Builders of a Better World is a podcast for people who know that the most radical way to change the world is to live a life that is fully your own. Each episode spotlights real stories, hard-won wisdom, and everyday practices from people daring to show up as their truest selves—in their families, communities, work, art, faith, and beyond.​Instead of chasing someone else’s definition of success, this show invites listeners to peel back the layers of fear, expectation, and perfectionism so they can build lives rooted in purpose, courage, and integrity. Together, we explore how one honest conversation, one brave decision, and one authentically lived life can ripple outward to heal communities, reshape systems, and quietly—but powerfully—transform the world.​

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How can school leaders build environments where students feel respected, represented, and capable of thriving? In this episode of the Build a Better World Podcast, Ashlieya speaks with Dr. Whitney Hegseth, assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of La Verne and author of Just Talk to Us Normally: A Leader’s Guide to Organizing Schools That Elevate Students.Dr. Hegseth shares insights from her work in educational policy, systems-level change, qualitative research, and international comparative education. Together, they explore how school culture affects student belonging, teacher well-being, family engagement, equity, and young people’s ability to develop meaningful autonomy.They also discuss the difference between equality, equity, and student agency; the line between supportive classroom management and compliance; why leaders should examine systems instead of blaming individuals; and how comparing different educational settings can reveal assumptions that may be limiting students and schools.Whether you are a teacher, parent, school administrator, aspiring leader, or someone committed to building healthier communities for young people, this thoughtful conversation offers practical questions for reflection and meaningful change.In this episode, you’ll hear about:<ul><li>Student belonging and culturally responsive school culture</li><li>Action research and systems-level educational change</li><li>Qualitative versus quantitative educational research</li><li>Equality, equity, autonomy, and mutual respect in schools</li><li>Supporting teachers, parents, and students as partners in education</li><li>Rethinking classroom management, authority, and student voice</li><li>Lessons from Montessori, public, charter, and international school systems</li><li>Dr. Hegseth’s new book, Just Talk to Us Normally: A Leader’s Guide to Organizing Schools That Elevate Students, available now for pre-order on Amazon or VitalSource</li></ul> Listen now, share this episode with an educator or leader in your life, and subscribe for part two of this conversation.

17. School Leadership, Student Belonging & Culture Change with Dr. Whitney Hegseth

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What if time is not the enemy—but the story you have been telling yourself about it is?In “Time Is Killing Me: Rewriting the Story of Aging, Energy, and Possibility,” Ashlieya and Neff explore the relationship between time, perception, aging, energy, presence, and personal possibility.Together, they reflect on why time can feel like it flies in moments of flow and drags when we are uncomfortable; how beliefs about age and limitation can shape our experience; and why rest, recovery, and intentional living are not signs of falling behind. They also discuss using time as a tool rather than allowing schedules, expectations, or old narratives to dictate your worth.This is an invitation to release the countdown mentality, question what “too late” really means, and decide how you want to use the time you have.In this episode, you’ll hear reflections on:<ul><li>Rewriting limiting beliefs about aging and possibility</li><li>Presence, flow, and the subjective experience of time</li><li>Honoring your energy and allowing intentional recovery</li><li>Using schedules as tools without becoming ruled by rigidity</li><li>Choosing appreciation, curiosity, and self-leadership</li><li>Building a better world by building a more empowered relationship with yourself</li></ul> How do you want to use time?

16. Time Is Killing Me: Rewriting the Story of Aging, Energy, and Possibility

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In the final episode of Facing the Origin Story, Ashlieya and Neff explore healing meditation, collective intention, and the practice they call Operation Gift a Miracle. They reflect on a group healing session for Carl, the power of offering healing with permission and benevolent intention, and why “gifting miracles” may also transform the person offering them.The conversation moves into coherence: becoming attuned to your body, emotions, intuition, and the energy behind your actions. Ashlieya shares her perspective on radical forgiveness, generational patterns, reclaiming the meaning of the past, and choosing to embody the change you want to create.Together, they consider how love, gratitude, awareness, and clear intention can shape our inner worlds—and how personal healing may ripple outward into families, communities, and the collective.In this episode, they discuss:<ul><li>Healing meditation and collective intention</li><li>Operation Gift a Miracle and the healing session for Carl</li><li>Coherence, embodiment, and emotional awareness</li><li>Radical forgiveness and shifting generational patterns</li><li>The relationship between belief, perception, and possibility</li><li>Moving from fear and judgment toward compassion and intentional action</li><li>Magic, miracles, and becoming the change you wish to see</li></ul> What would change if you allowed yourself to believe that healing, growth, and transformation are possible?

