Ep. 9 - What’s the role of the coaching industry in collective liberation? (w/ Andréa Ranae)

Transcript

Andréa Ranae: My invitation is just to let ourselves feel the pain that we don't have to have the shame on top of it. It is painful to know that I have contributed to the harm of another person and that I had no idea. That is painful. I don't have to hold shame about it. I can grieve that. have the pain about it, feel the pain about it, be with others in my pain about it, and then do somethingto tend to that pain.

Jeremy Blanchard: Welcome to the Wider Roots podcast, a show about how we can use the power of coaching and personal transformation to help create the world we most want to live in. I'm your host, Jeremy Blanchard. I'm a coach for social movement leaders.

And today's conversation is with Andréa Ranae. We're going to be exploring some big topics like how the coaching industry and its engagement with social justice has changed over the last eight years. We're going to be talking about what it looks like for coaches to recognize our collective power to shape the industry. And Andrea shares her stories of how she created her program called coaching as activism. We'll talk about the kinds of breakthroughs that her clients had as they got politicized. And as they brought together, these coaching and healing modalities with a more political social justice analysis.

If you're new to this podcast, I invite you to take a moment and subscribe in your podcast player. And as you're listening, if you find something meaningful or impactful, I invite you to take a moment to share this episode with someone in your life whom might also get something out of it.

All right. Let's dive in.

Hey Andrea, welcome to the show.

Andréa Ranae: I'm so excited to have this conversation.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, me tOo. one of the reasons I wanted to have you on the show is you've been, leading this program, Coaching as Activism for a long time, before, there were many programs around on this topic. And, you and I met a long time ago and, yeah,

There's this commitment that I've seen you have as I've been following you on Instagram over the years of really being dedicated to reaching out to the coaching and healing industry in a way that you bring more people into a justice oriented and a systemic change orientation. I feel like my work is a little more geared towards people who already having awareness of, systems of oppression and domination. And I feel like we really need everybody helping at every stage of change. And I see a lot of your work is like, Hey, everybody and the big, wide coaching, healing, transformation, spiritual world, come into the fold. Like we, we want you over here, like a big invitation.

I just feel so grateful that there are people like you, doing that part of the work, cause I think it's so needed. So yeah, really, grateful for all that you're up to. I'm grateful that we get to have this conversation.

Andréa Ranae: Yeah. It's funny, as you say that I'm like, yeah, I guess I have been calling out to the people that are less in that, in the politicized space, to come in. And I've always been very clear since I started this particular version of my work, that I'm not an evangelist.

And so like, I'm not trying to convert people, but if people, hear the music in the church and they're like, Ooh, what is that? Come on in.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yep. Yep. Yep.

Andréa Ranae: let's

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah. I love that.

[00:03:25] Andréa's Coaching Lineage

Jeremy Blanchard: I'm curious to hear a little about, your lineage and who've influenced your coaching journey and or your justice journey that you want to like name as we begin this conversation.

Andréa Ranae: So I entered into the coaching industry through my father, who has been a coach most of my life. He introduced me to this world. I was reading personal growth books for teens eight years old. And so that, that was my introduction and I experienced a lot of different containers and spaces and organizations through him and then also outside of my relationship with him.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah. And your dad was, a coach, which I can just only imagine reading that many personal growth books from that young of an age.

It sounds like you found some resonance there that it wasn't like, I could imagine an alternate version where your dad's a

coach and it's like, get out of here with all this stuff.

It's too much with the coaching.

Andréa Ranae: it was definitely both and, it was definitely definitely both And I am very much, similar to my father. And, I also was just like, I'm just a kid.

Jeremy Blanchard: Right.

Andréa Ranae: Stop coaching me. But yeah, I just had a general desire to like help people. And especially because my dad was a coach. I think in situations where like most people don't even know what coaching is, they wouldn't know that's a possibility of something that you could do to make a living and do your work in the world. but it felt possible to me and it felt easy for me. and I went there and did that. I, the other, folks that came to mind were Audre Lorde, The Combahee River Collective, which like when I read, their statement that was connecting, the dots and basically asserting that intersectionality was a thing before we had the word, that like blew my mind, on another level. So Audre Lorde, Combahee River Collective, bell hooks. Folks that. were bringing together the personal and the political, that I didn't have access to until college, really, didn't know that they existed.

