Find Your Spark
184 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratings“FIND YOUR SPARK” is a podcast that shares real-life stories of realizing the potential and impact of your SPARK, in the middle of a busy life. Your hosts Brooke Wheeldon-Reece, President of The SPARK Initiative – a non-profit organization – and Ashley Hunt, Director of Program Development, dive deep into conversations about life, family, running a business, the youth they work with, and the impact their work has daily. The episodes are funny, digestible, honest, and profoundly helpful. As working moms and entrepreneurs, Brooke and Ashley navigate the sticky realities of daily life, all while working to make this world a better place.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
84: Getting Some Distance From Our Fears
February 11, 2021 17:21 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie talks about how after months of suffering, she is finally no longer living in a state of fear due to her thinking about the mouse who used to live in her house. She reflects on what life was like when she was in that state and the huge difference in quality of life now that she is no longer in it. In this more relaxed state, Stephanie wonders about the possibility of simultaneously being afraid and feeling at peace with it. In other ...
83: When your SPARK and your Responsibilities collide
February 04, 2021 17:09 - 25 minutes - 24.1 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Ashley talk about the constant dichotomy people seem to be up against between following your inspirations (your SPARK) and following your responsibilities. They explore their own insights around how easy it is to be tricked by the thought that we have to choose when in reality if we just learned to trust our SPARK, the rest would be taken care of. Be sure to listen to the end to hear how learning this helped our most recent 2nd grad...
82:Seeing Habits in a Different Way
January 28, 2021 21:19 - 19.9 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Ashley Hunt and Jena Travise talk about their habits and how they see them in a different way. Listen as Ashley shares what she has learned about habits from Dr. Amy Johnson and how it has helped her to see that habits are just your brains best way of trying to help you out. When you understand how something works, it just makes it easier to navigate. Recognizing your habits and seeing your habitual thinking behind them is helpful in breaking t...
Uncover Resilience, Change the World
January 13, 2021 17:23 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Brooke reflect on week 1 of 2021...and why they still have hope. Listen as they share how they navigate the uncertainty of the world and make the case for innate resilience rather than an uphill battle to rebuild it. This is a conversation worth a reflection.
80: Our Hopes for 2021
January 07, 2021 21:18 - 16 minutes - 15 MBIn this podcast, Ashley and Brooke are joined by Brooke's teenage daughter Jayda. They all came together days prior to 2021 and discussed what each of their hopes and dreams would be for 2021. Listen as they reflect on what they have learned from 2020, and what they hope comes from 2021.
79: Meaning Behind the Disney Pixar Movie Soul: Find Your SPARK
December 30, 2020 15:33 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBDisclaimer: If you have not watched Soul, this podcast episode contains SPOILERS, you have been warned! In this episode, Brooke and Ashley are joined by Brooke's daughter Jayda. They all recently watched the Pixar movie Soul, and couldn't wait to come together and talk about it! On a recent Disney trip, Ashley first learned of this movie when she saw a shirt at Disney that read "Find Your SPARK". Well, if you know us at SPARK, you know that's our tag line for everything, it's even the name...
78: Reflecting on 2020
December 10, 2020 22:04 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Brooke, Ashley and Jena reflect on all the growing pains, learning curves and growth spurts of 2020. They share about all of the unknowns that Covid-19 brought and how it forced them to be more in the moment without even realizing it. They talk about how some pretty amazing things came from not knowing and how life just has a way of taking care of us and points us in the right direction if we are open to it. They also share about how things nev...
77: Stephanie has a mouse in her house! Will she have to move? – Part 1
December 03, 2020 17:43 - 9 minutes - 8.51 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, poor Stephanie is really feeling the fear of mice. She dreads the evening when they become active, is sleeping upright with the lights on to ensure they don’t break through the crack in the bottom of her bedroom door and is considering all options to rid her of this fear, including moving. Her son Alexander, on the other hand, is quite delighted by the new life in the house and doesn’t see the problem – talk about separate realities! Will Step...
