#REALTALK with Emma G and Dinah

RxAir360 founder and author Diallo M. Watts, Sr. joins Emma G and Dinah Simpson for the Season 4 finale, a conversation about the real barriers between patients and healthcare that already exists. Diallo's journey began with his father's Alzheimer's diagnosis, leading him to hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a bigger discovery: proven treatments can still be inaccessible due to cost, infrastructure, and limited facilities. The conversation covers his father's caregiving journey, the science behind oxygen and healing, and the story behind his new book, Locked Out of Healing.

Topics covered in this episode:
- hyperbaric oxygen therapy
- Alzheimer's caregiving
- healthcare access barriers
- chronic inflammation
- healthcare innovation
- entrepreneurship
- storytelling
- grief, and
- purpose.

 

Psychiatrist and founder of Bethesda Women's Mental Health, Dr. Harita Raja, joins Emma G and Dinah Simpson for a conversation that challenges what "underserved" really means. Dr. Raja shares how she built a grassroots community through Bollywood Zumba, turning dance into a doorway for honest conversations about mental health, abuse, and family stress that had never been spoken about before. The conversation covers research gaps in women's mental health, especially around perimenopause, the generational impact of stress on the body and brain, and what it means to lead with both evidence and compassion.

Topics covered in this episode:

- women's mental health
- reproductive psychiatry
- perimenopause
- generational trauma
- stress management
- South Asian mental health
- community healing
- stigma reduction
- self care.

 

Storyteller, actress, and advocate Dr. Rita D. Lewis joins Emma G solo for a powerful conversation on survival, purpose, and identity. Dr. Rita shares her journey from foster care to the national stage, why she believes purpose matters more than the pursuit of happiness, and what she'd tell her six-year-old self who never believed she'd make it this far. The conversation closes with her philosophy on advocacy: when there isn't room at the table, sometimes you have to redesign the table so more people can sit down.

Topics covered in this episode:
- foster care and resilience
- purpose vs happiness
- imposter syndrome
- storytelling and advocacy
- identity
- representation
- self-worth
- motherhood.

Singer-songwriter and teacher Joey Jenkins, known as Silence Echoez, joins Emma G and Dinah Simpson for a conversation about the discipline of silence, both as a musical philosophy and a way of staying grounded in who you actually are. Joey shares the dual meaning behind his stage name, how Taoism and Joseph Campbell's work on myth shaped his sense of identity, and his own songwriting process, including the story behind his song "Don't Say Anything." The conversation closes with his best advice for aspiring songwriters: find something you feel strongly about, and don't let perfectionism stop you from writing it down.

Topics covered in this episode:

- songwriting process
- identity and groundedness
- Taoism
- mindfulness
- music and mental health
- teaching creativity
- perfectionism
- self-expression.

Halfway through Season 4, Emma G and Dinah Simpson skip the guest chair and get real with each other. Emma opens up about her mother's passing this year and the kintsugi philosophy that's helped her heal, putting the broken pieces back together with gold. Dinah shares her framework for daily self-assessment, and together they explore masculine and feminine energy, the "spoon theory" of emotional capacity, and simple, repeatable ways to reset: breath, senses, and coming back into the body.

Topics covered in this episode:

- healing
- grief
- self love
- self care
- kintsugi philosophy
- masculine and feminine energy
- spoon theory
- meditation
- breathwork
- nervous system regulation
- mental health.

 

Connect with Emma G:
🌐 emmagmusic.com
📸 @emmagmusic
📧 info@emmagmusic.com

Connect with Dinah Simpson:
📸 @highkiliving

Follow REALTALK:
📸 @realtalkwithemmaganddinah

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Singer-songwriter and touring artist Eli Lev joins Emma G and Dinah Simpson for a conversation about music as more than performance, it's a vessel for healing and presence. Eli shares how three years teaching on the Navajo Nation shaped his "Four Directions" project, why he built songwriting workshops around writing for yourself instead of an audience, and the grounding practices that keep him steady through the demands of life on tour.

Topics covered in this episode:

- songwriting as healing
- touring musician lifestyle
- mindfulness and grounding practices
- indigenous teachings and the four directions
- music community building
- creative wellness
- indie folk music

Connect with Eli Lev:
🌐 eli-lev.com
📸 @elilevmusic

Connect with Emma G:
🌐 emmagmusic.com
📸 @emmagmusic
📧 info@emmagmusic.com

Connect with Dinah Simpson:
📸 @highkiliving

Follow REALTALK:
📸 @realtalkwithemmaganddinah

Subscribe so you never miss an episode. 