And they also informed so much of, my perspective on what it means to, be a healer and do work at intersection of, the collective and the individual in beautiful ways that I'm forever grateful for.

Jeremy Blanchard: Beautiful. Thank you. Just, sweet to invite all those, folks into the room as we're talking.

Andréa Ranae: Hmm.

[00:05:53] The lack of political analysis in transformational work

Jeremy Blanchard: you've been running this program, Coaching is Activism, and off for many years now, since 2016, I believe. And I remember reading this article you wrote, why coaching isn't gonna, what is the title?

Andréa Ranae: Why the self help industry isn't changing the world.

Jeremy Blanchard: Perfect. Yeah. I remember reading it when it came out when you published it a long time ago and having this resonance of like, oh my gosh, thank you. Please. Let's talk about this. Let's talk about how particularly coaching self help healing, transformational work, is largely just lacking any kind of political analysis, very just stops at like, great, you're transformed.

All right, that's it. That's all the only thing for us to talk about. And really appreciating you taking a stand for that at that time, especially.

I'd love to hear a little bit just like what caused you to write that article and then start the program. What were you seeing in that moment? Obviously we were a couple years into this public explosion that was Black Lives Matter.

Andréa Ranae: It's absolutely inspired by all all of the movement work happening and my own rage. and grief and feelings about what I was witnessing in the world and also what I was witnessing in the coaching industry as, there was so much going on in this country in paRticular. and there was hardly anything being said about it in the space of coaching, personal growth, spiritual development that I was in at that time. A couple of years before that, I had been in a personal growth organisation, community where I was really pushing for more awareness around, diversity, around like difference around like the reality that this work of growing ourselves and healing ourselves has a context around it.

This is not the same for every single Person. and I had just like reached my tipping point with that community and with the industry as a whole. And I was pissed and I woke up at like, 1am or something one day and I, it just like blowed out of me. And I didn't have much of an audience at that point.

But it went viral, and it was a big thing but The feedback that I got, was just like so many people being like, I've been thinking this for so long, but I didn't have the words, or I've been saying it, but nobody was listening to me. Or, I've been feeling this, but I just couldn't figure out like what to do about it. Hundreds. and hundreds of comments and it was clear to me that I wasn't alone And I knew that on a local level, but that there were so many people across the world, that were also thinking the same things mm

Jeremy Blanchard: yeah, that was eight years ago now, and I know you've run many rounds of Coaching Activism since then, and, yeah, eight years is a long time for the quote unquote self help industry, this, helping professions, especially coaching and healing. To like go through some serious changes, right? Especially the way that, in the U. S., these being like often publicly very like white dominant spaces, as the murder of George Floyd happened, and white America waking up to racial justice in a much bigger way led to a lot of industries transforming. Um, or at least beginning to like take a next step, in the direction of more systemic awareness. So i'm curious was there anything in those early rounds of coaching is activism and just beginning to get this public following? Was there anything that surprised you? What people needed in that moment, or anything you were not expecting that happened as you started to like develop your teaching

Andréa Ranae: so it was quite a mix of people in the beginning where there was a lot of seasoned legend activists that raised my presence in those programs. And then there was like people that were completely new,

and I needed to do a bit more educating, and create more resource and provide more support around their own. Process of understanding themselves in the context of the world and then there was also this piece of, especially folks with more marginalized identities, people of color, trans, indigenous disabled folks who had systemic awareness, but were within this industry that had none. And they were trying to figure out how to fit. Part of the work for them was actually getting not so much the learning of the systemic collective issues, but it was like embracing their unique way of doing this work and releasing the need to fit, in this industry that was never meant for them to fit into. And so there was lots of different facets and over the years of the work that was being done in that, space, but it was always, I'm the kind of facilitator leader where I go based on who's in the room and what's needed.

And the program has changed. in so many ways over the years to meet people where they are. As the collective awareness has changed and as the industry has shifted where, the forms of that program that have existed aren't so necessary now. Because we have more of the language, we have more of the familiarity with these topics and ideas. We have a greater understanding of what justice is. And how that intersects with healing and growth and going after our goals and dreams, so it's been quite a journey.

