Becoming Your Best Version: Recent Episodes
Maria Leonard Olsen
Tips and inspiration for living your best life, by Maria Leonard Olsen & her inspiring guests. Maria is a lawyer/journalist/author. She co-hosts the Inside Out radio show on WPFW-fm in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Boston College and UVa Law and served in the Clinton Administration's Justice Department. She has a civil litigation practice in the D.C. area. Her latest book, 50 After 50--Reframing the Next Chapter of Your Life, has helped thousands reinvigorate their lives. Maria has spoken at TEDx CUNY, the Pennsylvania Woman’s Conference and more. See MariaLeonardOlsen.com. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Junie Moon, CEO of Midlife Love Out Loud, allowed her naked middle-aged body to be painted by an internationally renowned artist--and filmed for a documentary--which served as a metaphor for doing the work to free oneself from the stories that may hold us back from living with access to each of our own full and unique expressions. She is a Global Love mentor, best-selling author, women's empowerment leader, and certified Shadow Work® Coach, has supported thousands of women over the past 30 years to claim what is their birthright: The freedom to be and love themselves without apology. When women experience this freedom to love themselves without apology, they attract life-long Next Level Love and experience an extraordinary second half of life.
Junie is dedicated to guiding women in midlife on a transformative journey towards self-discovery and empowerment. Through heart-centered coaching and mindset techniques, she helps her clients cultivate a deep sense of self-love and confidence. Her approach goes beyond traditional dating advice, focusing instead on inner alignment and personal growth. By embracing this precious stage of life with confidence and authenticity, women discover a newfound sense of authenticity and magnetize their ideal partners with ease. Junie's mission is to help women to experience Next Level Love by first nurturing the love within themselves.
In this episode, Junie walks about how she used to be a "walking ball of fear," but that she used shadow work to move past self-limiting beliefs and societal and familial conditioning. She now helps clients stop self-sabotaging behavior, update the narratives by which they lived in the past, and instead to have "healthy swords" by their sides so that they can safely speak their truth. She advises listeners not to "compare and despair," but to look forward with clarity, reminding us that examining the reasons for our resistance "is where the magic happens."
Junie has been seen on News 12 New Jersey, Blog Talk Radio, Authority Magazine, Thrive Global and in the Newark International with her film Shed the Shame that she produced and in which she starred. In it, she allows her naked body to be painted by a world-famous body painter. Of all the things she has done, she is perhaps the proudest of this mini-documentary on body image and body shame. It allowed her to shed the shame about her own body image. This experience led her to write the international bestselling author of Loving the Whole Package: Shed the Shame and Live Life Out Loud, a book that helps readers claim all of themselves through healthy discernment. Junie also is an international award-winning speakerandhost of the successful Midlife Love Out Loud podcast. Junie has shared the stage with Sheri Winston, John Gray, Marci Shimoff and other ground-breaking thought leaders of our time in the realm of love in relationships.
Learn more about Junie at Midlifeloveoutloud.com and follow her at the sites below. Check out her website's relationship ready quiz that will help you determine your "love avatar" so that you can discover your superpower, as well as your growth edge.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/midlifeloveoutloud
https://www.instagram.com/midlifeloveoutloud
https://www.linkedin.com/in/love-coach-junie-moon-995262a/
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeLoveOutLoud
https://twitter.com/coachjuniemoon
Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/midlife-love-out-loud-podcast/id1477913318
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Lisa Woodruff, along with 87% of Americans, believes that organization is a learnable skill. Yet less than 18% of those same Americans feel they are organized. Through Organize 365®’s courses, Lisa aims to teach Americans young and old the skill of organizing and unlocking their time for what they are uniquely created to do.
Under Lisa’s direction, Organize 365 has conducted academic research, establishing the definitions of housework, home organization, and the weight of paper in the American home. This ongoing research is making the invisible work at home visible to all. Now in pursuit of her PhD, Lisa is moving our collective experience into the field of academia.
She is the author of four books, including "How ADHD Affects Home Organization" and "The Paper Solution." Lisa’s understanding of the lived female American experience has helped her to articulate why women are overwhelmed, tired, and what to do about it! Through The Sunday Basket®, Lisa helps externalize the routine tasks that take up the executive functioning capacity of our brains; freeing us up to think and create again!
In this episode, we discuss:
--The Sunday Basket is a system for moving household administrative tasks from reactive to proactive, allowing you to reclaim your time, determine your priorities, and pursue your passions.--A basic household operating system that saves users five hours every week.--Practical strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter and living a productive and organized life.--Are you really organized? You may be surprised to learn that you can be more organized and productive with a few simple changes in your daily routine.
Lisa, a former teacher, set up a school to learn her systems for making people's lives easier. She even set up a community app for users, so that people can work with others and not feel alone in their organizational pursuits.
I could relate to so many of Lisa's views on modern life, and appreciate how she does not espouse an all or nothing system, but rather breaking projects down into manageable chunks. I especially enjoyed her views on "planned neglect" of some tasks to allow for time to do other things, i.e., what we are uniquely created to do.
Learn more and follow Lisa's work:
http://organize365.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisawoodruff/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Organize365/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/organize365/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/organize365
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ashton Applewhite is at the forefront of the emerging movement to raise awareness of ageism and make age a criterion for diversity. An internationally recognized expert on ageism, Ashton is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism and a co-founder of the Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse. She speaks widely at venues that have included the United Nations and delivered an inspirational talk on ageism (one of the best TED Talks I have ever heard) on the TED mainstage. In 2022, the United Nations named Ashton one of the Healthy Aging 50: fifty leaders transforming the world to be a better place to grow older.
In this episode, Ashton shares strategies to combat ageism, how to address it within ourselves and to advocate for change. She acknowledges the intersectionality of prejudices and biases, and helps us all expand our perspectives.
Learn more at the links below about this extraordinary activist, author and speaker who is changing the dialogue on age. Consider joining one of the anti-ageism and consciousness raising gatherings Ashton spearheads, including weekly discussion groups and the first in-person event focused on ageism and how to undo it, August 17-19, in Montreal, which is called Summer School 2024. See OldSchool.info/events for more info.
This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against AgeismTED talk: Let’s End Ageism
thischairrocks.com (website personal site)
oldschool.info (anti-ageism clearinghouse with many excellent resources)
yoisthisageist.com
facebook.com/ThisChairRocks
@thischairrocks
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Michelle Jacoby has successfully coached and matched hundreds of happily married couples. She is a certified matchmaker, dating and relationship coach, and the owner of DC Matchmaking, a boutique matchmaking and coaching company for commitment-minded singles in the Washington, DC area that was founded in 2009. DC Matchmaking is a discreet, upscale matchmaking company for successful commitment-minded singles in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
Michelle is a leader in the matchmaking industry. She was voted Best Matchmaker in the US at the 2017 iDate Awards and awarded finalist for Best Matchmaker and/or Best Dating Coach in the industry in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020. Michelle has been featured in The Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, Huffington Post, and on WUSA Channel 9, News Channel 8 – Let’s Talk Live, WJLA Good Morning Washington, NBC Washington, ABC, FOX, Newsy, NPR, and more. Her articles have appeared in Self, Washington Life Magazine, YourTango.com, ThoughtCatalog.com, The Mind’s Journal, Yahoo, EHarmony Advice, and many more.
With a loving hand and an authentic voice, Michelle offers clear actionable advice so that singles are empowered to finally find healthy, happy, sustainable relationships. One tip she shared in this episode is that our goals should be to spread our warmth and kindness wherever we go so that people leave each encounter with a smile. She also maintains that "assumptions keep you single," in that those looking for possible partners should keep an open mind and get to know a person before deciding that a relationship would not in one's interest.
Michelle is offering listeners a free book she wrote called Never Waste Time on the Wrong Man Again. In this game-changing book, Michelle walks you through the exact steps she used to stop wasting time on the wrong men and finally meet her husband. Those very same strategies have helped hundreds of Michelle’s clients find love, and they’ll work for you too. "It’s not your fault, and there’s nothing wrong with you," Michelle says. "Dating is a skill that’s not intuitive, and you simply need a new, smarter strategy. This book will teach you everything you need to know to stop wasting precious time so you can finally meet the man of your dreams!" Michelle shared a few tips from her book, which were gems that apply to relationships in general, and not necessarily just those in the romantic realm. The book is available at her website at www.MichellesBook.com.
Michelle lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Rob, and has four children. Her coaching clients come from all over the world, as it is conducted primarily online. Her matchmaking business is concentrated on the greater DC area or for those interested in moving to the DC area. And she is super talented at both sides of her business!
To learn more, go to:
https://www.dcmatchmaking.com/
Follow her on Instagram at Michelle_Jacoby.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Tanya Willis teaches women how to make small, sustainable shifts over time to add vibrancy to their lives. She offers a one-stop on-line membership called Vibrant Living Academy, where she teaches women all the skills she learned to embrace life to its fullest. She calls this The Olympics of Life, i.e., being able to be functionally fit in your daily activities. "The journey to vibrant living is a process; it's not something you can have right away," Tanya explains in this episode.
Tanya Willis has more than 30 years of experience in the health and wellness field as a personal trainer, fitness/pilates instructor, Behaviour Change Coach, PNL1 Nutrition Coach, Pain-free Movement Specialist, Fascia Rolling, Stress, Sleep & Recovery Coach, Older Adult Health & Fitness Coach and more. Her book, Cookie Dough in the Dark, in which shares her sugar addiction challenges, has inspired many women to learn new skills to help them reduce their sugar consumption, improve their health and heal their relationship with food.
Tanya is the host of the Menopause Made Easy with Tanya podcast where she inspires women over 35 to make simple shifts to improve the quality of their lives. Tanya helps women over 35 uncover unhealthy habits that are no longer serving them with a variety of programs that she teaches online in her Vibrant Living Academy, such as the Midlife Reboot.
"I worked at an office job upon graduation of university which was not in alignment with my souls’ purpose and as a result I suffered panic attacks until I found the courage to step full time into personal training, teaching fitness/Pilates, health coaching and more and I love what I do," Tayna says. "I’m on a mission to be an inspiration to women that they don’t have to give in to the messages of aging that are prevalent in society – you can get older and be strong, healthy, and vibrant. My purpose is to help women make peace with their body, reduce their aches and pains, increase energy and vitality by sharing everything I've learned and how they can take the simple shifts consistently over time to improve the quality of their lives." She shares some of these tips, including how to design a "menopausal plate," movement and mindset tips to help listeners uplevel their wellness and vitality.Tanya offers listeners five free hacks to cut cravings:
https://www.vibrantlivingwithtanya.com/5-Hacks-to-Cut-Cravings
Check out Tanya's Midlife Reboot, which includes the fasting and fat release program: https://www.vibrantlivingwithtanya.com/midlifereboot
Follow her: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vibrantlivingwithtanya/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanya.willis.18
Menopause Made Easy Podcast with Tanya:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7kxh1LQ7Ol7yuoy576PbkF
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/menopause-made-easy-with-tanya/id1661982133
Contact Tanya on email: tanya@moveyourbody.ca
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Joanne Socha is a lawyer who left her successful practice to become a luxury travel advisor, after recognizing that she had her own sorrows to heal, and that travel could facilitate her healing journey. Joanne is the founder of Travel Far & Well LLC, a boutique luxury travel design firm. A world-class traveler, she is also a speaker, coach and the author of the book/journal, The Red Bandanna Travel Book: The Medicine of Travel. Also known as Your Wanderess Host®, her mission is to energize women to expand their borders and fall more deeply in love with our world, while strengthening their spirituality. She helps her clients determine what they might leave behind when they travel and move toward solutions they might find in the stillness and quietude they experience when seeing new parts of the world.
Joanne designs trips from her luxe boutique travel firm, mentors people (ten years of counseling clients as an attorney enabled her to swiftly recognize issues and assist in finding viable solutions) to remove obstacles and embrace their success, and shares about her pillar program called Expand Your Borders. She encourages her clients to "leave their troubles at the tarmac and be open to the gifts that await" when one travels to a new place.
She is offering listeners $200 off this popular foundational program designed as a pre-trip inner journey to change. See https://courses.joannesocha.com/CreateYourBestFuture:TravelBackToYourHeart for details.
Listeners may sign up on her website for bi-weekly exclusive travel insights and inspiration from Joanne, Your Wanderess Host®. Joanne's overall message is about healing travel and deepening spirituality through travel. Learn more:
www.joannesocha.com
www.travelfarandwell.com
Follow her on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/travelwelljo/
https://www.facebook.com/travelwelljo/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Mags Bell teaches people how to "master your ego, or it masters you." She is an international speaker, author and awareness expert, who works with major influencers and leaders around the world, via her LeadingME® program. She assists those top influencers and leaders to discover their own values, purpose and vision, which makes them better decision makers, leading to a less complicated life both privately and in business. She enables them to bring out their own brilliance which propels the creation of powerful results. As an awareness expert and international speaker, she doesn't just talk about change, she sparks it. With a unique approach that she aptly illustrates via a horizontal ladder model that helps an individual recognize whether they are, for instance, engaging in belittling themselves or others, she helps people overcome their negative emotions, silence them and "get to the gift." The tools she teaches allows people to observe negativity in themselves and become recentered.
