23. How Life is a Journey of Constant Challenge & Growth with Kailani Ponti

The Eric Chow Empowers Podcast

In this episode, Kailani (or "Kai") shares her story of going through depression & burnout, and how finding a community around a passion for breakdancing was an instrumental part in her decision that she wanted to get better. Kai and I hardly knew each other before recording this episode, in fact, we had only briefly met once before for about 7 seconds. As I listened to her journey post-depression-diagnosis, I see that it has been a difficult one, but I have come to deeply admire and respect the attitude, perspective, and thoughtfulness that Kai brings to life that, I believe, anyone of any age can learn from. This was also the first time I felt like I didn't have to say anything about it, perhaps because, in some ways, her story and views very much reflect mine. Kai and I also talk through her journey of developing the self-confidence to put herself out there, as she has been afraid and shy when it comes to sharing videos of her dancing on Instagram, her thoughts on issues going on, and talking to people she doesn't know. We also talk about balancing the different parts of our lives (e.g. mental health, social life, hobbies, school, family, etc.) and so much more. Absolutely thrilled with this episode, and I know you'll enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it. You can find Kai on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ilykaiii/ and on Twitter https://twitter.com/ilylanii. You can also follow Hip Hop Elements on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jlhs_hhe/. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ericchow/message