In today's episode, we're honored to have Dr. Sheila Wijaysinghe, a renowned advocate for equitable healthcare, joining us in a vital discussion that resonates with many.

In this Episode:

• Unpacking the Legacy of COVID-19: We revisit the COVID-19 pandemic, not as a distant memory but its aftermath and significant impacts on women. What are the long-term effects of this global crisis on women's health and well-being?
• Demystifying Burnout in Women: Often misunderstood or unnoticed, burnout can have profound effects on women's physical and mental health. We delve into its unique manifestations in women and why it's crucial to address it.
• Early Signs and Strategies Against Burnout: Dr. Sheila shares her expertise on recognizing the early signs of burnout. She also offers practical advice on combatting its effects and fostering well-being.
• The Power of 'Care-Webs': Explore the concept of 'care-webs' with us – an approach to community support and balance. Dr. Sheila discusses how these networks of care can provide emotional sustenance and resilience in tough times.
• Building and Sustaining Support Networks: Learn from Dr. Sheila how to create and nurture these essential care webs for holistic support and wellness.

Join hosts Poorva, Nashina, and Dr. Sheila as we shed light on these crucial topics.

Tune in for an engaging, informative, and healing episode that will empower you with knowledge and strategies for better self-care and community support.

Learn More about Dr. Sheila  Wijaysinghe:

Professional: Dr. Sheila Wijaysinghe
Instagram: @Drsheilalaw and @Pandemicpregnancyguide

Welcome back to the second season of Unsilent Women! This season, host Poorva returns with a fabulous new co-host Nashina Merani Miranda, to have an impactful conversation on a topic that resonates deeply with women of color around the globe.

 Our inaugural episode dives into the complex issue of labels and reclaiming identity.

In this episode, we explore how labels, often thrust upon us by society or self-imposed, can influence the perception of women, especially women of color. These labels are based on how we present ourselves to the world, and they can profoundly impact our lives. Whether it's stereotypes related to race, culture, or personal style, we dissect how these labels can limit us and how they often fail to acknowledge the complexities of our identities.

But it's not just about the labels others place on us. We also take a hard look at the labels we attach to ourselves. How have they shifted and evolved throughout our lives? How can we break free from harmful or limiting labels and redefine our identities on our terms? We delve into the psychological implications of these labels and share empowering strategies to rise above them.

We bring personal stories and healing discussions that empower our listeners to transcend these labels. 

This episode invites all women of color to reevaluate the power of labels and their impact on our self-identity and embrace the limitless potential beyond these labels.

Join us for a powerful discussion that's not just about confronting these labels but also about celebrating the resilience, strength, and diverse identities of women of color. Together, we will navigate through these complex issues, facilitating healing conversations and fostering a more inclusive and understanding society.

So, please tune in to Unsilent Women as we journey into the realm of labels, breaking stereotypes, and living beyond them. This is a conversation you wouldn't want to miss.

We are in the era of swiping left to find the right person. An endless digital scrapbook of options for every taste, interest, physical, social or lifestyle preference. But what does this era of dating through a portal mean for finding love. Poorva talks to Nikoletta Erdelyi, a self-proclaimed shit disturber in the digital dating space, who specializes in trolling f*** boys. Nikoletta uses her boundless reserves of humor and wit to explore digital dating in a big city as a millennial woman. She is currently working on her book on the subject, Tinder Tales: Metropolis Manz on the Digital Dating Scene. 

Where is the line where you end and another person begins? Why do we struggle to identify our limits? And how do we establish effective and healthy boundaries with the people we love, in personal and professional relationships, and even with ourselves?

In this episode Poorva and Dr. Tracy Dalgleish dive into understanding boundaries and why women especially, struggle with them. What's the social conditioning that gets in the way of us protecting our time and energy? How can we focus on what brings us meaning? And how do we communicate our needs so that we can show up as happier and healthier versions of ourselves?

Dr. Tracy Dalgleish, psychologist and couples therapist, helps individuals and couples navigate the challenges we all face in our relationships and within ourselves to create a more meaningful life through therapy, wellness seminars, and her work outside of the therapy room. 