Some of the topics she covers in this episode are how the LeadingME® Ladder of Leadership guides leaders to master their egos; how her Bar Model can help us change our own behaviour and the behaviour of others; how her Decision Making Made EasyTM assists in discovering values, purpose, and vision for better decision-making?; how her 4R’s Release Model® helps to silence your inner critic; and how her 3 Keys to Eliminating Your ShiteTM models helps individuals get clear and transform their relationship with themselves and others who press their buttons.
Mags' radically impactful LeadingME® program helped me recognize when my "shite" buttons were pushed and how to use tools to rein myself back into centeredness, and I think it can help you, too. She licenses out the program to organizations and individuals who are helping others become "response-able" and not simply reactive to life's challenges, to achieve a balanced, flow state.
Mags authored the book What the Bleep is Coaching? Real People Take You on Their Journeys of Self Discovery Through Coaching. Throughout her long coaching career (more than 60,000 hours of coaching!), she learned that the key to coaching is awareness, which she gained most effectively via Vipassana meditation. She learned that each person must motivate themselves, but that others can ignite or inspire that motivation, which is what Mags so ably does for so many people around the world.
Mags joined us from the lovely Gold Coast of Australia.
Links & Contact details
https://magsbell.com
https://www.CreatingPowerfulResults.com
Info@CreatingPowerfulResults.com
https://bit.ly/Book_WhatTheBleepIsCoaching
Social Links
https://bit.ly/ConnectWithMagsLeadingMEYouTube
https://bit.ly/ConnectwithMagsFacebook
https://bit.ly/ConnectWithMagsOnInsta
http://bit.ly/ConnectWithMagsOnLinkedIn
http://bit.ly/ConnectWithMagsOnTwitter
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Nagina Abdullah pivoted in her career in 2020 to become a health and weight-loss coach for women in midlife and founder of the website MasalaBody.com. After working a demanding corporate job while raising two children and going from feeling tired, sluggish, and frustrated to melting off 40 pounds in nine months by making changes in her life and eating habits, she started teaching other women how to boost their metabolism when what worked before no longer works. She focuses on natural formulas to combine and time metabolism-boosting foods to reduce belly fat and overall weight gain in midlife.
"The key to sustainable weight loss is mindset," Nagina says. "This is a lifestyle built on real, metabolism-boosting foods." In this episode, Nagina shares strategies that worked for her and her clients, which include adding nutrient dense foods to one's diet, as well as specific spices that boost metabolism.Nagina has a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and earned an MBA at NYU. She has helped more than 1,500 women in midlife successfully lose weight permanently and create a lifestyle change. She left a successful career as a management consultant with Deloitte in New York City, working with Fortune 500 health care companies, to follow her passion helping women in midlife to lose weight and get healthier.
On April 29, Nagina is hosting a FREE 5-Day Metabolism Boost for Midlife Women to teach you the secrets she uncovered to keep her own and 1,500 of her clients’ metabolism high and create a sustainable, healthy lifestyle that fits into your life easily. She will give you a simple 5-step plan to stop feeling bloated and uncomfortable in your body, and naturally boost your metabolism so you can look and feel your best in 2024. Sign up at this link: https://masalabody.com/boost/?rootabl=Maria
Learn more about Nagina and her work:
Website: https://masalabody.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masalabody/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/masalabody
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nagina-abdullah/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masalabody
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/masalabody/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
After a difficult divorce, Barb Scala, who is an attorney, launched an online platform called "Bloom," along with an online radio show/podcast. She began by interviewing some famous and dynamic women and hosted events, conferences, and an online community. She also coached women in transition, especially during and after divorce, and co-authored Sanity Savers: Tips for Women to Live a Balanced Life, with Today Show guest psychologist Dr. Dale Atkins.
Her online platform morphed into a lifestyle brand and she spun off a food blog and television segments. But she was overworked, stressed and overwhelmed, and wanted more financial security. So, she gave up on her dream and returned to practice law again. But her dream didn’t die.
She relaunched with her website, BloomWithBarb.com, and her mission reflects her story -- to help women after divorce, and other life changes, like empty nesting and second act careers, learn how to live life on their terms and bloom!
As a transition life coach, CDC certified divorce & transformation coach, lawyer/mediator, entrepreneur and author, she loves inspiring wonderful women to move forward to a vibrant life they deserve. In the process, they feel more balanced, open up to new possibilities, burst with clarity and creativity, thrive in their relationships, and are more fulfilled than they have been in years.
Barb, who also is a master gardener, helps her clients plant seeds, for which she uses the acronym BLOOM. B is for believing in oneself and cultivating a positive mindset; L is for loving what one does; O is for owning one's power and recognizing one's self-worth; the second O is to organize/know one's direction; and M is to move forward and take the necessary action steps. She also helps clients with combatting the weeds that continue to come in life, by providing tools to deal with such things, as distortions that arise.
Barb works hard to walk toward love and away from fear. She believes it is a choice -- to choose to stay present, accept and let go.
Go to her website to book a free discovery call and learn how Barb can help you bloom. Barb is based on the New England shore.
Learn more:
Web: www.BloomwithBarb.com
Email: barb@bloomwithbarb.com
Instagram: @bloomwithbarb
Facebook: @bloomwithbarb
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbscala/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Rachel Lankester is an ageism disrupter, midlife mentor and founder of Magnificent Midlife, an online hub inspiring and supporting women 40+. She's the author of Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause and Beyond, which was recommended as one of seven top books about menopause in The New York Times. She's also the host of the Magnificent Midlife Podcast and founder of MenoClarity, an online information hub about menopause, which she started because she felt there was too much scaremongering, hype and fear in current menopause narratives, especially in the UK.
From Rachel:
"When I was 41, I was given a diagnosis of early menopause. I was hoping for a second child at the time, so it was pretty devastating. It meant the end of my fertility and dreams of that baby. It also catapulted me into a period of intense self-doubt, sadness and feeling very lost. I had no idea why this had happened to me, nor how to take care of myself. I also allowed the diagnosis to completely change my perception of who I was as a woman. I saw myself as a dried-up old prune!
Over time I discovered that diet, lifestyle and mindset can massively impact perimenopausal hormonal change and for a short time my menstrual cycle and premenopausal hormone levels came back.
I also eventually realized I am no less of a woman because I am older, even though society likes to tell me that on a daily basis. Looking around, I couldn't find resources to help me, so I created them. I didn't want women to arrive in perimenopause as unprepared, disconcerted and sad as me.
I didn't want any perimenopausal woman to feel this was the beginning of the end, as I did. I want women to see the magnificence in midlife and menopause, and to feel empowered to embrace what may be the best stage of their lives yet.
I now spend my time challenging negative sexist, ageist stereotypes and narratives wherever and whenever I can. I help women get the messy midlife stuff sorted, so you can create and sustain a next chapter that will excite and delight you long term.
I'm passionate about helping women navigate the often messy middle of life. So you can thrive not just survive. And become the woman you were always meant to be.
I believe the older and more experienced we get, the more we have to offer the world and especially those women coming up behind us. We get better with age not worse.
I don't believe in denying we're getting older or hiding it either. I'm not ashamed to be a midlife woman. I'm proud of it. I think I've earned those midlife stripes just as much as I've earned the laughter lines around my eyes. They don't diminish me in any way."
Rachel is passionate about enabling women to create and live a positive new narrative when it comes to midlife, menopause, and ageing. She's also determined to challenge the status quo and bash negative stereotypes associated with women 40+.
Rachel's motto is to be "prepared, not scared," as she challenges the negativity bias in the west surrounding aging. She reminds us that "menopause is temporary; it's a tunnel, not a cave." Rachel advises listeners to stay curious and to listen to our bodies, especially during menopause, a sensitive time in our lives when we may reconsider what may no longer be serving our health and wellbeing.
Websites:
https://magnificentmidlife.com/
https://themuttonclub.com/
https://menoclarity.com/
Magnificent Midlife Podcast:
https://magnificentmidlife.com/podcast/
Rachel's book: https://magnificentmidlife.com/book/
Social media links:
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/magnificentmidlife/
Twitter/ X | https://twitter.com/MagnifMidlife
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/magnificentmidlife
Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachellankester/
Pinterest | https://www.pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1/
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Many adults today experience insecurity around water. Cori Myka addresses the underlying fears approximately half of adults have today about being in the water. She transforms adult non-swimmers from fearful beginners into confident achievers of their wildest aquatic aspirations. Featured on NPR and in USA Today, Cori is the founder of Calm Within Adult Swim and the creator of the Foundations of Change learning method. With more than two decades of experience, her unique approach to adult swimming lessons combines mental conditioning with physical skill mastery, resulting in highly acclaimed teaching methods. Cori's influence extends beyond the pool, shaping everyday lives. She helps students understand the difference between one's brain warnings and physiological needs.
Cori points out that during typical foundational swim lessons what is missing is how to understand how one's emotions may cause panic. Cori begins her swim lessons with the mental side of being comfortable in the water, which involves satisfying the brain that one is safe and coming back to a feeling of safety. She helps students create space between the mental idea of a problem and how one responds. She notes that we often receive messaging that if we practice physical skills enough, we should be able to execute such skills perfectly. That, however, is not enough; most of us need to address the mental side of the equation as well, especially when fear is involved.
She imparts her wisdom to students and instructors at Orca Swim School in Seattle, virtually and in person. One of her students from South Dakota learned to overcome fear of water online with Cori. He quipped that all he needed was a phone, a lifeguarded pool and a good attitude to complete Cori's course successfully online. Cori supported this client before, during and after his swims at his local community center, both via her school's modules and with personal coaching.
Cori also offers personalized and tropical retreats, with the next one scheduled for Maui, Hawaii in September. Enter her drawing this Saturday for early bird enrollees by going to her website, below, for free gifts.
In this episode, Cori addresses, among other things, how 45% of people are afraid of the water, and what underlies this fear, as well as the role mindset plays in learning to swim. Cori maintains that it is never too late to start learning, and taking lessons can provide you with the confidence, safety, and ease you need to enjoy the water. Her lessons are specifically designed to cater to adult learners, taking into account their unique learning styles and abilities. Many of her clients are in their 70s, though she helps people of all ages learn how to enjoy the water. Maybe some of our listeners will learn how to participate with confidence in all the aquatic activities you used to sit out!
Learn more:
https://adultswimlesson.com/
cori@orcaswimschool.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calmwithinadultswim
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calmwithinadultswim/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cori-myka-62314a18/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/adultswimlesson
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUs_T6vPOPkbYOqr5mmt2GQ
Free Intro Class:
https://online.adultswimlesson.com/courses/calm-within-introduction-class?ref=08bfb8
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Sweta Sansara, a Nepalese woman, is a passionate advocate against the stigmas surrounding alcoholism, mental health, food addiction, and related issues. With 17 years of sobriety and profound personal healing, she is dedicated to sharing her journey to inspire and support others in their paths to mental wellness and holistic healing.
Sweta is the first person from Nepal to join the U.S. armed forces. She joined the U.S. Marines at age 18 and spent two and a half years serving the United States. She then studied theater and pursued an acting career in Los Angeles, while working at the tony Beverly Hills Hotel, attending Oscar parties, meeting Diana Ross, John Stamos, Stanley Tucci and other big names in the business, before feeling called to return to the east coast, where her immediate family resides.
Sweta shares the darkest parts of her journey and relatable experiences online that give thousands of people hope. She offers resources to those struggling with addiction, and will start her own podcast, Wild & Free in Recovery, in April 2024.
Sweta, who begins each day sitting in meditation, is raising two wonderful children in the Washington, DC area. She is the founder of the Nepal Youth Fund, which brings resources to schools in small villages of Nepal, and on whose board I serve. My life, and those of many others, are blessed having Sweta in their lives.
Learn more at www.Sweta.comFollow Sweta at:
Instagram: @Sweta
YouTube @SwetaSansara
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Virginia (Ginnie) Isaacs Cover has worked throughout her career with children and adults with complex medical conditions and developmental disabilities. She is an advocate for those with disabilities and their families and published a widely read guidebook for those affected by X and Y chromosome variations. She explores the impact of a prenatal diagnosis on a young family in her new book, Supplemental Needs: A Novel.
Ginnie became a “special needs parent” when her younger son was diagnosed prenatally with 47,XXY, also known as Klinefelter syndrome. Although sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) is more common than Down syndrome at an estimated 1 in 400 live births, it is recognized and properly diagnosed in fewer than 25 percent of the affected population. She became a passionate advocate for families affected by disabilities, including the X and Y chromosome variations, and provides educational programs for families and professionals who work with this population.
In 2012, she published Living with Klinefelter Syndrome, Trisomy X, and 47,XYY. The book provides clear explanations of the genetics involved, as well as diagnosis, disclosure, development from infancy through potential health and fertility issues, and educational and psycho-social considerations. This guidebook has helped thousands of people grow their understanding of this condition.
