Friends from Wild Places

Albanian Culture In Five Big Flavors

Albania isn’t just a place on a map, it’s a feeling, and once you hear how Albanians treat guests, you understand why travelers come back changed. We sit down with Anila Nicklos to unpack Albanian culture in a way that’s practical and vivid: what hospitality looks like in real life, why the food matters so much, what makes the Albanian language unique, and how a small country can hold mountains, rivers, lakes, and sea views within minutes of each other. If you’ve been searching for Albania travel tips, Albanian culture facts, or a fresh perspective on identity and belonging, this conversation is a warm starting point.  Anila Nicklos * Tel: +1 216-870-1054 * Email: anila@icaremm.com * LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos [http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos] Then the focus shifts inward: legacy. Anila shares her word for the year, patience, and how it connects to long-term dedication, sacrifice, and showing up for the work even when results take decades. The line that sticks with us is simple and challenging: do the right thing when no one is looking, for the greater good, so we leave the world better than we found it. From there, we spotlight our monthly nonprofit, OUR Rescue (ourrescue.org), and why stopping human trafficking requires attention, funding, and community support.  Join us as we support Our Rescue Organization [https://ourrescue.org/] this month! If you like honest conversations that mix heart, curiosity, and a little laughter, you’ll love the word association game that closes the show. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find Friends From Wild Places. What word would you start the game with? Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1958102/fan_mail/new] Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1940584] Start for FREE Shireen's Bookkeeping Services LLC [https://www.shireensbookkeeping.com/] Outsourcing your bookkeeping to Shireen’s Bookkeeping Services can save you time and money. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show [http://www.paypal.me/shireenbotha] Stay Wild! * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces [https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces] * Website: https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/ [https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/] * Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast [https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friendsfromwildplacespodcast [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireenbotha/] Leave a review!

Beyond Checkbox Leadership

Checkbox diversity is easy. Building a culture where people feel seen, trusted, and excited to do great work is the real challenge, and it starts with something surprisingly simple: getting to know each other as humans. We sit down with Anila, a diversity strategist and community advocate, to unpack what leaders can do right now to create high-performance teams rooted in shared purpose. We talk about the practical habits that make inclusion real, from curiosity about other cultures to small relationship-building moves that turn “team” into something people can feel. Anila Nicklos * Tel: +1 216-870-1054 * Email: anila@icaremm.com * LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos [http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos] Then we shift into healthcare innovation and what patient-centred care looks like when you take the phrase seriously. Anila shares how her work in strategic partnerships at iCare Mobile Medicine is guided by ethics, empathy, and the commitment to meet patients where they are. We walk through how mobile urgent care works in Florida, including what clinicians can handle on-site, how lab work and imaging like x-rays can be facilitated, and the clear line where an ER referral is the safest next step. Join us as we support Our Rescue Organization [https://ourrescue.org/] this month! We also go deeper on storytelling as a leadership skill. Anila explains how stories helped her bridge cultures, advocate for communities, and translate values like resilience and education into language organisations can rally around. If you lead people, build partnerships, or care about better healthcare access, you’ll leave with concrete ideas you can use immediately. Subscribe, share this with someone who leads a team, and leave a review so more listeners can find Friends From Wild Places. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1958102/fan_mail/new] Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1940584] Start for FREE Shireen's Bookkeeping Services LLC [https://www.shireensbookkeeping.com/] Outsourcing your bookkeeping to Shireen’s Bookkeeping Services can save you time and money. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show [http://www.paypal.me/shireenbotha] Stay Wild! * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces [https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces] * Website: https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/ [https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/] * Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast [https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friendsfromwildplacespodcast [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireenbotha/] Leave a review!

