Audio Podcast: We Are In

Vicki: Hi everyone, it’s Vicki. Welcome back to Ripples of Radical Generosity. In this episode, I’m sharing a few conversations with community members who recently recommitted to Corlalus. We talked about why they’re in, what’s calling them forward, and what this moment of reset is opening up for all of us.

Vicki: Hi,  Anahita. 

Anahita: Hi, Vicki. Good to see you.

Vicki: Tell us, who are you, Anahita. 

Anahita: Oh, my name is Anahita Belanger and I love to grow food and share food, and that’s who I am at the core.

Vicki: And what makes you crazy about food in the world? 

Anahita: Oh, the conversations around food these days have been very disastrous. It’s very scarcity-focused around hunger, corporate consolidation, the lack of diversity in seed ownership, and the concerns around who’s owning what in food, and how many people are hungry, and how much food we’re wasting.

And in that, we’re trying to create some new experiences, specifically on our farm and hopefully with others where we create, gather the community and have a long table dinner in between the gardens, and just remind ourselves that we are all nature and food is nature and food should be our first medicine. I shouldn’t say should. Food is our first medicine

Vicki: I think this is such a interesting point because it’s something that we practice a lot at Coralus, which is it’s quite easy to go down the doomsday. Spiral and focus on what isn’t ‘cause it’s just so epically shocking and seems to be worse all the time. The food waste, the whatever, and it’s just easy to like pile on, oh, that’s not bad. Let me tell you what else I’ve seen. And it’s just so demoralizing that you just feel like walk away empty. But we have this practice of, What would you like to create?

If anything was possible, how would you redesign it? And so I know that you’re deeply thinking about this and I wonder you’ve recommitted to be part of Coralus going into 2026, and I wonder what happens for you in this community that has you commit your time and your resources here? What’s going on for you in this community?

Anahita: That’s a great question. So initially, and this has been consistent since 10 years ago, I’m blown away by the people in our community, the folks who are getting outta their heads, and these are not, these are powerhouse women leading companies, leading systems change, leading cities, and they are moving outta their heads and into their hearts.

Which is so beautiful to me and it’s so beautiful to witness and to be a part of. And I love how we, Coralus , has really focused and honed in on connections and relationships because honestly, that’s the connective tissue, right? That’s what we crave as human beings and that will bring us back to ourselves.

I also love this evolution, and this was really demonstrated in the (un)Summit. Around caring for oneself, having change, start from within, and now you’ve got this place of centeredness, groundedness, and generosity that you can share from and create the world we dream of, which is, it’s such a container of a soothing antidote to what’s happening.

Yes. And that just, it’s been 10 years plus of this. It’s not just a moment or a conversation or an event. It’s consistent. It’s foundational. It’s a… it’s at the core. And that’s what I really love. I love the radical generosity that we started with. The incredible people and all the amazing work that they’re doing, like some of the world’s best entrepreneurs. Truly. That’s amazing. 

Vicki: And we have a real mix of people here too, right? It’s not like power housey everything. No, it’s true. It all. We got people dreaming of like, how would I start. Something that drew me in. 

Anahita: That was the glimmer. That was like, who? Who’s here? And then you dive in and you realize the diversity and the generosity and the friendships, the fast friends. They’re fantastic. 

Vicki: I had a text on the weekend from Thu, who’s someone that you’ve been collaborating with very recently, and she said, this is blowing my mind. I did not know Anahita a month ago. We’ve already done an event together. We’ve been at two other things together, like what’s happening, so it can be fast, right?

When the timing is right, you can just find connections that just take you down a path of some expanded thinking that you absolutely never imagined, 

Vicki: And we both started in the heart. Truly, like I met her in a pod around homesteading. So we had this online connection, knowing experimentation, but we always started with a grounding in the heart every session, which I or somebody else led.

And so we were in this heart space together, and then I heard her say the words, I love spending time in the heart and I wanna spend as much time there as possible. And I was like. Okay. You’re super interesting and that is really fascinating thing to say. And then the care tent at the (un)Summit, and we didn’t even talk much there.