She believes it is equally important for literature to cover the emotional impact that prenatal testing has on parents while also improving early identification of X and Y chromosome conditions. She felt this could only be done through the sharing of stories. Her goal in writing the novel was to explore the impact of a prenatal genetic diagnosis on a young family who decides to continue a pregnancy despite a medical geneticist’s advice.
Supplemental Needs: A Novel portrays a young family whose lives change on learning through prenatal genetic diagnosis that their baby will have Klinefelter syndrome, most likely causing some degree of disability, as well as infertility and possible sexuality issues.
In this episode, Ginnie speaks about prenatal counseling; termination of pregnancy when chromosomal variations exist; societal acceptance of KS, the neurodiverse, LGBTQ individuals and how it has changed over time; and attitudes in Judaism toward LGBTQ individuals and why these are so different across the branches (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox)
Supplemental Needs incorporates accurate information and creates needed conversation around what we each believe about continuing a pregnancy where there may be some level of disability, or when there may be a slightly elevated rate of homosexuality, or of gender dysphoria. Readers gain greater awareness and understanding about the parental experience of when a child is not following a typical developmental trajectory, familiarizing the public with sex chromosome aneuploidy in a non-sensational manner.
"I want readers to experience the sadness, fear, and hopefulness felt by [the characters] as they wrestle with the choices that must be made, and the impact they have on their son, and their family," Ginnie says. "Through the characters and events, readers will also confront the research suggesting that sexual orientation and identity may be heavily influenced by DNA."
Ginnie lives in the Washington, D.C., metro area and has two adult sons and three grandchildren. She volunteers through her synagogue for the Interfaith Refugee Support group. She also is a board member for L’Arche Long Island, a non-profit agency providing housing for adults with developmental disabilities, vocational and life skills training. Ginnie holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan. Learn more at VirginiaCover.com
https://www.facebook.com/virginia.cover
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Chwynyn (pronounced “Quinin”) Vaughan is a proponent of slow beauty and its benefits to our all-over physical, mental and spiritual health, and to skin health in particular. She has a background in midwifery, health care and design. A deep love for botanicals has woven its way through each of these experiences, enriching every step of her path.
These experiences, along with her passion for plants, led to Chwynyn blending wise woman wisdom and sound science to create handcrafted skin care products offered through her creation, Slow Botanicals. She believes that, when authentic, beauty can bring out the best of who we are, treating our body as a temple. Beauty, Chywnyn says, is linked to how we live our lives, and influenced by our spiritual and mental health.
Each of Chwynyn's products is made in small batches from botanicals she harvests in the wild and picks from her organic garden. To make the cut, botanicals included must heal and nourish sensitive, dry and aging skin. As these products are meant for the most sensitive of skin, the hand-picked flowers, leaves, mushrooms, lichens and seeds are combined only with the shortest list possible of pure ingredients. A lifetime of unhealthy care products alongside changing hormones make this essential for your health.
Chwynyn knows that healthy skin are not only dependent on what you put on your skin, and so she encourages the practice of slow beauty. Chwynyn says that "slow beauty is closely related to slow living. By making daily choices that stem from a slow beauty perspective, you will enjoy improved physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. Your days will feel better. You’ll appreciate yourself more." Slow living is creating a life based on what truly matters, noticing every moment with one's senses and inside the body, staying present and living with integrity, with a strong environmental outlook.
Chwynyn lives on a small peninsula in Washington State, just a short walk from both beach and forest, with her artist-husband and two young children. In the garden surrounding their home, Chwynyn grows around 95% of her family’s fruit and veggies for the entire year. The beautiful herb and flower garden provide ingredients for her botanical skincare products and let her bring cut flowers into the home. Equally important, these blooms feed the many pollinators in her garden.
Chwynyn sells her pure botanically infused skin care products at slowbotanicals.com. You will also find Chwynyn’s insights on slow beauty and skin care on her blog.
Website: slowbotanicals.com https://www.slowbotanicals.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chwynyn-vaughan-slow-botanicals2171a1281/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slow.botanicals/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chwynyn
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/slowbotanicals/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Carlene Thissen is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in New Jersey, and now living in Florida. Singing, piano, and guitar playing were taught to her by her dear father, mother, and cousin; but she’s also daughter of a generation with a deep desire to hand down peace and love to the "youngers": the Baby Boomers.
She experienced firsthand some of the most captivating periods and moments in the realm of popular music, like Woodstock '69, when her path crossed with wonderful people to experience not only the music, awakening one morning at Woodstock to Joan Baez's voice, but the air of freedom and peace, and the feeling of having no fear of anything. She ended up never meeting those people again, but their spirits and souls never left her side.
After that experience, she turned into a working person and created a successful business. She stopped making music for 40 years, but deeply remembered the air of Woodstock.
That changed when she got involved as a volunteer in the Immokalee Unincorporated Agricultural Community. From that catalyst event, she ended up working at the University of Florida’s research center, which inspired her to get a Master’s Degree in Latin American History, write a book based on her final thesis called “Immokalee’s Fields of Hope,” (based on the moving stories she gleaned from the Immokalee people she got to know), make a documentary based on the book, which needed music she decided to write and perform, even if she didn't know if she could. But she did.
From then on, she could not stop writing songs to tell stories of people who are often overlooked, like farm workers, the homeless, and children who lose parents, and songs to inspire everyone to Go Change the World. She doesn't want to leave with music sitting out there that could benefit people.
Carlene's journey is not just about music, but also about the generational value music can bring, the stories that have brought her making music with roots in the first edition of Woodstock, and the work as a volunteer with immigrant communities, which also led her to advocate for compassionate immigration policy, and writing books on the stories she came across.
In this episode, Carlene shared a bit of an a capella version of her beautiful new song, "Carry It On." Carlene honors the "God winks" in her life that brought her to the fulfilling life she enjoys today. While she lives in Naples, Florida now, she soon will move to be near Woodstock, where the energy she experienced caused her musical journey to take flight. She will continue to perform locally in both places, much to the delight of audiences who say her voice is reminiscent of her idol, Joan Baez!
Learn more:
Press Release: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P1NkGl2D6JGPC3jWQomBrPZ1E2JLnotm8sYpeotqOzg/edit?usp=sharing
https://www.carlenethissen.com/
Listen to her:
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/carlenethissen
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/0eDwUAM9QGHWh4ZC2Ksua7?si=1Or6aa7cRdCHhFQVx6oILw
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/carlene-thissen/194758792
Follow her:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/carlenemusic
Instagram http://instagram.com/carlenethissen
ReverbNation http://www.reverbnation.com/carlenethissen
X http://twitter.com/carlenethissen
TikTok @carlenethissenmusic
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kim Rahir is a 60-year-old mother of three who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) ten years ago and decided to ignore her doctor's advice and muscle her way back to a happy life. She did not want to have the identity of a sick person and undergo lifelong treatment for her MS. Instead, after one year of exercising, she felt "normal" again. She continued to train and worked her way to become European Champion in Masters Weightlifting in her age and weight category last year. She started exercising in earnest six years ago and has had no relapses or treatment for her MS.
Her journey inspired her to leave her career in journalism in her 50s and become a health coach for middle aged women, with a focus on reactivating and rebuilding muscle. Today, she helps women tap into an abundant source of vitality by reactivating and maintaining their muscles, while ditching diet culture conditioning in favor of eating to nourish and flourish. Kim helps middle aged women drop weight, get strong and boost energy by leveraging muscle mass and mindset work.
Kim offers inspiration and insight for all of us in this episode. "I literally muscled my way out of illness and I now help midlife women deal with a host of health symptoms by building muscle and strength," Kim says. "My story made me change my career from journalism to coaching and I’m on an empowering muscle mission to help women claim their place and their happiness in midlife. I think that focusing on muscle (beyond just training and eating) can be a powerful driver of self-care and empowerment." Her mission is to "help women embrace muscle and strength as the one-stop-shop solution for a host of health problems often from our thirties onwards." Her approach is to turn scientific knowledge about human health into actionable tool kits for everyday life.
Kim works with women in person and online. Her clients can reach out to her 24/7 via an app and can feel supported by her all the time. After only two weeks of training with Kim, her clients report that they "feel different."
Kim's “Fabulous In 15” program--requiring only 15 minutes a day-- is a holistic coaching approach that helps women implement lifestyle changes that are sustainable with a step-by-step build-up of small habits and mindset techniques that help them stay the distance. "With a routine tailored to where they are at, they can start strength training safely immediately and eating intentionally to improve their quality of life without getting derailed when life gets in the way," Kim maintains. After feeling betrayed by her physical body, Kim now believes in the "simplicity of physical strength."
Kim is the mother of three grown children. She is German, speaks languages and lives in sunny Spain. She strives each day to learn something new, connect and to give back to others.
How to get in touch with Kim:
You can access a free assessment tool about your health and strength at https://kimrahir.com
You can also follow her on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-rahir/
https://www.facebook.com/kim.rahir/
https://www.instagram.com/kim.rahir/
If you want to get in touch directly, you can email Kim at
kim@kimrahir.com
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
After her daughter left for college, Allie Hill was shocked to find she felt lonely, a bit lost and a little purposeless. Allie spent months wondering what she was supposed to do with all her free time now that no one needed her 24/7 as a parent. She marveled that there were so many resources available when her daughter Izzy was a baby, but none for mothers making the transition to empty nesting, despite the fact that 22.2 million people become empty nesters every year in the U.S.
Eventually, Allie figured out how to re-define her purpose which, for her, meant getting back to writing, launching a blog, becoming a certified coach, and feeling happy and fulfilled again. This is when she decided to become the resource for Empty Nest moms who struggled in the same ways she did. Allie is now the author of The Girlfriend’s Guide to Empty Nesting, as well as a life coach and speaker helping moms navigate their next chapter after the kids leave home. Her book tour has started in Colorado.
Allie Hill spent 15+ years as a journalist, working for AP Radio in London, was the West Coast editor at Daily News Record, and is a certified DesireMap Facilitator for author/speaker Danielle LaPorte. She’s earned life coaching certifications from both The Life Coach School and Oprah's life coach, Martha Beck. Allie’s been featured on national television, is regularly interviewed on a variety of podcasts, and shares her knowledge in workshops and trainings throughout the United States.
Becoming a life coach reinvigorated her entire life. She helps her clients who struggle with a loss of identity after becoming empty nesters, and assists them in finding a new life purpose. "This is my time," Allie says, and she helps others believe in themselves and pursue their new life chapters with joy, as well. "How do you want to show up in every situation?" Allie asks. We can set intentions for each thing that we do, every day, and maybe a bit differently when our intense periods of everyday parenting have ended.
Find out more about Allie on her website:https://alliehillcoaching.com/
To order her book, The Girlfriends’ Guide to Empty Nesting:
Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Girlfriends-Guide-Empty-Nesting/dp/B0CQ1BWJXT
Kindle version:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQZCN6G6
Follow Allie on social media:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/alliehillcoaching
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alliehillcoaching
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Rimi Chakraborty traded in the trappings of status, affluence and the insatiable desire for more, for true success -- living with purpose and meaning. When the traditional metrics of success and external validation became soul-sucking rather than soul-filling, Rimi left a successful career to pursue her dreams at the intersection of health, happiness and balanced living. Today, Rimi integrates her world class education, business acumen, and nearly 25 years of experience and certifications in yoga and meditation into leadership consulting, 1:1 executive coaching and transformational retreats. Rimi is the co-author of Beyond Resilience to ROOTsilience, released on February 14, 2024.
Her fantastic new book, co-authored by Functional Medicine Health Coach Samantha Anderson, provides ancient wisdom for modern leadership, addressing each reader's unique vulnerabilities and symptoms.
This book offers readers a guide tailored to individual needs, including:
-A revolutionary Rootsilience Leadership Map to recognize the interconnectedness of your leadership behavior and your emotional, physical, and mental signs of ease and dis-ease and integrate deep learning.
-Practical leadership exercises, healing foods and recipes, and go-to practices for movement and meditation that result in conscious leadership tools we all can use.
-Access to "Beyond the Book", an online platform for guided videos, resources and an online community sharing journeys to become a Rootsilient leader.
Online courses and retreats at Rimi's gorgeous retreat center in the Azores complement the book and its profound teachings. The authors have embarked on a book tour, currently focused on the northeast U.S.
Rimi holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, an engineering degree from the University in Pennsylvania and more than two decades of training and experience in yoga, mindfulness and energy healing. Rimi provides leadership development consulting that focuses on whole person health, fostering enhanced employee engagement, morale and general well-being. Rimi lives in the Azores, Portugal, at her lodge and learning center, where she leads transformational retreats and leadership workshops. Rimi shares deeply in this episode, discussing her challenging childhood, how she chased perfectionism while climbing the ladder of success, how she and her co-author bonded over the pandemic and birthed the Rootsilience book to help others who were stretched beyond their limits, and how she found her rootedness after she trusted her gut and honored her deep knowing. Learn more at www.rimichakra.com.