What Stays True When Everything Changes

If you had no witnesses and only your word to offer, what would convince a jury you’re telling the truth? We start with that uncomfortable question while unpacking a high profile attempted murder trial in Hawaii, then follow the thread where it really leads: integrity, consistency, and what your life says about you when the stakes are high. Anila Nicklos * Tel: +1 216-870-1054 * Email: anila@icaremm.com * LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos [http://www.linkedin.com/in/anila-nicklos] Then we welcome our special guest, Anila Nicklos, originally from Tirana, Albania. Anila brings the kind of insight that comes from living a full reinvention. She shares what it actually feels like to leave your homeland, lose your support system, and try to belong in a new culture without losing yourself. One of the most striking parts of her story is how identity can be tied to language. She was already being published as a writer in Albania, then arrived in the US and faced the reality that her work couldn’t be read. From journalism to leadership, she explains how she rebuilt her voice and eventually began writing fiction in English, one hard won sentence at a time. Join us as we support Our Rescue Organization [https://ourrescue.org/] this month! Subscribe, share this conversation with someone rebuilding their next chapter, and leave a review so more listeners can find Friends From Wild Places. What part of your identity has been the hardest to translate? Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1958102/fan_mail/new] Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1940584] Start for FREE Shireen's Bookkeeping Services LLC [https://www.shireensbookkeeping.com/] Outsourcing your bookkeeping to Shireen’s Bookkeeping Services can save you time and money. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show [http://www.paypal.me/shireenbotha] Stay Wild! * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces [https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces] * Website: https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/ [https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/] * Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast [https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friendsfromwildplacespodcast [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireenbotha/] Leave a review!

Are You Confusing Opinion With Fact

The hardest part of growth is not moving countries, changing careers, or chasing bigger goals. It’s learning how to be yourself without letting comparison steal your confidence. Franklin joins us to talk candidly about that inner fight, what it feels like to live between cultures, and how self-belief becomes a daily practice rather than a personality trait you either have or don’t.  Franklin Moya * Website: https://jfranklin.eu/ [https://jfranklin.eu/] * Email: j.franklin.art@hotmail.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfranklinme/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfranklinme/] We also spotlight Toastmasters International, a worldwide nonprofit that helps people build public speaking confidence and leadership skills through structured meetings, supportive roles, and honest feedback. Then we lighten things up with a “Fact or Opinion” game that turns into a bigger conversation about how often we mistake feelings for facts and why respecting different opinions matters right now.  Join us as we support Toastmasters International [https://www.toastmasters.org/]this month! If you enjoyed the conversation, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review. What’s one belief you used to treat as fact that you’ve since changed your mind about? Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1958102/fan_mail/new] Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1940584] Start for FREE Shireen's Bookkeeping Services LLC [https://www.shireensbookkeeping.com/] Outsourcing your bookkeeping to Shireen’s Bookkeeping Services can save you time and money. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show [http://www.paypal.me/shireenbotha] Stay Wild! * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces [https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces] * Website: https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/ [https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/] * Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast [https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friendsfromwildplacespodcast [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireenbotha/] Leave a review!

Writing Through The Storm

COVID didn’t just disrupt Franklin’s career, it cracked his life open and forced a choice: sink into the loss or finally write the book he’d been carrying since he was 19. He chose the page. What follows is a candid, human story about reinvention, rejection, and how creative work can become a lifeline when your “stable plan” disappears overnight. Franklin Moya * Website: https://jfranklin.eu/ [https://jfranklin.eu/] * Email: j.franklin.art@hotmail.com * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfranklinme/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfranklinme/] Then the conversation turns personal development and a question that reshaped everything: what is success, for you? Franklin’s answer isn’t flashy, it’s durable. We also explore what it means to live across borders and languages, including the surprising detail that he dreams in Spanish, French, and English. Along the way we touch on a charity children’s book he illustrated to support disabled children in Spain, plus the reality of cabin crew life as both a dream job and a practical stepping stone toward public speaking, illustration, and long-term creative independence. Join us as we support Toastmasters International [https://www.toastmasters.org/]this month! If you’ve been navigating burnout, a toxic workplace, or a career change after the pandemic, this one will land. Subscribe, share it with a friend who’s rebuilding, and leave us a review with your own definition of success. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1958102/fan_mail/new] Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1940584] Start for FREE Shireen's Bookkeeping Services LLC [https://www.shireensbookkeeping.com/] Outsourcing your bookkeeping to Shireen’s Bookkeeping Services can save you time and money. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Support the show [http://www.paypal.me/shireenbotha] Stay Wild! * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces [https://www.youtube.com/@friendsfromwildplaces] * Website: https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/ [https://friendsfromwildplaces.buzzsprout.com/] * Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/friends-from-wild-places/id1619076023] * Twitter: https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast [https://twitter.com/FFWP_podcast] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/friendsfromwildplacespodcast [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shireenbotha/] Leave a review!