In this episode of Talking Smack 415, Jamie the Great and I chat with Ellyn Mantell—mother, grandmother, devoted wife for over 50 years, ostomate, advocate, and motivational speaker. Ellyn shares the inspiring story behind her memoir, “The Best We Could,” which is about her journey healing from intergenerational trauma after surviving childhood abuse, raising her sisters, finding love and more. Tune in for a powerful conversation about resilience, self worth, and the legacy of hope Ellyn is building for future generations. Invite Ellyn to your book club and connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Connect with Ellyn:

Instagram: @EllynMantellWrites

Facebook: EllynMatnellwrites

Email: Ellynmantell@aol.com

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh. Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!

In June’s Energetic Forecast: Maia’s Take, Maia shares that June is short and sweet and all about love!

June is for lovers and love is in the air. Whether it’s loving yourself or loving someone else, June is all about love.

It’s a vibe, whimsical, nostalgic and slow with fireflies and hammocks.

Immerse yourself fully in the energy of June.

Maia pulls tarot cards:

• 8 of disks - which is prudence - message is everything that is coming to fruition is really good but still need to take good care of it. Be delicate with yourself!
• Everything unfolds at the proper time.
• Ace of cups - overflowing love .

Animal is a dragonfly which is all about illusion. Don’t believe the illusions that you tell yourself that hold you back.

Enjoy June!

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh. Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!

On today’s episode of Talking Smack 415, Jamie the Great and I sit down with badass extraordinaire, Sunny Schwartz, — a nationally recognized leader in criminal justice reform, restorative justice, and prison rehabilitation programs.

Sunny is the author of Dreams from the Monster Factory, which tells her raw and riveting journey from the South Side of Chicago to becoming a pioneering force in alternatives to incarceration, prison education, and restorative justice initiatives in San Francisco. Despite not having a college degree, Sunny became a lawyer, defied expectations, and shook up the justice system from the inside.

We dive deep into her founding of the Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP) — a program that slashed violent re-arrest rates by up to 80%, as well as Five Keys Charter School, the first U.S. high school for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated adults. Sunny also helped launch Home Free, a vital reentry housing initiative for domestic violence survivors and women impacted by trauma.

Her work has been honored by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and featured on Oprah, PBS, and Larry King Live.

And now she’s binging pickleball, the fastest growing sport in America to the prisons.

If you're curious about:

• Restorative justice and trauma-informed reform
• Innovative prison education programs
• Reducing recidivism through community-based solutions
• The power of second chances and not giving up
• Stories from the frontlines of jail reform in San Francisco
• Why Sunny roots for the Cubs and the Giants…
• And what she wish people would ask her and never do

...then you don’t want to miss this episode.

Subscribe, share, rate, and review if you believe in justice, transformation, rooting for the underdog, and laughter and friendship to feed your soul!

Share this episode with your friends and family who love to laugh. Subscribe to Talking Smack 415 and leave us a rating and review so more peeps can find us for laughter and friendship to feed your soul!