What if speaking up when it's uncomfortable wasn't aggression, but the most caring thing you could do for someone?

This week on REALTALK, Dinah is back from Bali and joins Emma G for a conversation with attorney and nonprofit strategist Pete Kimbis, who coined a phrase that reframes advocacy entirely: diplomatic aggression. Not conflict for its own sake, but the discipline of preparing so thoroughly, and caring so much, that you're willing to say the hard thing when silence would cost someone their dignity, their voice, or their choice.

We get into what it actually means to advocate for people who don't have access to legal representation, why humility (saying "I don't know" or "you're right") is its own kind of strength, and how Pete stays grounded while carrying the weight of work that matters this much: nature, morning prayer and meditation, and knowing exactly who in his community to call when he needs help.

Pete also shares a reframe on the Odyssey that stuck with us long after we stopped recording: the whole point was never to leave and keep going. It was to go out, learn what you need to learn, and come home changed. We've built a culture that glorifies the leaving and forgets the returning.

This is not a highlight reel. This is real talk.

In this episode:
⚖️ What "diplomatic aggression" really means, and why it's not what it sounds like
🗣️ The power of speaking the hard truth, and the power of saying "I don't know"
🌲 Grounding practices for people carrying heavy, meaningful work
🤝 Why coopetition (not competition) is the only thing Pete has seen actually work
📖 A reframe on the Odyssey: the goal was always to come home, not just to leave

REALTALK with Emma G and Dinah is a long-form podcast exploring what mental health, leadership, creativity, and well-being actually sound like for people who carry responsibility, visibility, and pressure, often without space to process any of it. 28 minutes. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk.

Connect with Pete Kimbis:
🌐 kidronlaw.com 

Connect with Emma G:
🌐 emmagmusic.com
📸 @emmagmusic
📧 info@emmagmusic.com

Connect with Dinah Simpson:
📸 @highkiliving
Follow REALTALK:
📸 @realtalkwithemmaganddinah

Subscribe so you never miss an episode. 

Third-degree black belt and Krav Maga CDK founder DJ Stephens joins Emma G for a conversation that starts with self-defense and goes much deeper into mindset, fear, and community. DJ shares why Krav Maga isn't about becoming a fighter, why real fear shouldn't be talked away, and why the goal is learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable rather than eliminating discomfort altogether. He also talks about intentionally building community instead of leaving it to chance, and the journey that led him from writing poetry as a kid to publishing his first book.

Topics covered in this episode:

- self-defense

- Krav Maga

- fear and mindset

- building community

- confidence

- resilience

- physical and mental well-being

- author journey

- DC/DMV entrepreneurship.

 

Connect with DJ Stephens: kravmagacdk.com

REALTALK with Emma G and Dinah is a long-form podcast exploring what mental health, leadership, creativity, and well-being actually sound like for people who carry responsibility, visibility, and pressure, often without space to process any of it. New episodes every week.

#REALTALK #MentalHealthSoundsLikeThis #realtalkwithemmaganddinah

Producer and songwriter Kimberly Shires, founder of Hear Me Roar Studio in DC, joins Emma G solo for a conversation on what it actually takes to build a safe, judgment-free space for creativity. Kimberly shares how she noticed the lack of women in the audio production world and built a studio designed specifically to change that experience, why she treats the artist, not the producer, as the true voice of a song, and how sound and frequency genuinely affect the brain and nervous system. She also shares three simple ways anyone can use music as a tool for their own mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Topics covered in this episode:

• women in music production
• safe creative spaces
• music and mental health
• sound frequency and the brain
• collaboration over competition
• songwriting
• The Washington DC music scene
• Hear Me Roar Studios

Rapper, filmmaker, and entrepreneur Erie Ave joins REALTALK with Emma G and Dinah for the Season 4 kickoff, live in studio. Erie shares the story behind his mindset "Before The Deal," how writing poetry helped him process emotion as a young Black man growing up in the DMV, and the wild true story of linking up with Rick Ross on the song "We The Ones." He also opens up about a simple mirror affirmation practice that's become part of his daily routine, and the three tools he leans on to stay mentally, physically, and spiritually grounded.

Topics covered in this episode:

• mental health for men
• self-affirmations
• hip hop and healing
• DMV music scene
• mindset coaching
• entrepreneurship
• Rick Ross
• Maybach Music
• Before The Deal
• self-worth, and
• success.