We were startled to see each other in real life, but then after that, we realized, oh my gosh, we missed that connection and we really made an effort to be in the heart together. And that’s what emerged is… So it was timing and it was a readiness and the conditions for success. But I had point straight to the heart on that one because that’s where we truly connected and that’s where we dreamt from and created that experience to collaborate.

And it was so easeful because it was so well-intentioned and it was almost like it was happening on its own and fast forward and there was nothing we could do to stop it. That’s awesome. 

Vicki: I think when we get in the field together and we’re just sharing what we’re interested in, new business opportunities emerge out of it. Or new collaborations emerge out of it that are not like, I have this and you have this, let’s make a thing. Like it just happened with ease. Let’s try a little something. And I… this idea of taking a baby step towards what you wanna do versus let’s do a giant partnership and plan out the next four years.

Anahita: Exactly. 

Vicki: That stuff doesn’t seem to be working very well ’cause we have no idea what next week is gonna be like. 

Anahita: Yeah. So well said. Yeah. And that deep vulnerability when you’re sharing the dream, which is encouraged, very nudged by you, and there’s a… you don’t have the idea fully formed yet. There’s this nervousness and sweatiness around it, right?

Gail was saying on LinkedIn the other day, you just do it anyway. You just do it and you keep practicing it, and you keep sharing it with more people, and then they will encourage you and then you realize, okay, I’m not that nut that’s on the edges. There’s a whole bunch of others who are here with me cheering me on, and that’s so special. I’ve never found that in other community honestly. It’s, yeah, it’s really fascinating to see the variety of interests and passions, and they are a little edgy. They’re on the edges. Yeah. Yeah. We’re all together in it. We’re all in it. And sharing and dreaming together, it’s awesome. That’s awesome. And we seeing where we go?

Vicki: Yeah. Here we go. 

Anahita: Here we go. 

Vicki: Thank you. 

Vicki: Hello, Tammy. It’s nice to see you.

Tammy: Waramii.

Vicki: Oh, good to see you. Tell us who you are.

Tammy: I’m Tammy Baart. I am a Dharug woman from the Sydney area, and I’m also the founder of Blak Ignited. I guess the point of view that we wanna transform the way people see and understand indigenous ways, really allow people to embrace that and amplify that in the current context, whatever that may be.

Vicki: Amazing. We are thrilled to have you in the Coralus community. I have personally learned lots from you and I love being in your presence. And can you share why are you recommitting to Coralus? Why are you in? 

Tammy: Honestly, it was no brainer. I just jumped straight in and the reason I jumped straight in and having had time to think about that is for the first time in my life when I joined the Coralus community, I got to be me.

I didn’t have to be a chameleon that change my colors in order to fit in and just be a part of something. I got to show up as I was. There was this whole notion, come as you are, do what you can do and we actively lift each other up and if we’re not gonna do it, who else will?

So for me, it was a no brainer. 

Vicki: Amazing. I remember coming to an event that you hosted in Brisbane where you had us weaving while we were having the meet. We were in a corporate boardroom. 

Tammy: I mean, it was very corporate.

Vicki: It was, and actually, the dissonance and the juxtaposition of that was so beautiful to just transform the container that you’re in into this new way. And I just so appreciate your ability to navigate between these ways of being, where we’re going, where we’ve been, where we are. 

Tammy: I think we need to embody water at times, right? The fluidity of it all, and understand that we can’t hold on too tight, that we need to listen deeply, relax into it, but adjust and shift and respond.

And I think the Coralus community does that really well, although we have to keep each other in check about doing that, right? Because it’s so easy to, I guess, code switch back into the way we’re conditioned. And so we’re given this permission to constantly come back to those innate waves, and that I’d forgotten about that boardroom experience.

But the one thing that stood out for me that day was how quiet it was and having been a part of many board meetings and advisory groups and whatnot, it’s usually quite talk, talk, talk to each other. Whereas the noise, the energy was coming up from within that day and people were yawning and weaving and getting frustrated when it was harder than they thought, and it just allowed a bit of an avenue to connect at a deeper level, given the physical environment we were in. 

Vicki: Yeah. And what are you noticing about some of the conversations you’re seeing as people are recommitting and the state that we’re in the world? What’s coming up for you? 