76: SPARK Community - Now vs. Then
November 19, 2020 14:39 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Ashley Hunt and Nicole Wilson talk about how their mentoring classes have been going post quarantine. As you may know, SPARK is normally in a handful of local schools at this time facilitating SPARK Mentoring Programs. Since quarantine has ended and schools are open in their community, they have found it challenging to get into schools because of the district’s new rules due to COVID. Ashley and Nicole share their excitement on facilitating SPA...
75: Lighting Sparks with the Boys and Girls Club
November 12, 2020 15:10 - 22 minutes - 20.1 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, tune in to Stephanie interviewing one of our newest partners - Lashica Johnson. Lashica is a mentor and Youth Development Professional with the Boys and Girls Club in Garden Grove, CA. Stephanie and Lashica chat about the recent training, how it was different from previous trainings that Lashica has done, and why she is excited about bringing the Spark curriculum to the teens that she mentors. We are so excited to have them as partners and can’...
74: Stephanie’s Letter to her “Unwell” Self
November 05, 2020 15:33 - 12 minutes - 19.9 MB VideoIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie is inspired by something she read in Glennon Doyle’s Untamed and shares a very personal letter that she wrote to her “unwell” self from the perspective of her well or True Self. She talks about how the things she worries about in her unwell state like health insurance, money, retirement and her son not having a yard or a pool, look totally different when she is in a different state. When she is feeling her True Self, she somehow know...
73: Michael Neill's "Might Help, Can’t Hurt!" Ep28 - Educating Hearts and Minds
October 15, 2020 15:14 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke and Ashley along with James Hird, the principal of Horizons Academy Alternative School, are guest speakers on an episode of Michael Neill's "Might Help, Can't Hurt!" They talk about how educating students and teachers about how the mind works not only allows them to study and learn more effectively but creates a solid foundation for having "difficult but necessary" conversations about societal issues. Listen as they share about their ow...
72: Where Happiness Truly Comes From
October 08, 2020 18:57 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Jena shares about her past experiences of feeling lost, stuck and not living life to the fullest. She talks about how she used to look for outside things and people to fix her and make her feel happy. Once Jena learned about how the mind works, she is now able to see life through a whole new lens and navigate with so much more love for herself and others. Listen as she shares, Where Happiness Truly Comes From.
71: How You Know When You are Living From Your Spark
October 01, 2020 15:09 - 10 minutes - 9.94 MBIn this episode of the Find your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie shares a couple recent experiences which clearly indicated to her that she was living from her Spark. She first speaks about her experience of feeling jealousy and resentment to then feeling love and excitement after not being told about a good friends’ wedding. Stephanie also shares about how she found it easy to have a difficult conversation with someone close to her, after she had been putting it off. Once you recognize it, the ...
70: The Real Reason Kids are Always Asking WHY - and why we should be answering them.
September 24, 2020 18:36 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss why they feel that youth are the answer to the division in the world today. They share how they have seen others, as well as themselves, get caught up in being “right” and how much of a disservice it is to only see one side of things. They reflect on conversations they have had with youth, and the common factor they have seen is that the youth today are so curious, and we need that curiosity now more than ever. Brooke shares about how this simple i...
69: Finding Peace with my Inner Critic
September 17, 2020 18:16 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Brooke speaks with Adam Gross, a 22 year old counseling major who lives in North London. Adam speaks about how understanding his inner critic instead of trying to change it, has helped him see his world and life differently. Listen as they shares, Finding Peace with my Inner Critic
68: Insight from the Unexpected! - A Training Experience with the Rebels for Peace Members
September 10, 2020 15:44 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Stephanie talks about some very useful insights she had while training some of the Rebels for Peace members, a youth-led group working to end violence in Chicago. Her insights were around a problem she presented to them regarding the dilemma of balancing online schooling and work. Who would have thought her most useful parenting advice to date would come from a group of 22 year-old, single men with no kids, from the south side of Chicago!Listen...
67: Sharing the SPARK with Sex Trafficking Survivors
September 03, 2020 15:34 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBIn this episode of the Find Your SPARK Podcast, Nicole talks about the support group she facilitates with an organization that SPARK partners with called, Selah Freedom. Their mission is to put an end to sex trafficking and bring light into the darkness of survivors. Nicole shares her experience when meeting with the survivors weekly, and how she watches them uncover and transform their lives to become clearer versions of themselves. It’s a beautiful journey and Nicole is deeply impacted by ...