Jeremy Blanchard: yeah,

I think one of the things that I'd be really curious is maybe to get specific about what some of the things you needed to introduce people to. I mean, you alluded to some of them, just like what is white supremacy culture and

maybe a a contrast of what's needed these days. And what was needed then.

Andréa Ranae: In the beginning when I first launched or when I first wrote that article, that was a time there was hardly any conversation happening in, mainstream personal growth spaces, To bring up anything about race or, marginalization, it was not met kindly. It was not met with like, oh, okay, let me look at myself, or like, let's make space for this conversation. It was met with gaslighting, you're in a victim mindset, that's not something that actually matters, and so where we are now is, my read on it, is that there is more of a majority of the industry that understands that these things matter.

So in the beginning I wasn't working with those people that were doing the gaslighting necessarily, but the people that recognized that there was a problem, um, or we're experiencing the gaslighting and, wanted to do something about it.

So there was a lot of just like creating space for them to, look at and understand what is, capitalism, what is patriarchy and gender based oppression, and what is white supremacy or supremacy as a whole. What do these things look like in, in real life? How do these show up in the coaching industry?

How do these show up in our lives and in our relationships with ourselves and with other people? And I think now it's more that education, is ongoing, of course, but now I think there's been this like, journey from individual to collective, where a lot of that work that was happening and has been happening over the years has been very individual, like, I'm, I want to be a good person. I want to be, a more radical coach. I want the impact that I'm having to make a difference, and to be aligned with who I say I am and the vision that I have for the change I want to make and, very I focused.

And I think what I'm experiencing myself and also witnessing is that there's now this invitation to shift more to collective we have this awareness of how our skills can either serve or detract from these long term goals of justice and liberation and, love and peace in the world. How can we use our gifts together to create change? What does that look like? And, to know that yes, we have our individual businesses and all of that, but okay. How can we come together? And use our power to create something that we couldn't create by ourselves.

[00:14:50] Coaches joining together to make a collective impact

Jeremy Blanchard: I love that. It makes me think about, there's like a, corporate DEI version of things where it's okay, you're learning the words and you're learning some basic things to be aware of, but often the way that stuff gets implemented is like, I don't want to mess up.

I don't want to break the rules. This very like cover your ass approach to, what you should be doing. I hear what you're saying is this, way in which, perhaps, the coaching industry is starting to develop almost like a community organizing mindset.

Where like, oh, actually, we have power together, when we work function together, you see that playing out? I'm curious, is it like, maybe it's of mindset, but there's not yet infrastructure where that's happening.

Andréa Ranae: yeah, I think we're moving with the huge movements that are happening on behalf of, Palestine and Congo and Sudan, especially, I think there is this like, collective awareness that's oh, together like, it's Not just me. So I think there's that, awareness that's coming in. Yeah. Not quite at the place of taking a lot of action on that, But I think that's the invitation that, we're sitting in right now.

Jeremy Blanchard: yeah. I love that invitation. May we all, get a chance to act on that invitation and explore. Yeah, I just, I feel like a lot of, creative possibility there. Like, oh, what would it look like if, the coaching, healing, transformation industry started, joining together, right?

Like a lot of the conversations I've had with guests so far, when we talk about like, how do you bring your politics into your coaching? A lot of the answers, come down to who are you coaching?

Well, am I coaching people who already have a commitment to systemic change? It's kind of the biggest. One of the biggest ways that we can make a difference, but I don't think I've thought of it quite this way before, as I hear you talking about this, like, Oh, what does it look like to see that we have collective power and we can actually like move the industry and move the way that personal growth and healing and transformation happens by not just focusing on our isolated individualist. I don't know, that's like a sparkly,

Andréa Ranae: juicy.

Jeremy Blanchard: idea. Yeah, it's juicy, what's there? People listening, can, we can all get together and start figuring out what that looks like. It's a cool invitation

Andréa Ranae: yeah.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, cool.

[00:17:08] What challenges do newly politicized coaches experience?