Yeah. I think the biggest thing that I’ve been confronted by, and I say confronted because it was so normal to me, right, was this connection, the country.

And when I say country land, the waters, the sky and everything in between, all living things. As indigenous people, we understand that part of who we are and how it guides and shifts us each and every day. Whereas the Coralus is connecting to the seasonal elements, the moons and the phases associated with that,

people are quite intrigued by it and are starting to learn and understand what that means. And so that’s the stuff that I think is really heartwarming and will lead to greater growth. Even in that very first instance – what is the beaver moon and why is that important and what’s the energy associated that?

How does that affect us? What does it mean to our business when we’re in this mode or in this time of phase? So it’s, I think there’s a greater connection to sell and then how you can contribute to the community. And then I also think there’s almost this unsettledness as we decolonize in not holding so tight anymore.

Where we’re letting go of that control and going and being really authentic and organic and intentional about how we take the next step. 

Vicki: Nice. Yeah, it’s been really fascinating to start to sync up with the nature cycles and to have…

Tammy: An alignment.

Vicki: Yeah. The alignment is really unbelievable ’cause the expansiveness that happens when we have a full moon call and like the sort of mini miracles that happen the next couple of days, people are like, what’s happening?

Why haven’t we always done this? And so that has been really fascinating as a baby step, and I’m just so grateful yo you and many of your indigenous sisters were like, yeah, hello everybody. We’ve been waiting for you over a year.

Tammy: Yeah. That’s why it was such a hard process for me to, what do you need? How is this? I don’t get it.

Vicki: What’s strange about that? There’s nothing strange about that.

Tammy: I know.

Vicki: Going back to nature.

Tammy: That’s right. And I think that safety element I was speaking of. It’s like that’s accepted now. Wow. I get to talk about that in this space? A mob’s been able to talk about that, where it’s been internalized or when we’re in our own little mob group. Whereas now I get to have another space where I can do that openly. And it’s a entrepreneur space as well. Oh my God, this is the merging of world. Yeah, and I say world’s brutal for once, and that in itself, I think also really beautiful. 

Vicki: Thank you for being in. I’m really looking forward to you hosting a number of retreats for us, with us in Australia and for what’s to come. So thank you so much for being in.

Tammy: Marrin dyuugu. Thank you. Big thank you.

Vicki: Hi, Dori. It’s great to see you. 

Dori: Always a pleasure to see you. 

Vicki: Tell us who you are. 

Dori: I am Dr. Dori Tunstall. I run a consultancy called Dori Tunstall, Inc. That really focuses on community, DEI, even though in some cases in the United States, you’re not allowed to say those words and really just helping organizations build strong relationships with communities. 

Vicki: So you’ve been involved with lots of communities over the years. Yeah. And you’ve been a member of Corless for a while, and I wonder if you can share why you’re recommitting and what Coralus is drawing you in at these crazy times we’re living in.

Dori: The decision to recommit was very easy because Coralus is the one community of the many communities that I belong to that is doing the real work of building a world that I wanna live in. That’s the easiest way to explain it. There are many communities that I belong to that are about fighting structures of oppression, fighting discrimination, and that work is important, but it’s also important to put your time and your energy to and with, in many ways the people who are building the world that you wanna live in and not just trying to mitigate the harm of the existing systems.

So every time I feel exhausted doing the work of trying to dismantle some particular structure institution, I find myself returning again and again to the Coralus community where they’re like, yeah, but actually you energy should be put in joining us and building with us, and this is what this looks like and this is how we’re doing it, and your brilliance would help us move further. And it’s the community in which I experience the most hope, and it’s the community where I grow the most as a person, as a leader, and as someone who wants to live in a world that is more just and fair and loving and caring, and you get to actually experience what that feels like when you’re in the Coralus community. 

Vicki: Thank you very much.

Vicki: Hi, Stacey. It’s great to see you.

Stacey: Kia ora, Vicki.

Vicki: Do you wanna tell people who you are?

Stacey: I’m Stacey, coming to you from Taurunga in New Zealand.

