What the mainstream is missing when it comes to listening to young activists

In episode 218, Kestrel welcomes the multifaceted 20-year-old phenom, Maya Penn, to the show. The award-winning founder and CEO of eco-fashion brand Maya’s Ideas, Maya is a 3 time TED Speaker, artist, global activist, animator, filmmaker, social entrepreneur, coder and Simon & Schuster author.

“Especially now, with things really coming to a tipping point of sorts, with so many different environmental and social issues — I think people still need to continue to have hope, because the main point of destructive or oppressive systems is for people to become weary and to become hopeless.”
-Maya Penn, Founder + CEO of Maya’s Ideas

MAYA PENN

On this week’s show, Maya shares more on how she got started in the sustainability and fashion world from a very young age — she was only 8 when she launched her eco-friendly fashion brand Maya’s Ideas.

Maya and Kestrel also explore the importance of hope within activism, what the mainstream is missing when it comes to listening to youth activists, and how sustainability doesn’t have to be this restricted approach to doing life — it can truly be fun and about freely celebrating curiosity and creativity.

The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:

  • “It’s crucial no matter what to focus on these issues because especially with the fact that nobody wins on a dead planet — it’s in everyone’s best interest to try to make real, tangible change.” -Maya

  • “There’s a kind of play and curiosity and fun that’s involved with living sustainably that a lot of people don’t realize — people feel like it’s kind of strict and regimented and ‘if you do this like this, then you’re a terrible person’.” -Maya

  • Follow Maya on Instagram >

This week’s Conscious Chatter episode is brought to you by:

 

TEN/TEN

Ten/Ten is an exclusive collection of ten one-of-a-kind engagement rings, designed by ten of the most distinctive designers working today. Using only diamonds responsibly sourced from Botswana, ten design masters have each produced a uniquely beautiful commitment ring — launching exclusively on January 18th at BlueNile.com.

Thanks for listening! Subscribe, download, and leave a review for Conscious Chatter on iTunes if you get a chance. I big time appreciate your support!

P.S. If you want to connect, send me a DM on Instagram @consciouschatter! <3 Kestrel 

Planet, People, Style, Storytelling, Fashion Activism, Season 5Kestrel Jenkinssustainable fashion, supply chain, intersectional environmentalist, climate crisis, hope, maya penn, phenom, resourcefulness, mayas ideas1 Comment