Find out more about her book Beyond Resilience to Rootsilience: https://www.rootsilience.com/
Follow on social media:Instagram: www.instagram.com/rootsilience
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rootsilience
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rootsilience/Access the Leadership Map: https://www.rootsilience.com/f/the-rootsilience-leadership-map
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Hanna Olivas is the CEO and Co-Founder of She Rises Studios, as well as an author and public speaker. Hanna was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has paved her way to becoming one of the most influential women of 2024. Her passion is empowering other women to become leaders.
Hanna also founded the Brave & Beautiful Blood Cancer Foundation. Her journey started in 2017 when she was first diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. Her terminal diagnosis led her to realize that life is "not a race, it's a journey," and sometimes a "tug of war," in trying to determine what she can and cannot control. She believes that each day we can wake up and "become something better than we were the day before," recognizing that we are our "only limits" in who we want to be, how we feel, and how we love and respond to life and to the people around us. She no longer engages in drama, but rather strives to become part of the solution, of the peace one can experience, by forgiving and loving unconditionally.
She Rises Studios, founded by mother-daughter duo, Hanna Olivas and Adriana Luna Carlos, is an Empowered Women's Multi-Digital Marketing Studio and Publishing Company dedicated to inspiring, educating and celebrating women navigating diverse challenges. She Rises Studios is a publishing and public relations firm for women entrepreneurs. Under Hanna's and Adriana's visionary leadership, the studio has created an environment where women uplift one another, fostering personal growth and resilience. She Rises Studios stands as a beacon of empowerment, championing the strength, education and fearlessness of women worldwide.
One of She Rises Studios' outlets is Fenix TV, available in 136 countries via Apple TV, Roku, the Fenix TV app, and other streaming services. Fenix TV has a library of empowering content on a wide range of topics by 100 TV hosts who deliver presentations akin to TED Talks, as well as broadcasts of festivals and summits. An upcoming documentary on Fenix TV will include the voices of 100 women across the globe speaking on how they view health, wealth and culture. Another is called "Empower Her," featuring everyday women seeking empowerment from other human beings, with a core value of collaboration.
Hanna's motto is to "unleash her" for good in the world. She has assisted clients in leaving their 9-5 jobs to earn seven figures as entrepreneurs pursuing their true life's callings.
"Every day you wake up and get to decide who you want to be," which, for Hanna, means giving to the world and her family and friends without expectations.
Learn more about this extraordinary human and her work at the links below:
Website: https://www.sherisesstudios.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherisesstudios/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherisesstudios_llc/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNYFsDMtobMZFED0iXU_LkQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-rises-studios/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sherisesstudios
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Hazel Secco is the founder and CEO of Align Financial Solutions, LLC. She brings more than a decade of financial industry experience with a passion for advocating women’s financial wellness as a Certified Financial Planner and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA). Hazel's mission is to empower women through education, enabling them to make informed decisions with confidence and clarity. Having experienced the financial and emotional strain of divorce in her family of origin, she became a CDFA to better understand and support her clients during this challenging transition. She prioritizes addressing women's holistic well-being by collaborating with other wellness practitioners and healthcare professionals.
Hazel's dedication to empowering women to take control of their financial lives is deeply personal. She successfully navigated her journey as a business owner, mother and wife, confronting personal challenges stemming from her cultural background and upbringing. Hazel, unafraid of vulnerability, shares her own experiences to uplift women facing similar situations. Her commitment to women's wellness, both as a mother and a female business owner, coupled with her collaboration with other wellness professionals, distinguishes her as a true pioneer in advocating for women from diverse perspectives.
Hazel's first "discovery meeting" with potential clients begins with an exploration of what is most important to that person. "I try to help a client determine what they want to secure for their financial futures, when they want to retire, when they might want to go back to work [if they were at-home parents] or if they want to change their career paths or go back to school," Hazel says. Clarifying such desires can inform how one should plan for divorce and separation of assets. "It is frightening for women who may not know where to start or what to do," Hazel adds. "Qualitative answers [to the questions I pose] can take a long time to answer." Hazel and her team can help alleviate financial concerns that are often attendant to what can be an emotionally draining process. "A CDFA is the first divorce professional one should reach out to so that you can understand your options," advises Hazel.
Hazel came to the U.S. from South Korea in 2010 to pursue her studies, graduated from University at Buffalo, SUNY with a BA in Psychology and remained in the New York/New Jersey area.
Hazel's company assists women with retirement planning, risk assessment, divorce financial analysis and investment management. Many of her clients come to her via referrals from collaborative divorce attorneys and therapists. I wish I had met her before I got divorced!
Learn more and follow Hazel at the links below:
Website: www.alignfinancialsolutions.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alignfinancialsolutionsllc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazel-secco/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Elaine Reynolds has been a Master Personal Trainer for more than 20 years. She teaches women over 50 to not give up or give into the seemingly crazy things happening to their bodies. Elaine hit an exercise plateau in her 40s and wondered if that was just the way things would be for her in midlife. She felt that yoga was not enough for her to keep her muscles toned. She started experimenting with 20-minute workouts that incorporated low impact cardio, power yoga and pre- and post-workout stretching, and found her Zen.
Her online programs, ZenStrength50plus and the ZenStrength50plus taste-test that she calls the Lengthen & Strengthen Your Body Program, give women a holistic and challenging way of training, with a planned system of body-shaping 20-minute online workouts and mindset shifting techniques. Elaine designs workouts that won’t wreck you but will give you toned muscles and flexibility. She maintains that working out is 80% mindset, so her workouts are layered with mindset training. "Intentional workouts," Elaine says, will build confidence and make one's body stronger and less achy. She encourages her clients to build positivity clues into their days to reflect their goals.
Twice Elaine has sold all of her possessions to follow her dream to be an expat. Eight years ago, at age 50, she had an epiphany and brought a one-way ticket to Bali! After stints in Italy, India, New Zealand and Australia, Bali now feels like home to Elaine. You can find her cycling through the villages of Ubud or at a cafe with a cappuccino in hand. Elaine appreciates the power of now. "Even a boring day can be a beautiful moment," Elaine declares with joy!
Learn more and follow Elaine:Website - https://corestrength50plus.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/corestrength50plus/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/coreStrength50plus/
Try her freebie Hip & Glute Strengthening Sequence, with a bonus workout: https://corestrength50plus.com/how-to-fix-a-flat-butt/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Siobhan Farr is the founder of Digital Nomads Beyond 50 ("DBN50"), which is a global resource network to inform and inspire location-independent aspirations for those in their late 40s+. As a community, DNB50 creates connections throughout the world with others who currently travel/work remote, are planning to, or are just curious about Digital Nomad life.She left her life in Dallas, Texas in 2020 to begin her nomad years. She was looking forward to adding new countries to the 34 she already had visited, but the pandemic locked her in the first destination of her six countries in six months itinerary. Her initial three weeks in Ecuador stretched into 13 months!
As a result, she pivoted her plans and became an "UnintentionalDigital Nomad." Her search for others who were older "Location Independents" led her to become the "Spark Originator" of Digital Nomads Beyond 50.
Siobhan's personal experience growing her Urban MosaiX MeetUp to 1300+ members helped her in this endeavor. Siobhan grew up in beautiful Belize, then moved to Pennsylvania, where she lived with her Swedish American stepfamily on a dairy farm. She coincidentally married a Swedish American. They had a daughter together and later divorced. She settled in Texas, where one of her many jobs included a specialization in diversity training. She started Urban MosaiX initially to create social diversity for her daughter. She observed that, in Dallas, many people were working in diverse companies but that they did not appear to have opportunities to socialize together, for various reasons, including natural affinity for many to socialize with people similar to themselves. Siobhan created a safe space for people to socialize outside of their typical circles and to ask questions of those who differed from themselves, in the spirit of true understanding and strengthening community.DNB50's online community is thriving, with more than 4,000 members. Sixty percent of DNB50's members are either planning to work remotely or are simply curious; the other forty percent are traveling and working remotely. Siobhan turned to her previous profession in corporate Learning & Development to organize and present the DNB50 Virtual Summit to almost 300 participants in June 2021, which included 30+ topics presented by 28 experts.
In June 2022, DNB50 launched its first LifeMap CoLIVEworkWorkshop in Medellin, Colombia. The focused yet fun retreat was aimed at explorer digital nomads planning to launch this type of life.
This May, DNB50 will host the 3rd Annual LifeMap and in late July DNB50 will host Connect CoLIVEwork for Experienced DNs. These are the first Digital Nomad CoLiveWork events specifically designed for older nomads!
See https://digitalnomadsbeyond50.com/2024-lifemap-colivework-medellin-colive-cowork-midlife-digital-nomads/ to learn more.
Siobhan is truly a HomeFree Digital Nomad. She has no permanent base; her home is wherever she lays her head on the pillow that night.
From September to December, she returned to Dallas to assist with in-person Medicare and ObamaCare Annual Enrollment. The other eight months of the year, from various global locations, she served her clients via internet.
As a solo Digital Nomad in her 60s, and a woman of color, Siobhan wants to inspire others to banish the belief that it'stoo late for them to reinvent themselves. "Flip the page; the future is still unwritten!" she says.
One of Siobhan's tips: Try the Gratitude - Journal app, which allows users to include photos of vision boards and more when creating searchable gratitude lists.
Learn more at her website: https://digitalnomadsbeyond50.com/
DNB50's offerings also include a stellar podcast. Below are the top three DNB50 podcast interviews:
T•Mobile Radio Diaries 29m:03s
https://spoti.fi/3NiY6pY
She Hit Refresh 42m:48s
https://bit.ly/SHR-DNB50-Interview
The Radio Vagabond 31m:05s
https://bit.ly/TRV-DNB50-Interview
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Erica Ginsberg is the author of the much-needed book, CREATIVE RESILIENCE, released on December 5, 2023, [https://www.ericaginsberg.com/books] and blog [https://www.ericaginsberg.com/blog], which help artists reframe the challenges of the creative process and creative life. The book features experiences of artists from a variety of disciplines, ages and backgrounds. Topics include motivation, self-confidence, blocks, rejection and balancing creative pursuits with the rest of life. CREATIVE RESILIENCE "is the book I was born to write," Erica says. It draws from her journey and those of others with whom she has worked, recognizing that the creative process is part of everything that we do, whether we are artists or not. In the book, Erica helps readers navigate their own creative processes. She encourages readers to think of their motivations behind their creative endeavors as a way to stay focused on why they choose to do what they do and to not allow discouragements and rejections derail creative projects. "Know what your best is, which is a spectrum [depending on various factors on a given day]," says Erica, "and continue to strive, while being realistic," as you move forward. She observes that rejection can be used as a form of feedback.
Erica has drawn on creativity in a variety of different roles: writer, documentary filmmaker, story consultant, and project manager. While working at the U.S. Department of State, she pursued her masters degree in film and video and co-founded the documentary film organization Docs In Progress [http://www.docsinprogress.org], serving as its founding executive director for more than a decade. Docs In Progress is thriving, but it took three years before its founders were able to pay themselves for their work. She also co-hosts The D-Word [http://www.d-word.com], a peer-to-peer global community for documentary professionals.
One of Erica's documentary film projects is called "Creative Feds," about musicians whose "day jobs" were working in federal government agencies. The film explores the ways these individuals balance their two careers and how having a creative outlet is essential and can feed all parts of a person's life.
In addition to working in the arts, Erica organizes professional development study tours to the United States for mid-career professionals from around the world as a Senior Program Officer with Meridian International Center. She finds joy in travel, painting (though she does not consider herself a painter), collage, reading, nature hikes and spending time with friends, family and her dog Lulu. Her goal is to always keep learning something new.
If you are in the Washington, DC area, come to Erica's book talk on CREATIVE RESILIENCE at Docs In Progress (8560 2nd Ave., Silver Spring, MD) on January 17, 2024 from 6:30-8:30 pm.
Learn more about Erica's work at ericaginsberg.com
Follow her on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/erica.ginsberg
https://www.facebook.com/erica.ginsberg
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaginsberg/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Petia Kolibova Burns is an abundance and light activation coach. She grew up in the Czech Republic, lived all over the world, and joined this podcast from Las Vegas, where she lives with her husband and four-month-old baby girl. Petia grew up not feeling that she belonged anywhere. She "ran away from life, outsourcing her happiness," and suffered through decades of an eating disorder, despite the fact that she was winning fitness contests and was being told that she had the "perfect body." After discovering, honing and honoring her own gifts, she began guiding other women to intuitively connect with their inner visions so that they could experience personal and professional magnetism and become "unapologetically abundant."
Her mission is to empower visionaries who are on the path to embodying their fullest self-expression. She helps others learn "to soulfully expand into a quantum leap in all dimensions of their lives."
Petia gives her clients clarity and steps to unlock their divine feminine and adopt an abundance mindset. Her approach as a business and life coach is holistic. Not only do her clients succeed financially, but they also create deeper healing and develop a new sense of self worth by working with Petia. Her mentorships typically last at least six months.
