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Highly Visible & A Little Misunderstood

Highly Visible & A Little Misunderstood

Written by: Jonathan Dumas
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About this listen

Highly Visible & A Little Misunderstood is about providing space to chill in the nuance of the complex conversations shaping our society and culture. We ain’t about proving anyone wrong or even proving ourselves right, but we are exploring with our guests, and you all, how to do this thing called life. New episodes drop every Thursday everywhere you get your podcasts. Find us on Instagram: @HighlyVisiblePod Support the show on Patreon: Patreon.com/HighlyVisiblePodJonathan Dumas Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Ep 101 | Joy is Your Birthright with Tamara Wall - Mid November Surprise!
    Nov 13 2025

    What if joy isn’t a destination but something already living inside you? In this heartfelt and deeply grounding conversation, Jonathan sits down with tech leader, DEIB advocate, and proud mom Tamara Wall to explore joy through the lens of motherhood, legacy, and healing.

    This is one of the conversations that never made it out during the Joy season—so bringing it to you now feels especially meaningful.

    Tamara opens up about: • Motherhood as both healing ground and harvest • Breaking cycles and creating a different future for her children • Embracing Black joy as resistance • Finding joy even when grief or isolation try to take the lead • Teaching her kids that joy isn’t earned—it’s deserved

    Jonathan reflects on his own upbringing, the legacy of joy passed down through his family, and the power of small moments that stay with us. There’s even a special moment featuring a voicemail from Jonathan’s mom that captures the heart of the entire episode: joy, love, and the quiet reminders that carry us forward.

    If you’ve ever struggled to hold joy in a heavy season… If you’re a parent trying to raise kids with intention… If you’re healing your inner child… Or if you’ve simply forgotten that joy belongs to you— this conversation will meet you right where you are.

    Joy is your birthright. Let this episode remind you of that.

    💬 Join the Conversation! Finish the sentence: “Joy is…” Drop a comment or send a voice note → https://form.smartsuite.com/sszxz4mn/sxwLOAg7ur

    🤝🏾 Connect with Tamara Wall • LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamarawall/ • Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/theerealtam

    📚 Resources & Links Get Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us by Anna Malaika Tubbs → https://bookshop.org/a/79820/9781250876690

    Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey → https://bookshop.org/a/79820/9780316365215

    📬 Stay Connected:

    Join us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HighlyVisiblePod

    Get updates, behind-the-scenes content, and first access to the upcoming newsletter: https://highlyvisiblepod.ck.page/684e1e911f

    Buy me Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/highlyvisiblepod

    Instagram: @HighlyVisiblePod

    All links → https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    🎛️ Production:

    Produced & Edited by: Jonathan Dumas (@highlyvisiblepod)

    Co-produced & Additional Editing by: Reggie Hall

    Email: HighlyVisiblePodcast@gmail.com

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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Ep 100 | Joy Isn’t Naïve—It’s Radical | Season Finale Reflections
    Sep 4 2025

    📺 HELP US HIT OUR SEPTEMBER SUB GOAL ON YOUTUBE → https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    What is joy really—and how do we keep returning to it, even when life feels heavy?

    In this season finale of Highly Visible & A Little Misunderstood, Jonathan Dumas reflects on a whole season of On Joy—pulling together the most honest takeaways, tender moments, and practical tools from every guest. No fluff. No toxic positivity. Just real-life ways to practice joy in the middle of struggle, work, community, and everyday life.

    We revisit conversations with Brandon Howard on joy in the body, Amani Roberts on creativity as muscle, Abe Medoff on somatics, Mimi Gonzalez on grief and creativity, Jennice Chewlin on joy as strategy at work, Ashmi Patel on joy guilt, Tiffany LeNoir on belonging, Louis Byrd on solution-oriented peace, and Shauntelle Carnegie on “joy-stacking” when life feels heavy.

    Jonathan also shares his own confession—how he accidentally turned joy into a KPI—and what it took to re-learn joy as a practice, not a performance.