15. Facing the Origin Story Part 3: Healing Meditation, Coherence, & Gifting Miracles

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In Part 1, Ashlieya shared how growing up in survival mode with a “monster” father shaped her sense of self, and how years of inner work and a profound meditation began to soften that story into forgiveness without denial. After nearly twenty years of no contact, she chose to answer a quiet inner calling: to sit down, face‑to‑face, with the man she once believed defined her own darkness.In Part 2, we pick up right there—on the back‑patio “meeting with the monster.” This episode dives into the conversation itself and the complex humanity inside it:<ul><li>What Carl revealed about his childhood, including abuse, shame, and the moment he believes his “darkness” truly began.</li><li>How unprocessed emotional pain, addiction, and family secrecy can turn into cycles of harm that feel almost inevitable.</li><li>The deal he made as a child to protect his siblings, and the lifelong guilt he carries when that protection fails.</li><li>How hearing his story allowed Ashlieya to see places where she could unexpectedly relate to him—without excusing his actions.</li><li>Why compassion with boundaries is different from spiritual bypassing, and how it lets her send love and healing energy while still choosing not to invite him into her ongoing life.</li></ul> This conversation is not about rewriting history to make it prettier. It’s about what happens when you sit in front of the source of your deepest fear and see a wounded human instead of only a villain—while still honoring the impact of their choices and protecting your own nervous system, future, and relationships.If you’ve wrestled with estranged parents, family secrets, religious messaging around “forgive and forget,” or the fear of becoming what hurt you, this episode offers a real‑time example of meeting the past with radical honesty, spiritual depth, and firm boundaries.This is the second half of the original conversation that began in Part 1. In the next installment, Part 3, Ashlieya and Neff return after this experience has settled to unpack the two‑part healing ceremony they mention here, the “miracle” they set out to gift, and how this kind of compassion continues to unfold over time.

14. Facing the Origin Story Part 2: Compassion with Boundaries

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In this opening episode of multi-part series on Builders of a Better World, Ashlieya shares the tender, raw story of growing up in survival mode with a father she once saw as a “monster,” and the long inner journey that followed. After nearly twenty years of estrangement, she begins to question the narratives she told herself as a child: Was her past really as dark as she remembers? Is she destined to become what hurt her? Or does she have the power to write a different ending?Together with interviewer Neff, Ashlieya explores:<ul><li>How childhood trauma, addiction, and family dysfunction shaped her sense of identity.</li><li>The crossroads between victimhood, villainy, and choosing a heroic path.</li><li>Her years‑long process of emotional work, nervous system healing, and spiritual practice that led her to ask for true understanding of forgiveness.</li><li>A profound meditation experience in which she first feels her father’s and grandmother’s humanness instead of only their darkness.</li><li>Why she no longer identifies with a “tragic story,” even though she lived through genuinely traumatic events.</li></ul> This episode is part 1 of a multi‑part series about the same pivotal event: meditating on, then visiting, her father after two decades of no contact. It sets the emotional and spiritual groundwork for the later episodes, where she will sit across from him, hear his own story of woundedness and wrongdoing, and discover a deeper, more embodied form of forgiveness.Episode 1 is for anyone who has ever feared “turning into” the people who hurt them, who feels defined by their past, or who wonders whether it’s possible to honor the truth of what happened without carrying it as their identity forever.

