In this episode of the Fat Joy Creation Lab capsule collection, Sophia talks with longtime fat liberation educator, podcaster, and consultant Vinny Welsby (they/them) about building meaningful work over time without burning out or shrinking yourself to fit.

In this episode of the Fat Joy Creation Lab capsule collection, Sophia sits down with community organizer, baker, and spiritual practitioner Erica Joy (they/she) for a wide-ranging conversation about co-creation, identity, and what it means to build liberatory offerings without rushing the process.

In this episode of the Fat Joy Creation Lab capsule collection, Sophia sits down with fashion, beauty, and lifestyle creator Angel Edme (she/her) for a spacious, honest conversation about visibility, boundaries, creativity, and the audacity it takes to take up space in a bigger body.

What if creativity doesn’t require you to be healed, fearless, or finished?

In this intimate and soul-rich conversation, Sophia is joined by Asifa Sheikh (she/her), a writer, poet, and Firefly Creative Writing facilitator, to explore what it means to create from the whole self, including grief, rage, body, memory, and hope.

In this episode, they explore:

• How creativity can be a place of belonging and agency, especially when the world feels unwelcoming

• Why grief isn’t a block to creativity, but fertilizer for deep, meaningful work

• The relationship between grief, rage, and creative fuel and how both can be alchemized into art

• What it means to create while holding multiple marginalized identities

• The myth that creativity should feel effortless and why the fight is part of the process

Amanda Sabater (she/her) joins Sophia on the Fat Joy Podcast’s Creation Lab Capsule Collection. In this conversation, they explore the spiritual side of creativity — the inner nudges, intuitions, and moments of mystery that shape how ideas arrive. What begins as a chat about making art becomes a deeper reflection on what happens when creativity feels less like a task and more like a relationship.

In this first episode of the Fat Joy Podcast’s Creation Lab Capsule Collection, Sophia sits down with Mary Lambert (she/her) for an honest, energizing conversation about how creativity weaves through her life, often in ways she didn’t expect. Mary opens up about the moments when her creative instincts went quiet, the surprising places they re-emerged, and the turning points that helped her reconnect with her own voice.

Aubrey Gordon (she/her) is back! We’re talking about the amazing success of the film Your Fat Friend, how it changed her family relationships, and what it’s like being filmed over six years. Aubrey and Sophia share their experiences having conversations with non-fat folks about how to be good allies. Spoiler: not all of these conversations go well.

Kate Manne (she/her), philosopher and author of Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, shares her thoughts on why we struggle to see through diet culture, how the ‘thought-terminating cliche’ ends liberatory conversations, and if it’s possible to be anti-diet and also pursue intentional weight loss.

Tiana Dodson (she/her) explores how liberation consciousness requires hope and imagination, even when they feel impossible. Part of that exploration is rooted in exploring the ‘science of less’ and how being subtractive rather than additive can unlock new levels of awareness and help dismantle oppression.

Elle Baez (she/her) is the brilliant singer-songwriter of the runaway hit “I Love My Body.” Elle shares her own journey to body positivity, including being bullied, being sent to fat camps, and struggling with eating disorders. Music became a way to heal from fatphobia, and Elle reflects on how making the music videos with fat actors was a deliberate way to showcase body diversity and representation. And, she sings for us, too!!

Charis Stiles (she/her) wants us all to feel like we belong, are accepted, and are worthy of love. Often, the barriers to feeling this way stem from wounding that was out of our control, however there’s a lot we can do to repair, heal, and rebuild a sense of self. Charis describes how we can examine self-limiting beliefs, separate out what are real external barriers and what are internalized barriers, and let go of shame and perfectionism.

Crystal Maldonado (she/her) is a young adult author with a lot of feelings that she’s channeled into romcoms for fat, brown girls. She shares what it was like to write the stories she wished she’d had when she was growing up, the gatekeeping she had to overcome to get published, and her ‘glimmers’ writing practice that connects her to joy each day.

In this riotous episode, Parker McMullen Bushman (they/she) takes us on their journey to become an activist and educator in the environmental education and outdoor spaces when no one looked like them. Fat, Black, queer, and non-binary, Parker shares how disparities in access to nature are outcomes from the Jim Crow laws, how race is different from ethnicity, and that disrupting white supremacy is about questioning default assumptions.

Melanie Tufts (she/her) and Emma Deakin (she/her) collaboratively create boudoir photography experiences grounded in fat-positivity, equity, and consent. Sophia, host of the Fat Joy podcast, did a boudoir photo shoot with them and shares her experience being photographed nude, and how everything they did throughout the experience felt like a reclamation of her body.

