Beginning From Within: Carol Reid on Courage, Healing & Claiming Your Space

Beginning From Within: Carol Reid on Courage, Healing & Claiming Your Space

What if courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to keep walking anyway? In this episode of Rise + Rebel, Aya sits down with Carol Reid — speaker, coach, educator, caregiver, model, and contributing author of The Courage to Begin — for a powerful conversation about courage, healing, self-doubt, transformation, and what it means to begin from within. Carol’s chapter in The Courage to Begin is titled Beginning From Within, and in this conversation, she shares what those words mean to her now. She opens up about finally telling her story, feeling exposed in the process, and discovering freedom on the other side of being honest. We talk about fear, courage, caregiving, 12-step healing, learning to love the little girl within, claiming your space, and the moment Carol said yes to modeling at 70 — even though she was afraid. This episode is a reminder that you do not have to feel fully ready to begin. You can be afraid and still take the next right action. You can carry doubt and still claim your space. You can begin again from within. In this episode, we talk about: • What Beginning From Within means to Carol now • How courage carried her through fear and self-doubt • Why sharing her story felt both frightening and freeing • Her journey through caregiving, healing, and 12-step recovery • How she learned to see her own beauty from the inside out • Saying yes to modeling at 70 • Why safe spaces matter • The power of boundaries, support, and resourcefulness • What it means to take the next right action Subscribe if you’re becoming who you were always meant to be. Join Aya’s Inner Circle: risewithaya.com/start-here [http://risewithaya.com/start-here] Learn more about Carol at http://www.CarolReidSpeaks.com [http://www.CarolReidSpeaks.com] Schedule a Complimentary Consult: http://calendly.com/carolreid [http://calendly.com/carolreid] Connect with Carol Reid on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/reidempowermentllc [http://linkedin.com/in/reidempowermentllc]

Stop Waiting to Be Invited: Keisha Brooks on Creativity, Boundaries & Building Your Own World

In this episode of Rise + Rebel, Aya sits down with Keisha Brooks, producer, actor, writer, creative, and founder of Helping Hands Productions, for a real conversation about creativity, resourcefulness, boundaries, and building your own world. Keisha shares how her father taught her to get things done, how her mother modeled service and helping others, and how both shaped the woman she is today: generous, direct, resourceful, and deeply committed to creating a life on her own terms. This conversation moves through acting, modeling, production, veganism, success, self-worth, asking for help, bartering, follow-through, and the moment you realize your time is not free. At its core, this episode is about not waiting to be chosen. It is about using what you have, asking the right questions, protecting your energy, and creating the opportunities you wish existed. Subscribe if you’re becoming who you were always meant to be. Learn More and Connect with Keisha Brooks: linktr.ee/Helpinghandsproductions [http://linktr.ee/Helpinghandsproductions] Join Aya’s Inner Circle: risewithaya.com/start-here [http://risewithaya.com/start-here]

Peace Is the Strategy: How to Build Without Burning Out

What if peace is not the opposite of ambition, but the strategy? In this solo episode of Rise + Rebel, Aya reflects on what her Asia trip taught her about chaos, boundaries, asking for help, visibility, and building a life and business without burning out. This episode explores the difference between being peaceful and staying quiet, why asking for help is not weakness, and how many of us make life, business, content creation, and visibility harder than they need to be because we are trying to do everything alone. If you are building something meaningful whether that's a business, brand, creative project, podcast, shop, career, or new version of yourself; this conversation is a reminder that you do not need chaos to prove you care. Subscribe to Rise + Rebel for honest conversations on identity, transformation, entrepreneurship, visibility, creativity, personal growth, and building a life with intention. Join the Inner Circle newsletter for deeper reflections behind the episodes: newsletter link [https://ayas-inner-circle.beehiiv.com/] Explore Rise + Rebel: https://riseplusrebel.riverside.com/ [https://riseplusrebel.riverside.com/] Connect with Aya: https://www.risewithaya.com/link-in-bio [https://www.risewithaya.com/link-in-bio] #RiseAndRebel #PersonalGrowth #Entrepreneurship #BuildingABrand #BurnoutRecovery #MindsetShift #Boundaries #AskForHelp #WomenInBusiness #Visibility #PeaceIsTheStrategy

Before You Travel to Asia: Rookie Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To

Before you travel to Asia, especially for business, sourcing, markets, shopping, or your first major international adventure, there are a few mistakes you want to avoid before you even land. In this episode of Rise + Rebel, I’m sharing the real lessons I learned from traveling through Asia, including China, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. This is a “go prepared so you can actually enjoy it” episode. Whether you are planning a sourcing trip, traveling solo, visiting markets, exploring a new country, or simply stepping into a new version of your life, this conversation will help you move with more awareness, respect, and confidence. Listen to the full episode for the stories, the chaos, the lessons, and the deeper reflection on what travel teaches us about who we are becoming. Rise when the world is quiet. Rebel when your soul is loud.

How Going to Asia Changed How I See Business

I thought I was going to Asia to source products for Rise + Rebel. I thought the trip would be about finding beautiful pieces, meeting vendors, walking through markets, attending the Canton Fair, and bringing back inventory for my store. And yes, I did all of that. But what I didn’t expect was how much this trip would reveal about me as a founder, a business owner, and a woman learning how to trust her own vision. In this episode of Rise + Rebel, I’m sharing what my sourcing trip through Asia taught me about entrepreneurship, product sourcing, global trade, fear, abundance, overwhelm, decision-making, and becoming the person who can actually hold the vision she’s building. I talk about what it felt like to walk through markets, meet suppliers, attend the Canton Fair, sort through endless options, and realize that buying products is the easy part — finding quality, alignment, and clarity is the real work. This episode is for the entrepreneur, creative, small business owner, or dreamer who is waiting to feel fully ready before they begin. Maybe the question isn’t, “Am I ready?” Maybe the question is, “What part of me is being developed through this process?” Because sometimes, building a business is not just about inventory, pricing, websites, photos, labels, customs, or marketing. Sometimes, building a business is really about becoming the person who can hold the vision without abandoning herself in the process. Shop the Rise + Rebel store: https://riseandrebel.square.site/s/shop [https://riseandrebel.square.site/s/shop] Thank you for listening, watching, and being part of this journey. EPISODE TOPICS COVERED In this episode, I talk about: * Traveling to Asia to source products for Rise + Rebel * What it was really like walking through markets, vendors, and supplier booths * Attending the Canton Fair and seeing global trade up close * The difference between buying inventory and finding aligned products * The overwhelm of endless opportunity * Why focus matters when building a brand * The behind-the-scenes work of launching a retail business * Pricing, inventory, photos, labels, spreadsheets, and decision fatigue * What this trip taught me about fear, courage, and trusting myself * Becoming a founder through the doing, not the waiting