Vicki: It’s so good to see you today. We had so much fun at the 10th anniversary in Canada that you came to and you did Karanga and it was like there was so much magic all over the place. And as we’re in our reset and our recommitment here at Coralus, you’re one of the people that are coming in to recommit. And I wonder if you can tell us a little bit why. 

Stacey: Beautiful. Amazing. First of all, thank you for the opportunity. Really excited to be here and for the opportunity to share. What feels true for me to say right now is that it’s an act of self-love. I’m an Indigenous Maori woman from Aotearoa. Indigenous wisdom is the bedrock of the way I perceive the world, and in terms of the timing and alignment of everything that’s going on in our state of the world, but also our sophisticated knowledge systems of what we already know and what’s about to happen, what’s about to turn on, it felt like incredible alignment to have an invitation to recommit.

So I chose primarily as an act of love for myself and our ancestral knowledge, but also as an act of love for sharing deeper into community and recommitting to walk with those who are moving to the same timeline, moving to the next timeline for want of a better word.

And there’s some indigenous wisdom that falls, as I say, in the alignment with that in our way of seeing the world and everything that’s going on right now, which is incredibly unique, incredibly powerful. So really high vibrational state right now. Even though there’s so much crumbling, right, and lots going on in the world, and we are watching systems fall and we are watching the Earth really be torn apart and really be hurt in many ways physically, spiritually.

It’s also a really powerful time to come together in unity, to keep hope alive, to dream together, and to share in love and reciprocity. So there’s some key reasons. It’s just a real deep knowing of trusting my own wise counsel and being in alignment. It also feels true to say it’s also about retrusting others and staying in community with those that I feel safe to walk with and alongside, and that’s reciprocal. 

Vicki: Thank you so much. Excited for what’s ahead.

Stacey: Absolutely excited. Can’t wait. 

Vicki: We’re gonna be seeing you shortly in March, hopefully doing an event on a Marae and having folks come from around the world to be part of that.

I think it’s to be hosted by you at this time in this very unique moment that we’re in so that we can actually weave together our learning and our understanding and walk with you. We’re really very honored for that, so thank you. 

Stacey: Right back at you, Vicki. And I think just something so special about what you said is that we are coming into this together. And Aotearoa, New Zealand feels like a really special place to do that first gathering and first retreat because we are rebirthing, we are birthing at the same time. And the community, although it might be small, tight-knit here, it is literally the place that we can rebirth that new system, so that’s so exciting to call that island forward to us and to Manaaki, to host and to care for our community.

Vicki: Can’t wait. Thank you.

Stacey: Thank you.

Vicki: Thanks so much for listening. Our hope is that these stories welcome you into the field. We’re creating the generosity, the courage, and the knowing that we’re in this together. If you’re exploring your own recommitment or sensing into what’s next for you, we are here to walk that path with you. See you soon.

Episode Summary

In this special Reset episode, Vicki weaves together conversations with Coralus community members who have recently recommitted for the year ahead. Each voice offers a window into what this moment is opening, what they’re dreaming into, and why this community continues to call them forward.

Recommitment at Coralus is not a transaction – it’s a return to shared purpose, to deeper relationships, and to the ongoing experiment of building a world rooted in generosity, reciprocity, and possibility.

Through conversations with Anahita Belanger, Tammy Bart, Dori Tunstall, and Stacey Mareroa – Roberts, this episode explores the heart of what keeps us here: the people, the practices, the courage to redesign what’s possible, and the shared knowing that we’re in this together.

Anahita Belanger — Farm Table, Founder
Reflects on choosing Coralus because it’s a place where people are actively building the world she wants to live in, not just resisting broken systems.

Tammy Baart — Blak Ignited, Founder
Shares how Coralus is the first space where she can show up fully as herself, and how Indigenous ways of knowing shape how she leads and listens.

Dori Tunstall — Dori Tunstall, Inc., Founder
Reflects on choosing Coralus because it’s a place where people are actively building the world she wants to live in, not just resisting broken systems.

Stacey Mareroa – Roberts — Transformational Executive Leader – Māori Strategy & Partnerships
Speaks about recommitment as an act of self-love, alignment with Indigenous wisdom, and the power of gathering in sync with the natural cycles.