Toya Coleman aka Toya From Harlem is a podcaster, writer, speaker, plant mom, tattoo enthusiast, and historian. Her biweekly podcast That Wasn't In My Textbook explores everything you wish you'd learned in school minus the white-washed lens. We talked paying it forward, remembering the "why," throwing age milestones out the window, what makes a relationship healthy, and reimagining history in order to change the future.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Nameless" - October's Child
Brit Woodward aka Brit Brand is an artist of many hats, painting up a storm of vulnerability from L.A. to the O.C. and beyond. As a private jet-setting chef and cabin host, she's navigating the friendly skies during the pandemic while pregnant with Baby #2. We talk Great Expectations, living to work versus working to live, the dummy's guide to just "being" amidst sensory overload, loving what is instead of what if, and how the easiest day was yesterday.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "In This Moment" - Britt Warner
Marielle Jade Te is a music supervisor and coordinator who's placed songs on TV shows like Gotham, Cloak & Dagger, CSI, Silicon Valley, and many more. We talked about nihilistic tendencies, killing the Ego, fulfilling family expectations while defying them, and creating the life you want instead of waiting around for someone else to do it for you.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Signals" - October's Child
Get in touch: thegrammaestherpod@gmail.com
Angel Deradoorian is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and producer whose new album, "Find The Sun," just came out on ANTI- Records. Beyond her musical journey, we talked free will versus pre-destiny, going back to school in your thirties, forgiveness and redemption, and the cancer of cancel culture in a society that needs comedy to keep it in check.
Find Angel on Instagram and schedule a vedic astrology reading: https://www.instagram.com/deradoom/.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Wooden Wings" - Gramma Esther (with Angel on piano)
Phoenix-based fashion designer Leonor Aispuro has been sewing since she was a little girl in Baja California, influenced by family tradition and communicating nonverbally through visual creativity. Now the self-proclaimed jokester's hand-making wearable art that's environmentally sustainable, playfully rebellious, and speaks to every body. We talk growing up between two countries, immigration and assimilation, fast fashion versus ethically-sound seams, White Jesus, and trying to find the balance in a topsy-turvy world.
Learn more about Leonor Aispuro at https://www.leonoraispuro.com/ and follow her on Instagram.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Sunburst" - Gramma Esther, also
Sharmila Sahni is a producer, writer, and actor currently finding and developing stories for Isaiah Thomas's SlowGrind Media. We spoke about our obsession with epigenetics, keeping our fathers alive, creating the roles you want to embody, finding what makes your heart sing, and how a little mystery goes a long way.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Papa Says" - Britt Warner
Jessie Douglass-Smith McGraw is a professional dancer-turned-transformative coach based in Los Angeles by way of Roseville, CA. We talk universal intelligence, the amalgamation of alchemy, getting out of your own way, and how it really truly is “just a thought.”
Theme Song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured Song: "We're All Fucked Up" - Gramma Esther (coming soon)
For over a decade, Caitlyn Razo has been a food stylist for commercials that present brands like Taco Bell and Panera Bread in their most mouth-watering light. She's also a mother and wife and describes life on Magic Mountain during the pandemic in all of its rollercoaster glory. We talk horses, attachment theory, teenage rebellion, and how it does, indeed, take a village.
Theme song: There's Still Time - Gramma Esther
Aneesah Williams is a marketing maven and lifelong musical artist who flew under the radar until recently. Ready to spread her wings, we talk confidence, music for the movement, representation at all levels, and embracing Plan A without the safety nets of B & C. Find her at http://aneesahwilliams.com.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Keeping You" - Aneesah Williams
Rebecca Mayer has worked on TV shows like Intervention, FabLife, The Biggest Loser, and is now EVP of Programming & Development at Banijay Studios North America. We talk non-linear journeys, trusting your wisdom, running at the fear, and being high-powered in pajamas. Find her on IMDb.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" by Gramma Esther
Featured song: "No Age" by October's Child
Originally from the Sacramento area, Arlene Deradoorian has toured the world playing and singing in her sister Angel's band Deradoorian. She's also provided her vocal talents for Miike Snow, Foster the People, Hamilton Leithauser, and countless others, including none other than this podcast's theme song "There's Still Time." At the start of the pandemic, Arlene was working as the studio manager for Studio Shamshiri and is now studying to become a somatic practitioner. In between laughing hysterically, we talk healing arts, chastity belts, the School of Life, finding joy, and the story of how we became dear friends. Find and support Arlene on Instagram at @arlsss.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "There's Still Time" - Arlene Deradoorian vocal interlude
Like many of us, Britt Parrish found joy in filling her home with plants during quarantine, going from five at the start of the pandemic to well over a hundred at last count. Inspired by the warmth of the online plant community, she started botanicalbritt_ on Instagram this past June as a way to share and connect with others who had monstera mania. Her following has since blossomed into a clientele for whom she's become a personal plant shopper, hunting for hard-to-find requests and mailing them all over the country. We spoke back in August about her grandmother's garden, adding positivity to the world, and how what you're meant to do will find you when you're in alignment with your true self.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Grow" - Britt Warner (improvised for this episode)
Robin Laananen is usually on the road nine months out of the year photographing and tour-managing bands like Warpaint, Savages, Refused, Modest Mouse, and MGMT. Now she's land-locked like the rest of us and filling our feeds with visuals from her journeys that recall the past while looking with optimism towards the future. Presently we talk FOMO, caretaker proclivities, defying expectations, and demolishing comfort zones without leaving our homes. Find her at http://robinlaananen.com.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "One More For The Road" - Britt Warner (from the upcoming "Cloisterfuck: Vol. II")
On this week's episode, I talk with actress, director, and social activist Elisa Bocanegra about pushing the dial forward. From her Puerto Rican roots to Girl Fight to starting her own theatre company to getting into Patrisse Cullors' MFA program, we go deep in true Scorpio fashion. To learn more about how to support the important work Elisa's doing, visit http://herotheatre.org.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" by Gramma Esther
Featured song: "I'm Not Here Anymore" by Britt Warner
Andrée Belle and I talk about starting a commune, making hot sauce, Marukami, spiritual masturbation, being a hot mess, and returning to Queendom. Find her music on Bandcamp and order her Caribbean Girl Hot Sauce via Instagram.
Theme Song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured Song: "Queen" - Andrée Belle
Doe Paoro aka Sonia Kreitzer is this week's guest. We talk statistics, going back to school, recording in closets, dating musicians, leaving LA, and much more. Follow her on instagram (@doepaoro) and sign up for her mailing list. She's currently teaching a voice-activating workshop in addition to her ongoing healing ceremonies. You can buy her music on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify, Apple, and all the other platforms.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" - Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Midnight Choir" - Doe Paoro
My first-ever guest on the Gramma Esther pod is Ndidi Onukwulu, better known as Ndidi O, an award-winning musical artist and writer originally from British Columbia. We spoke a couple weeks ago via Zoom and watched her cats try to kill each other. Check out her music on Bandcamp, Spotify, etc, under "Ndidi O" or her band, "Boga." You can watch the live stream of her benefit performance for Santé D'Or Foundation on their Instagram as of August 25, 2020.
Theme song: "There's Still Time" by Gramma Esther
Featured song: "Lament" by Ndidi O