66:The Difference Between Looking At The World Divided & Looking At The World Inside You
August 27, 2020 18:09 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBIn this weeks episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Brooke and Nicole talk about a profound post they came across that reminded them both, when coming from a place of love, answers will always arise. They reflect on recent times that they lost sight of this and “got off track” when focusing on all the chaos going on in the world. When we do this, we are trying to find solutions from the world, rather than inside ourselves. That’s when there’s no connection to humanity and life can feel off...
65: Appreciating What We Know Now As Parents
August 20, 2020 16:37 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this week’s episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Nicole share what they have noticed about parenting before understanding how the mind works vs. after understanding. They talk about moments of parenting when situations feel really tough but how great it is to understand that they don’t have to sit in that feeling and it will pass eventually. Ashley also shares about the Online Parenting Program coming up in September. We are offering this course to the public on a sliding ...
65: Appreciating What We Know Now As Parents
August 20, 2020 16:37 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this week’s episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Ashley and Nicole share what they have noticed about parenting before understanding how the mind works vs. after understanding. They talk about moments of parenting when situations feel really tough but how great it is to understand that they don’t have to sit in that feeling and it will pass eventually. Ashley also shares about the Online Parenting Program coming up in September. We are offering this course to the public on a sliding ...
64: Discovering the Motivation Inside You!
August 13, 2020 15:44 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBIn this week’s episode of the Find Your SPARK podcast, Nicole and Jena share their insights on finding motivation to be healthier, after allowing insecurities to take a toll on them, they rediscovered their confidence and motivation to feel better and do better. They will be sharing more with you on how new thought always brings new feelings and experiences, when we learn to let go of the ones that limit us! Listen as they share, Discovering the Motivation Inside You!
63:Sending your Kids Back to School During COVID? Who is Right and Who is Wrong?
August 06, 2020 15:01 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the upcoming school year. Local schools here are set to reopen in the next couple of weeks, and we have heard very strong opinions on the decision of sending kids back or not. Brooke and Ashley discuss their decisions and how they came to the decision for themselves, as well as share what they have heard on social media, and even with close friends trying to decide. They share about the importance of understanding what is right for you and y...
62: So Simple, So Helpful!
July 30, 2020 13:53 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBIn this episode, Stephanie reflects on a couple examples of how knowing about her SPARK has recently helped her and her 6 year-old son deal with kitchen disasters and Minecraft moments! Listen as she shares their experiences. As always, if you have a topic you would like us to talk about or if there something you would like to hear more on, please let us know!Email us at [email protected]
61: Feeling Left Out
July 22, 2020 20:16 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBIn this episode, Ashley and Jena share their recent events about how they have each experienced feeling left out. They speak about how this feeling can lead them to making assumptions and becoming even more disconnected, but allowing for time, space and understanding, a whole new perspective can be gained. They talk about how these feelings can feel really big at times, but they will all settle eventually and that is so helpful and refreshing to know. Listen as they share their experiences...
60:The Obstacle of Thought
July 14, 2020 20:54 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBIn this episode, Ashley and Nicole share about resent insights they have had about the importance and appreciation for their state of mind. Ashley shares about getting caught up in her thinking, and then the unhelpful "should's" that unfolded for her. She talks about how she recognized this, and how it was helpful moving forward. Her problems suddenly didn't seem as big as she had thought, and answers came for the solutions that she needed. Nicole speaks about a recent event as well, and s...
59: The Relief of Recognizing Resentment
July 09, 2020 23:21 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBIn this episode, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk about personal resentment and how this understanding of the mind has helped them let go of past experiences that weighed them down and live life a lot lighter.
58: Appreciating the Diversity Among Us
June 18, 2020 18:26 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley share about what they are seeing new about separate realities, and appreciating diversity within us all. They share what they have seen about both, everyone being one, and also recognizes and appreciating the differences in us all. The both listened to a recent talk at a conference and saw many things from it in regards to parenting, but then, as the week has gone on, they have zoomed out to see this in all areas. Listen as they share their insights aroun...