Jessie Diaz-Hererra (she/her) is here to help us “Free the Jiggle,” which is one of the signature dance offerings from her company, Power Plus Wellness located in New York City. Jessie shares the moment she learned to feel shame about her body, and how that moment actually led to the co-founding of her movement business that now offers classes like aerial yoga, ballet, and aqua stretch & sound baths- all specifically for plus-size bodies.

Dr. Theresa Melito-Conners (she/her) brings her Ph.D-level expertise to a conversation about the ten domains of self care. No, not bubble baths and spa days (although we can love those too), but rather deeper levels of how we show up fully and authentically as humans and what might get in our way.

Artist Lindsey Guile (she/her) draws charcoal images of nude, fat people…on canvases that are eight-feet tall. Her fat bodies literally take up space and tower over viewers. Lindsey shares what motivated her to embrace fat liberation (spoiler: gallbladder disease and an eating disorder) and use her artistic talents to challenge the hierarchy of art.

Andrea Westbrook (she/her) is a Size-Inclusion Specialist who works with organizations to become less stigmatizing for plus-size and fat folks. She shares why this is essential for all workplaces, what it’s costing businesses who don’t do it, and 5 steps that both individuals and organizations can take to do better by their employees.

Lama Rod Owens’ (he/him) earliest memories of suffering were related to his body. He shares how through compassion and joy, we can find the space and sacredness to come into balance with our bodies and the natural world. Lama Rod’s experience with queer male spaces, and his need to separate from them, led to seeking community and, ultimately, his own freedom.

Diet culture and anti-fatness are very present in our schools, from being designed into the curriculum to showing up in the teacher’s lunchroom. Cait O’Connor (she/her) began her own fat liberation journey in her early 20s and quickly brought anti-diet principles into her classrooms. Cait shares how students have responded to her anti-fat lessons and how parents and teachers can support kids further.

Plus-size pageant Queens Choniece Stevenson (she/her), Ellen Miller (she/her), and Rebecca Breedlove-Berry (she/her) share what got them into pageant world, how being part of this experience changed how they feel about their bodies, and how they use their platforms to create positive change and social justice. Plus, their biggest moments of awe and oh-no! during the competition.

Mary Lambert (she/her) shares how she uses music and poetry to “make art for the wound” of being made to feel wrong. As someone who is fat, queer, and bipolar, her journey towards joy has been worth all the challenges as she’s now in her “body euphoria” era.

Michelle Osbourne (she/her) reinvented her life after divorce. She wanted to normalize being a fat, Black, queer woman and built her social media platform by sharing authentically and vulnerably about her life. Michelle also shares her beautiful engagement story!

Heather Mader (she/her) and Ali Kight (she/her) teamed up to improve how people who menstruate insert tampons. Designed in 1931 and having gone through almost no improvements since, traditional tampons weren’t designed to accommodate different body types, disabilities, injuries. Ali founded TINA Healthcare to change this, and when Heather tried the first prototype, she knew she wanted to get involved in the design of the product. This partnership is a great example of how companies can co-design with fat folks who have lived experience and wisdom to share- and build a better product for all.

Andrea Kelly (she/her) collaborates with outdoor apparel brands to extend their plus-sizing, because no one should be excluded from outdoor activities for a lack of clothing options. With 20 years of experience in the apparel industry, Andrea shares why it’s so hard for brands to warm up to the idea of more diverse sizing, why they’re leaving money on the table by not making plus-size clothing (hint: plus-size is the majority of our population), and the two key moments that sparked her desire to make change from the inside out.

Leslie Jordan Garcia (she/her) experienced a racially motivated betrayal that started her eating disorder. Recovery led her to specialize in coaching racialized people through their own eating disorders. She shares how we can individually liberate ourselves, engage in intersectional healing, and stop demonizing our cultural foods.

Manny Martins-Karman (she/her) was stuck in Covid lockdown thinking she would have lots of time for her abstract art. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she felt disconnected. So, she posted a fashion video like what she’d seen her fave influencers do. A few videos later, Manny went viral. She shares how playing with clothes has led to her being told that she’s changing people’s lives.

Aaron Flores (he/him) talks to men about their body stories. As a fat man, he spent years weight cycling and then advising others on weight loss as a dietitian. He shares his own experiences with diet culture and masculinity and how he found his way to intuitive eating, which completely changed his professional dietitian practice. Aaron and Sophia discuss how diet culture shows up differently for men, and Aaron describes how dieting can be explained by Star Wars.

Annie Nardolilli (she/her) and Louisa Hall (she/her) are the singers/songwriters behind the musical comedy group, Griefcat. In this hilarious conversation, they share how they became ‘musical soulmates,’ what sparked their maximalist on-stage aesthetic, and why being fat is their superpower. Also, they sing to us.