Episodios

  • New Year Special: What Brings Us Home | Stanley Opara

    New Year Special: What Brings Us Home | Stanley Opara
    Jan 2 2026
    What does it mean to feel at home—across lands, timelines, and technologies?

    This New Year special features an openhearted dialogue, where host Gayathri Shukla and guest Stanley Opara weave together their personal stories of migration, identity, and imagination. From oil-rich Nigeria to the majestic Rockies, this episode journeys through the past, present, and future, exploring:
    • What it means to belong to a place, to people, and to oneself
    • How stories shape our sense of home
    • The impact of climate change on belonging
    • The risks and possibilities AI poses for human connection
    • Why humility, resilience, and hope are more urgent than ever

    This episode is an invitation to slow down, reflect, and come home to yourself, wherever you are.

    Resources mentioned:
    The Immigrant Story Podcast
    Stanley on LinkedIn
    Landed, Transformative Stories of Immigrant Women
    Campfire Kinship
    Más Menos
    1 h y 2 m
  • Unlearning Silence: Reclaiming Empathy as a Leadership Strength

    Unlearning Silence: Reclaiming Empathy as a Leadership Strength
    Dec 2 2025
    What does it mean to lead with empathy in a world that seems increasingly polarized and divided? In this episode of Hearth 2 Heart, Gayathri Shukla sits down with Dr. Vidya Narasimhan - senior scientist at Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals and Chair of the Board at Lotus STEMM (2021-2025) to explore:
    • Why empathy is a strategic strength, not weakness
    • The tension of holding power and vulnerability - building on insights from the Breaking Barriers project at Lotus STEM
    • Why “you shouldn’t have to be brave to belong”
    Tune in for this rich and reflective conversation on people-first leadership.

    Resources mentioned in the episode:

    Lotus STEMM Breaking Barriers
    Campfire Kinship
    Vidya’s LinkedIn
    Más Menos
    40 m
  • Reimagining Belonging for Women of Colour in the Workplace | Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi

    Reimagining Belonging for Women of Colour in the Workplace | Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi
    Nov 3 2025
    What does it mean to belong when your lived experiences are not always reflected in the very systems meant to support your growth? In this episode of Hearth 2 Heart, Gayathri Shukla sits down with Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi, founder of Accelerate Her Future, for an intimate and powerful conversation about the career development experiences of Indigenous, Black, and racialized women in the workplace.

    Drawing from key findings of a national research project funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre, they unpack career development needs and gaps, as well as promising practices and opportunities shared by women across sectors—pointing to what’s already working and what must shift. This episode invites us to reimagine career development for greater belonging.

    Resources mentioned in episode:
    Accelerate Her Future Research Report and 2025 Summit
    Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi's website and TEDx talk
    Dr. Bharini Bhattacharya's research on Invisibility of Work
    Campfire Kinship
    Más Menos
    42 m
  • Belonging in Academia: Is PhD right for you? | Gayathri Shukla

    Belonging in Academia: Is PhD right for you? | Gayathri Shukla
    Oct 1 2025
    In this solo episode, Gayathri sharers her raw, unfiltered thoughts on a major career milestone: pursuing a PhD.

    Re-entering academia after two decades in industry and entrepreneurship, Gayathri pulls back the curtains on the hard questions, doubts, and insights that shaped her choice to enter University of Calgary's inaugural Transdisciplinary Research program.

    From a literal hammock moment of inspiration to mentors' future-oriented perspectives, she explores what it means to belong in academia.

    If you’ve ever wondered whether if a PhD is right for you - or if you’re simply curious about the behind-the-scenes journey - this episode is for you.

    Resources mentioned in episode:

    Kindle Your Spark Career Story Crafting
    On the transition to entrepreneurship - Podcast Episode
    On LotusSTEMM project with. Dr. Chaudhary - Podcast Episode
    On Vipassana - Podcast Episode
    Newsletter
    LinkedIn
    Instagram
    Más Menos
    25 m
  • Moving Beyond the Inner Critic | Kalyani Pardeshi

    Moving Beyond the Inner Critic | Kalyani Pardeshi
    Sep 2 2025
    What if the harshest critic you ever faced…was inside your own mind?

    In this episode of Hearth 2 Heart, Gayathri Shukla is joined by TEDx speaker and award-winning author Kalyani Pardeshi, who shares her deeply personal journey of overcoming burnout and self-bullying. Drawing on her bestselling book Beyond the Inner Critic, Kalyani unpacks the conscious and unconscious voices that shape our motivation, self-worth, and ability to belong.

    This conversation is an invitation to gently examine the stories we tell ourselves, and to remember that growth begins not in perfection, but in permission to feel, to pause, and to belong to ourselves.

    Resources mentioned in episode:
    Kalyani's website and Instagram
    Campfire Kinship
    Más Menos
    45 m
  • Redefining Motherhood and STEM: A Healing Journey | Kinia Romanowska

    Redefining Motherhood and STEM: A Healing Journey | Kinia Romanowska
    Aug 1 2025
    What happens when we redefine success by balancing the masculine and feminine energies in our lives?

    In this episode, Gayathri sits down with Kinia Romanowska, founder of Pros&Babes, to explore how these energies - logic and intuition, structure and creativity - manifest not as gendered traits but as complementary forces that drive personal and professional growth.

    Kinia shares insights from her journey as an entrepreneur and working parenthood strategist, offering actionable tips on energetic hygiene, healing, and embracing seasonality.

    Together, they discuss how mothers in STEM and other demanding fields can align their ambitions with well-being, rediscover their feminine power, and create spaces for authentic belonging.

    Resources mentioned in episode:
    www.engineerlikeamom.com
    www.campfirekinship.com
    Más Menos
    43 m
  • Building Brave Spaces to Innovate and Belong | Andrea Silverstone and Carrie McManus

    Building Brave Spaces to Innovate and Belong | Andrea Silverstone and Carrie McManus
    Jul 2 2025
    Content Note: This episode includes mention of sexual abuse. Please listen with care.

    "Belonging is what makes vulnerability survivable."

    In this episode of Hearth 2 Heart, Gayathri Shukla sits down with Andrea Silverstone and Carrie McManus from Sagesse to explore the deep connection between belonging and innovation, drawing lessons from their latest book, Innovation at the Back of the Bus.

    Through personal stories, they explore how feelings of worthiness - or the the lack of it - impact our ability to create, collaborate, and innovate for systemic change. Drawing from their new book Innovation at the Back of the Bus, they discuss how vulnerability is key to both belonging and innovation, wherein fun and failure coexist on the path to change.

    Resources:
    • Innovation at the Back of the Bus book
    • www.sagesse.org
    • www.campfirekinship.com
    Más Menos
    45 m
  • Decolonization & Belonging: Lessons from Coming of Age | Elaine Alec

    Decolonization & Belonging: Lessons from Coming of Age | Elaine Alec
    Jun 2 2025
    What does decolonization have to do with belonging? More than you might think.

    In this powerful conversation, Gayathri Shukla sits down with Elaine Alec, author, speaker, and Indigenous leader, to explore her new book, Coming of Age, and lessons such as:

    - The real meaning of decolonization—beyond the fear and misconceptions
    - How colonial systems were built on control, exclusion, and shame
    - Why belonging starts with acknowledging and embracing our humanness

    If you’ve ever wondered how to approach the process of decolonization in your work and life, this episode is bound to inspire you!

    Resources mentioned:
    Elaine's LinkedIn
    Website and New Book, Coming of Age
    campfirekinship.com
    Más Menos
    43 m
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