Podcast Team Bios
Thomas Brown / Host
Thomas Brown’s story began on August 20th, 2001 when his brother Marc Brown died by suicide. In 2012, Thomas began his journey as an advocate for mental health by riding over 7,000 miles on a cross-country bicycle adventure. The bicycle tour began on March 1st, 2012 at the northern side of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA. The journey’s end was on September 27th at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors and art retreat center in Wappingers Falls, NY. Accompanied by friend and fellow survivor, Zachary Chipps, the two men visited schools, crisis centers and support groups to share their experience and more importantly, to learn from others who have suffered from the loss of suicide.
Upon Thomas’s return to Phoenix, he trained for a local outreach team called LOSS or Local Outreach for Suicide Survivors as well as to be a facilitator for the community of local support groups fro those who lost loved ones to suicide. In both cases, Thomas was able to continue helping and learning from those who have felt the trauma from losing a loved one to suicide. In January 2016, after a yearlong struggle with a severe back injury, Thomas was ready to move into the next level of his RISE project. Instead of traveling cross country by bicycle to meet with others, Thomas and partner, Sharon Stelluto began inviting people into their home to share personal stories on the podcast called Inner Monologue. The premise of the show is to share stories of the trials and tribulations that we all face on the road of life, most importantly, the story of how we process and rise up to the tests that challenge all of us. |
Sharon Stelluto Artist / Healer
Sharon was born in West Trenton, New Jersey. She spent her adolescent years in Charlotte, North Carolina with the opportunity to apprentice with professional figure painter, Andrew Braitman. She learned the subtleties of figure drawing and painting at a young age. After moving back to the Northeast for art school in New York, she still remained in New York for nearly ten years while helping to manage CoSM, an art retreat center in the Hudson Valley of New York, directed by visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey. There she studied under the guidance of many international artists including Alex and Allyson themselves. She created many art installations during her time at CoSM and developed as a live painter during events at the center. As Hospitality Manager and Event Coordinator, Sharon was the main contact at CoSM for RISE Phoenix to coordinate their arrival for the 2012 bike tour's destination. After a move to the desert several years ago, Sharon has partnered with Thomas in the co- creation of Inner Monologue podcast. On a bi-monthly basis, they host various guests in their home to record each episode. Sharon creates custom artwork based on each episode and guest. She has also had a life long passion for health and healing as well, due to her own journey with depression at a young age, she understands the challenges one goes through to manage their mental health and wellbeing. She started practicing yoga at the age of 17, which began her journey of gathering tools, knowledge of holistic modalities and techniques to assist her path and relationship to her mental health. As a certified Reiki practitioner and Violet Alchemy healer, she has built her own healing practice on years of study and awareness of her own healing path and tools that have aided her journey. Sharon has exhibited her artwork nationally and is also a muralist and portrait commission artist. To view more of her work and to purchase prints, please visit her website at www.sharonstelluto.com |