13. Facing the Origin Story Part 1: From Survival to the Doorstep

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In this episode of the Builders of a Better World podcast, Ashlieya shares insights from a recent solo pilgrimage to Scotland and Ireland—and how returning to her ancestral homelands became a living lesson in using the body as an instrument for intuition, presence, and service.She and co‑host Neff unpack what it really means to treat your body as a vessel, a “ship” that carries you through life, and how far you can go when you’re truly “fit for service” in every sense.Together, they explore why self‑care is more than bubble baths and days off—it’s an act of devotion to creation itself. From a serious infection that nearly cost Neff his ability to teach dance, to falling asleep in 4 a.m. meditations, they get candid about how sleep, food, alcohol, hormones, gut health, and nervous system regulation all shape your ability to meditate, receive guidance, and live in a state of presence.If you’ve ever wondered why your meditations feel foggy, why your intuition seems hit‑or‑miss, or how to move from survival mode into a grounded, high‑vibration life, this episode is for you.In this conversation, we explore:<ul><li>Your body as an instrument, vessel, and “ship” for receiving and transmitting wisdom</li><li>How self‑care and discipline become acts of self‑devotion and devotion to the divine</li><li>Nervous system regulation, threat perception, and re‑conditioning your baseline from survival to presence</li><li>Practical factors that influence meditation: sleep, alcohol, sugar, weed, gut health, hormones, and fasting</li><li>Developing intuition, telepathic sensitivity, and “sixth sense” awareness without losing your grounding</li><li>Freedom as a core value—time, physical, financial, and spiritual—and the I Thrive lens on human thriving</li></ul> You’ll also hear about:<ul><li>How a health scare almost took Neff’s ability to teach dance</li><li>Why “mistakes” are actually lessons when you’re willing to stay present</li><li>What it looks like to be a lifelong student of life, the body, and the unseen</li><li>Why partnering with your body is essential if you want to build a better world from the inside out</li></ul> This episode is an invitation to see your body not as a limitation, but as a sacred, living instrument—one that can be tuned, cared for, and devoted to, so you can receive more, serve more, and thrive more.If this resonates, please like, subscribe, share, and leave a review so more Builders of a Better World can find this conversation.

12. Your Body as an Instrument: Nervous System Regulation, Meditation, and Self-Devotion

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In this episode of Builders of a Better World, Ashlieya and Neff explore what it really means to find the sweet spot between emotional extremes—where suffering, joy, and genuine emotional balance can actually coexist. They unpack why chasing constant “high vibes” is unrealistic, how duality and contrast are built into the human experience, and why learning to live closer to the middle of the spectrum can expand your capacity for peace, compassion, and resilience.Through a deeply personal story of losing a beloved dog, they talk about grief, anger at the divine, the pull toward numbing out, and the conscious choice to move through pain instead of around it. You’ll hear practical insights on defining your core values, shrinking your list of “sky is falling” triggers, and becoming less reactive without becoming detached or apathetic.If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your own highs and lows—or by the extremes you see in the world around you—this conversation will help you anchor into a more grounded, high-vibration baseline you can actually sustain.Content note: This episode contains sensitive conversation around grief, pet loss, sobriety, and emotional processing, including brief references to substance use.

11. Finding the Sweet Spot Between Extremes: Suffering, Joy, and Emotional Balance

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In this conversation, Ashlieya and Neff unpack one of the powerful insights Ashlieya brought back from a recent trip to Scotland: how to use judgment as a tool without losing your peace. What begins as a reflection on a public reaction to an event quickly unfolds into a deeper exploration of mysticism, self-awareness, coherence, and the inner work required to build a better world from the inside out. Together, they explore how our perceptions shape our reality, why judgment can be a navigation guide rather than a weapon, and how choosing truth, love, and compassion can help us respond to life with greater wisdom and less reactivity.This episode is for anyone who wants to live with more clarity, more intention, and less emotional whiplash. If you’ve ever wondered how to stand up for what matters without becoming consumed by negativity, this conversation offers a grounded and spiritually resonant path forward.

