Ep.60 – Legacy: Former ‘Org’ Studio Owner Breaks His Silence | Mark Frossard – Part 1

CW:  This episode features body shaming, verbal abuse, and coercion. Please listen with care. This week, the 'cult'ure series circles back to ‘the Org’. Tracy Stamper joins Candice once again for a two-part interview with Mark Frossard. In 2013, Mark became the majority owner in an internationally-recognized movement studio that became a destination for Org affiliates worldwide. But in 2021, he stepped away from the practice for good due...

DD#26 – Power & Accountability w/ Lucy Page – Part 1 of 2

dd #26 | Power & Accountability - the 'Org', Tony Robbins, & the no-victims narrative | Lucy Page - Part 1 of 2This week's convo is dropping one day later than scheduled.... but it just so happens to be right on time given a recent release on the main feed. If you missed it, Episode 59 is a must-hear deep dive, because it speaks to the heart of this series... and it contextualizes where we go in this next, two-part conversation.Lucy Page...

Ep.59 – The Victim Label: Gaslighting, Victim Shaming, & Tone Policing for Social Control

Candice is back with another solo episode, this time asking some big questions: What is gaslighting & why is it such a thing? Why are so many people allergic to the word victim? And is spiritual dogma getting in the way of relational accountability?  The episode opens with a peek into Conspirituality - and a new book by the same name - leading into an exploration of spiritual supremacy and how/why social stigmas around victimhood have...

DD#25 – Spirituality vs. Pseudoscience w/ Barb Wesson – Part 2 of 2

dd #25 | Spirituality vs. Pseudoscience & how do we tell the diff? | Barb Wesson - Part 2 of 2I really loved this conversation!If you're a life-long seeker like me, you won't want to miss the second half of our conversation with Dr. Barb Wesson. Part 1 dropped last week, so be sure to circle back if you missed it.In Part 2 we grapple with loads of questions, including: What happens when spirituality gets hijacked? How do we make meaning...

DD#24 | Railing Against Reverence – Barb Wesson, Part 1 of 2

dd #24 | Railing Against Reverence: Spirituality (w/o the dogma), Barb Wesson - Part 1 of 2This week, Barb Wesson joins the pod to help us separate spirituality from culty dogmatics. It's a timely conversation for yours truly, as I've been struggling mightily to disentangle the two for a good long while.Both former trainers at 'the Org', Barb & Tracy go way back... so we have a lot of fun in this two-part conversation. The three of us share...

DD#23 – Running Without Running (dissociation)

dd #23 | Running w/o Running: Memory Gaps, Dissociation, & Submissive StatesThis week's drop is a longer-than-usual episode that comes with a content warning. If you find open discussion of trauma responses triggering, you may want to skip this one. Tracy & I discuss our personal history with dissociative states as a lead-in to what cult experts have to say about them. I read aloud from the work of Janja Lalich, Robert Jay Lifton, &...

DD#22 – Healthy vs. Ideal: The ‘Joy’ of (unfiltered) self-expression

dd #22 | Healthy vs. Ideal: The 'Joy' of (unfiltered) self-expressionIn this convo, Monica & I keep the conversation going (see dd #21) and end up laughing our asses off... while posing an important question to you:What were you looking for when you joined the Org and how are you now filling those needs outside of the group?PLEASE DROP YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENT FEED!& listen in if you wanna; here's where we go in this episode: How...

Ep.58 – Enough Already: Marketing, Manipulation, & An MLM Escape Plan | Jennifer Rajala – Part 2

In part two with former MLM Coach, Jennifer Rajala, she shares her struggle to sustain top-tier status at Arbonne. In 2020, despite being investigated by the FTC, dozens of MLMs chose to leverage vulnerability and ramp up recruitment during a global pandemic, and Jennifer tells us why this didn't sit well with her. She also shares how the body-shaming culture at Arbonne impacted her personally, and why she decided to join the inner circle at...

Ep.57 – The MLM Mindset: A Former MLM Coach & Top-Tier Earner Blows The Whistle | Jennifer Rajala – Part 1

Jennifer Rajala’s TikTok page reads: “For 8 years I was deep in two MLM CULTs. I got people in, now I help them GTFO.” In part one of a two-parter, former MLM Coach, Jennifer Rajala, sits down with Candice to share her story. When Jennifer was pregnant with her second child, she left behind a career in social work to join the world of multi-level marketing. After a few years of high-minded hustle, she became a top-tier earner and was...

DD#20 – Making Room: Inclusivity & True Belonging w/ Susan McCulley

Part 2 | Making Room: Inclusivity & True Belonging w/ Susan McCulleyHere's the second half of our two-part conversation with Susan McCulley where we continue with an inquiry into how we might do movement/fitness differently.Topics covered in part two include: Honoring 'the practice' and how this can be a smokescreen for deference to leaders or the need for personal validation. How we support the individuated experience, including making room...