    ✨ What you’ll take away:

    • The body-first question that helps joy stop hiding
    • Why joy ≠ happiness (and how to tell the difference)
    • Simple micro-practices to return to joy at home, at work, and in community
    • A reframe: joy and struggle can coexist without guilt

    If you’re new here—start with these fan favorites:

    • Tiffany: Quitting Wasn’t the Risk–Staying Was → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-talk-with-dumas-podcast/id1501526441?i=1000718924815
    • Abe: The Hidden Practice That Makes Joy Sustainable → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-talk-with-dumas-podcast/id1501526441?i=1000721049878

    We revisit conversations with:

    • Brandon Howard → Ep 91 | What If Joy Has Nothing to Do With the Scale?
    • Ashmi Patel → Ep 92 | Joy Without Guilt: Unlearning Perfectionism & Generational Pressure
    • Amani Roberts → Ep 93 | Fighting Fear, Doubt & Worry—And Creating Anyway
    • Mimi Gonzalez, @griefsense → Ep 94 | Grief Isn’t the End—It’s the Remix
    • Louis Byrd → Ep 97 | Finding Joy in the Mess and Fixing Problems That Shouldn’t Exist
    • Shauntelle Carnegie → Ep 98 | “What If You’re Not Stuck—Just Scared?”

    Jennice Chewlin → Ep 99 | Joy at Work Isn’t a Perk—It’s a Strategy

    💬 Join the Conversation What’s one small way joy has found you this season? Send a voice note → https://form.smartsuite.com/sszxz4mn/sxwLOAg7ur

    🚨 Help us hit our YouTube sub goal (125 by end of September)! Tap the Linktree and subscribe on YouTube → https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    📬 Click to Join our community + get free stickers → https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    ☕️ Click to Support the show on Ko-fi → https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    Follow us for more: 📸 Instagram & TikTok: @HighlyVisiblePod 🎙️ All platforms: https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    🎛️ Production Credits

    • Produced & Edited by: Jonathan Dumas
    • Co-Produced & Additional Editing: Reggie Hall
    • Contact: HighlyVisiblePodcast@gmail.com
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    12 mins
  • Ep 99 | Joy at Work Isn’t a Perk—It’s a Strategy
    Aug 28 2025

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    Joy isn’t a perk you earn at the end of your to-do list—it’s a practice you build in the middle of real life.

    In this episode of Highly Visible & A Little Misunderstood, Jonathan sits down with Jennice Chewlin—Latina mom, workplace wellbeing strategist, and founder of Chewlin Group—to unpack why joy at work is not “toxic positivity,” but a strategy for connection, trust, and sustainable impact.

    We get into: how to stop confusing joy with happiness, why “design for joy, not just efficiency” changes meetings and morale, and what happens when leaders start small (think: human openers, meaningful celebrations, and collaborative “show & tell” lunches). Jennice shares the story of her dad biking across the border to med school—a masterclass in how struggle and joy can coexist—and we talk “mudita” (the joy we feel for someone else’s win), sport-as-reset (soccer/basketball), and how joy fuels collective healing and liberation without ignoring pain.

    If you’re a people leader, culture-builder, or just a burnt-out human trying to feel human again at work, this one’s for you.

    💬 Join the Conversation 📝 Finish this: “Joy at work looks like ______.” Keep it concrete (who, where, when). Bonus points if you share the song you’ll play to kick it off. Drop a voice note if that’s easier → https://form.smartsuite.com/sszxz4mn/sxwLOAg7ur

    🤝🏾 Connect with Jennice Chewlin

    • LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennicechewlin
    • Website → https://www.chewlingroup.com/
    • Email → Jennice@chewlingroup.com

    📚 Resources & Links

    • Get Your Copy of The Lightmaker’s Manifesto
    • Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

    📺 Watch & Subscribe on Youtube → Hit subscribe for full video episodes, clips, and live chats.

    📬 Click to Join our community + get free stickers

    ☕️ Click to Support the show on Ko-fi

    Follow us for more: 📸 Instagram & TikTok: @HighlyVisiblePod 🎙️ All platforms: https://linktr.ee/highlyvisiblepod

    🎛️ Production Credits

    • Produced & Edited by: Jonathan Dumas
    • Co-Produced & Additional Editing: Reggie Hall
    • Contact: HighlyVisiblePodcast@gmail.com
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr
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