Acceptance struggles to emerge from a cocoon of family secrets . . .

After her parents’ divorce in 1974, Lisa Lucca’s idyllic Midwestern childhood is shattered when she learns her father is gay. Sworn to secrecy, she begins carrying the emotions of her family like a cracked bucket, making a mess as she embarks on a life of rebellious choices.

Decades later, faced with the aftermath of her father’s death, Lisa revisits the complicated relationship she had with him, delving deeper into the stories she’s held about love, sexuality, and the family she comes from with a shimmering clarity that arises from her grief.

A story of heartache and the power of forgiveness, Ashes to Ink shines a light on the challenges of living true to who we are.

Lisa Lucca’s work has been published in several anthologies, most recently in Crone Rising. She is the co-author of the epistolary memoir, You Are Loved, with her partner, Mark Mathias. She shares a home with Mark in the high desert of southern New Mexico where she continues her work as a life coach, and hosts a weekly public radio show, Live True, bringing insightful and engaging interviews to her listeners. The show streams globally at lccommunityradio.org where the shows are available in the archives. Visit her website at lisalucca.com

Vanessa Ferlaino, author and activist, shares what it means to be human, the importance of self-compassion and self-love, creating change, and a call to humanity.

Vanessa Ferlaino is an author, artist, and activist changing the world one day at a time. She believes that only when we hear ourselves, can we make a difference in our lives and the world around us. At the age of 27, she has many accolades. She spent 10 years in medtech and tech as an award-winning corporate innovator, investor, executive, and advisor. The headlining speaker for Google x Women Techmakers April 2022 and Authority Magazine’s “Social Impact Author” creates impact by challenging what it means to be human. Her book debut, “Human”, a read that will inspire you to be your truest self, is available on Amazon and select Chapters Indigo locations. Follow her on Instagram @vanessaferlaino or subscribe to her email list at vanessaferlaino.com so you don’t miss the release of her music or the launch of her next big philanthropic project – both coming in summer 2022!

Julia Kristina is the author of Drive Your Own Darn Bus, a therapist, a master mind-management coach, a researcher, a speaker, and the creator of the Breakthrough Coaching Program.

In this fantastic chat, Julia shares guidance on how to handle life’s challenges. This chat is eye opening and life-changing! Manage the thoughts that are holding you back, gain perspective, and be the director of your own life in order to live more fully and freely. Julia focuses on how to make being human a little easier and a little better.

Pamela joins me to talk about her book Threads of Yoga and ways to deepen one’s mindfulness.

Pamela Seelig is a yoga teacher based in New Jersey. She began her yoga and meditation journey in 1991 when an illness interrupted her Wall Street career. Along with helping recovery, the impact of her meditation led to a lifelong pursuit of perceiving and sharing yogic wisdom through practice, teaching, and writing. She completed her teacher training in 2006 at Integral Yoga Institute in New York. Pamela considers Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral, as her primary teacher (root guru), but she has trained with many of the top yoga luminaries in the world today. Pamela is a fervent student of yoga and continues to deepen and expand her yogic knowledge and understanding. Along with Hatha yoga, Pamela also studies Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and is a certified Raja Yoga instructor. While grateful for so many brilliant teachers along the way, she regards the practice itself as the greatest teacher. She lives in New Jersey where she practices yoga, teaches yoga workshops, writes, and empty-nests with her husband, Bob, and dog, Bodhi.