Petia offers free "abundance activation calls," which is her way of paying forward the blessings, growth and lessons she has learned over the course of her life. On January 24, 2024, women may join her "5 Steps to 5 Figures" one day masterclass, in which participants can learn "to create sustainable 5-figure income streams without burnout." Sign up here: https://bit.ly/5stepsTO5figures
For a free abundance activation call: https://petiakolibova.com/abundance-activation-process/
To learn more about Petia's work, go to her website: https://petiakolibova.com/
https://www.instagram.com/petiakolibova/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unapologeticallyabundant/
Listen to her wisdom on YouTube or her Unapologetically Abundant podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/@AbundanceActivated
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unapologetically-abundant/id1458932675
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Annie Gaudreault teaches women in midlife how to feel great! This vibrant, wise, French Canadian made a huge pivot in her life when she left her 25+ year career as a brand consultant working with Fortune 500 company executives to serve the wellness needs of those living busy lives.Annie is a nutritionist and health coach, who founded VEEV Health & Wellness in Toronto, Canada, to support the needs of smart and successful individuals, giving them the confidence to do what they want to do, with the energy that they need. VEEV supports clients in the art and science of aging well.
"In my early thirties I had three different careers and was doing well professionally, but personally I wasn’t doing well and was totally burnt out, " Annie says. "Then I discovered running and became an endurance athlete in my late thirties, completing over 10 marathons and three long-distance triathlon Ironman competitions, all while running my business."
While marathoning and Ironman competitions may not be in the near future for many of us, Annie coaches her clients to make time for what matters to them. She was guided by someone who told her to take a look at the magazines she tended to buy which, for her, were all health and nutrition-related. So she got off of the corporate world treadmill and followed her passions.
"I took a total career shift and went back to school in my forties and am now a certified holistic nutritionist and founder of VEEV Health & Wellness," says Annie. "I help women in mid-life make sense of all the health and wellness information so they can make informed decisions and establish habits and systems that support their best health and best life and realize that some of their best years are yet to come."
Annie invites listeners to take on activities that align with who you are. Maybe we extroverts can start with dance as exercise, for example. Solo hiking may be more appealing for those who are more introverted. Her point is to start making healthy changes in our lives because we care about ourselves.
Annie also advises that we can stop judging foods as good or bad. While undoubtedly some foods provide more nutritional value than others, we can simply start to make better choices about what we eat. That will, in turn, make us feel more energetic.
Annie shared many pearls of wisdom and helpful information for those of us who need motivation, especially following holiday binges. Check out her beautiful website, veev.ca. You can start with her free offerings, which include an intial 30 minute complimentary session to explore your individual health challenges, or her 3-minutes-to-read newsletter that covers such matters as trends in nutrition supplements and how to make mindset shifts. Clients come to her for not only weight loss and nutrition, but also for help alleviating brain fog, joint pain, anxiety and depression through healthy habit changes.
She is a regular speaker to the media, corporations and lifestyle organizations on various health topics. You can learn more about and connect with Annie at:
veev.ca
https://www.instagram.com/veev_wellness/
https://www.facebook.com/veev.ca
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anniegaudreault/
Email her directly at annie@veev.ca
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Gail Marlene Schwartz is a relationship artist, musician and dual U.S./Canadian citizen. Gail uses her writing as a way to explore who she is and to connect with others. All of her writing has emotional resonance with her. My favorite line from our interview: "Mess and success can co-exist," she said, as she defined what she believes to be a healthy family, i.e., one whose members are willing to be introspective, create trust and be vulnerable with each other. She strives to become her best version by keeping a focus on her own choices in any situation, asking herself, "What can I do to grow?"
An award-winning author, Gail has penned a new Jewish, queer, coming-of-age novel that fearlessly explores the difficult topics of mental health, suicide and addiction. Inspired by her own journey with anxiety and healing from childhood trauma, “Falling Through the Night” (Demeter Press, Feb. 25, 2024) captures many of the growing pains of young, queer folks as they struggle to find their footing and independence in adulthood, to which much of Gail can deeply relate. In this episode and in her latest book, Gail touches on:
--How the story takes inspiration from Gail’s own relationship with her mother, her personal struggles with anxiety, and the suicide of her childhood best friend
--The ways in which classification and labeling can be helpful and harmful in terms of mental illnesses
--The importance of found family and how the LGBTQ+ community as a whole has redefined what it means to choose your family
--The complex decision to put a child up for adoption or to adopt a child, and the trauma that can come with those decisions
--The representation of Judaism, a faith that Gail shares with her main character
Falling Through the Night is a deeply moving novel aimed to empathetically demonstrate the complexities when healing from trauma while also showcasing the joy and community of queer folks, topics that I think are in alignment with Becoming Your Best Version podcast listeners.
Gail is co-author of the books My Sister’s Girlfriend and The Loudest Bark (Rebel Mountain Press) and co-editor of the forthcoming essay collection, Boyhood Reimagined: Stories of Queer Moms Raising Sons (Motina Books). She is a founding editor of Hotch Potch Literature and Art, a collaborative online magazine, and also a freelance editor, writing coach, and writing instructor at the Community College of Vermont. Gail lives in Montpelier, Vermont with her partner, Erin; she spends every other weekend in Montreal with her ex, who is still her best friend, Lucie, and their teenage son, Alexi. You can read more about Gail, follow her or contact her at: gailmarleneschwartz.com
Twitter: @GSchwartzauthor
Instagram: @gailmarleneschwartzauthor
Email: gailmarleneschwartz@gmail.com
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Gail Taylor is extraordinary! She found her purpose in midlife and found a way to build her finance career around that purpose. She then pivoted full time into a career helping others full time, using her passion for music and "superpower" of songwriting to help others meet life's challenges with grace and intention.
In this episode, Gail shares the story of her midlife reinvention, in which she traded a successful finance career to help others become their best selves. Her unique public speaking approach harnesses her songwriting talent to motivate and inspire. She became a songwriter at age 62, as well as a keynoter speaker, entrepreneur and passionate advocate for the power of music to inspire change. Her catalog of 13 published songs (produced and recorded in Nashville) draws from her life experiences and imparts invaluable messages, taking center stage in her speaking engagements. She considers songs to be stories, and she uses her powerful songs drawn from her personal experiences to help others re-write their own stories.
For the past 35 years, Gail has stood on stages and spoken about finance and socially responsible investing. Her journey began in the business world, where she honed her skills and expertise. She attained her Certified Investment Manager Analyst (CIMA) designation from Wharton University, acquired her MBA at Queens University, and underwent executive training at Harvard Business School, all while building a successful Investment Advisory practice.
In the late 1970s, she embarked on a parallel journey, one dedicated to personal betterment and the art of setting and achieving goals. Then she started learning and playing the piano at age 58! Music flooded into her life, and she retired at 61 to begin studying music in earnest (including at Berklee School of Music--my son's alma mater). She reinvented herself as a musician. She is currently penning her second book, Curve Balls, which contains personal stories and tools to inspire folks to take action in designing their own lives. She started a kickstarting campaign (see below) to help her continue to get her messages out and be on stage in the empowerment world.
She observes that the Covid pandemic and opioid crisis presented both challenges and opportunities for people to consider reinventing their lives. Her primary speaking topics are mental health and addiction; empowering women, having worked in a male-dominated industry for most of her career; and tools for leveling up one's life. Her mission is to help as many people as she can to deal with life's curveballs.
You can learn more about Gail, support her and follow her work at the links below. Her current Kickstarter campaign (ending 12/22/23) will help her help others and includes clever rewards, like digital access to her upcoming book and the music that accompanies the book, an autographed copy of her book, having your name in her book, an inspirational pendant necklace (which include messages like "Be Your Own Wings"), public speaking discounts and private mentoring sessions with tools to uplevel your life. Gail will even write an acoustic custom song and create a photo video (at $1,000 off her customary price) for someone a donor loves, interviewing the donor and using personal stories to write the lyrics. Those who donate to the campaign can keep the rewards or gift them to others. Listen to this episode and be inspired!
Website: http://www.gailtaylormusic.com
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gailtaylormusic/curve-balls-an-inspirational-book-speaking-circuit
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/gailtaylormusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gailtaylormusic
TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/gailtaylormusic
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/gailtaylormusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1IpG4HEUG1OPL5bOtUgZhx?si=MG_ySn6aS0eHDO9-AKsaGQ
Speakers Bureau of Canada: https://speakerscanada.com/keynote-speaker/gail-taylor/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailtaylor1/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Sally Jean Fox, PhD is the author of Meeting the Muse After Midlife (2023), a memoir about finding hope and meaning in the second half of life—particularly through creative expression. She is a writer, performer, artist, and coach who supports midlife-plus adults to shape their narratives about the future and design more artful and creative lives.
An engaging and dynamic speaker, Sally shares in a way that feeds the spark in others. She has helped hundreds of clients find their authentic voices, share their stories, and design their lives. Her long-running weekly Engaging Presence blog offers hope and inspiration to those who want to live meaningfully in changing times. Her "Vital Presence" podcast highlights those who are “Shaping the stories that are shaping the world,” with a focus on becoming more creatively expressive in the second half of life.
In her earlier career, Sally directed innovative leadership programs, both as a consultant and a university professor and department chair, training hundreds of professionals, from all walks of life, to lead with passion and presence.
She holds a doctorate from the Fielding Graduate University and an MBA from Yale.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Meeting the Muse After Midlife: A Journey to Meaning, Creativity, and Joy
Sally Jean Fox’s memoir about using creative expression as part of a path to hope and meaning in the second half of life offers readers a bold new narrative about aging, presenting the gifts and joys that can occur without sugarcoating possible hardships. Aging, Sally discovered on her journey, opens up great new possibilities for creativity when we let go of old beliefs about what we can and cannot do. Going far beyond concepts of “retirement” and “rewirement,” Sally offers her readers a way to authentically thrive creatively during their last, most precious decades.
Learn more at: EngagingPresence.com
Instagram: @Sallyjeanfox
https://www.instagram.com/sallyjeanfox/
LinkedIn: @SallyJeanFoxphd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyjfoxphd/
Facebook: @Sally.j.fox.1 https://www.facebook.com/sally.j.fox.1
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Dr. Cathleen Brown, fondly known as Dr. Cat, is an incredible board-certified OB/GYN who is leading the charge at Winona, a company dedicated to revolutionizing women's health. Winona is committed to providing comprehensive support to women suffering from menopause-related symptoms. Their approach includes plant-based Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) treatment, compounding pharmacies, free bi-monthly webinars, and personalized online patient care and support groups.
Dr. Cat's journey in the field of women's health is remarkable. She served on army bases for 12 years, offering vital care to female soldiers and dependents of active-duty soldiers, an experience that has deeply enriched her understanding of the unique health needs of women. Dr. Cat has also been instrumental in educating fellow physicians in the realm of women's health. Currently, she serves as the site director and obstetric hospitalist at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, PA. All this, and she is a single mother of three children!
One of the unfortunate aspects of menopause is the stigma that sometimes surrounds it. Some women aged 45-55 (and 35-59 for perimenopause) carry feelings of shame connected to their menopause symptoms, which can be wide-ranging and debilitating. These symptoms may include weight gain, anxiety, depression, low libido, hot flashes and mood swings.
To provide much-needed support, Dr. Cat actively participates in hosting biweekly Winona Webinars, where she answers questions and addresses concerns about menopause symptoms and treatment options. She also participates in Winona's quarterly-themed webinars that address women's issues. In addition, she co-moderates a membership-free support group on Facebook called Winona Women, which boasts an engaged community of more than 8,500 members.
Dr. Cat covers:
- The challenges of parenting while dealing with menopause
- What current neurology and brain science say about menopause and its related symptoms.
- Shame around low libido resulting from vaginal atrophy, anxiety, and depression, and how this affects female relationships with their partners.
- How Winona's unique approach to HRT and compounding pharmacies is better supporting women struggling through menopause.
- How the digital transformation of healthcare is helping to support patients more effectively.
Dr. Cat helps to break down barriers surrounding menopause, empower women to seek help (even online--check Winona's free visit offering on their website) and promote a more compassionate understanding of this crucial phase in a woman's life.
Learn more and connect at:
https://bywinona.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bywinona
https://www.instagram.com/bywinona/
https://www.tiktok.com/@bywinona
https://www.youtube.com/@bywinona
https://www.pinterest.com/bywinona
https://twitter.com/by_winona
https://www.reddit.com/r/Winona
Dr. Cat’s IG: @drcatobgyn
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
I feel so blessed to have met Keli Carpenter! Keli helps so many embrace the ebbs and flows of life, including its messiness. "The ultimate act of love," Keli says, "is to embrace this moment" and to "see someone in their wholeness." She observes that every human wants to be seen, held and loved, and she helps people access this ability, holistically, and with conscious support.
