On this episode of Hoorf, host Elle Billing welcomes Ivan Hardcastle, an occupational therapist whose 15-year journey led him to make a radical choice - stepping away from a high-stress, high-volume clinical partnership to create a private practice centered on quality care. These days, Ivan runs an innovative online coaching program helping parents and school staff support children with emotional regulation and sensory needs. The conversation takes a creative turn as Ivan shares his passions for theater and woodworking, essential elements of maintaining balance in life. His perspective on slowing down and building genuine connections resonates deeply. As an OT who prioritizes both practical skills and human connection, Ivan brings a refreshing approach to the care-based fields that emphasizes genuine understanding over quick fixes.

On this episode, we meet Virginia Townsend, the artist behind the vibrant creations of Bunnie Rabbitte, whose story illustrates how support and success are not mutually exclusive. In a wide-ranging conversation about art and mental health, Virginia opened up about the daily reality of creating while living with PTSD. Like many artists navigating disability, Virginia's journey includes managing sleep disorders and triggers that disrupt the flow of her day. Through sharing her experiences, Virginia highlights a truth that often gets overlooked: disability needs aren't one-size-fits-all, and our support systems shouldn't be either. Her advocacy for integrated, comprehensive care services speaks to something bigger than just accessing help; it's about creating the conditions where disabled artists don't just survive - they thrive and create remarkable work that enriches our world.

On this episode, Elle welcomes Joris Grey, a leadership coach working with queer entrepreneurs to build businesses that align with their values. Joris shares his perspective on unlearning toxic masculinity, and how that journey shapes his approach to authentic leadership. We explore the wisdom of listening to our bodies (even when capitalism tells us not to), and dive into the real challenges of being visibly queer in professional spaces. The conversation takes us into some deeper waters as we discuss the rising threats to LGBTQ rights, both in Joris's home country of the Netherlands and globally. But at its heart, our discussion keeps circling back to the importance of authenticity and community for personal and collective liberation.

After six months of planning, Elle is thrilled to welcome this episode’s guest to the podcast! Teisha Gillespie is a marketing director and podcast host. Teisha's podcast, "Not Your Average GOAT," highlights diverse stories of adversity and diversity, aiming to dismantle stigma. She emphasizes the power of relatable, authentic stories in changing perceptions and reducing shame around mental health and disability. Elle and Teisha take a little time to discuss how inaccessibility created barriers to this interview, and Teisha addresses the challenges of paternalism and advocates for showing rather than telling to demonstrate the capabilities of blind — and other disabled — individuals.

Guess who's back and ready to dive into the beautiful mess of life and art? It's your favorite chronically ill queer femme, Elle Billing, kicking off Season 3 of Hoorf! Podcast. This time, they're chatting with Charlie Reynolds, a conceptual artist and MFA candidate at the University of Michigan. Charlie, a recipient of the 2024 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities, creates art that tackles the heavy stuff - war, gender, and disability - using materials that hold personal meaning. Charlie also opens up about his journey as a veteran, navigating the choppy waters of PTSD and how his experience in the Navy is the one muse that just won’t let him go.

We did it again! Sixteen more episodes, new and returning guests. It’s time for a summer recess. Hoorf! editor and co-producer Ricki Cummings caps off Season 2 with The State of Hoorf: a behind the scenes audio essay offering a peek at all the moving parts that come together in each episode. This episode has a bit of everything, from how we select guests to the type of equipment we use, it should be gratifying for those of you who have come to enjoy discussing disability, pain, politics, love, and revolution.

Chronically ill and dynamically disabled business owner and copywriter Darci Ellenberger joins us this episode for a conversation about running a solo-business while disabled. Darci offers a wealth of insight for managing creative challenges, emphasizing the importance of community and support, and finding ways to continue delivering value to clients while prioritizing well-being— both for herself and her clients. If creating a work life free of deadlines sounds like your kind of dream, this episode is for you: Darci did it, without sacrificing her health or her bottom line.

Nat Cummings has been doing cosplay for half their life. From appearing at C2E2 as Fiona from Adventure Time in 2016, to creating a full themed collection for their fashion class at Whitney Young Magnet High School, Nat has taken their love for costumes and clothing to bold new realms. In this episode, Nat joins Elle to talk about their internship at the Chicago Public Library Teen Gamer’s Guild, their excitement for the upcoming conventions, and how all this time with their hobbies and classes fits in to next year’s college plans.

Our personal and brand stories are powerful tools to connect with others, and marketing in the last several years has exploded with story-based strategies for everyone from solopreneurs to huge corporations. Max Kringen, the founder of a Fargo-based story-driven creative studio, joins Elle to talk about the power of story not just for a marketing edge, but for its ability to foster community, build empathy, and share our vision for how we want the world to look.