57: Insights & Connecting from Around the World
June 11, 2020 22:06 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBIn this episode, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk about insights they have had and things they have seen this past week after attending a recent Conference called "Life 2.0". They share how beautiful it was to see people gather from across the world via Zoom, all connecting, sharing and learning more about themselves and each other, especially during this current time in the world. Listen as they share, Insights and Connecting from Around the World.
56: Why Connection, Understanding & Love is Always the Answer
June 05, 2020 11:32 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBIn this episode, Ashley Hunt and Nicole Wilson talk about their perspective of connection, human to human, and how so many solutions can be uncovered from that place. Diving deeper beneath the surface, we can see that humans are all connected through love.
55: Adapting to a New Type of Normal
May 29, 2020 01:00 - 19.5 MBIn this episode, Nicole Wilson and Jena Travise talk about their perspective on returning back to the old/new “normal” way of life, as things are starting to fall back into place from COVID-19. Listen as they reflect on how we, as human beings, adapt to change without trying. Our SPARK will always be there no matter what circumstances we face in the world.
54: What Does Coronavirus Mean for Children Going Back to School?
May 22, 2020 17:57 - 33.3 MBThis episode was recorded live on Facebook for our first ever live podcast! We had lots of fun seeing all of our listeners! In this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the new CDC guidelines that were just issued on how schools should resume post COVID-19. This has been a HOT Topic this week and we thought a podcast on this topic may be beneficial to many.
53: A Curious Announcement
May 14, 2020 21:12 - 16.2 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley are joined by former teacher and Children’s book author, Stephanie Fox. Stephanie was on last week to talk about her books with Curious the Dragonfly and we teased that we would have her back on this week for an exciting announcement! Listen as we talk about how we are joining forces to bring Curious and SPARK to more children all around the world! We are so excited and can’t wait for you all to hear about our plans! If you would like to find out mo...
52: The Curious Evolution
May 07, 2020 18:40 - 23.3 MBIn this episode, Ashley interviews former teacher and Children’s book author, Stephanie Fox. Stephanie shares what lead her to writing children’s books, and where the idea of her characters came from. She also shares the process of knowing deeply her vision for this new character, and how she followed the next step even when she was not sure “how” it would work. Listen as Stephanie shared stories of how her characters are helping children all over the world understand their feelings and wh...
51: Coronavirus: The Expectation Tunnel of Doom
April 30, 2020 22:54 - 26 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the impact that unknown exceptions has on us, especially during the current Pandemic!
50: Parenting Series: Part Four with Rohini Ross and Jayda Reece
April 09, 2020 22:47 - 16.7 MBThis episode is the forth in our Parenting Series! If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship. In this episode, Jayda interviews Rohini Ross about parenting. Rohini is the mom of two teenage daughters and offers a wonderful perspective on parenting. Rohini graduated with a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and ...
49: Parenting Series Part Three: Parenting During COVID-19
March 26, 2020 21:32 - 32.9 MBThis episode is the third in our Parenting Series! If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enjoy and can take back into any type of relationship. In this episode, Nicole joins Ashley to talk about recent events with COVID-19. They share about all of the changes that have been happening, and what it's been like to be a parent through all of the uncertainty. They share h...
48: Parenting Series Part Two with Cathy Casey and Jayda Reece
March 13, 2020 10:45 - 32.4 MBThis episode is the second in our Parenting Series! Brooke and I feel that we have learned so much while parenting, and understanding how the mind works, so we wanted to do a special series on this very topic! For the next several weeks, you get to listen to Brooke’s teenage daughter Jayda as she interviews parents of all ages. If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to en...
47: Parenting Series Part One: Dicken Bettinger & Jayda Reece
March 06, 2020 01:07 - 23.1 MBThis episode is the first in our Parenting Series! Brooke and I feel that we have learned so much while parenting, and understanding how the mind works, so we wanted to do a special series on this very topic! For the next several weeks, you get to listen to Brooke’s teenage daughter Jayda as she interviews parents of all ages. If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to enj...