Keli is a gifted healer, who is based in British Columbia, and conducts retreats and other healing offerings in Canada, Mexico and Europe, both online and in person. Keli started practicing transcendent meditation at the age of six, following the lead of her mother who was a seeker. Keli could feel the pain her mother was carrying and how it impeded her mother's ability to love and be loved. Keli used transcendent meditation to heal herself. She was able to pass the healing gifts of meditation to her three adult children, who range in age from 19 to 24. She now trains other healers, and focuses a good part of her practice on healing other mothers.
Keli is a Chopra Center Certified Transcendent Meditation (PSM®) Instructor, Conscious Relationship, Uncoupling and Parenting Coach and Conscious Connected Breathwork Facilitator, Mentor and Trainer. Keli is also a published author, has professionally studied with Gabor Maté and is the founder of both The Other Side of Average – Therapy for the Soul and the TOSA Method. Keli has trained, mentored and guided more than 100 breathwork facilitators and organized and supported five breathwork retreats/graduation training events.
Keli's commitment to conscious living has allowed her to raise three beautiful children with mindfulness, overcome limiting self-concepts, heal her body of disease, and accomplish pain-free childbirth. Pain-free childbirth! She shares in this episode how she was able to do that, and offers expecting moms a resource to access the wisdom in their bodies.
With well over 25 years of both meditation and somatic healing experience, her gift is in holding sacred space and helping clients learn and master the three most essential tools that help align us with our soul’s purpose — one's essential nature and the truest expression of one's self — all while healing and transcending past resentments and stories that have kept us stuck and in pain. It is then that we experience the miracles and fulfillment of life in every moment and embody the presence to hold safe space for others to evolve beyond their story.
Keli’s philosophy is not to become your guru or healer but rather to hold the space needed for you to bring light to your darkness, helping you awaken the power you already have.
Keli speaks about breaking cycles of trauma; how every challenge has a gift with it; where trauma and consciousness meet; the utility of different types of meditation; therapy for the soul; mental emotional patterns that can fall away; imagining a world where moms are held; learning how to transform her own mental and emotional patterns and reclaim her voice; and the impact on children when their mothers are able to access their compassion and inner wisdom.
It is never too late, moms out there, to do the work Keli offers. In fact, Keli's work is primarily with mothers and training other facilitators/therapists. As Keli says, "No matter what your age, think of how you would feel if your mom became more compassionate and was able to truly see you? What impact would that have on you?"
Learn more:
https://theothersideofaverage.com
https://www.instagram.com/theothersideofaverage/ https://www.facebook.com/theothersideofaverage https://www.youtube.com/@TheOtherSideofAverage
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Rachel Freiman wants to reveal the truth about health, fitness and the bullsht that is holding us back. She wrote the Amazon bestseller, Becoming MindStrong* (#1 on Entrepreneur.com's Must Reads of 2021), and is the CEO of MindStrong Fitness. Rachel invites us to stop cutting carbs and giving up our favorite foods, while showing us how to hit weight loss goals eating the foods we love. Rachel demonstrates how to fire up our metabolism at any age.
Her website is filled with testimonials and before and after photos from some of the more than 2,500 women she has helped get fit. One liked Rachel's approach so much that she joined Rachel's team as a coach. This woman says, "I went from post-menopausal grandma to now living as the healthiest version of me, physically and mentally!"
Rachel was a professional jazz trumpet musician in New York City, and then a middle school science teacher in South Florida (she is a self-professed science nerd), until she married her love of fitness, science and teaching to start MindStrong Fitness. The more she learned about the fitness industry, the more the teacher in her was flabbergasted. She felt that most weight loss programs were designed to keep people in the dark about the science involved. "The world needs an educator in this field," Rachel said, "not another personal trainer." She designed a science-based approach that has helped clients lose pain, gain energy and definition, improve their sleep and skin tone, and feel great, using the neuroscience of nutrition, which she learned primarily from a Princeton University neuroscience professor.
Rachel has certifications in personal training, sports nutrition and behavior modification. She is passionate about helping others unleash their strongest, most empowered selves through education and mindset training. Rachel laughs that hers is the worst sales pitch in the world: You only need her services once. Hers is an education-based company that teaches nutrition as a lifelong skill, and helps women discover what their individual bodies need. She employs the neuroscience of habits, helping clients form new neural connections in their brains that lead to intuitive, healthy eating. She developed MindStrong Fitness with an inside-out approach, to focus on both physical and mental attributes in building healthy, sustainable habits.
Rachel's podcast, Becoming Mindstrong, includes episodes that discuss such matters as living life in alignment. "Life will always happen around us, much of which is out of our control," Rachel observes. "So, how do we stay in our center no matter what's going on around us? We're digging deep into my top five steps for living life in alignment...no matter what."
When she’s not in the gym, Rachel enjoys exploring the world, snuggling with her puppy, Charlie, eating and thinking about the next time she'll be eating.
Learn more:
Website: https://www.mindstrongfitnesscoaching.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindstrong/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindstrongwomen
Podcast: Becoming MindStrong
Book: Becoming MindStrong: The Truth About Health, Fitness, and the Bullsh*t That's Holding You Back
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Chelsea Riffe is an industry-renowned Podcast Coach, helping creatives, coaches, and entrepreneurs launch, grow and monetize their podcasts. She blends her 10+ years of digital media, content marketing, and storytelling expertise to find the golden ticket strategy for her clients. Chelsea offers one on one coaching and classes to uplevel one's creative endeavors.
She's also a full-time digital nomad and hosts the top-rated podcast "In My Non-Expert Opinion," covering the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, the fun and chaos of travel, internet culture, and the mindset B.S. we all go through. The podcast has garnered over 150k+ downloads and continues to grow each week.
Chelsea shares some valuable tips on this episode for podcasters and social media influencers. Her dynamic personality and offerings sparkle in numerous ways, and will make you want to learn more. Although she has many interests and talents, she continually works to stay true to herself.
For all the spiritual peeps - she's an Aquarius Sun, Virgo Moon, Virgo Rising and Reflector in Human Design - meaning her genius lies within finding innovative, out-of-this-world ideas, and bringing them into reality through practical action and detailed planning.
You can catch Chelsea on a flight, working at a local cafe, or running her podcast weekly! She joined us to record this show from the U.K.! Learn more at https://www.chelseariffe.com/
Listen to her podcast, In My Non-Expert Opinion on Spotify or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-my-non-expert-opinion/id1309417352. In it, you will find tips on podcasting, travel, beauty, lifestyle and more. She is a true pro, and entertaining, too!
Follow Chelsea at https://www.instagram.com/chelseariffe/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kelly Howard is the Fitness Consistency Expert with a touch of Adventure and the author of FIT: Active & Ageless for Life (2023). For more than 25 years, Kelly has helped thousands of women prioritize their fitness so they can feel great and have more fun in this second half of life. She invites women to adventure out of their comfort zones by trying new experiences. Her Fit is Freedom Podcast, coaching, online courses, and retreats have changed the lives of thousands of women. She’s a frequent guest on podcasts and television, and the creator of the FOX TV Outdoor Houston Adventure series. She currently calls Houston, Texas, home but can often be found kayaking rivers and traveling trails worldwide.
Kelly believes that "the miracle is the movement." She asserts that mobility is even more important than any stretching. If we stay active now and mobile now, we are likely to have greater ability to move as we age.
Kelly helps people determine why they want to get fit, which leads to more commitment. For example, when a client said she wanted to to look good at her daughter's wedding, Kelly asked why that was important to her. The client wanted to feel better about herself and had not in a long time. Kelly helped her find her why, and the client successfully reached her fitness goals.
Kelly's own goal is to live very well for as long as she can. For her, that means doing the things she loves without having to have people take care of her. She was the caregiver for her best friend, her mother, who took up karate in her 50s and lived into her 90s. Kelly wants to thrive for as long as she possibly can, and she helps others do the same.
Kelly launched the SuperFIT initiative on November 1! It provides two months of support, community, accountability and coaching during the holiday season to keep people on track, but not feel like they are under the thumb of a taskmaster. Learn more at https://fitisfreedom.thrivecart.com/superfit-special/.
Kelly encourages us to start, re-start and start small, if necessary. Make a plan every week, or it may be too easy for life to get in the way. I was inspired and will start this Sunday!
Kelly graciously offered our audience free access to her ebook: https://fitisfreedom.thrivecart.com/ebook/
Learn more at FitisFreedom.com.
Follow Kelly at the links below:
https://www.facebook.com/kelly.howard.790/ (personal profile)
https://www.facebook.com/FITisFREEDOMNow (public page)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kellyhoward (private group)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-howard-fitisfreedom/
https://www.instagram.com/fit_is_freedom/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Laura Widney is the visionary behind Soaak Technologies, a healthtech company dedicated to transforming well-being through innovative digital solutions. As the Chief Information Officer of Soaak, Laura brings her passion for personal growth, holistic wellness, and the power of sound frequencies to the forefront. With a deep understanding of the transformative potential of mind-body connections, Laura has curated a range of scientifically proven therapies to help individuals reduce stress, increase energy, and achieve optimal vitality. Drawing from her own experiences and journey towards holistic well-being, Laura is committed to empowering individuals to unlock their full potential and lead happier, healthier lives.
Soaak Technologies is an AI-enabled health-tech company using a "whole-person" approach to help reduce stress, decrease anxiety, and boost energy. Soaak grew out of a holistic clinic specializing in sound frequency therapy and has provided over 15 million minutes of sound therapies in 133 countries. The Soaak mobile app contains 30 unique sound frequency compositions tried, tested, and true as an effective holistic therapy method. Each sound therapy composition has been uniquely designed with a layered frequency approach that took five years to develop. For 8+ years, Soaak's team of esteemed medical doctors, holistic practitioners, and seasoned in-office therapists have used all 30 compositions during their time in-clinic. The company just locked a Phase 1 contract with the U.S. Air Force to use their sound frequency therapies for pilot's overall wellness, focus, and more. Sound therapy can be used for anxiety, improved sleep, stress relief, focus, mental clarity, cardiovascular health, accelerated learning, digestion support, headache and migraine support, sexual health, PMS support, memory support, mood boost, and more. Ninety-five percent of Soaak's users say the technology has improved their lives in positive ways.
To learn more and to read reviews:
https://www.soaak.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DailySoaak
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailysoaak/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/soaak/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Roberta S. Kuriloff is a speaker, community activist, former attorney and the author of Framing a Life: Building the Space to be Me (She Writes Press, July 18, 2023). With humor and poignancy, her memoir takes readers along an inspiring journey of self-discovery as Roberta finds that home is less a physical place than an intrinsic sense of self, an unshakable foundation of the heart and soul. She also published “Everything Special, Living Joy, Prose and Poems to Inspire,” and a short story she wrote, “Unearthing Home,” was published in Yellow Arrow Publishing Journal. An essay called ‘Musings on the Word Atonement’ was published in “Art In The Time of Unbearable Crisis; Women Writers Respond to the Call” published by She Writes Press June 2022.
As a child living in an orphanage, Roberta dreamed of being Superman’s daughter flying above Earth to save the world’s disenfranchised children, or being the Pied Piper leading the other kids back to their family homes. In later life, her legal work centered on families in emotional and financial crisis. She is a founding member of two domestic violence projects as well as an elderly services organization, and was a hospice patient-volunteer and bereavement workshop facilitator. In between her community work, she makes time to enjoy her passions for writing and dance.
In Framing a Life, Roberta explores how those losses shaped the woman, lawyer, and activist she’d become. As she cleared land, hammered nails, lifted beams, and shivered in her rented mobile home, the answers came to her. Roberta’s journey of self-discovery is truly inspiring as she finds that home is more than just a physical place; it’s an intrinsic sense of self, an unshakable foundation of the heart and soul.
Roberta speaks about:
- How writing letters to her departed mother in her journal brought her clarity and comfort during times of intense grief
- The concept of “home” and how that idea has evolved for her over time – from spending part of her childhood in an orphanage to learning the true meaning of togetherness, family, caring and security
- Pursuing an uncharted spiritual journey, and how she found solace after losing loved ones
- How we fit into our cultural and religious ancestry
- Understanding how we look at life – half empty or half full
Find out more about her at www.RobertaKuriloff.com.
Follow Roberta at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobertaKuriloffAuthor/Twitter: @RKuriloffAuthor
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki was born in Washington D.C. to an Arab father and an American mother. She grew up in Iran, Kuwait, Beirut and Jerusalem where she attended Arabic, British and American schools. She attended the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, has a BA in journalism from George Washington University in Washington D.C., and an MA in creative writing from George Mason University, Virginia. As an astute observer of two distinct cultures, she has published five works of fiction, some of which have been taught at universities in multicultural literature, women’s studies and Arab studies departments.
