Unveiling the Power of AI in Farming: Emily Reno’s Journey to Transforming Grant Writing
Host Emily Reno celebrates the 50th episode of The Transcendent Farmer, reflecting on six years of building the podcast and inviting listeners to a future Zoom gathering. She introduces an interview originally recorded for YouTube with AI strategist Lindsay Hack in San Miguel de Allende, followed by a virtual demo from Minnesota. Emily shares her background in food systems planning and consulting, why she created the podcast to support farmer mental health and holistic business development, and how she began using ChatGPT to overcome grant-writing barriers that limit farmers’ access to capital. She explains prompt best practices, demonstrates using AI to identify funding sources, summarize RFPs, draft and tighten applications, and improve alignment with funder values, citing wins including a $70,000 grant and a $15,000 award. She also discusses AI-detection screening tools and how to keep writing authentic.
Embracing Financial Freedom: A Journey of Identity and Wealth with Bala Mangia
Host Emily welcomes financial coach Bala Mangia to the Transcendent Farmer podcast to discuss how money challenges often stem from identity, beliefs, and inherited stories rather than income alone. Bala shares formative childhood messages—“we can’t afford it” and “I don’t have enough”—and how growing up with limited opportunity in Mississippi shaped his subconscious relationship with money. He recounts early cycles of earning and spending through seasonal franchise work, learning basic money mistakes from a Kevin O’Leary book, and later recognizing the missing psychological piece through Tony Robbins’ work: addressing traumas, emotions, and narratives tied to money. Bala explains his non-traditional approach of “dating” money—building a respectful relationship with it—alongside practical habits like tracking spending, knowing one’s numbers, understanding taxes, and resisting consumer patterns. They discuss common blind spots among high earners, the relief clients feel after breakthroughs, and the importance of community and legacy, with Bala sharing where to find him online.
Embracing the Journey: Unearthing Healing and Transformation with Lorraine Daley
Host Emily introduces an in-person Transcendent Farmer Podcast interview in San Miguel de Allende with Lorraine Daley, an energy healer, Reiki master, spiritual guide, and author of “How to Let Go of Anxiety.” Lorraine describes moving from a long photography career and years of unhealthy coping, religion study, meditation, therapy, depression, and anxiety into somatic healing that releases trapped emotions through breath and simple body-based tools. They discuss building awareness of coping mechanisms, learning to sit with pain instead of seeking external validation, and addressing emotions before they emerge as crises or health problems. Lorraine shares practical stress-management guidance for farmers facing uncontrollable factors like weather: tune into where uncertainty is felt in the body, breathe into it, and exhale it, while reconnecting to a larger “why” and trusting resources will find you. They also cover how to support someone in distress through presence and practical help, and the importance of asking for help and reciprocal community.
Connection is Rebellion: How I Unexpectedly and Collaboratively Built a Digital Community of Care-Focused Women
Today I’m writing having just come away from another month of co-hosting a virtual chat focused on collaboration, not competition. This space, originally borne out of wanting to foster connection among Mezclada’s digital community, in celebration of hitting the 1000-follower milestone on LinkedIn, organically morphed into this once-a-month gathering with my now dear friend and […]
What If You’re Only 1% Away from the Life You Actually Want?
Have you ever had that feeling of unsettledness in your body after you’ve eaten but you still feel hungry? This has been happening to me non-stop, back-to-back for over a week now. And I know that it’s coming from something psychological. Mezclada is undergoing a big transformation this year. And I think that my body […]
Lessons from a Year on the Move: Business Wins, Travel Highlights, and Personal Growth
Today I’m writing to share a bit of my reflections on 2024. I have the great privilege of participating in one of the coolest containers for annual planning, hosted by a good colleague of mine, Elyse Preston, called Radical Reconnection. She’s facilitating 4 weeks in which we take time to map out some of our […]
Unlocking Success: Harness Your Passion, Energy, and Mindset
In this Transcendent Farmer podcast episode, Emily updates listeners on her digital nomad journey and mentions plans for new initiatives like a software school and Latinas in Ag network. She shares eight traits of successful people based on Napoleon Hill’s work, emphasizing passion, organization, and value provision. Emily’s narrative invites self-reflection and offers practical advice for cultivating success in farming and life.
37 razones por las que deberías mudarte a Costa Rica
¿Fue un buen gancho, verdad? Realmente me encuentro menos de 48 horas antes de salir del país y me siento mucha inspiración para escribir un poco sobre las cosas para llevar que he tenido. Saliendo de Costa Rica por un par de meses, es realmente increíble el amor que me siento y la red que […]
10 Tools To Help You Follow Through On Your Goals
One of the things that comes up a lot in my work is this theme of ‘accountability’. Whether I’m talking with farmers, fellow entrepreneurs, or colleagues with my consulting projects, it can be the biggest source of support and also one of the biggest gaps that we have. And not for lack of desire, but […]
Finding Presence: The Power of Pranayama with Ekta Minocha
In today’s show, Emily Reno interviews Ekta Minocha, a yoga teacher from Bangalore now residing in Rishikesh, India. Dive into Ekta’s fascinating transition from software engineering to yoga teaching, and learn about the profound impact of pranayama on the mind and body. If you’re looking for ways to find peace and presence amidst your bustling life, this episode offers practical advice and a simple, guided pranayama exercise for listeners to try.