Welcome to another episode of our Thriving 30s Series featuring special guest Joel Fontaine. They graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s in English and Gender & Women’s Studies with a minor in creative writing, and let me tell you they are utilizing all of it. We met when they starred in my musical 5 years ago and they gave their incredible performances to all 6 productions so far. They are deeply passionate about empowering marginalized communities by founding Urban Rezilliency, whose purpose is to alleviate the homelessness crises plaguing the Bay Area and those most at risk, which include LGBTQ + BIPOC youth and domestic violence survivors. They are also an accomplished artist and have won such awards such as the Phineas Literary Magazine for poetry with their “Welcome to America 2” piece, and produced and wrote their own film called "Post Prismatic” for the 2020 premier of the Queer Women of Color Festival.
Aside from being an amazing artist, academic and activist, Joel is also one of the funniest people I know, cracking me up with smart-ass jokes, and they can recall and reference movies and theater shows with as much detail as if they wrote it themselves, and they are one of the most creative people who give their heart and soul in every performance writes poetry that speaks to the soul and uplifts marginalized voices.
We are bringing them on today to talk about how they feel about just turning 30 a few months ago, living their passion for community work by founding a non-profit and growing their passion as an artist by continue to pursue theater and co-founding a writers group (with me), and recent acceptance to their dream school Columbia to pursue their masters degree.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
- What drives you to be highly-accomplished in your 20s and how you can maintain that ambition through your 30s and beyond.
- How Gen Z and Boomers (lightly - and maybe not so lightly) make fun of us Millennials.
- How we must obliterate the notion of "nice guys finish last" and the importance of building a support system around your true identity and your biggest dreams
Please subscribe to the channel and share the episode. Enjoy the show!
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CONNECT WITH JOEL:
Email: joels@cieaweb.org
Instagram: misc.jone.fontaine
Facebook: Joel Fontaine
Podcast: Swallow This
Writers Group:
WritersBuildingBlocks.com
Instagram: @writersbuilding blocks
Facebook @Writers' Building Blocks
FOR MORE CONTENT OR COACHING WITH SYREN:
syrenthriving.com
Instagram @syrenthriving
TikTok@syrenthriving
Youtube @syrenthring
Pintrest @syrenthriving
MUSIC CREDITS:
"Unstoppable" by Spence
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