Jeremy Blanchard: I'm curious, what are some of the biggest, breakthroughs you've seen people have?

What are some of the biggest challenges they encounter and like the other side that they get to when they're getting politicized through the teaching and the work that you've done?

Andréa Ranae: I truly have never thought about myself as politicizing people, but that is what I have been doing.

Jeremy Blanchard: That's

Andréa Ranae: eight years.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah,

Andréa Ranae: yeah, depending on the demographic, I think there's been a lot of white folks who have had to confront their and move through their shame. the shame that comes along with whiteness to keep whiteness, alive. And actually like face who they are for real, not just the like facade, that they want to show share and the brands that they've created. and so people have burned down their businesses after working with me, because they realized that it was so aligned with whiteness, or just not aligned with who they actually are, or what they're wanting to create in the world, their brands were like signifier of goodness, but it wasn't actually goodness. And, One might not call that a success, but I do, because the point is any growth process, healing process is to come closer and at home with yourself and at home in this world together. And to release anything that is false, so we've had that. There's also been a lot of, people of color, black and brown folks, indigenous folks in particular that have come through the program and in that same way, come home to themselves in, in a different way, releasing this, like there's so many ideas about like, this is the way that you need to do your business.

This is how like online business works, or this is how coaching should work or how your session should be. Or, and that is often in conflict with both lived experience and like ancestral wisdom and, like cultural wisdom that so many Black and Brown and Indigenous folks carry, but they're being told like, this is how you have to do it in order to be successful. So there's been this process of people releasing that need to like, to fit into those boxes that were built for white folks to succeed in a white industry. And we're not made for me and, folks that look like me to find any kind of success in that realm.

Jeremy Blanchard: Do you have any examples, real quick, of what the, business practices that got laid down in that, that weren't in alignment for the black and brown folks? Curious to hear.

Andréa Ranae: this may not be too specific, but I think the way that we think about pricing and to have like exorbitant pricing on things where I think not just black and brown folks, but like all folks that have a leaning toward justice and, wanting to make things accessible have struggled with you have like the high ticket item and then you have like the mid ticket item and then You have the low price item. And then you have the free and what I've seen, especially for black and brown folks is that just doesn't, It just, it doesn't buy.

iT. and there's not necessarily actually there's this better way. There's this one better way, but it's like setting down. you don't need to have this like pricing funnel of, ticket to to free, to create a sustainable business.

What other ways could you price your work or structure your offerings and your, business mOdel. so that the people that you really want to serve can access the work that you really want to do with them. And you're still taken care of in the procesS. It's requires creativity, because there isn't necessarily a blueprint for that. The blueprint that we're given doesn't work.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, because you've also done a lot of like business training as well, like taught people around businesses and how to dismantle these like dominant business paradigms, especially in the coaching industry, where, you and I have both so many of us see this, more money equals more success, very capitalist, dominant, supremacy culture approach to things, there's so many coaching books and websites and, business trainings for coaches that are like, if you're not making six figures a month, you're not, you know, this like huge promises as though, like that's what's, the good life, quote unquote, is presented as, especially in the coaching industry, I think, in

kind of wild way that like almost doesn't make sense to me. Like, why has this gone, it's gone rampant within the coaching industry?

Andréa Ranae: Mm-Hmm.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, so presenting, I love the way you're presenting folks other options and like really letting them expand to this like creative and really aligned way of what do you want this to look?

If you're going to have a business Let's have it be the business you want it to

Andréa Ranae: Yeah. Let's have the business be accessible to you first, and Then you can make it accessible to everybody else. Yeah.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, totally,

[00:22:22] Questions coaches can ask themselves to work toward collective liberation

Jeremy Blanchard: we've already made some invitations to folks who are already politicized who might be listening to this show. And I'm curious, as you and I were getting ready for this episode, we were talking about, okay, for the folks who are already politicized, what's the task for them, or what's the invitation, or what's the possibility that we want to explore there?

