The Beauty We Love

Ellen Browning-Lafferty

Inspired by the Rumi poem: "Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Your host, holistic business coach Ellen Browning-Lafferty, interviews professionals who share their stories of the conventional and unconventional ways they have created success on their own terms. These are the stories of people who have linked their passions with their purpose, and have infused what they love into what they do.

  1. Integrating Our Stories: Identity, Belonging, and Ancestral Healing with Michelle Bias

    09/08/2025

    Integrating Our Stories: Identity, Belonging, and Ancestral Healing with Michelle Bias

    In this episode, I welcome author,coach, and systemic constellations facilitator Michelle Bias to talk about her powerful memoir String Theory: A Life. We explore the themes of intergenerational trauma, healing, storytelling, grief, personal reinvention, and what it means to belong to oneself, to one’s lineage, and to the world. Michelle opens up about her journey from a career in film production to therapeutic work rooted in systemic constellations. She shares how her book came to be, how it shaped her healing, and how she's coming to take her place beside it. With profound insights on trauma recovery, ancestral legacies, and the tender process of reclaiming your life, my hope is that this conversation will resonate with anyone seeking to alchemize pain into purpose. You’ll hear Michelle read aloud from two especially moving passages of her book and reflect on how memory, grief, and identity can shift over time. Whether you’re navigating your own healing path or supporting others in theirs, this episode offers a grounded, poignant reminder that transformation begins with small steps, and that our past doesn’t have to define our future. Topics Covered: What is Family Constellation work? Intergenerational trauma and systemic healing Postpartum after a creative milestone Letting go of the idea that “healing” must be linear How grief stays with us and how we grow with it The many careers Michelle has held and how they now support her work Shame, survival, and transforming the narrative Integrating all parts of ourselves, even those we once rejected Belonging, legacy, and the significance of kindness Connect with Michelle: 🌐 michellebias.com 📖 String Theory: A Life available on Amazon and in select bookstores in Oklahoma OK So Story Slam → Tulsa-based storytelling events co-founded by Michelle Connect with Ellen: 🌐 ellebrowning.com Subscribe to the newsletter for thoughtful updates and workshop invites

    43 min
  2. The Beauty of Just Listening: Compassion, Mutuality, and Social Change with Sharon Browning

    08/01/2025

    The Beauty of Just Listening: Compassion, Mutuality, and Social Change with Sharon Browning

    In this very special episode of The Beauty We Love, I sit down with my mother, Sharon Browning, an attorney, teacher, spiritual guide, and founder of Just Listening. We talk about her life's work: cultivating just, equitable, and heart-centered listening as a tool for connection, healing, and social transformation. This conversation is both deeply personal and universally relevant. We explore how Sharon created Just Listening following personal loss, what it really means to listen justly, and how showing up with presence (not answers) can shift everything. We also talk about her many career changes, from lawyer to professor to nonprofit founder, and how she followed the thread of what she loved most. Her insight on legacy, creativity, and what it means to live a life of service is meaningful to me, and I hope it touches something in you too. In this episode, we explore: How Sharon founded Just Listening after a major life transition Why listening is more than active listening; it’s a presence practice Real-life examples of listening transforming relationships, juries, and prisons What it means to listen without judgment, fixing, or ego Sharon’s thoughts on vocation, grief, beauty, and legacy About Sharon:Sharon Browning is the founder of Just Listening, a collaborative social enterprise that trains individuals and organizations to listen more deeply, compassionately, and justly—especially with people on the social margins. She’s also my mother, and one of my greatest teachers. Learn more about her work at justlistening.net.

    46 min
  3. From Trauma to Truth: Reclaiming Your Gifts Through Systemic Constellations with Emily Blefeld

    07/17/2025

    From Trauma to Truth: Reclaiming Your Gifts Through Systemic Constellations with Emily Blefeld

    In this moving and expansive conversation, I sit down with internationally renowned facilitator and psychotherapist Emily Blefeld to explore how we can uncover the unseen forces that shape our lives — and reclaim the intuitive, creative, and healing gifts that are often buried under generations of trauma. Emily shares how she helps therapists, bodyworkers, and intuitive entrepreneurs integrate ancestral wisdom, energy medicine, and systemic constellations to live and work from a place of alignment. Together, we explore what happens when we stop trying to “fix” ourselves and instead remember who we already are. If you're a holistic practitioner, seeker, or healing professional eager to step into deeper truth, our hope is that this episode will speak to you. In This Episode: The difference between therapy and systemic constellations Why so many healers carry fears of visibility and how to work through them Real-life examples of healing inherited trauma through the ancestral field Emily’s personal journey of intuitive awakening and letting go of old identities The power of “going fearward” and following the call to recreate yourself About Emily Blefeld:Emily is a psychotherapist, systemic constellations trainer, and international speaker who works at the intersection of ancestral healing, intuition, and consciousness. She helps intuitive professionals integrate their gifts and release patterns that keep them hidden or stuck. Connect with Emily: 🌐 seeingwithyourheart.com 📧 emily@seeingwithyourheart.com 📣 Instagram: @seeingwithyourheart Connect with Ellen: 🌐https://ellebrowning.com/ 💬 Free consult: Book here

    40 min
  4. Lakshmi Krishnan on What the Body Knows: Decoding Eating Disorders and Intergenerational Pain

    06/26/2025

    Lakshmi Krishnan on What the Body Knows: Decoding Eating Disorders and Intergenerational Pain

    In this conversation, I sit down with family therapist and writer Lakshmi Krishnan for a wide-ranging and quietly powerful reflection on what it means to heal; across generations, across continents, and across the invisible spaces between language and the body. Lakshmi shares her journey from South India to Canada, from a young girl raised in silence to a clinician who helps others find their voice. We talk about her work with clients living with eating disorders, and how their symptoms often speak in code, expressing what hasn’t yet been given words. She offers insight into the slow, relational nature of true recovery, the legacy of a mother’s sudden death, and the quiet resilience required to move forward one step at a time. This episode is for anyone supporting others through pain, or navigating their own. In this episode, we explore: Why eating disorders often emerge as the body’s way of speaking what can’t be said The limitations of “tools and strategies” in the face of deep emotional pain How trauma, grief, and culture live on in our nervous systems What it takes to accompany someone through the long arc of recovery The power of naming what was never named—and sitting patiently until the words come Why real healing is often slow, creative, and profoundly human About Lakshmi:Lakshmi Krishnan is a registered clinical social worker, family therapist, and writer based in Calgary, Canada. With decades of experience, she brings a relational and intergenerational lens to her work. She’s also a gardener, a piano student, and someone who continues to learn. You can read her writing and learn more at www.lakshmik.com. Connect with Ellen: 🌐 ellebrowning.com 📬 Subscribe to the newsletter for thoughtful updates and workshop invites

    53 min
5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Inspired by the Rumi poem: "Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Your host, holistic business coach Ellen Browning-Lafferty, interviews professionals who share their stories of the conventional and unconventional ways they have created success on their own terms. These are the stories of people who have linked their passions with their purpose, and have infused what they love into what they do.