor wasn't a real doctor. The arrest of 7, the passing of Roe v. Wade and the underground. 

Laura Kaplan was one of the members of the 1970’s underground abortion service, Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation. Code name ‘Jane’, the Chicago based organization was a place for women seeking an abortion. There they could find a level of protection and financial help. Laura is the author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.

Cindi Bigelow is the 3rd generation President and CEO of the family-owned Bigelow Tea company. She was born with the name. But name alone does not make for sustainability at the top. It takes the skill and determination to make themselves better every day. For over 25 years, Cindi has made sure that she’s better and better every day.

Bigelow Tea is the national market leader of specialty teas. Cindi’s initiatives have included leading the company’s greening efforts.  Conserving water and natural gas earned Bigelow Tea’s 2012 designation of being a ‘Zero Wat to Landfill’ company.

Reimagining Jane Austen's 1813 Pride & Prejudice, New York Times bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta gives us her debut YA novel -  Debating Darcy. Sayantani moves the story to the 21st century. It's set in the ultra competitive world of high school speech and debate tournaments. Debating Darcy explores the class conflict between private and public schools and the diverse world of American high school culture. Pride vs persistence. Sayantani allows her female characters to do all the things that their 1813 counterparts couldn't.

Sayantani DasGupta is the author of the critically acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string theory - inspired Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond books. She is also the author of She Persisted: Virginia Apgar, a part of Chelsea Clinton’s She Persisted series. A pediatrician by training, Sayantani currently teaches at Columbia University.