10. Using Judgment Without Losing Your Peace: Mystic Wisdom for a Better World

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What if the parts of you that feel confusing, “too much,” or hard to define are actually your greatest gifts?In this episode of Builders of a Better World, Ashlieya sits down with her dear friend Sophie, a human design guide and shadow work coach, to explore how human design and shadow work can help you understand who you really are—and finally feel at home in yourself. Together, they unpack what it means to take a “vow of authenticity,” why some people don’t feel like they have a fixed identity, and how human design can transform that pain into freedom, self-acceptance, and clarity of purpose.You’ll hear about:<ul><li>How human design blends ancient systems and modern science to create an energetic “map” of who you are</li><li>What it means to have open vs. defined centers, and why feeling like a chameleon might actually be your superpower</li><li>The basics of shadow work and how your subconscious patterns quietly run your life</li><li>Why facing your shadow is the gateway to true authenticity, emotional freedom, and aligned choices</li><li>Ashlieya’s journey from depression and feeling “broken” to embracing her unique design and owning her power</li></ul> If you’ve ever felt lost, inauthentic, or unsure of who you’re “supposed” to be, this conversation will help you see yourself with more compassion, curiosity, and courage.👉 Learn more about Sophie&#39;s work or inquire about human design: https://www.sophie-lucy.com/🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on healing, alignment, and building a better world from the inside out.

9. Finding Your True Self: Human Design, Shadow Work, & Authenticity

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In this episode of Builders of a Better World, “Teaching the Starfish: Impact in Low-Income After-School Programs,” we sit down with consultant and curriculum writer Marisa Miller to explore what real impact looks like in under-resourced communities. With more than 20 years in public schools, museums, and after-school organizations, Marisa designs programs where kids don’t feel like they’re “still in school,” even as they’re learning, growing, and seeing themselves as capable doers.Marisa shares why she chose to leave comfortable, well-resourced classrooms to work with youth who often don’t get the best teachers, and how she custom-builds curriculum across literacy, wellness, STEM/STEAM, rural and agriculture programs, and everyday life skills. We talk candidly about broken systems, “what you don’t know you don’t know,” and the quiet workarounds—like leveraging public libraries and low-cost resources—that help staff and families succeed.We also dive into the power of investing in adults, not just kids: how lighting up staff members can multiply impact across every child they touch, and why Marisa lives by the “starfish story” of making a difference one young person at a time. If you work in youth development, after-school, or simply care about educational equity, this conversation will leave you both grounded and inspired.👉 Learn more about Marisa’s work or inquire about consulting: https://afterschoolpublishing.com/team/marisa-miller/

8. Teaching the "Starfish": Impact in Low-Income After-School Programs

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In this episode of Builders of a Better World, “How Solo Travel Builds Self-Trust and Leadership,” we explore how traveling alone becomes a living laboratory for nervous system regulation, identity evolution, and embodied confidence. Stepping away from your routines, social mirrors, and familiar environments reveals how your body actually responds to novelty, uncertainty, and subtle risk—turning each delayed train, language barrier, and lonely evening into data that builds self-trust and emotional resilience.We dive into identity plasticity (who you become when no one knows your story), the connection between solo travel and leadership, and how sacred geometry and the “geometry” of cities, landscapes, and architecture can recalibrate your perception and internal state. If you’ve ever felt called to travel alone—or to simply take yourself out without your phone—this episode will give you language, frameworks, and gentle challenges to start your own micro solo adventures and become the kind of regulated human who can build a better world.

7. How Solo Travel Builds Self-Trust & Leadership

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What if emotional literacy felt less like a scripted “SEL lesson” and more like stepping into a dance studio, rehearsal room, or canvas—where kids and adults can safely explore who they really are? In this episode of Builders of a Better World, Ashlieya and Neff dive into how the arts, nervous system mastery, and radical accountability work together to help both kids and adults truly thrive.You’ll hear:<ul><li>Why emotional literacy is an internal discipline of truth, coherence, and embodiment—not just “being nice” or following social rules.</li><li>How visual and performing arts create an ideal playground for kids and adults to feel, express, and alchemize big emotions.</li><li>The key differences between typical school‑based SEL and a fully embodied emotional literacy practice.</li><li>Radical accountability: moving from “life is happening to me” to “I am responsible for my meaning‑making and responses.”</li><li>Why nervous system mastery is foundational for speaking, teaching, performing, and showing up as your most authentic self.</li><li>How Builders of a Better World and Dance Masters weave emotional literacy into arts‑based programs for homeschoolers, schools, and communities.</li></ul> If you’re a parent, educator, creative, or community builder who knows there has to be a more embodied way to teach emotional skills, this conversation is for you.🔗 <a href="https://ithriveacademy.com" rel="nofollow">Explore I Thrive Academy</a> and the I Thrive ebook series🔗 <a href="https://buildersofabetterworld.org" rel="nofollow">Learn more about Builders of a Better World</a> and our arts‑based emotional literacy programs

