Interview with Sarah Wenno-Stephenson

Monika: Sarah Wenno-Stephenson is my lovely guest today. Sarah is a London-based fashion model, background artist, presenter, and property investor. Hello Sarah! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Sarah: Hi Monika, thank you for the invitation, and I am happy to be here.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Sarah: Few words about myself... mmm let me put this in a short phrase. An ambitious, hard-working woman who knows what she wants in life and the future ahead, goofy more towards joker clown light the party kinda girl really. Married once, engaged close to married twice, and been living in 5 countries but London is my last stop where I do call it my home. Last but not least I am pushing on 50 so there you have it lol not quite a few words, sorry I can’t help it.

Interview with Kyle Mewburn

Monika: Kyle Mewburn is an Australian-New Zealand writer, journalist, traveler, teacher, and transgender activist. She is the former President of the New Zealand Society of Authors (2012-2016). Her books have won many prizes and awards. She lives in Millers Flat, Central Otago, and writes junior fiction books. In 2021 she published her memoir “Faking It: My Life in Transition”. Hello Kyle! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Kyle: It's my pleasure.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Kyle: I could probably say a few million words about myself. But I think your intro is a pretty good summary. Though I might add I live on a 2-hectare property near a tiny rural community at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand with my wife, Marion, two cats, two goats, a pair of sheep and 20 chickens.

Interview with Hannah J. Kamphof

Monika: Today I have the sheer pleasure of chatting with Hannah Joelle Kamphof, a Canadian blogger that shares her transition journey on social media. Hello Hannah! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Hannah: Thank you so much in return Monika, this is an honour considering how instrumental your Heroines blog was for me, especially in my first six months of transition. It’s an honour to now be part of this amazing collection of interviews.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Hannah: As many would likely say of me I am not a person of few words, especially in front of a keyboard Lol, I’ll do my best. I’m Canadian, 47 years old, born in a small city in south-west Ontario, Canada; raised a good chunk of my life in the metro area of Vancouver, British Columbia; went to University in Edmonton, Alberta where I earned my BA in History and Political Science; from there moved all over as I sought meaning in my life and likely escaping life also.

Interview with Jaycee Frances

Monika: Today I have the pleasure of presenting to you a talented musician from the sunny state of California. Jaycee Frances is an American guitarist and former member of such bands as Chaintown, The Next, Crucifix, Proudflesh, The White Trash Debutantes, Piston and Fang. Hello Jaycee! Rock & Roll never dies, Sister!

Jaycee: Hello Monika, Yes! Rock & Roll lives forever. It’s a pleasure meeting you and thank you for inviting me to be part of your focus on the wonders of Transgender.

Monika: How did you become a guitarist? Do you remember your first guitar?

Jaycee: My first guitar was a snare drum and sticks! Lol… I started out as a drummer and one of my two older sisters Kim had an acoustic guitar and I sorta borrowed it like I did her clothing and bicycle and made it my guitar. I painted it blue and I put fuzzy hang ten surfer feet stickers on it to disguise it. (This was in the 1970s) so that was my first guitar. Then my dad bought me a cherry red 1967 Gibson SG special and I traded it for a Flying V.

Interview with Philippa Ryder

Monika: Today I am going to talk to Philippa Ryder, an Irish civil servant, LGBTQ+ activist, author, and feminist. Over recent years, she has been a board member and chair of Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and part of the Steering Committee of Transgender Europe (TGEU). She was a founding committee member of Sporting Pride, Ireland’s LGBTQ+ sports organization. In 2019 she was one of the founders of Under the Rainbow where she is now Chief Operating Officer. She is also the chairwoman and director of Dublin Pride. Her memoir, My Name is Philippa, was published in 2020. Hello Philippa! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Philippa: Thank you for the invitation, Monika. I’m delighted to take part.

Monika: You are a very busy lady. How do you manage to combine your professional work with activism?

Philippa: I retired from the Civil Service last year so that gave me more time to devote to activism which, in a few different fields, has always been part of my life. I seem to be drawn to committees unfortunately, I find it hard to say no when I see that something needs to be done.

Interview with Kay

Monika: Today I have invited Kay. She is an American whitewater kayaker, urbanist, dad, and pizza lover that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Kay! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Kay: Thank you, Monika, for inviting me to chat with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Kay: of course, I’m a 47-year-old trans woman, who started transitioning in 2021. I live in a rural part of New York State though I grew up in NYC and spent about 10 years in Washington DC.

Monika: Whitewater kayaking sounds like a challenging hobby.

Kay: It really isn’t. I’ve been kayaking since 1990. Like many things it takes practice - nobody starts off being comfortable upside down, underwater encased in a kayak. But learning to kayak is a process of confronting fears, planning outcomes, and figuring out what went wrong so that we do better next time. We start with easy water and build skill and confidence as we work up to more and more challenging whitewater. The point is that it should be fun at every stage.