46:True Story of Impact: Kyle's Story
February 28, 2020 11:24 - 26.6 MBIn this episode, Nicole sits down with Kyle Reece so interview him. Kyle is Brooke's brother in law He came to us because he knew his brother Will had a dramatic shift once he learned about how his mind works, and Kyle wanted the same. Nicole begin working with him and through the last couple months, Kyle's perspective started to shift. Nicole asked if he would do an interview for our podcast and he agreed! Listen as he shares what this understanding has taught him.
45: Mom Guilt
February 20, 2020 20:57 - 18.6 MBIn this episode, Nicole and Jena join the podcast to share some stories about how they have each experienced mom guilt. They speak about how they can get wrapped into the depths of the guilt, and how in another instance they can pop right out of it. Listen as they share what they have seen around this topic, and how they have gotten through it!
44: Respecting and Understanding Difference in Cultures
February 13, 2020 18:31 - 26.6 MBIn this episode, Ashley and Brooke talk about what it means to them to appreciate other culture, by simply understanding what it is that makes up culture. They recently went on a tour in an Amish community with Jena and Nicole, (you will be able to hear Ashley smiling throughout this episode, because she is fascinated by their culture). They saw many things that were foreign to them, yet they had a very cool experience the whole day. They share their insights around culture this experience ...
43: Why it's Never Your Job to Save Others
February 06, 2020 17:38 - 24.6 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley discuss why, even with best intentions, sometimes trying to save others may do more harm than good. They share their stories of trying to save those closest to them and the outcome it has had on not only on those they are trying to save, but also the toll it takes on themselves.
42: Insights from Inside Jail
December 13, 2019 12:54 - 23.1 MBIn this episode, Ashley and Brooke have some very specials guest in the office, Jacqueline Hollows and Anna Debenham! Listen as they discuss their past week together working on a curriculum for prisons/jails, and the experience they shared running a class together in jail. Jacqueline founded Beyond Recovery in the UK. Her and her team go into prisons across the UK, working with offenders and ex-offenders; community organizations and professionals within the Criminal Justice System and addi...
41: Calling All People Pleasers and Control Freaks
October 17, 2019 21:00 - 23.4 MBIn this episode, you will get to hear from Ashley, who is a self-proclaimed "recovering" People Pleaser, and Brooke who is a self-proclaimed "recovering" Control Freak. We say the word "recovering" in quotes, because let's face it, they are still doing it at times! Ashley shares what she has seen recently about taking on other people's feelings, trying to fix them in order to fix her own discomfort. Listen as they discuss how seeing just a little bit about this has opened up a whole experie...
40: Parenting Through a New Lens: Part One with Jayda & Dicken Bettinger
September 05, 2019 19:49 - 22.8 MBThis episode is the first in our Parenting Series! Brooke and I feel that we have learned so much while parenting, and understanding how the mind works, so we wanted to do a special series on this very topic! For the next several weeks, you get to listen to Brooke's 14 year old daughter Jayda as she interviews parents of all ages. If you are a parent of any kind, this series is for you! Even if your not a parent, this series is full of different perspectives and stories that you are sure to...
39: The Angst of a New School Year
August 15, 2019 21:05 - 28.9 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley talk about the kids heading Back to School and ALL the feelings that go along with it! They share the angst, as well as what has helps themselves and their kids navigate as they start a new school year.
38: Looking Past Guilt to Find the Answer
August 09, 2019 02:20 - 16.3 MBIn this episode, Brooke and Ashley unpack why you already know what to do and why guilt is never giving you the right answer.
37: Can it Really be that Simple?
July 18, 2019 19:49 - 37.7 MBIn this episode, Ashley and Brooke talk about the simplicity of what they share. They often get people asking how something so simple can be helpful, so in this podcast they answer break down why.
36: It's Not Broken so Stop Trying to Fix It!
July 05, 2019 13:03 - 28.7 MBIn this episode, Ashley and Brooke talk about the importance of holding spaces for others, and what that really means for them.