I was inspired recently by a post I saw on social media to discuss with you all the personal responsibility factor we each have to determine our happiness in life. Here are 8 ways to find more peace and joy in your life. Enjoy!
Natalie Russell is a single Mom to 2 boys, a certified mindset coach, trained organisational counselor, and a youth worker. It was Natalie’s own journey of healing from trauma that led her to all the rewarding work she now does in the mental health space. In addition to her work as a professional mindset coach, Natalie has worked with the youth, mental health, and addictions for the last 17 years. She came on to The Honest Hour Podcast recently to shed some of her top nuggets of wisdom with us a...
About Mimi Mimi Nicklin is an experienced marketer and strategist, and a well-known empathetic leader. For over fifteen years she has been working across the globe with her clients to drive stand out creative interventions that lead to profitable business and culture change. Driven by the pursuit of bringing conscientiousness to the role and impact of leadership, with a desire to make the world of work a more empathetic, valuable and sustainably healthy place to be, Mimi has released her first b...
How can we be an ally in an ever-divided world? I had the most incredible and thought-provoking chat recently with global motivational dynamo Ricardo Gressel, aka Warrior Ric. In our discussion, we addressed why Warrior Ric, who hails originally from the America’s (like yours truly), has a deep connection to South Africa, as well as his hopes for a better future for all its citizens. A graduate of Stanford University holding more 20 years of marketing and communications experience building blue ...
Overview: On 14 July, Times Live shared an article titled, “Cotton On to the fact that black lives matter,” spotlighting the defamation suit that Influencer and Blogger Shan Fourie laid out against a group of women who subsequently dubbed their collective movement #dontshushme. The article can be found at https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-07-14-cotton-on-to-the-fact-that-black-lives-matter/ . Durban based lifestyle blogger with over 15K followers and Mom to 3, Shan Fourie was pu...
Author of soon to be released book, “How I Lost Myself,” Claire Lagerwall is a jack of all trades, but words are the sharpest tools in her box. Writer extraordinaire, Mom to 3, and resilient as they come, I absolutely loved my chat on The Honest Hour Podcast with Claire today. Having studied English and Psychology as well as an Honours Degree in Psychology and then another Honours in Education, Claire embarked on adulthood with the intention to specialise in EduPsych. While it did not pan out th...
In this episode of The Honest Hour Podcast I speak with Vision Board and Intuitive Writing Facilitator, Sonja McKaiser I met Sonja in the flesh in October 2018 after attending one of her amazing and transformative vision board workshops with a group of other South African bloggers. The experience was a humbling, grounding and incredibly healing one to say the least. It set me on a journey of seeking deeper intuitive understanding of myself, my experiences, and my perceptions so much that I ended...
Bianca Venter is a South African Mom Blogger & professional child therapist who is simplifying things to live an authentic lifestyle. She is also passionate about sharing her own personal and professional pockets of wisdom along the way. In this episode of The Honest Hour Podcast, I ask Bianca to elaborate on normal child "misbehavior" or "toddler outbursts" versus symptoms of autism. We discuss the genius of an autistic child, their ability to overcome dysfunctional behaviors with therapy, ...
According to Thetab.com, “The phrase toxic positivity is the culture of portraying yourself as being happy no matter what. You are basically switched off to anything which might be viewed as negative. It's also the idea of encouraging people to always see the bright side, and not open up about anything bad.” And I think that, in the culture of positivity and ‘look on the bright side’ that we are all living in now, it is time we have an open conversation about the harmful flip side of this in our...
It has been a hot minute guys! Fun Fact - "hot minute" historically means "a short time," but in modern age we all use this phrase to mean a long time now, or at least I do! OK so, phew! What a whirlwind. You'll find out more in this episode about why, when and how, but life has led me to become a full time stay at home mom and home-school teacher over night with no professional help. Eeek, this has been an adjustment! But, as always with curve balls, so many revelations and lessons. If you are ...
