HeyJaredRooted and Rising with Chioma Okafor
A podcast that goes beyond job titles to uncover the personal stories, motivations, and identities of immigrants and changemakers.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 22, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 14, 2026
Latest episodes
Measuring What Matters w/ Aleefia Somji (opens the original)
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For years, Aleefia Somji built her career in the language of proof — monitoring, evaluation, research, learning. Her job was to measure what worked. But when a PCOS diagnosis forced her to actually listen to her own body, the frameworks she'd built her identity around stopped being enough. In this episode, Aleefia opens up about the unraveling that followed her diagnosis — how a health crisis became the doorway to a deeper reckoning with faith, femininity, and what it means to trust something yo
The Clarity Years with Sidewon Nimene (opens the original)
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In this episode of Rooted and Rising , we sit down with Sidewon for a deep, honest conversation about what it truly takes to stay grounded while striving for growth. We pull back the curtain on the unseen hours, the quiet doubts, and the pivotal moments that redefine what success and self realization actually looks like. Sidewon's Soundtrack: Wake Up in the Sky by Gucci Mane, Bruno Mars and Kodak Black
Finding Your Voice with Anita Uche Wright (opens the original)
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What happens when home isn't a place, but a sound you carry with you? In this episode, I sit down with her cousin.. singer-songwriter Anita to talk about her journey from Nigeria to England — not just the physical move, but the quieter, harder transition that came after: finding her voice in a new country, reshaping her identity as an artist, and learning to make music that held both where she came from and where she was becoming. We talk about the loneliness of starting over, the creative break
Holding Steady — Jason Brooks on Resilience & Reinvention (opens the original)
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In this episode, I sit down with Jason Brooks, a WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) expert and former colleague, for a candid conversation about navigating career and life through disruption. Jason and I both lived through the global health sector upheaval of 2025, and he opens up about what that experience taught him — not just professionally, but personally. We trace Jason's path across different roles in global health, the pivots he's made, and the mindset shifts required to stay grounded
Loving Loudly & Parenting on Purpose with Henry Okorafor (opens the original)
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In this episode of Rooted and Rising , part of Season 2's "Lessons from the In Between," I sit down with Henry to talk about the shift from husband to father — and what it really means to be intentional through that transition. We dig into how he's learned to show up on purpose in both his marriage and his parenting, the mindset shifts that come with fatherhood, and why intentionality isn't a one-time decision but a daily practice. Henry's Soundtrack: Piece by Piece by Inga Rose
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