Andréa Ranae: So in November, I released another article, called why the self help industry won't change the world. Which is like part two of why the self help industry isn't changing the world. Where it's like, that change in the world and the word won't, is like the isn't was like, you're not aware. We're all silly gooses and it's time that we have some understanding won't is we are aware, but we're noT willing. and there's work to be done around, facing even more hard stuff, facing even more of the discomfort, and sacrificing some of our comfort to get into more community, get into more conversation with ourselves, with each other, about what's happening in this world and what our role is in it as human beings, and I think that is the invitation right now is to really sit with tHat. I don't only have personal responsibility. I also have a social responsibility. I have a collective responsibility that often is not talked about in this industry.

We are responsible for how we live in our world and the systems that we uphold. Through our decisions, our actions, our taxes, who we vote for, who, who we allow to have power in this world, what we decide to value in this world, that all of this has an impact on our fellow humans.

And so what I was saying earlier, that connecting with, How can I use my gifts beyond my own personal success?

How can I use my gifts, my skills, my experience, my knowledge to a larger collective effort? What larger collective efforts. are happeninG? and what role can I play in that? And to be in that question, I don't know what the answer is And I wish I did, but I'm actually glad I don't, because it's not just mine. To answer. I think it's something that can only really be answered collectively, but in order for that to happen, we each individually have to come in and have that conversation together.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, totally. What is my responsibility? What is our responsibility? Such a great question.

I'm thinking about, you know, live in Oakland, and there's so much organizing happening. Everywhere for Gaza and Palestine, but especially here because of the lineage of activism, here. And there's also a huge lineage of like healing here as well. And I think of the amazing work that I've seen connected to, direct actions and connected to the organizers here.

There are like so many different formations of healers and coaches and somatic practitioners and body workers who are coming together to say, hey, you all just locked down to something, or helped organize a big march or helped organize, whatever.

We're having a clinic this weekend just for people working for the liberation of Palestine.

Come. Where you're going to get body work, you're going to get a coaching session. You're going to get a healing session. You're going to be able to work through whatever's stuck in your system. Yeah, I think of my, like, it's okay, cool. That's a piece of it. What are the other pieces that we've seen or heard?

, I don't know if you have any that you want to like add as like points of inspiration of what is our responsibility right now?

Andréa Ranae: Yeah, a couple of weeks after, maybe just a week, I don't know, after October 7th, I got together with my friend, Sasha Heron, who is a death doula and an ancestral healing practitioner. And, she hit me up and she was like, how do you feel? Like, what do you think about holding like a grief cafe space for people just like come and grieve for Gaza? And, I was like, I'm down, absolutely. It's a small, but very significant example. I did like eight or nine in a row straight with her.

every single time there's been around at least a hundred people, sometimes 200 from all over the world, from folks that are in the Middle East, folks that are in Europe, the U S Canada, Mexico.

Like folks from all over, a lot of Muslim folks, a lot of Jewish folks, a lot of, Black and brown folks who are witnessing this through our own lens and our own histories and in lineages of experiencing colonization and, the violence of empire.

And, it's been this beautiful. Absolutely.

Like every time I hop onto one of those calls, I'm just like overwhelmed with the humanity that's present. and those spaces are free. They're still ongoing. If you're listening and you're curious, definitely go to Sasha Heron's, Instagram to find out more. But, that's what I could give in that time in that, moment.

I think that's like a, an online version of my question for myself, knowing what my gifts and skills are and like what my inclinations are is like, I know a big part of what I can offer is support to help people keep going. That, my role right now isn't so much the educating or thinking too deeply about anything. We're all having a lot of big feelings and we're all navigating on multiple levels, our own experience of trying to survive in this world. Like, how do we keep hoping for something else? How do we keep working towards something else? And knowing okay, that's where I can show up and offer whatever I can, in that space.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah, I just feel that inspiration rising up in me hearing us both share these examples. And I'm like, oh, I can just imagine as folks are listening, what are the ideas that are popping into folks heads right now?

Of okay, I could go do this.

Or, I just know a few people who are organizing or doing some kind of important work for the world that we want to see and, oh, what's a way I could support them? Can I offer a free group session?

Can I offer some free one on one sessions? Can I just like connect, make that connection?, it's one of the things I appreciate about your work and the kinds of invitations you bring forward are such, they're like bridge building, invitations so often. And so it's like, oh, how can the healing industry and the coaching industry that's already here just get some of it's just like, how can we just connect so that there's just pathways and service going in that direction.

