Poet Sonia Lozada is a purposefully bicultural performer. A Puerto Rican from Chicago, now a California resident, uses prose to shape ideas and stacks rhythms, concepts and emotions between the covers, neatly pressed on pages teeming with life. Her approach to creating is rooted in self-care and awareness. “You can call yourself an author if you write something.” So go do it. We chat about what it takes to take the leap and what it could have been for her if she hadn’t.

Self published author of ten books, short film filmmaker, YouTube personality with over sixty thousand subscribers, musician, all around artist Erick Landon joins the show to talk games, art, motivation, the chats we have that no one else can hear, making a decision and sticking to it no matter how hard it is. We explore what life might have been like for him if he had just kept on with the day to day in the life of a normal person with a normal job in a normal life.

16 year-old writer Lily Smith moved from San Diego to Berlin, Germany to pursue her craft and position herself to be a teenage author. Wise, self-aware, adventurous, daring and thoughtful, she tells stories inspired by the emotional landscapes of the parts of our lives rife with hardships, challenges and even great successes. A pragmatist who is keenly aware of and trusts in the nudges of her higher power, she marches on with a calmness in her soul and determination in her bones.

Connecting with her indigenous roots, Itzy Ramirez, is a UX Designer and artist that utilizes the practices of her ancestors to create systems and art that connect her to us and us to each other in intimate and beautiful ways. Texas born and current New Yorker, appreciating nature in all its beauty and unpredictability motivates a lot of her decision making. She is a working artist across multiple mediums.

A technical writer, power lifter and podcast host, Meaghan Ziemba is leading the charge in empowering young women within the manufacturing and engineering space as well as ushering in the next generation of women manufacturers/engineers. 17 years removed from the most important decision of her life, she lives every day sober to the notion that even the smallest changes can have the biggest impacts.

Managing editor of Origins OSU, host of the podcast exploring the global impact of “the war on drugs” called "Prologued," Brionna Mendoza is a PhD Candidate at The Ohio State University. Brionna is a lover of live music, swing dancing queen, Nicolas Cage fanatic, whose days are spent studying life after the war on drugs. Growing up in Fresno to a tight-knit family, we explore what life might have looked if she stayed there instead of relocating to the mid-west.

Never having a role model and being well aware of the low expectations of him rooted in generations of prejudice, Jerkwenton decided he was going to redefine what was expected of him, and other men like him. He initiated community programs like Cleaning Up My Hood where he and others gather and pick up trash and litter strewn about their community, and he regularly donates a portion of the proceeds from the sales of his book “Soldier Island” to Burke Industries. He has a mission to build the image of a good man up and instill it in the youth of today so the expectations can be laid at their feet and they can shoot past them as they seek to exceed them.

A woman with a million words. Some are for others, some are for herself. Some are stories. Some are lessons. All of them are worth reading or hearing. Prolific Ghost writer, author, teacher, Ruby Peru is obsessed with the ancient, a good story, artificial peach flavoring and immersing herself in words. Sometimes in life we make decisions that have long lasting impacts, but today's conversation is about how sometimes life makes decisions for you and they can be just as impactful!

35 years in the financial sector, five years as a writer and a million stories therein lay the foundation of today’s guest. The sixth (and best) of his name, Jim Flynn stands proud in the knowledge throughout life he’s made enough lemonade to satisfy even the thirstiest of competitive racers, and at the ripe age of 70+ it is still possible to pursue your dreams.

Award winning author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series, Michelle Cox is a child of the 70s/80s and has been crafting stories for over a decade. A glitch in the matrix saw fit to live with us all now instead of when her spirit truly lived, in the 1930s. She writes a blog that tells the stories of those of us often forgotten, nursing home residents in the Chicagoland area.