Activate & Illuminate with Melanie Wakelin
Activate & Illuminate with Melanie Wakelin
Podcast Description
Activate and Illuminate Podcast with Mel, a space where your inner radiance becomes the catalyst for everything you dream of creating.
From small business dreamers to passionate creators, each episode weaves together real stories of transformation that will spark your own journey of activation. Through Heart-opening conversations with both rising stars and hidden gems, Mel creates a sacred space where personal growth and business success dance together as one, (often with infectious laughter!).
This isn’t just another business podcast - it's a love letter to everyone who feels called to create something meaningful. Together, we’ll explore how to:
- Amplify your inner light and let it guide your decisions.
- Connect with your soul-aligned audience and opportunities
- Create positive change
- Create a business and/or life that feels as good as it looks
- Turn your passion into a force for positive change.
Each week join Mel and her guests as they share raw, real stories of activation, awakening, growth and success. Whether you're starting your first business venture or seeking deeper alignment in your life, you will find your tribe here.
“These are not just success stories, they are real conversations about how to blend your experiences, beliefs, and dreams into something magnificently, uniquely yours.”
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes of personal activation, spiritual gifts, business success, and community resilience. Example episodes focus on deep topics such as transforming mental health crises into spiritual awakenings, navigating parenting nonverbal autistic children with telepathy, and shifting from traditional banking to regenerative farming practices, providing listeners with a rich variety of actionable insights.
The *Activate and Illuminate Podcast with Melanie Wakelin* is a weekly celebration of real people sharing authentic stories of determination, perseverance, overcoming challenges, and simply choosing to show up.
Tune in each week as we explore narratives that might challenge your assumptions, inspire you to show up differently, or even reshape your views on what’s possible.
You might find yourself moved to tears or eager to share this podcast with friends. Either way, we’re thrilled you’re here to listen, to discover how much is achievable, and to recognize that we’re all active creators of our own lives.
Through it all, our hope is to empower listeners everywhere to approach the world with a bit more optimism, equipped with fresh tools or a renewed mindset.
Let’s Activate, Baby!
In this inspiring conversation, Joe Gallagher shares his tumultuous journey from a troubled childhood marked by addiction and violence to a life of redemption and purpose. He recounts his struggles with alcohol, the chaos of his early life, and the pivotal moments that led him to seek change. Through music, personal challenges, and a deepening faith, Joe illustrates how he transformed his life and now aims to help others facing similar battles. His story is a testament to resilience, the power of faith, and the importance of community support in the journey of recovery and personal growth.
Guest Bio:
Joe Gallagher Jr.—better known to sauce-lovers as Chef Giuseppe—is a former rock-and-roll front man turned redemption-driven entrepreneur. After a near-fatal car crash and the spiral of addiction that followed, Joe rebuilt his life one recipe at a time, launching Apastioli, South Carolina’s first home-grown Italian-sauce brand. What began with six cases in a single Piggly Wiggly now fuels a statewide demand that’s pushing him to create Apastioli Farms, a 1,700-acre regenerative food hub and retreat for veterans and people in recovery.
Joe chronicles that journey in his memoir From Bars to Jars: A Saucy Redemption Story (Barnes & Noble, 2025) and its forthcoming sequel The Harvest—books already sparking interest from Netflix and Angel Studios. Drawing on his years in sales, his stint as a moonshine developer, and his deep Christian faith, Joe speaks candidly about resilience, purpose, and the power of second chances.
Today he splits his time between scaling Apastioli, mentoring entrepreneurs in recovery, and playing guitar on the worship team at Nexus Pointe Church. Joe’s story activates hope and illuminates the truth that, in God’s economy, nothing—including a jar of sauce or a shattered past—ever goes to waste.
Episode References:
Subscribe to the Activate & Illuminate Newsletter (for BONUS content and more): LET’S GET ACTIVATED
Purchase Joe’s Book from Bars to Jars! https://a.co/d/e6ChE0o
Connect with Joe:
Website: www.joegallagherjr.com / www.apastioli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joegallagherjr / https://www.instagram.com/apastioli
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joegallagherjr / https://www.facebook.com/apastioli
Connect with Melanie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/activateandilluminate/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/activateandilluminate
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@activateandilluminatewithmel
Website: https://activateandilluminate.com/
Contact Us: [email protected]
Melanie’s Businesses:
LifeVantage Representative: http://protandimcanada.lifevantage.com/
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.