Writer · podcast host · interactive artist

Honest
stories.
Human
connection.

Janelle Nordin explores the stories that shape us and what happens when we’re brave enough to share them.

Janelle Nordin playfully applying mascara in a bright pink outfit and hair rollers

the ideas that
refuse to leave
her alone

ABOUT

Hello, I’m
Janelle.

I’m a writer, podcast host and interactive artist who loves a good story and the courage it takes to share it.

I host Naked, a podcast built around honest, unpolished conversations. I’m also writing she., a book exploring the many arcs of being a woman. You might find me standing in a very purple skirt. That’s Purple Threads, an interactive art experience I created that invites people to write a note to their younger selves.

I’m a Canadian mother of four. I’ve spent much of the past nine years travelling the world with my family. All those places, people and stories keep bringing me back to one simple belief: when we recognise ourselves in one another, we become a little less alone.

It started with my grandma

Naked was inspired by a conversation with my grandma. She told me that if more of us shared our stories, fewer people would feel alone.

Follow that conversation
Read the full story

It’s me, Janelle. I’m a writer, podcast host and interactive artist whose work centres around honest stories, human connection and the parts of ourselves we often keep hidden.

I’m the creator and host of Naked, a podcast inspired by a conversation with my grandma. She told me that if more of us shared our stories, fewer people would feel alone. That idea became the foundation for conversations that are deliberately unpolished and deeply human. They explore the moments that change us, the things we don’t always say out loud and the experiences that quietly shape who we become.

My current season of Naked, she, opens those conversations specifically around the many experiences of being a woman. Mothers, teenagers, grandmothers, entrepreneurs, therapists and women from vastly different walks of life sit down with me to talk honestly about identity, bodies, belonging, grief, reinvention, relationships, ageing, courage and everything in between.

I’m also writing she., a collection of stories about womanhood and the countless arcs that shape a life: the things we carry, the things we lose, the things we become and the parts of ourselves we meet along the way.

I also created Purple Threads, an interactive art experience that began with one question: What would you tell your younger self? Dressed entirely in purple and standing silently amongst a growing collection of handwritten notes, I invite strangers to leave something behind for the person they once were. Hundreds of people have stopped to write, read and recognise themselves in the words of someone they have never met.

For me, that recognition is at the heart of all three projects. The conversations are Naked. The reflections are she. The invitation to add your own words is Purple Threads.

I’m a Canadian mother of four who has spent much of the past nine years travelling the world with my family. My life and work have unfolded across countries and different seasons of motherhood. Along the way, I’ve been learning to trust the ideas that refuse to leave me alone.

My background also includes more than a decade of work in massage and wellness, including Ayurvedic and bamboo massage. For many years, I also brought mobile spa care to women and children living in domestic violence shelters. That history continues to influence the way I think about bodies, safety, compassion and the importance of creating spaces where people can soften.

Whether through a microphone, a page or hundreds of handwritten Post-it notes, everything I create is an invitation to be honest, to recognise ourselves in one another and to feel a little more connected because of it.

Come as you are

What do you
need today?

Follow a little feeling.

Three branches. One invitation.

Naked she. Purple Threads

02 / THE THREAD

A little thread to pull

When we recognise ourselves in one another, we become a little less alone.

Meet the woman behind the work

The conversations are Naked. The focus is she. The invitation is Purple Threads.

Different forms, same heartbeat: tell the truth, recognise yourself in someone else, and feel a little less alone.

03 / LISTEN

Stories with
the polish
left off.

Naked

Featured conversation · Episode 66

Naked is Changing:
She is Coming

Janelle introduces the new season.

Play the episode

A Little Something Just for You

Magic You.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the noise in our heads that we forget how extraordinary this one wild life really is, and how much our bodies allow us to experience.

To see. To taste. To touch. To feel. To hold. To create.

Magic You is a small reminder of the gift of being here.

The question desk

What do you want us to talk about?