Kathryn worked as a journalist and features writer for an English weekly newspaper in Bahrain before devoting her time to writing fiction. Her published works include a collection of short stories, Fields of Fig and Olive: Ameera and Other Stories of the Middle East, and four novels, Tower of Dreams, Ghost Songs, Sands of Zulaika and A Marriage in Four Seasons. She won the Mary Roberts Rinehart award for short fiction, and her novel, Sands of Zulaika was a finalist for the Ariadne Prize. (She has also published in journals such as Confrontation, Shenandoah Review, Phoebe, Union Street Review and WorldVision). Her books are taught at universities in Multicultural Literature and Arab Studies departments and she is a frequent lecturer at universities and schools on these subjects. Universities where she has lectured include Georgetown University, Mary Washington University, University of Virginia, Sarah Lawrence University, Tufts University, New York University, Grand Rapids Community College, University of Southern Maryland and St. Mary’s College, Maryland.
Kathyrn released in September a new memoir that reflects on love, loss, renewal and overcoming devastating early trauma through music, dancing and the devotion of the strong American and Arab women in her life, called Dancing Into the Light: An Arab-American Girlhood in the Middle East. Kathryn’s new book weaves together stories about her bicultural upbringing with an American mother and a Muslim father from Jerusalem (Her family moved from Washington, D.C., to the Middle East when she was very young). Set against the backdrop of the early American presence in Iran under the Shah, and the burgeoning years of Kuwait’s early oil boom, Dancing into the Light is Kathryn’s memoir of a life disrupted by tragedy. But instead of derailing her life, her mother’s death opened the door to deeper love and support from other places within her family. Kathryn discusses:
- Growing up immersed in disparate cultures, navigating cultural mores and values of two very different societies
- How people of diametrically different cultures and faiths can coexist in harmony when there is tolerance and respect for the other
- Dispelling stereotypes of Arab women and misconceptions about Middle Eastern cultures
- Life as a bicultural person in the Middle East – Kathryn’s mother was a Southern woman from Tennessee and her father was a Muslim from Jerusalem
- How she has seen Kuwait, Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East change politically, socially and historically over her lifetime
- Experiences with grief at an early age, and how she found solace following the deaths of her mother and younger brother
- Overcoming devastating early trauma through music and dancing
Ms. Magazine said of Kathryn’s work: “Her politics are feminist, her theme is human ethics, and her writing is finely honed.”
She has three children and resides with her husband in McLean, Virginia. She loves to dance and teaches and performs Argentine tango in the Washington, DC area.
Find out more about her at www.KathrynAbdulbaki.com.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Dr. Gala Gorman is a licensed Acupuncturist, Naturopath and Author who offers practical advice and programs for people who are experiencing health issues resulting from chronic stress. She helps women relieve their symptoms, restore their energy and reclaim their "Super Woman" status. Dr. Gala advocates for getting to the root cause of the health issue and treating it naturally. She focuses on helping people learn to be their own health advocates. In her latest book, What's Your Kryptonite? Manage the Toxic Stressors Threatening Your Super Woman Status, she encourages readers to become their own PCP - Primary Care Person. Her advanced techniques "reverse the clock" on aging. She provides concrete steps for alleviating stress (check out her website, as well. to sign up for her newsletter that explains her suggested methods and provides tips for healthy living).
Dr. Gorman speaks on issues that affect the health and well-being of high-achieving "super women." She touches on how stress turns toxic, common sources of what she refers to as "Kryptonite," mistakes women make managing health symptoms, why detoxification is important but also risky, and easy ways to manage toxic stressors. She says that dis-ease escalates into disease, so we must pay attention to it.
To learn more:
WEBSITE https://drgala.com/
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/drgalagorman/
LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/galagorman/
YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/@DrGalaGorman
INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/drgalagorman/
TWITTER https://twitter.com/DrGalaGorman
TIKTOK https://www.tiktok.com/@drgalagorman
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Nicole Holst is an Intuitive Life Purpose Coach who helps busy women develop the confidence to take the leap and pursue what really lights them up to fulfill their true soul purpose. A small-town California girl with big dreams, Nicole turned four of her childhood passions into profitable businesses in New York City doing what she loves.She combines 20+ years of coaching experience in the physical, mental, and spiritual health fields as a Certified Pilates Instructor, Mental Health Professional, and Spiritual Advisor into her coaching programs for a unique mind-body-soul approach.Since 2005, Nicole has assisted thousands of people from all walks of life with making powerful transformations to fulfill their highest potential. She has assisted with rebuilding the lives of severely mentally ill homeless people from the streets to permanent housing, helped heal/relieve chronic pain in her Pilates clients by uncovering the root cause of their physical symptoms, and provides consistently validated readings to her repeat tarot clients release what’s holding them back. She even has created and produced sold out off-Broadway shows!Nicole consistently empowers others to make powerful, soul-affirming changes in their lives. Her mission is for women to create the intentional lives their souls are craving to experience more freedom, ease, and fulfillment every day by living life on their terms.Learn more at https://www.followyoursoulpath.com/Book a free 30 minute "get unstuck" strategy call with Nicole at https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/52895Follow Nicole on Instagram: @followyoursoulpathcoachingFacebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/followyoursoulpath--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kelly Robinson is a senior real estate broker and founder of The Kelly Robinson Team. She has been selling residential real estate in New York City since 2005 and will be expanding to Miami in 2023.
She and her team are consistently ranked in the top 1.5% of real estate agents and teams nationwide by the WSJ.
Ms. Robinson’s unique approach is supported by an extensive background that spans multiple sectors of the industry including resales, new development projects, investor, and buyer representation.
This multifaceted knowledge continues to foster her sharp negotiation skills, consistently leading to record-breaking prices and loyalty amongst clientele. She specializes in working with high-profile individuals across the sports and entertainment sectors and is very protective of the need for discretion. Ms. Robinson is a part of Compass’ selective Sports and Entertainment Division as well as REALM Global - an invitation only network of the top .5% of residential real estate professionals worldwide.
Other niches include rebranding previously unsold properties, consulting on layouts and finishes for both new construction and private home renovations, and staging, and advising cooperative boards on how to increase value in a market that favors condominiums.
Kelly holds a BFA from Rutgers University’s highly selective Mason Gross School of the Arts and furthered her education at NYU. She has won numerous awards, are NYRS and CNE designated. She is also co-founder of the EJR Scholarship Fund.
Her video podcast, Kelly Minds Her Manors can be watched on YouTube or listened to on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kelly-minds-her-manors/id1670324552
An entrepreneur at heart, she is also in the process of launching her first e-commerce start-up in the pet products industry. In her free time, Kelly enjoys staying active, traveling, and spending time with her two rescue dogs, Seamus and Fiona.
Kelly can be found on Instagram at @kellyrobinsonnewyork and @kellymindshermanors. Also, check out her website, kellyrobinsonnewyork.com.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kim Hancher, has a blog, 1:1 services and a digital course dedicated to teaching women 50+ how to regain their unique style and dress their body type so that they get noticed and remembered at work and beyond. She begins her coaching with having her clients set intentions about how they want to look and feel. She offers free tips via her website and social media.
Kim resides in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband, twin daughters and white fluff ball, Bruno. She loves the color green, anything to do with healthy living (she’s also a certified Health Coach), vegetarian food and a great purse.
To learn more, visit the links below.
Website: www.kimhancher.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/kimhancher/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-amatore-hancher-8797241/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.a.hancher/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Katie Bramlett started WeShape with the intention of advocating for women to stop focusing on the number on the scale and instead put their energy and efforts towards a more meaningful intention such as movement, rest and a deeper connection with self. Her entire company is rooted in intention, movement, community and beliefs. Katie has a passion for bringing awareness to the toxic expectations placed on women in the fitness industry, as well as the often overshadowed, yet pivotal roles women play in business and entrepreneurship. Katie's goal is to create awareness through meaningful conversation and curiosity so that women can gain the support of men rather than gaining dominance. "It's all about leveling the playing field, not about overly shifting the power in the other direction." ~Katie
The WeShape program is based on self-acceptance. It includes support, like daily calls, a podcast and more. It is like having a personal trainer in your living room.
Katie's message is one of self-kindness. Her self-awareness has helped her recognize her inner critic and how it was harming her.
Learn more:
www.weshape.com
To get a two-week free trial, go to:
https://www.weshape.com/yourbestversion
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-bramlett-b5664a123/
https://www.facebook.com/WeShape/
https://www.tiktok.com/@weshape
https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCZjFDJI4B4l16uujibduMFA
https://www.instagram.com/weshape.wellness/?hl=en
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Melissa Giberson is a native New Yorker who identifies as a late bloomer, a highly sensitive introvert, and proud mama bear to two children. An occupational therapist and writer, she has published articles in Kveller, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, and Highly Sensitive Refuge. She received an Honorable Mention in the Memoirs/Personal Essays category of the 91st Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition and her essay, “Art is the Antidote,” appears in the anthology, Art in The Time of Unbearable Crisis (June, 2022). Melissa’s debut book, Late Bloomer: Finding My Authentic Self at Midlife (She Writes Press) came out August, 2023, and has received much advance praise. It was named one of LQBTQ-Read's top books for Jewish American Heritage Month. Melissa is living her authentic life with her partner and their two cats. Together, they split their time between New Jersey and Provincetown, Massachusetts.
According to Melissa: "My motivation for writing Late Bloomer was born of the many times someone told me that my story was helpful to them. Early in my journey, women who were on the other side of their own journey showed up to help me and I want to do that for others as well. Writing a book enables me to reach more people. I hope readers come away from reading my book with the knowledge that they’re not alone – whether they’re just starting their journey or on the other side and hearing a story that resonates and validates their experience. I want people to know that there is an 'other' side."
Find out more at her website, https://melissagiberson.com/
Facebook: @MelissaGiberson Twitter: @LateBloomer823 Instagram: @Melissagiberson031 Linkedin: Melissa Giberson
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kym Wootton is 42 and living in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and two teenage boys. After 20 years in corporate America, she is taking a midlife gap year to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Wouldn't it be fun--and productive-- if we all did that? She spends her days geocaching with her sons, writing her fiction novel, going to hot yoga and discovering what she wants out of the rest of her life. Go, Kym!
Website: https://kymwootton.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kymmersfullofsunshine/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kymmersfullofsunshine
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Emmy Rousseau, Visionary Educator, is the founder of Trinity Transformations and the Holistic Healing Hub. She empowers changemakers, especially educators, to go from feeling flat to in flow, so that they can create the change in the world they were born to make.
Emmy is passionate about helping others realize that putting themselves first is selfless, not selfish. She is here to help us see how filling ourselves up first helps us serve not only ourselves, but also the world best. She does that through a combination of movement and mindset.
Her accolades include: Bestselling author, Speaker Slam Certified Gold Inspirational Speaker and 2021 Grand Slam finalist. She co-created and co-hosted Amplifying Voices: Mental Well-th and the Never Give Up Summit. Emmy was the winner of the 2022 PARO Pitch competition, was awarded Top 3 in the She Did It! Pitch Fest, Top 100 in the 2022 Total Mom Pitch, and was a finalist for the Universal Women’s Network™ 2022 Women of Inspiration™ Awards.
Emmy is a certified teacher of 22 years turned educational consultant, transformational speaker, activist, fitness instructor and co-author of the book, Our Yellow Brick Road: An Anthology of Humans Who Believe in the Impact of Storytelling (Life to Paper Publishing (2022).
Emmy loves speaking to educators and other changemakers at schools, conferences, summits, retreats, and on podcasts like this, to share her teachings and learnings.
Emmy’s pillars in life and business are joy, gratitude and love. Learn more and follow Emmy:
https://www.trinitytransformations.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/transformwithemmy/
https://www.youtube.com/@transformwithemmy
https://www.instagram.com/transformwithemmy/
https://www.facebook.com/transformwithemmy
https://www.tiktok.com/@transformwithemmy
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Christine Jacobsen believes in the power of reinvention. Her first job was as a nurse at Sloan Kettering Institute in NYC. Within a few years, she embraced her passion of performing and switched jobs to appear in the original Broadway production of “42nd Street.” She also appeared in several movies, including "Endless Love." However, despite eight years on stage, the unpredictable income of a performing artist inspired her next career change. Christine obtained a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling working the next two decades in public education.
Recently, Christine discovered she is a biracial woman. A DNA test revealed that her biological father was Black, which engaged her to write Dancing Around the Truth, the memoir chronicling how she adapted to her new ethnicity and misattributed parentage. Christine appears completely white, and has had to grapple with exploring her own racism and to continue to grow as a result of her DNA discovery. Her healing journey includes writing, sharing her experiences, dancing and being in nature.
She has been featured on multiple podcasts, YouTube videos, the Wall Street Journal, WLRN- The Public Storyteller and Insider.com regarding her DNA surprise. Her blog covers areas, such as racism and identity.