Everywhere you look, “Wine Mom” and other alcohol-adjacent identity branding hits us in the face, marketed specifically to women and femmes as a way to unwind and cope with the ever-increasing demands of contemporary life. In this episode of Hoorf!, Elle chats with Kristy Sarausky, a grey-area drinking recovery coach, about grey-area drinking— that nebulous space between sobriety and rock bottom where so many of us find ourselves using booze to manage our stress and not manage our emotions and inner lives. Both Elle and Kristy share some vulnerable truths about their own histories with alcohol, their journeys to sobriety, and the reasons so many of us tend to reach for a bottle. Spoiler: it’s the trauma, mama.

Dancer, choreographer, and documentary filmmaker Dan Watt joins Elle for the first episode of March, which is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. He is eager to share his film Everybody Dance, which follows a group of diverse dancers with various disabilities as they prepare for a recital with an inclusive dance studio, Ballet For All Kids. Dan, who is not disabled, and Elle, who has acquired a disability later in her life, discuss their love of the arts, the joys and challenges of working creatively with children of any ability, and their evolving capacities to center the voices, consent, and autonomy of the disabled individuals with whom they have worked.

Toronto-based disability advocate and real-life disabled icon Andrew Gurza returns to Hoorf for their second appearance in this heavy-hitting episode. Andrew and Elle share a frank discussion about MAID, Canada’s Medical Assistance In Dying program. Andrew shares his raw feelings about a friend who has applied for MAID, their deep concerns about how the program is being offered to disabled Canadians, and what the availability of the program signifies about the failing social supports for vulnerable Canadians.

Griot Goods owner and exuberant plant nerd Curly Dacs joins Elle for an upbeat episode, where Curly shares some wisdom from the potting bench: people are really just complicated plants. Plant parents of all skill levels (and no skill level at all!) will want to hear what she has to say, so dig into this conversation, forgive yourself for past plant failings, and remember to hydrate.

Dextra Hoffman’s talent as a portrait artist first captured Elle’s attention when Dex posted a WiP of Kate McKinnon as Holtzmann on Facebook. Elle quickly procured the portrait (which now hangs in their bedroom), spent a Comic Con with Dextra, and asked their astonishingly brilliant friend to come on the podcast with the hopes that she would share the story of her grandpa and Captain America. She lovingly obliged. In this far-ranging conversation, Elle and Dextra share how their art has been impacted by grief, their sometimes goofy strategies for breaking out of the tunnel vision of ADHD-driven creative activities, so they remember to do things like eat and stretch, and as many things as their ADHD can fit into a meandering 45 minute episode.

Hoorf! Podcast co-producers Elle Billing and Ricki Cummings sit down for a long winter’s chat over the holidays. On their minds: the season of Advent, the occupation of Palestine, and their ache for a something better in the world. Join them for the final episode of 2023 as they light a candle against the dark and ponder the why of our winter rituals.

Our host Elle and this episode’s guest Nick Josten have known each other since sharing the improv stage in university. Since that time, Nick has lived in Japan, performed stand-up in Reno, and co-starred in an independent film. During their conversation, he and Elle agree that the one thing they were never prepared to face as adults was becoming caregivers for their aging parents. Engaging with their parents’ mortality has forced both of them to confront a whole slurry of emotions; Nick shares how he has used creative practices — acting and writing — to alchemize his grief into tangible projects that can resonate with others.

In this episode, Elle shares an earnest conversation with Jen Blair, who shares her journey as the mother of a gay son. Jen’s family spent decades in the LDS church, and by most standards were a typical Mormon family. When her son came out 10 years ago, she found herself at a complete loss for information, and with a singular mission: to love her son the same as she had been loving him before he came out. Jen shares her story of rebuilding community with and for her family in this episode of Hoorf!

Austin Foudy is an emerging artist in Boise, Idaho. In this interview, he and Elle exchange some vulnerable truths about living with big feelings, their experiences with alcohol and sobriety, and how painting has given each of them the space to move through their emotions with intention and create something that resonates with others.

Karina Blackheart is The Crone Herself — a Women’s Leadership and Whole Life Evolution Priestess. Her spiritual imperative is to live exactly as she desires while guiding others to liberate their own truth, purpose and power. She joins Elle this episode to talk about Big Crone Energy, the joys of getting old and giving zero f***s, and her new guided container Provocations, which offers women a chance to step into their own Big Crone Energy, no matter their age or station in life.

Join host Elle Billing as Hoorf! podcast launches its second season with a special two-part episode recorded on a visit to Idaho, where she connected with guest Brandon Connolly. In part two, Brandon illustrates how his life as an amputee leads to frequent encounters with ableism and inaccessibility, as well as his efforts to address the accessibility of the local Pride festival. He and Elle spend a bit of time riffing on their list of dream accessibility features for a perfect world— sidewalks would be a great start.