Jane Q. Public

Episode 14: Matt & Kelly Prestbury

In this episode of the podQast, Q talks to the dynamic husband and wife duo, Matt & Kelly Prestbury. The Presbury's are co-founders of The Black Fathers Foundation, which started from a popular Facebook Group with a community of 75,000 (and counting) members. In this conversation they share their vision for the foundation; Kelly's revelation about her calling to be a doula - and how it changed her life; and what it's like to live out loud on the internet as a married couple.
The Black Fathers Foundation website
The Black Fathers Foundation Facebook Page
The Black Fathers Instagram
Jua Birthing Services website
Jua Birthing Services Instagram
Jua Birthing Services on Facebook
Kelly Prestbury on Instagram
Matt Prestbury on Instagram
-----------Support the podQast on Patreon

Episode 13: Sarah Orman

In this episode, Q talks to her friend and co-worker Sarah Orman about their shared love of reading and writing; their experience doing The Artists’ Way together; and how finding your purpose has a lot to do with allowing yourself to reprioritize your life around the things that really make your heart sing.
 
—————
 
Sarah Orman was raised in Austin, Texas, by a Baptist mom and a Catholic father. She converted to Judaism in 2005 and celebrated her bat mitzvah in 2018, at age 42. For her day job, she works as a staff attorney for the Texas Association of School Boards, where I focus on student civil rights, including legal issues regarding discipline, special education, Title IX, and privacy. She also writes at any and every opportunity. Her essay, "Shiksa Balls," was recently included in "Choosing Judaism: 36 Stories," and she is currently working on a memoir about her experiences living in red and blue states, in and out of religion.
—————
Sarah Orman on Medium
Follow Sarah on:
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Sarah's recommendations:
ONLINE CLASS: Write. Submit. Support. for Memoirists with Rachel Starnes 
ONLINE CLASS: Poetry with Susan Niz
BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
 

Episode 12: Umar Hakim Dey

In this episode, Q talks to her longtime friend Umar Hakim Dey, a community organizer, activist and social entrepreneur from Compton, CA. 
Find Umar online at:
Twitter
Linkedin
Facebook
Instagram
Watch Umar tell his story on the New Ground YouTube channel.
-----------
A native of the city of Compton, Umar A. Hakim Dey serves as Consulting Director of I.L.M. (Intellect Love Mercy) Foundation. After 13 years in telecommunications, Umar shifted his focus to become an entrepreneur, which opened him to social and community service work. He earned a business management degree from the University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in Ethical Leadership from Claremont Lincoln.
Umar is the founding principal of INKERIJ® (pronounced as Encourage) which is an advisory organization whose objective is to "disrupt irrelevant leadership, in order to re-establish relevant leadership perspectives and co-design new values for a more effective situational approach." Inkerij is a place where we discover and design working solutions for organizations and teach community members how to sustain themselves and avoid gentrification. 
--------
Support the podQast on Patreon.

Episode 11: Dr. Ashley Maltz

In this episode of the podQast, Q talks with her friend Dr. Ashley Maltz about family, identity, and what drew her to establish her own integrative medicine practice in Austin, Texas.
Find Dr. Maltz online: 
Dr. Ashley Maltz MD
West Holistic Medicine in Austin, Texas
On social media:
Facebook
Instagram
Linkedin
-----
After Dr. Maltz earned a Medical Degree and Master in Public Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX, she completed a combined Internal and Preventive Medicine Residency at UTMB. She then pursued and completed a 2-year clinical Integrative Medicine Fellowship at Stamford Hospital, in Stamford, Connecticut.
During her Fellowship, she underwent clinical training in Medical Acupuncture, trigger point injections, meditation, spirituality, clinical nutrition, mind-body therapies, botanicals and herbs, as well as an intensive 1000-hour online curriculum created by The University of Arizona Integrative Medicine Program founded by Dr. Andrew Weil. During this time, she also completed a 300-hour Medical Acupuncture course through the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate.
Dr. Maltz's specific interests include helping her patients improve their health through lifestyle interventions including, but not limited to, eastern medical practices, nutrition, botanicals, mind-body techniques and decreasing environmental exposures.
She is passionate about social justice, environmental restoration and creating healthful lifestyle change for patients and healthcare workers alike. In August 2016, she hosted an advocacy event at the Texas State Capital to bring awareness to the epidemic of medical student and physician suicide and in September, 2017, she joined a virtual rescue operation in SE Texas for Hurricane Harvey relief work.
Earlier that year, she founded the Austin Wellness Collaborative, a 2000-participant Facebook group for health and wellness professional collaboration in the Texas Hill Country. It is a robust organization serving residents of Central Texas.

Episode 10: Bobby Blanchard

In this episode of the podQast, Q talks with digital journalist Bobby Blanchard about Texas state politics, generational differences, mental health, and his lifelong passion for fantasy role-playing games.
Follow Bobby on Twitter at: @bobbycblanchard

Episode 9: Dax Gonzalez

In this episode of the podQast, Q talks with her friend and co-worker Dax Gonzalez about their shared love of all things Star Wars, what it was like for Dax growing up on the Texas-Mexico border, and Dax's adventures as an amateur paleontologist.

Episode 8: Dorie Griggs

In this episode of the podQast, Q talks with Dorie Griggs, a PR and marketing professional turned chaplain. They discuss Dorie's fascinating career path, and the challenges of meeting deeply human needs in online spaces.
-------------
After a career in various public relations and marketing positions in college and professional sports and the hospitality industry, Dorie L. Griggs attended Columbia Theological Seminary, where she earned her Master of Divinity degree in 2002.
During her final year at Columbia, Dorie developed a model of chaplaincy for journalists who cover traumatic events. She has served as a volunteer with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, an organization founded by Dr. Frank Ochberg, MD. She is the Chaplain for the Roswell, GA Fire Department.
Find Dorie on Facebook

Episode 7: Kati Irons Perez

In episode six of the podQast, Q is joined by Kati Irons Perez, a librarian and writer who lives in Tacoma Washington with her delightful husband, a dog and two cats, and her darling mom who lives nearby. Kati is a film buff, pop culture junkie, and political armchair quarterback. Her hobbies include crafting Facebook quips, aspiring to write a screenplay and fantasizing about winning The Voice.
 
Find her on Facebook.

Episode 5: Evin Cooper

Evin Cooper is a mom, writer, cook, contact center coach, and giant pain in the ass. In this episode of the podQast she and Q talk about the challenges of motherhood, what it's like to live as a liberal amongst conservatives, and Baby Yoda.
Follow Evin on TikTok: @yourmomnowtx
 
 

Episode 4: Yasmin Turk

In this episode, Q talks to Yasmin Diallo Turk, a long-time Austinite and non-profit professional in the field of sexual and domestic violence. They discuss multi-generational family life, the joys of creating digital content, Yasmin's commitment to her Islamic faith, and the importance of focusing on the things we can actually do something about.
 
Yasmin is also an activist and writer who notoriously procrastinates when she should be writing by watching ridiculous things on TV with her husband and 3 kids. Check out her project: Hope for Senegal