6. Teaching Emotional Literacy Through the Arts: Thriving Kids, Grounded Adults

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In this episode of Builders of a Better World, host Ashlieya interviews Marissa Merrill, founder of the Mommune movement, about community living for single moms and their kids. They dive into what a “mommune” is, how shared housing and co‑living support single mothers, and Marissa’s real experience with domestic abuse, the family court system, and building her first Mommune property in Oregon. If you’re a single mom, co‑parent, or advocate for women’s shelters, affordable housing, trauma‑informed support, and village‑style parenting, this conversation will show you how intentional community can help moms and children truly thrive.Links mentioned:<a href="https://www.mommune.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.mommune.org/</a> - Learn more about Mommune. Donations welcome!<a href="https://marsfougere.com/" rel="nofollow">https://marsfougere.com/</a> - Mommune Market. If you are a creative, contact us to get your goods on our marketplace.

5. Mommunes as a Better World Blueprint: Community Living for Single Moms

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In this episode of Builders of a Better World, Ashlieya sits down with long-time dance partner and instructor Neff to explore how a terrifying foot wound, a 300+ pound wake-up call, and a diabetes scare became the catalyst for radical change. Neff shares how his vow of authenticity, a powerful “why” of freedom, cutting processed sugar, and extended fasting helped him drop over 70 pounds, save his ability to dance, and completely reimagine his lifestyle.If you’ve ever felt stuck in unhealthy patterns or scared to face your habits, this conversation offers honest insight, practical shifts, and a deeply human reminder that it’s never too late to choose your hard—and choose yourself.What is your why? Share it in the comments and join the Builders collective.

4. Freedom is the Why: Neff's Health Transformation

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What if your ex became family—in the most grounded, healthy way? In this episode, Ashlieya sits down with her ex-husband, Neff, to unpack how their relationship transformed from marriage to a deep, platonic partnership rooted in radical honesty, intentionality, and unconditional love. Together they explore choosing each other as family after divorce, practicing real forgiveness, honoring each other’s growth, and co-creating an energy that supports everyone they love.

Building Partnership and Friendship After Divorce

3. From Married to Meaningful: Building Partnership and Friendship After Divorce

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In this episode, “Contribute Goodness Through Pure Intention,” host Ashlieya opens up about her journey of facing fear, redefining success, and choosing joy as a path to growth. She shares how time abundance, self-care, and disciplined creativity allow her to build multiple ventures while staying rooted in service, and invites listeners to join the Builders of a Better World movement by living from their truest sense of self and contributing goodness wherever they go.

2. Contribute Goodness Through Pure Intention

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Host Ashlieya introduces Builders of a Better World and her book Audacious Authenticity: Building a Better World Is Building Inner Wealth, offering a potent overview of the movement’s core philosophy. She explores why there is no truly selfless act, how service and “selfish” self‑care are energetically reciprocal, and why building a better world must begin within. Listeners are invited into a science‑grounded, spiritually aware community focused on authenticity, higher‑vibration living, and thriving as their most joyful, aligned selves.

Introducing Builders of a Better World

1. For the Sake of the World, Be Selfish

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You&#39;re invited to join us at the Builders of a Better World Podcast, where creativity meets emotional literacy, where we discuss all things building a better world, knowing that building a better world is an inward to outward process. Please feel free to join us and subscribe!

Trailer - Introducing Builders of a Better World Podcast

Live true, spark change: one brave life at a time.

Builders of a Better World is a podcast for people who know that the most radical way to change the world is to live a life that is fully your own. Each episode spotlights real stories, hard-won wisdom, and everyday practices from people daring to show up as their truest selves—in their families, communities, work, art, faith, and beyond.​