There are few individuals in the world who can convince people to get out of bed and start dancing at 6:00 am completely sober. Radha Agrawal, the co-founder, CEO and Chief Community architect of Daybreaker, the global morning sober dance and wellness movement, is one of them. And for the past 10 years, a half a million people across 33 cities and five continents have joined her. And here’s the thing. Radha — a social entrepreneur whose mission is to bring more joy and belonging to the world — started out as an investment banker. Believe it or not, there’s a much straighter line between where she started and where she is now than you might think. In our conversation, we talk about the importance of building an intentional community, Daybreak’s upcoming Purple Tour targeting the swing states, and her newest project, The Belong Center. 

At 84 years old, Laura Wilson could run circles around most of us. She throws herself into her creative projects — which often take years to complete — with high energy and optimism. She moves quickly, never dallying when pursuing her creative work (a missed opportunity to photograph John Updike still stings). And her work reveals the humanity and stories behind individuals, communities, and events that we rarely see — cockfighting, cowboys, drug smuggling searches, debutantes, world-famous authors, and reclusive religious groups. In our conversation, we talk about working with famed photographer Richard Avedon, the keys to her decades-long career, and her induction into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame (at age 79).

Get ready to be inspired (and possibly cry). Richard Casper, co-founder of Creativets, shares his journey from combat Marine to champion of the arts. A wounded veteran — Richard’s Humvee was blown up four times in Iraq and he watched his dear friend die — Richard credits art and songwriting with saving his life. To help other veterans heal as he did, Richard co-founded Creativets, an organization that uses art and music to help wounded veterans heal from Post Traumatic Stress and brain injuries. For his work, Richard was named one of Time Magazine’s Next Generation Leaders and a CNN Hero, among many other accolades. And his creativity expands beyond his nonprofit. He’s also an entrepreneur, most recently creating an app called We Should Write Some Time, which connects songwriters around the world. This is a powerful episode about how art not only heals but also saves lives — repurposing devastating memories as good ones and remapping our experiences.

Singer/songwriter Lila Forde stands at a launch point in her career. She’s a self-sustaining, working musician, who’s been at it for years. And if you’re a fan of The Voice, you know that in Season 24 last fall, Lila earned a coveted 4-chair turn and went from a gigging girl in LA to one of the show’s top vocalists with adoring fans nationwide. Finishing among the five finalists, Lila continues to be compared to Joni Mitchell and her coach John Legend, describes her as magical. No doubt, she’s poised for a long and successful career. Listen to this episode and one day, you can look back and say, “I heard an interview with Lila when she was just taking off!”

Dava Whisenant, founder and president of Cactus Flower Films, is a master storyteller who has stories to tell, and she tells them with honesty and humor.  For more than 20 years, she’s worked in narrative and nonfiction film as an editor — from The Late Show with David Letterman to the Emmy-winning and Oscar- short-listed documentary short The Flagmakers — and now as a director. The award-winning documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway, was her directorial debut, for which she won Best Director at the Tribeca Film Festival and a Writer’s Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. We talk about her creative process, the necessity of a team, the financial challenges of a creative life, the value of being scared, and the importance of inspirational mugs!

Becca Stevens, the founder and president of Thistle Farms, shares her journey from starting a 5-bed home for women survivors of trafficking, addiction, and prostitution to creating a global movement for women’s freedom. Born at the crossroads of where arts and crafts meets justice, Becca talks about how creativity has transformed the lives of women in her programs, the importance of a walk in the woods, and how one Thistle Farms candle was the catalyst for a birthday party including A-list celebrities. The word timid is not in Becca’s vocabulary — anything is possible!