A conversation with Alphonso James

Are You Waiting For Permission?

Dear listeners, in this special segment, not only will you hear from the incredible Alphonso James, but this will also be our last episode.

Joseph and I are incredibly grateful for the support you have shown us over the past few years, and we can't thank our incredible guests enough for showing up and sharing their truths about how they haven't waited for permission to live the life they want. We also want to thank those who are still waiting and brave enough to share the moments when they have felt stuck. Your stories have inspired us, and we hope they have inspired our listeners as well.

As we close this chapter, we want to remind you to keep pushing forward, embracing your journey, and never giving up on the life you envision for yourself. Thank you for being a part of this amazing experience with us.

Now, please meet Alphonso James:

Alphonso James was a 17-year-old child in 1985 when he was arrested and falsely convicted of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide for the murder of a man he’d never seen or met. After a brief two-day trial, he was sentenced to Life plus 5 years in prison. Although he was physically confined and dealt with seemingly impossible obstacles to his release, Alphonso found freedom and liberation within himself. He went from a 3rd grade reading level to earning degrees in theology and culinary arts and authoring a memoir. Alphonso worked faithfully and with courageous belief on his own process of inner healing, and today he walks in a hard-earned spirit of love and forgiveness. With tireless persistence, and the work of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, Alphonso was finally freed in 2017 after 32 years of confinement for a crime he did not commit. Besides righting the wrong of his conviction once and for all, Alphonso is committed to inspiring others to break free of the prisons within themselves and pursue their own journey of healing.

Please check out Unfragile Farm: A The Journey Within Program of Unfragile Farm is focused on supporting individuals who have been freed from wrongful incarceration, offering them a safe space to heal from the trauma of injustice and inhumane treatment.

Your hosts of Are You Waiting for Permission? are Meridith Grundei and Joseph Bennett. They're friends, co-hosts, actors, improvisers, and coaches. She lives in NYC and coaches actors, business professionals, and presenters to fully engage with their audience, and themselves. She also mentors young actors and directors. He lives in San Miguel de Allende, México, and coaches artists and other creative beings about the beautiful business of art — and life.

You can find Meridith: Meridith Grundei the performer artist gal. Or if you are looking to be a more confident and credible speaker, please reach out to Meridith here at Meridith Grundei Coaching

You can find Joseph at Joseph Bennett the artist/coach extraordinaire

*Special thanks to Amy Shelley and Gary Grundei of high fiction for letting us use their music for the Are You Waiting for Permission? podcast.

And... while the podcast is free, it's not cheap. We'd be thrilled to have your support on PATREON

Thank you.