Are you a parent to kids under the age of 5 and learning the balance the act of compassion and positive boundaries? If so, today’s episode is for you. in fact, even if you are not raising little people, this episode could be applicable to you. If you have ever found yourself facing uncomfortable emotions and situations with people or moments, you can benefit from this conversation about setting positive boundaries and learning to self-regulate. Our guest on this episode of The Honest Hour Podcas...
In this episode of The Honest Hour, I chatted with Aisha O'Reilly, founder of Aisha & Life Blog. On a mission to encourage other women to improve their lives by sharing honest snippets of her own, Aisha is a Mom and blogger extraordinaire with a special passion for sharing her journey with natural African hair, and all the realities of interracial marriage (or just marriage, for that matter), as well as modern motherhood. We discussed so many topics, from motherhood to multi-racial relations...
In the last week alone SEVEN people, including top local brands and big influencers, have asked me how to get started on their own podcast. It is so easy guys! In this episode I break down how and why I got started, and give you all the steps you need to start your own podcast successfully today, and how to even get paid. Good luck! If you have any questions I am always here to help. Pop me a DM on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/capetownmomchristina/...
If you have been following me on social media for the past year (2019-2020), you will know that I got to a point where I felt like I had a problem with drinking. Yes, it is true. After becoming a Mom and watching my childhood trauma and hormone induced anxieties rise like the sun every morning, I found myself at the bottom of a bottle of wine (and sometimes TWO) most nights of the week, and usually chased back with a few cigarettes. I was NOT living my best life (even though I often liked to thi...
In this episode of the Honest Hour, I spoke with self-dubbed “Nesting Gypsy,” Sara Janssen. An unschooling mama to 3 gorgeous girls (and quite the range of chicken babies too!), Sara was absolute sunshine to chat with. Her love for life and natural curiosity is what led her on a journey to start asking all the important questions in early motherhood. Beginning with cloth nappies and a home birth, her path to all-natural parenting ended up placing her in the happiest place she could ever imagine,...
In today’s episode I had the honour of speaking with Maris Degener, globally recognized Yogi and mental health crusader from California. Maris became a yoga instructor at the age of 16 after embarking on a lifelong journey of healing and restoration in breath and body movements. I came across Maris’s amazing testimony in the Netflix documentary “I Am Maris” by Laura VanZee Taylor and ro*co films which breaks down the link between yoga, eating disorders, and healing. Inspired after I saw the docu...
In this episode of The Honest Hour, I chat with YouTuber & child-focused healthy food enthusiast, Beans Van Zyl. I first came across Beans on Instagram in early 2019 and was attracted to her gourmet-looking but oh-so-easy to make healthy meals and sweet treats. Not only does Beans share the most beautiful content, videos and images of making her own recipes, but she has a way of including her kids in on the action so that it is fun, educational and an amazing opportunity to bond. Before beco...
Coming from a background in professional fitness competitions, Jessica Scott was used to finding her value in her size and there was no limit to how small she could be. After becoming a mother, however, she experienced an internal shift. She began her career as a fitness coach, coaching hundreds of women each month to reach their health and fitness goals. It was during this time that she saw clearly that women did not need help knowing what to eat, we have tried it all really. Instead, they need...
In today’s chat I spoke with certified Health and Nutrition Coach, Sam Pearse. While Sam has had a lifelong interest in fitness and health, she has only in recent years learned the science-based evidence of REAL nutrition and become passionate about a mindful approach to sound and nutritional eating. Her top tip? Know the science of food and take the emotion out of eating. Her go-to motto is “Food is FUEL”. In our honest conversation, Sam openly shares her background with food – how she grew up ...
In this episode I spoke with Megan, the light, the truth, the smiles, the brains, and the creator behind the Instagram account @livingcoronapositive. In March 2020 Megan and her family embarked on a fun ski holiday to Switzerland. It was an adventure they looked forward to, a year in the making. News had begun to pop up about the novel corona virus, but at the time there was no outbreak and no travel bans. It was a vastly different time to the one we are now finding ourselves during today’s reco...
In late 2016, after struggling to recover from a common cold, Tracey-Lee realised that she needed to change her way of life. Her doctor informed her that if she did not lose the weight now and commit to a healthy and active lifestyle, that she would develop diabetes and other catastrophic health concerns. Tracey-Lee realised that her way of life then had led her to gain more than 50KGs in the preceding two years and, as such, she chose to make some serious changes. She embarked on a mission to p...