So

Andréa Ranae: Yeah.

Jeremy Blanchard: I love that.

This is sort of a non sequitur from where we just were, but

[00:29:29] The Role of Shame In Our Culture

Jeremy Blanchard: Something I saw you write about on Instagram was the role of shame, and I think you have sort of a spicy view on the role of shame that I've heard from a few people. But, I'm curious to hear you talk about this, because you think there's like a role for shame in our current culture, which I think says, is no, don't shame yourself. Don't shame others. Yeah, I'd love to hear you talk a little bit about that

Andréa Ranae: well, I think like any sensation or feeling that we have in our body, there is nothing bad or wrong about it. But the feeling that we experience that we call shame, there's nothing wrong with that feeling. That feeling has a purpose. Like any sensation we have in our body has a purpose.

It's trying to tell us something about what's happening to our bodies or to, in our environment. And it's information. So I don't hold shame as a bad thing. I think the way that shame is weaponized against ourselves and each other is not useful. And is not going to help us flourish in any way. And a part of what I was thinking about with that post is just witnessing how many of us specifically, as we witness Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Haiti, so many, parts of our world that are enduring the worst of the violence that we're also experiencing here on a spectrum. that there's so many of us that are like shaming oursElves. because we didn't know we didn't have the awareness or because there's nothing that we can do. We can't like immediately stop that violence from happeNing. And that is where I'm like, no, like shame has a purpose.

If we experience shame in this moment, Then that's a signifier of like, there's something important here that does not line up, does not serve our collective good or our personal good. Let's shift it, but we don't have to sit in that shame. And like stewing in it, is a way that so many of us have learned to, grapple with things that we don't like about ourselves or about the world my invitation is just to let us ourselves feel the pain that we don't have to have the shame on top of it.

It is painful to know that I have contributed to the harm of another person and that I had no idea. That is painful. I don't have to hold shame about it. I can grieve that, feel the pain about it, be with others in my pain about it, and then do something to tend to that pain.

Do whatever I can to tend to the harm that's happening. To get aware, to become knowledgeable about how I've been participating in that pain. Shame keeps us stuck. And that is a part of how systems of supremacy, domination, empire keep us where we are is if we're all in shame about ourselves, about things that are out of our control until they're in our control.

So yeah, my invitation for folks that are feeling that like that weight of I'm a horrible human being because I didn't know or because, I did know, but I was scared to experience the consequences of speaking out on something.

When, this world is not welcoming to, standing up for The oppressed.

I hold the perspective that like that fear of speaking out the fear of losing community. It makes sense. And how can you build in some support for yourself? How can you reach out to community and know you're not alone, to be able to take the risks that you want to take or that we all need to be taking.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah. I love the distinction between, I'm hearing it as like shame as, indicator and maybe a wake up moment or like an important signal versus shame as like a very stuck energy around it. i've seen that in my own life.

Where I've actually caused harm and where I feel like, oh, this was really, it's like a signal. It's in some ways and its initial state maybe could just be seen as like, oh, I did something really not okay. Not okay with me and not okay with my place in the whole, like, I really feel disconnected from the whole in this moment.

And I think there's times where it's like, oh yeah, you actually did do something that really disconnected you from the whole and like, it's gonna be good to be aware that really was like, Yeah, a painful thing that you enact. And then what you do with it from that moment on was what I'm hearing you say is like the difference between do I stay in this or do I, use it, bring some compassion to myself, and then use it to transform.

Andréa Ranae: Yeah. My point is, like, shame won't get us free. It might bring us aware of how we're showing up or how unfree we are, and I think it can be an effective tool to stop harm, but it doesn't do anything beyond that. only stops there.

And we need more

[00:34:28] Andréa's sources of nourishment

Jeremy Blanchard: Well as we draw to a close here, one thing I like to ask all my guests is where you're getting your sources of nourishment.

The title of the podcast is Wider Roots and part of that is like, all our roots are where we draw our energy. So whether that's poems or books or podcasts or maybe just practices, anything you want about what's feeding you these days.

