Kayla Bartlett was a familiar face in the halls of Bridgeport schools for five years.  

 

At the end of 2019, however, the Physician’s Assistant for Community Care decided to go back to her hometown to accept another position. She began her new career at Alderson Broaddus Wellness Center in March of 2020 and also began working with Young Life in Barbour County. That was also the month that the world began to change and her perspective began to shift, resulting in a new venture that involves coffee and conversations.

 

Thankfully, Bartlett had a counselor who helped her process the pandemic’s effect on her emotional health. He suggested she pursue a creative outlet as a means to help her cope with all the changes and, after discussing options with her family and friends, she decided to create a podcast.

 

In September, one of her mentors asked what goals she had for the month and she blurted out that she was thinking about starting a podcast. He encouraged her and helped her with the development process and held her accountable along the way. The next step was creating a name for the podcast. Her roommate pointed out that she often posted on Instagram about a struggle she overcame,a moment of clarity or a poignant learning experience. After such posts, she would tag it #kaylascoffeemoments. The name was there all along, so she stuck with that name for the podcast.

 

After interviewing those closest to her, she compiled a list of topics to cover, which included Appalachian culture, religion, mental health, physical health, dating, current events, leadership, Young Life, and her own spiritual journey, among others. 

 

Kayla’s Coffee Moments launched on Jan. 11 and will post new episodes every other Monday on most streaming sites including Apple, Spotify, Anchor and Instagram.

 

“I hope this podcast helps people feel heard and understood,” she said. “I hope we all learn something about ourselves, each other and that we have conversations that bring hope.  It is designed to bring a little more kindness into the world and to help each of us be better people and I look forward to sharing my perspective with listeners.”