The Stand Up Speak Up Story:  Special Edition with Founders Karla and Zach

The Stand Up Speak Up Story: Special Edition with Founders Karla and Zach

Author: Stand Up Speak Up December 27, 2017 Duration: 1:03:10
If you’ve listened to Stand Up Speak Up before, then you’ve heard the voice of host Karla Stephens-Tolstoy. Usually, she’s helping tell the story of others, but you might not have known that Karla herself has led a pretty interesting life! She’s a Canadian-born & raised entrepreneur, businesswoman, volunteer, mom… and those are just a few of her titles! Karla overcame learning disabilities, and eventually landed the title of CEO at Vodafone, one of the biggest telecom companies in the world. She’s proven that with hard work, nothing is out of reach. Also on her journey Karla has worked many interesting jobs, hosted a community TV show called “Chit Chat”, started a dating app and website called Tokii, and more. Today, we sit down with Karla to hear her story, and later her son Zach joins to talk about the mother-son team behind Stand Up Speak Up. Host: Karla Stephens-Tolstoy Receive our newsletter, contribute show ideas and feedback by emailing: karla.tolstoy@standupspeakup.ca  Support the show: www.standupspeakup.ca/give/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Stand Up Speak Up is a space for raw, honest conversations about survival and resilience. This podcast moves beyond simple inspiration, delving into the complex realities of overcoming trauma and systemic discrimination. Each episode features firsthand accounts from individuals who have faced profound challenges, offering more than fifty distinct stories of perseverance. Listeners will hear not just about the struggle, but about the active, often difficult work of healing. The narratives explore how people rebuild their lives and identities after hardship, focusing on the practical and emotional steps taken to move forward. By centering these personal journeys, the podcast creates a collective testament to human strength. It argues that listening to others can be a powerful catalyst for recognizing our own capacity for growth. The discussions naturally unfold with empathy, avoiding sensationalism while honoring the gravity of each experience. This is a podcast for anyone interested in the deeper layers of societal and personal recovery, where true crime elements intersect with profound cultural and human stories. It asserts that understanding survival in all its forms is crucial, and that everyone deserves a path to peace.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 59

Stand Up Speak Up
Podcast Episodes
Finding Shelley Desrochers: Part 6 – Stories from the Streets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:29
Karla took to the streets of London, with Chris from Canadian Private Investigation Services, to see what they could find out with regards to Shelley’s disappearance. Karla talks about what that experience was like, visi…
Finding Shelley Desrochers: Part 5 – Pushing For Change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:59
By now you’ve heard Shelley’s story. You’ve heard about her troubled childhood, her time in the foster care system, how she was trafficked into sex work, and everything we know about Shelley’s disappearance. We now wante…
Finding Shelley Desrochers: Part 4 - Series Update [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:59
We take a look at the Finding Shelley Desrochers series so far. You’ll hear some of Karla’s radio interviews, and then get an inside view of what it’s been like behind the scenes working on this podcast and dealing with…
Finding Shelley Desrochers: Part 3 - What Happened to Shelley? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:53
Shelley Desrochers hasn’t been seen since January 2016. She’s one of three women who lived a “high-risk lifestyle” to go missing from London, Ontario, Canada in the last decade. In this series, we go beyond the police an…
Finding Shelley Desrochers: Part 2 - Shelley Goes Missing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:15
Shelley Desrochers hasn’t been seen since January 2016. She’s one of three women who lived a “high-risk lifestyle” to go missing from London, Ontario, Canada in the last decade. In this series, we go beyond the police an…
Finding Shelley Desrochers: Part 1 - Getting To Know Shelley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:12
Shelley Desrochers hasn’t been seen since January 2016. She’s one of three women who lived a “high-risk lifestyle” to go missing from London, Ontario, Canada in the last decade. In this series, we go beyond the police an…
Overcoming MacLaren Hall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:58
As a child, Michael James knew that life with his parents was not what it was supposed to be. Their drinking was taking its toll on his childhood and it led Michael to approach the police to take him away to a more stabl…
A Turning Life Around Story [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:14
Patricia Rodenbaugh was turned over to the L.A. foster care system at the tender age of 12. By her later teen years, she had given birth to two children and married just to escape the system. While Patricia had a rough s…
Burst the Bubble:  Harm Reduction [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:25
Reporter Drew Penner tracks down four very different but important perspectives on the evolving harm reduction movement. This episode will take you from the east coast of the United States to London, Ontario, to Vancouve…
Foster Kid to Happy Husband [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:30
While researching for our episodes on the foster care system, we came across Scott Inman and felt he deserved an episode all to himself. Scott's story begins like so many others forced into the foster system - his father…