
Show Notes
Fai West was just 10 years old when she was first introduced to the teachings of Soulaire Allerai and the Soulful Journey. A few years later, as a teenager in high school, she found herself living in Soulaire’s basement, sleep deprived from attending multiple late-night classes and channelings of an omniscient being known as ‘G’, and learning about her own presence in a future dimension called The 99.
Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.
If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.
If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
Credits: Written and hosted by Sarah Steel Music by Joe Gould
Links: Being: The Soulful Journey — by Soulaire Allerai, FriesenPress, December 2023 Being: Transformation Begins With… — by Lynn Young, Master Path Publishing, March 2007 Soulful Journey — website, accessed February 2026 Living Faith Spiritual Community — ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer listing, accessed February 2026\ Getting Real with Soulaire — Podbay episode shownotes, accessed February 2026 An Interview with Lynn Young (Master Soulaire) — by Tim Miejan, Edge Magazine, 1 October 2008 Lynn Young, Interview — by Tim Miejan, Edge Magazine, 1 October 2007 soulaireallerai.com — archived website from 28 February 2021 Inspiring Conversations with Soulaire Allerai of Bad Rooster Food Truck — Voyage Minnesota, 24 March 2022 Soulful Journey® Wellness Center — archived website page from 12 August 2025 Family, former followers, claim food truck finances a Minnetonka cult — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 28 August 2022 Bad Rooster Responds: It’s because of our success — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 30 August 2022 Bad Rooster LLC and Soulaire Allerai vs Kelly Ring Abedi and Angela Marie Hummelgard — Minnesota Judicial Branch Court Records Online, document search conducted for Case Number: 27-CV-22-10996 and documents viewed March 2026 Minnetonka food truck co-owner sues two sisters over cult accusations — by Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 28 July 2022 Families accuse Minnesota food truck of funding New Age ‘cult’ that ‘brainwashes’ members — by Josh Marcus, The Independent (UK), 1 September 2022 Judge dismisses 'cult' lawsuit filed by food trucks — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 21 July 2023 ‘Abuse, Fear, and Gaslighting’: Ex-Members on Life in Food Truck Owner’s ‘Cult-Like’ Group — by Kate Briquelet, The Daily Beast, 14 September 2022 Community Highlights: Meet Soulaire Allerai of Bad Rooster Food Truck — Voyage Minnesota, 18 December 2025 Kelly Abedi’s Facebook post — about Bad Rooster from 7 July 2022 that she continues to update with developments Living Faith Instagram — accessed February/March 2026 The Soulful Journey Instagram — accessed February/March 2026 Bad Rooster Instagram — accessed February/March 2026 Living Faith Spiritual Community website — accessed February/March 2026 Soulful Journey Facebook page — accessed February 2026 Bad Rooster Truck Facebook page — accessed February 2026 Bad Rooster website — accessed February/March 2026 Popular Food Truck Accused of Luring Women Into a ‘Cult’ — by Kate Briquelet, Daily Beast, 5 September 2022 'The Journey Comes First': More family members make claims against Bad Rooster — by Tom Lyden, FOX 9, 13 September 2022 Meet Soulaire Allerai — Canvas Rebel, 2 September 2025 Minnetonka food truck owner asks judge to stop sisters from making public cult accusations — by Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 24 September 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Let's Talk About Sects
The Victorian Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee has published their final reports from the Parliamentary Inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups, which commenced in April 2025. There are two parts, Volume 1: ‘Crossing the line’ and Volume 2: ‘In their words’. They set out 39 Recommendations which the Victorian Government now has six months to respond to. In this interview episode, lead author of the Beyond Belief submission and advocate Patrick McIvor shares his insights into the landmark report which includes a recommendation of criminalising group-based coercive control, and what the next steps will be.
In a sleepy Canberra suburb, Bek Condello was raised in a strict patriarchal Pentecostal movement. The influence of the Geelong Revival Centre extended deeply into the lives of the congregation, promoting discipline and dictating how girls and women behaved, who they socialised with and who they would marry. After finding her way out and discovering her own identity, Bek has written a memoir, out on 14 July, called Can You Handle a Girl Like Me. Through her story she hopes she can inspire others to rebuild and thrive after deep loss.
Carol Merchasin is the newly appointed President of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). Drawing on decades of experience in law, investigations, and survivor advocacy, Carol has led inquiries into allegations of misconduct within prominent spiritual and religious organisations and has worked extensively with survivors of coercive control and abuse. Through her legal practice, public education efforts, and leadership at ICSA, she has become a leading voice on cultic abuse, human trafficking, labour exploitation, and the protection of vulnerable individuals within high-control environments.
Hoyt Richards spent over two decades in Eternal Values, after first meeting the man who called himself Frederick von Mierers on a beach at the age of 16. Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, out now on HBO Max with episodes releasing weekly, explores Hoyts’ journey alongside other actors and models of the era, and Hoyt has spent the years since his exit dedicated to educating people about the red flags to watch out for so that they don’t ever have to go through the experience that he did.
When we talk about cults, we tend to picture the ones that make headlines: isolated compounds, charismatic leaders, dramatic exits. But what about the church down the street? The one with the worship band and the small groups and the Instagram presence? In this episode, Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde, co-founders of the Religious Trauma Collective, talk about what happens when coercive control operates inside institutions that look, from the outside, like ordinary community. We also touch on evangelical support for Trump in the USA, and how Australia is not immune from those who would like to see a theocracy here.