I had the honour of speaking with one of the first Mom bloggers I followed on Instagram when I established my brand over a year ago. Her name is Mari-Louise Candiotes, also known as “Just a Mamma,” her self-dubbed nickname. Being “just a Mom” is no easy task, I know this from personal experience. But Mari-Louise is far more than Just a Mamma, let me tell you! Mari-Louise always knew she wanted to be a Mom with a big family. She married her high school sweetheart (her Mr. Perfect) and wanted to s...
"Ah my sweet little Lincy Loncs, our precious Blinky Bear. You are always happy, always laughing and giggling and finding fun for the room. But you do not want to listen. EVER. At this stage, you are turning 3 in just over a month. You want to run into the road, buckle your own seat belt, eat chocolate for breakfast, refuse to go to bed, brush your own teeth (except you just don’t really do it, you only eat the tooth paste). This feisty independence of yours, while honourable at times, is leavin...
I saw so many people on social media this past month saying things like "Ya! Bring on a New Year! 2019 sucked!" Or versions there of... My 2019 was SO different! I wrote about it on my blog at http://christinamasureik.co.za/write-the-future-with-a-dream/. I can't say that for many years before 2019. But last year for me was trans-formative, healing and so incredible! And I have an amazing trick up my sleeve as to WHY. Listen to find out! HINT: The Creative Space with Sonja had a LOT to do with m...
Hello lovely listeners, In this episode I speak with Celeste Spritely, a registered counselor and Psychometrist, about her focus on the unique role that Dad's play on early childhood development (ECD) and school readiness (SR). Did you know that it is estimated that over 2 million children in South Africa are fatherless, and 9 million grow-up without fathers? Hands down, this is a tremendous fatherhood challenge for the country. One of the things I learned in our chat today is that father absent...
In today's episode of The Honest Hour I speak with happy homemaker from Johannesburg, Ellie. Ellie is a young SAHM to two beautiful twin girls and a wife to the love of her life. She is passionate about helping women find true joy in their role as women, mothers, wives and homemakers. Despite her happy and full life today, Ellie has a story like us all; and her story did not come without trauma. We touch on it only lightly in this episode, choosing rather to focus on her positive and motivationa...
A self proclaimed Digital Maven with a nack for content marketing, Tokelo Motsepe is your modern African female entrepreneur. She connects brands to new audiences, is a Fashion Maven, a Lover of local, and is obsessed with Gratitude (just like yours truly!). If you're looking for a modern, fresh and positive perspective on South Africa, look no further. In today's episode, I speak with Tokelo about her experience of growing up as a black female post-apartheid, what it's been like as a modern bla...
Ever fee STUCK in a rut? Unable to move on from your past? Or your limiting beliefs? Regardless of how you are feeling stuck, it is often in the not so subtle art of LETTING GO that we become empowered by our intentions and choices. Listen in today to hear from Bronwyn and I on our own stories of letting go, as well as our top tips for how you can do the same in your own lives. ABOUT Bronwyn Petzer Bronwyn is a mother, holistic wellness enthusiast, conscious healer, mentor, facilitator and speak...
We all want happiness to be easy and within our reach. However, like the ongoing conversation about the “changing Instagram Algorithm,” many of us are reaching for the quick fixes, the new trendy tricks available to us to get that instant gratification. Well, we are here to tell you that happiness, like success on Instagram, is not attained nor sustained through quick fix approaches. Lasting happiness, living the life you love, achieving your goals, all starts with one thing – a map. Happiness i...
I had the honor of being interviewed by Carolina Revello. Carolina Revello is a Mathematical Physics student in Edinburgh and who hopes to graduate from University in three years. Above all, she is a feminist and dreamer, loud and proud. She reads anything and everything that falls into her hands and she collects books obsessively. Her brain child of late is "The Wise Student," which is all about the fact that we are all on a journey of learning. Their site gives you the tools you need to become...