Dr. Dalgleish contributes to popular media sites, including Motherly, Huffington Post, Bustle, and PsychCentral. She has appeared on CTV Morning Live Ottawa and is a sought-after expert to speak on relationships and mental health. She has also published several journal articles in high-ranking academic peer-reviewed journals and co-authored two book chapters on attachment theory and emotionally focused couples therapy.

Committed to making what she does more accessible, Dr. Dalgleish is the host of podcast ‘I’m Not Your Shrink’ where she dives deeper into clinical knowledge and research in a relatable and informal way. She also offers other e-learning if you prefer to learn on the go, including an online community to help women and couples strengthen their relationships. 

 Dr. Dalgleish is the owner of Integrated Wellness, a mental health clinic in Ottawa, Ontario. She is the 2021 recipient of the Forty Under 40 award, recognizing her significant business contributions in the national capital region.

Instagram: @dr.tracyd

Did the Sweet Valley series inform a young girl's ideas of dating and romance? Does Harry Potter have anything to do with how we think about elite education? Is Bella Swan, a love-obsessed teen really an accurate portrayal of a teenage girl?

The stories we grow up with, stay with us our entire lives.  They are our first window into the world and so much of what we learn and how we grow up is shaped by children's stories.   Maria Vicente is a Senior Literary Agent at P.S. Literary representing bold and innovative books for kids, teens, and curious adults. Her favorite books to work on allow readers to experience something new about the real world or invite them into fictional worlds they’ll never want to leave. 

Maria and Poorva take a trip down memory lane and revisit stories from their childhoods to examine where ideas on complex social issues like gender, race, and identity come from.

 Representation and diversity have become major talking points over the last year. Phrases like “if you can see it you can be it,” are popular platitudes of support, offered at diversity seminars and plastered in Millennial pink quote backdrops on Instagram. 

But all of this talk around diversity has made it this silent thief in the night. Like a diverse world is aspirational. When the reality is that diversity is already here.  And if we aren’t seeing it in the spaces that we occupy, it’s because it’s been deliberately left out. What we often end up seeing instead is tokenism. A multi-cultural and multi-racial world that reflects dominant and behaviors. 

Representation, especially in media and pop culture as we know it has been from a historically white, wealthy, cis-gendered, heteronormative lens. And this representation doesn’t reflect our reality. My guest this week is an incredible Toronto-based artist, visual storyteller, and photographer, Zahra Siddiqui — who challenges this portrayal of our world through The Invisible Majority — a body of work that speaks to the consciousness of our civilization.  

Zahra takes portraits of members of the BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ people, exactly as they are and want to be seen. There is no code-switching to fit in. 

Zahra’s work reflects the reality of our society. That BIPOC people are a majority. And even in a diverse, multi-cultural city like Toronto, we remain unseen. 

Some aspects of this episode may be triggering and so you’re encouraged to listen at your comfort. 

 To follow Zahra's work, head on over to www. theinvisiblemajority.com

The tech world is full of upstarts and startups, and might look something like — a young, college dropout, disproportionately white and male.  Those are the stories that make the news, the tech darlings that get funded. But what about the side of the tech world that isn't seen? The 38-year-old Black mother with two STEM degrees who starts a business? The Latinx girl with an engineering degree under her belt who starts a tech company? Or a woman with a background in Marketing and a passion for business, technology, and equity? 

Lauren Washington is the co-founder of Black Women Talk Tech, a tech conference created by Black female founders for Black female founders and their supporters, highlighting the brilliance of Black women in technology. Poorva and Lauren talk diversity in tech, building scalable companies, and making space for diverse voices in the tech world.

The writer's journey is long, serpentine and lonely. No one really becomes a writer. You simply write. If you love it  and you write long enough there might be a future in the books. But what happens when rejection is name of the game, book-deals aren't written in stone and  writers see dreams evaporate in a puff of smoke?

Marissa Stapley is an internationally bestselling author of four novels. Her latest novel Lucky, debuted this year and was optioned for television by Disney Studios. Marissa has walked the walk when it comes to growing as a writer. She shares her journey of going from a writer with a dream to published novelist. We talk lessons, resilient moments and even a little bit of magic.