Rest by Len

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Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Lemarie Paschall

Lenmarie Paschall is Trinidadian. Her business, Rest by Len started out of a desire to promote restful habits. It became a 'thing' after making these gigantic pillows for youth in my church and community.

Insights from this episode:

• Lenmarie’s sewing story
• Lenmarie’s earlier days of sewing
• Lenmarie’s career as a financial analyst
• Letting your creativity shine
• Why it is important to take a break
• Launching Rest by Len
• What to expect at a Rest by Len event
• Lenmarie’s next phase
• How pillows by Len are an invitation to rest
• Providing a lounging experience using pillows

Quotes from the show:

• “I think there’s something that happens when tap into our creative nature and the ability to create vs just the ability to be consumers” —Lenmarie Paschall in “Stitch Please”
• “I have a really strong creative gene in me that I understood and I think that’s what gave me life” —Lenmarie Paschall in “Stitch Please”
• “Take a break to celebrate, to take a load off, to laugh, to play games. I believe that people, they didn’t know they needed it, but once they got it, they really embraced it” —Lenmarie Paschall in “Stitch Please”
• “People think that taking a break, resting, I've heard like it's lazy, it's not productive. It's an easy thing to do. But I think one of the hardest things to do is to say no” —Lenmarie Paschall in “Stitch Please”
• “It just brings us (her partnership events) both joy because people come there and they don’t think of anything else, but just laughter, having a good time resting” —Lenmarie Paschall in “Stitch Please”
• “I think what is extremely helpful is knowing what fills you, knowing what brings you joy knowing the things that regenerate you and energize you” —Lenmarie Paschall in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Lenmarie Paschall

Website: Rest by Len

Instagram: Rest by Len (@restbylen) 

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

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