03/12/2026
Is it weird to listen to your own podcast when you need a boost?
The interview I did with Sierra Austin-King is so sweet, and allowed me to revisit all our work together.
Sierra asked me to do an ancestral veneration ceremony a couple years ago, and that sent me down a really important path.
First: I found the work of Malidoma Patrice Somé. His writing about spiritual practice permanently changed how I think about my work - and honestly, the nature of the world.
Next: we had an extraordinary ceremony on the batture in Algiers. We landed their “by accident,” but it’s clear that Someone wanted us there.
Only after Sierra invited me a co-author a paper with her about our work did I realize how sacred that spot was. I’ve been back a few times to visit the beings that are there. I don’t know how to explain it - but that spot where the river bends seems to capture energy.
But it also is a place with a heavy history — the first enslaved Africans were trafficked on that land in the 1720s, just a few years after New Orleans was settled.
I find this work so humbling and inspiring, and am so grateful to be in a place with deep roots and colleagues like Sierra. 😍
Find episode 33 anywhere you listen - and stay curious.