Andréa Ranae: I think I am most blessed with my community and the friendships and relationships that hold me down in so many ways. That invite me over and feed me and check in on me and I do the same, and I reciprocate. But, For sure. Like my People.

and also I'm an artist. I'm a singer songwriter and so like music is always a source of nourishment for me. But I've also in this time been leaning on music in a different way over the last six months or so, and showing up with music in a differenT way. so that's been sweet and very nourishiNg. and then, yeah, I think also I have been exploring poetry more lately. I've been obsessed a bit with, Nikki Giovanni and her book, Love POems.

Jeremy Blanchard: Cool. We'll put a link to that book in the show notes. In a moment, I'll ask how folks can connect with you. But before that, anything else that you want to share that we didn't have a chance to get to?

Andréa Ranae: Yeah. I think, the core of all of my work, it's interesting with Coaching as Activism. It, on the surface, it's it's a program It has been a program about how people can use their coaching as their activism. And what it's always really been about is like, how can I engage with my power in ways that align with my vision, my values, and in, in all aspects and areas of my life, not just as a coach, but as a parent, as a friend, as a partner, as a business owner, as a community member, that it's been this like holistic bringing your whole self into relationship with the collectIve.

and I really think that, similar to what we were talking about with shame, like there are no bad parts and that so many of us diminish what we have to offer. We diminish the talents and capacity, skills, ideas, that we have to give.

Andréa Ranae: They're important. They're a part of what makes us powerful And we need all the power collectively that we can get.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah. Yeah. That's right. That's right. What a great note to end on. I'm feeling really, grateful to get this like insider view of this work that you know all these people and all these folks and all these like forces that you've helped set in motion and been a part of lifting up around the coaching and healing industry like waking up to systemic transformation so yeah really grateful to have a chance to like share that with folks listening and really grateful for all for you for all the work you're doing so just thank you

Andréa Ranae: for inviting me. I haven't had a conversation like this in a while. It's been wonderful.

Jeremy Blanchard: Yeah. And if folks want to connect with you, how can they do that? I know we've got your coaching side of things. We also have your music as well. So, yeah. Where can folks find you?

Andréa Ranae: So I'm @AndreaRanaeJ on all the social media And most active on InstagrAm. my website is Andrea Renee. com. If you want to check out my music, my Instagram for that is Dre like Sade. D R E like Sade, the artist, S A D E. And, yeah. And if you're curious about Coaching is Activism, , the version of it as a program is no more, but, you can go to coachingasactivism.com. I do want to still create some resources for folks to, to carry forward around that. So you can find that there.

Jeremy Blanchard: Perfect. Cool. Yeah. Links to all that will be in the show notes.

yeah. Thanks so much for everything you're doing.

Andréa Ranae: Jeremy, for holding this space and having this conversation.

Jeremy Blanchard: Thanks so much for tuning in and thanks to Andrea Rene for sharing her experience and wisdom with us today.

Check out the show notes for links to the resources that N Dre are mentioned and other ways to connect with her.

Episode nine comes out in two weeks with Margaret Wheatley, who I am so delighted to have on the show. If you don't know her work, she is an author and teacher who writes about social change. Leadership spirituality. And the inevitable collapse of society.

Margaret Wheatley: It is extremely painful and difficult to take in what's happening. It takes enormous courage and enormous compassion to face reality. And the compassion part of it is I want to stay, I want to be of service, I want my little contribution to make a difference, maybe only in the lives of my colleagues, family, and community, but that's enough actually.

Jeremy Blanchard: So make sure you subscribe in your podcast app of choice so you can catch that episode and the future ones.

As always the website is wider roots.com where you can find our newsletter. My email is podcast@widerroots.com and you can follow the podcast on Instagram at wider roots pod.

And lots of gratitude to Jonas and Tresne for helping review this episode.

Thanks as always to Wild Choir for the theme music for the show, you're currently listening to their song, remember me, which will play us out.

See you next time.

Andréa Ranae: is annoying me. Where is it? Okay, I think I got it. I don't know. Um,

Jeremy Blanchard: If it comes back, we'll just take another break.

Andréa Ranae: Okay.