Naked is built around honest conversations. Some of the best questions come from the things we’re already wondering about in our own lives.

Questions sent here are for the Naked podcast. Your words may be read aloud, or your voice recording played, in an episode.

No email needed. Your question will be emailed to Janelle at nakedwithjanelle@gmail.com.

04 / READ

she. is still
becoming.

A collection of stories about womanhood and the countless arcs that shape a life. The things we carry. The things we lose. The things we become.

A note from the writing desk

“I’m still writing it, which means you’re arriving while it’s very much becoming.”

Short reflections / read or listen

Naked Notes

Swipe or use the arrows

Note 1 of 9

05 / INTERACT

Purple Threads

What would you tell your younger self?

How it began

A sea of purple in Costa Rica.

“We’re in this together.”

The other half of the invitation

Just as important as writing is reading. Sometimes, in the words left by someone we have never met, we find a part of ourselves too.

Take a question with you

The idea for Purple Threads began unexpectedly in Costa Rica. Janelle turned a corner and found hundreds of women gathered for International Women’s Day—grandmothers hugging teenagers, teenagers standing beside little girls, generations taking up space together.

Later, she began noticing how quickly judgement of other people could echo the way she spoke to herself. She started leaving kind words on Post-it notes around her space. As she became softer towards herself, the way she saw others changed too.

One question led to another: what might happen if we created a space where people could recognise themselves in one another?

The invitation became simple: write a note to your younger self and attach it to Janelle’s long purple skirt. One note becomes hundreds—layers of stories, reminders, regrets, encouragement and compassion.

Just as important as writing is reading. Sometimes, in the words left by someone we have never met, we find a part of ourselves too.

Janelle wearing a blindfold and her note-covered purple skirt, holding the Purple Threads invitation among the crowds at Edinburgh Fringe

The experience, online

A few words.
A thread between us.

Leave a note for your younger self. Then linger. In a stranger’s words, you might find a little of yourself.

Words left for younger selves

Write a note to your younger self.
What do they need to hear?

Some notes speak about difficult experiences. Open only what feels right for you.

Gathering the threads…

No names. No likes. Just a little room for one another.

Team review

A note to your younger self

0 / 1,200

Your words will appear anonymously. Please leave out names, contact details and anything that could identify someone. Honest stories about difficult experiences are welcome.

May these words travel further?

All notes are screened before publication. Anything uncertain is held for Janelle’s team to review, not automatically deleted.

A note to a younger self

Where Purple Threads has been

One question,
travelling.

  1. 01
    Vancouver, Canada

    The first time the idea left Janelle’s own space and invited other people to answer for themselves.

  2. 02
    Edinburgh Festival Fringe

    Hundreds of notes gathered on the skirt. People stayed, read, photographed and called friends over to share the words.

  3. 03
    North Herts Pride · Hitchin

    The invitation continued: stop, reflect and add a few honest words to the growing collection.

  4. 04
    Bi Pride · London

    Purple Threads carried the same question into another community.

  5. 05
    Southampton · Music in the City

    Purple Threads became part of the city’s music-filled streets, inviting people to pause, reflect and add their words.

06 / GO SOMEWHERE TOGETHER

Bring Purple Threads
to your event.

Festivals, Pride events, conferences, community gatherings and creative spaces can invite Purple Threads in.

Upcoming appearances

  1. Pause Live

    London

  2. Trotterdown Arts Trail

    Bristol

  3. Clifton LitFest

    Bristol

A pocketful of prompts

A small question.
A little room.

Something to sit with, scribble about or share with someone you love.

take your time with this one

A note to your younger self

What would you tell your younger self?

01 / 06

Let’s keep the conversation going.

A thought, a question, or simply a hello. I’d love to hear from you.

Bring the question to your community

Book Purple Threads

Tell Janelle about your event using the form below, or email nakedwithjanelle@gmail.com.

Your details will be emailed to Janelle so she can reply to your enquiry.

Naked Notes / Janelle Nordin