Learn more at http://Christinefromqueens.com
Instagram: @dancing_around_truth
Facebook: Dancing_Around_Truth
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Stephanie Wolfe holds credentials from the National Board of Medical Examiners as a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach. She holds a Master Certification in health and nutrition and she served on the staff of the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute as a mentor coach, content writer, and Exam Prep Facilitator for those studying to take their board exam. She is an Approved Provider for Continuing Education for Board-Certified coaches around the world through her TheCoach2coach.com programs, offering coaches turn-key resources and providing consulting for coaches of all certifications. Stephanie is a small business owner in private practice in Gwinnett County (the 2nd largest county in Georgia) where she is has won the “Best of Gwinnett” award the past five years for her work as The Whole Food Health Coach, LLC, now in its ninth year. Her advanced training, professional education, and personal experience have made her a proven leader in her field. She is a creator of a variety of curricula that is making it possible for individuals to reach their health and wellness goals in record numbers.
Stephanie is a two-time cancer-survivor, health fanatic, lover of lake time fun, Harley-rider, and even holds a Commercial Driver’s License. She and her husband, Jack, were high-school sweethearts and have been married for 49 years. She has two grown sons and two daughters-in-law and is “Nana” to her three amazing grandchildren.
She is the creator of the weekly podcast, Work Well with Stephanie Wolfe. Stephanie is an author, speaker, trainer, and coach for major companies, law firms and government entities in the Atlanta area.
Stephanie accomplished 60 new things in her 60th year! She worked at a ranch and did a cattle drive in Colorado for one of them. Go, Stephanie!
Learn more and follow Stephanie at the links below:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniejowolfe/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-whole-food-health-coach-llc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wholefoodhealthcoach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieWolfeMinistries/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/wholefoodhealthcoach?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Website: https://wholefoodhealthcoach.com/
Website: https://www.thecoach2coach.com/
stephanie@wholefoodhealthcoach.com
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Debbie Russell is a lawyer turned writer. She spent twenty-five years as an Assistant County Attorney in Minneapolis, prosecuting numerous high-profile cases and fighting off several nervous breakdowns. At age fifty-five, Debbie took early retirement, giving up a full pension for the freedom of time. She now spends that precious time writing, restoring her property to native prairie and wetlands, and training her rambunctious retrievers.
Debbie’s first published article appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2001. After that small triumph, her writing focused primarily on legal briefs and memoranda, which were consigned to district court files. Debbie resumed creative writing in 2014 when she began her storytelling blog, sharing personal stories and professional experiences that have touched her life in a significant way.
In 2021, Debbie completed her first full-length story entitled Crossing Fifty-One: Not Quite a Memoir, which will be released in June of 2023. It is a compelling book, containing themes involving family dynamics, generational threads, recovery and redemption. It is available everywhere.
Learn more at https://debbie-russell.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087237481086
https://www.instagram.com/debbiesstories/
https://twitter.com/DebbiesStories
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Amber James is an author, speaker, and former redcarpet reporter. Her work has been featured prominently in CNN, MTV, and Us Weekly. Now, she channels her storytelling prowess into empowering women globally with her wildly popular Instagram @NotesToSelfShop and corresponding 30-day journal, Notes to Self, as well as her courses and other offerings. She currently resides in Pittsburgh with her dog, Penny Lane.
Amber's latest book, I Blew Up My Life, and I've Never Been Happier, is described as follows:
"To the public eye, Amber James is living the dream. She is engaged to be married, boasts a six-figure salary, and spent the last decade interviewing the hottest celebrities in New York City. Yet beneath this dazzling facade, Amber wrestles with crippling perfectionism, a toxic relationship, and an insatiable ambition that leaves her deeply unsatisfied.
As Amber teeters on the brink, a whirlwind of life-altering events - a global pandemic, a devastating loss, and a terrifying health scare - sweep her off her feet and force her to re-examine her life. Amber is presented with a life-altering question: Is she living to fulfill her happiness, or is she merely adhering to a checklist of success manufactured by societal expectations and settling?
In her emotionally raw and unflinchingly honest memoir, Amber takes readers on an inspiring journey of courage, self-discovery, and transformation as she musters the bravery required to forge a road toward genuine joy. It’s a poignant tale that reminds us that sometimes, it’s only by letting go that we find the true path to happiness."
Connect with Amber: http://www.notestoselfshop.com Instagram: @NotesToSelfShop amber@notestoselfshop.com
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Award winning entrepreneur, Forbes contributing writer, and executive coach, Bonnie Marcus, M.Ed., assists professional women to successfully navigate the workplace and position and promote themselves to advance their careers. She is a leading expert in gendered ageism in the workplace. Her latest book, Not Done Yet! How Women Over 50 Regain Their Confidence and Claim Their Workplace Power, shines a light on this issue and gives women the tools and the voice to defy ageist assumptions to stay marketable and keep their job. With 20+ years of sales and management experience, Bonnie’s extensive business background includes CEO of a ServiceMaster company and VP of Sales at Medical Staffing Network and two others national companies in the healthcare and software industries. She has held executive positions in startup companies and Fortune 500 companies. Bonnie started her corporate career at an entry-level position and worked her way up to the top of a national company. Her passion is now to help other women embrace their talent and ambition and step into their full potential and workplace power. Bonnie shares her message globally through speaking engagements, live and virtual workshops, blogging, and her popular podcast, Badass Women at Any Age. Bonnie’s first book, The Politics of Promotion: How High Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead, provides a roadmap for women to navigate the complexities of the workplace and position themselves for success. A certified coach, Bonnie has been honored by Global Gurus as one of the world’s top 30 coaches in 2015-2022. She has been acknowledged as one of the top 100 keynote speakers in 2018 by Databird Research Journal.
Bonnie received a BA from Connecticut College and a M.Ed. from New York University. Bonnie’s website is www.BonnieMarcusLeadership.com. She can be reached by email at Bonnie@BonnieMarcusLeadership.com and on Twitter and Instagram @selfpromote. Read her articles on Forbes at www.forbes.com/sites/bonniemarcus. Her podcast, Badass Women at Any Age is available on all podcast outlets. Learn more:
www.BonnieMarcusLeadership.com
Social media links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/self_promote_/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniemarcus/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/selfpromote
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonnie.marcus
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
MARSHA PARCOU is a businesswoman based in the Seychelles Islands, who is on a mission to empower women from all walks of life to grow through all forms of self-care. As the founder of Fasinasyon, she has created an inspiring complete packaged lifestyle brand that promotes a healthy and holistic approach to the body, mind and soul through a range of services: life coaching, beauty and skincare products.
Accredited by the Health Coach Institute, USA , she coaches using International Coach Federation (ICF) tools and exercises whilst delivering her own unique framework for transformation. She provides the support, structure and strategy to permit the beautiful journey of your personal growth.
She is also co-founder of Chatterbox Café located at Eden Plaza, the most instagrammable café, and by far the most well-established coffee shop brand and business on Mahe Island, Seychelles. Under her belt, she also has 10 years of experience in tourism marketing management having worked for Seychelles Tourism (then known as the Seychelles Tourism Board).
"Today, my mission in life is to empower as many women as I can to shine their truest light." says Marsha. "In 2022, I launched Fanm Fasinasyon (Fanm is the Seychellois Creole word for Woman) – a community for women to laugh, cry and grow together. I’m excited to see this blossom, and invite you to join! Remember that together, we are more resilient."
"Your life is an ever-unfolding story, not one that already has a predetermined ending," Marsha asserts. "Who you've always been and who you've been shaped to be does not have to be who you become."
Becoming a Fanm Fasinasyon, My Journey, available on Amazon, is her first biography/self-help book. It includes how she overcame her battle with obesity, the pain of her broken marriage, and challenges in business and in life.
Follow her Instagram pages:
@fasinasyon
@marshaparcou
@chatterboxsey
For more on the author and her services:
www.fasinasyon.sc
Contact her by email at:
marshaparcou@yahoo.com
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
KATIE FOGARTY is the host of A Certain Age, an age-positive podcast that helps listeners live their best evolving midlife and that celebrates women who are aging out loud. She is also the creator of the Instagram community AGE OUT LOUD that spotlights women reimagining midlife. A former journalist turned career coach, Katie’s day job helping executives create strong LinkedIn profiles has taught her that not everyone is up for owning their age. She created A Certain Age to shift the dated narrative that aging makes you irrelevant. Katie launched ACA at age 50, and the show now has listeners in 6,081 cities across 127 countries and has a Listen Score ranking that puts the show in the top 1.5% of all global podcast downloads.
"Frank, funny interviews with great guests that go straight to the heart of issues facing women. A gold mine of ideas, emotional support and self-discovery. I feel like I’m part of the conversation at the best dinner party imaginable." -- Apple Podcast Review
A superfan of second-acts and career evolution, Katie has worked as a TV news writer, for global PR firms, on Capitol Hill, and as an English teacher in Japan. Her coaching company, The Reboot Group, has helped 2K+ executives from Fortune 500 companies grow through better career stories. A New Yorker by birth, Katie now lives on Long Island with her husband, three kids, and pandemic puppy, Lilah.
To become her best version, Katie tries new things. She allows herself to be uncomfortable to open herself to new learning. She puts herself in new spaces and is being rewarded with new connections, perspectives and opportunities.
Learn more at:
https://www.acertainagepod.com/
https://www.therebootgroup.com/
Follow her work at:
https://www.instagram.com/acertainagepod/
https://www.facebook.com/ACertainAgePod
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiefogartymedia/
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Cybersecurity Awareness expert at Yale University by day, Wendy Battles pursues her passion for celebrating, illuminating and elevating midlife and older women, by night. As the host of the Reinvention Rebels podcast, Wendy interviews brave and unapologetic women, 50-90 years young, who have reinvented themselves later in life to see new possibilities. From traveling solo around the world with a carry-on bag at 60, to running in global marathons at 71, to launching a modeling career at 72, these women are boldly making their dreams a priority and reality. Wendy shines a light on the notion that we can reinvent ourselves at any age or any stage and is helping to disrupt limiting beliefs about the value of aging women in our society. At 58, Wendy is a Reinvention Rebel herself, having reinvented herself many times during her life, including as a management consultant, voice actor and health coach. Her most recent reinvention as a podcast host is by far her most rewarding. Along her journey of greater self-awareness, she has learned the art of living on purpose and embracing life with more joy, ease and trust.
Connect with Wendy:
Website: https://reinventionrebels.com/
Social media channels:
Instagram: @ReinventionRebels
Twitter: @RebelsReinvent
Facebook: Reinvention Rebels
LinkedIn: Wendy Battles
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Melissa Kaplan lives in Washington, DC, where she works as an advocate on food security and hunger policy. She studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, earning a master’s degree in comparative politics with a focus on Europe. She has been a passionate student of history her entire life, particularly the World War II era, which helped inspire her to write her first novel, The Girl Who Tried to Change History (Bold Story Press 2023). Melissa is also an avid traveler who has visited over forty countries, enjoys yoga and barre classes, and is currently working on her second novel.
Learn more at www.melissakaplanbooks.com. Follow Melissa on Instagram at @mkap59.
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Beverley Glazer MA, CCC, ICCAC, is a psychotherapist, internationally certified addiction specialist, coach and founder of Reinvent Impossible Inc., a personal development company that educates, coaches and empowers adults 50+ who’ve experienced life transitions that left them feeling powerless, to get grounded and focused, and develop new possibilities built on their strengths. After 30 years in private practice, helping people through traditional therapy, she turned her attention to coaching, supporting and creating programs for women 50+, who’ve had an extreme wake-up call, to unlock their potential, renew possibilities and carve a clear pathway to the future with grace and ease. She’s a clinician, coach, speaker, educator, writer, entrepreneur, former talk-radio host and the originator of The Reinvention Formula TM, a surprisingly easy coaching system combining scientific knowledge with down-to-earth wisdom, which provides the tools and support to bounce back with resilience and move forward with grace and ease. Her podcast, “Aging with Purpose and Passion,” is aligned with her mission, that it is never too late to reinvent yourself and become who you’ve always imagined.
Learn more at the links below:
Website: https://reinventimpossible.com
Podcast: Aging With Purpose & Passion https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/aging-with-purpose-passion/id1562514982
Facebook: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/aging-with-purpose-passion/id1562514982
Facebook Group: WomenOver50ROCK https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenover50rock
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer/
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Lynn Crook is the author of “False Memories: The Deception That Silenced Millions.” She earned a BA in French, and an MEd in educational psychology at the University of Washington. She served as community educator and director for a sexual assault agency in southeastern Washington. In 1991, she sued her parents for damages after recovering memories of childhood sexual abuse by her father. Following a month-long trial in 1994, the judge ruled in her favor at a time when 85% of the popular press was telling us that adults’ accusations of childhood sexual abuse are false memories. She has presented at more than a dozen professional conferences in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and at the United Nations. She is the recipient of the Media Achievement Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. She hopes that her book will encourage the public to respond with compassion to adults who find the courage to disclose childhood trauma. "If you don't come forward, you let them win," says Lynn.
Learn more at:
Website - http://www.lynncrook.com/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62202973-false-memories
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/False-Memories-Deception-Silenced-Millions/dp/B0BBYB1ZMB/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Cielo Solis, who immigrated from Peru, is a former TV journalist turned online media entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of BLENDtw, a media company focused on producing content that fosters human connection. She has built multiple businesses that earn more than seven figures.
Disappointed by the lack of diversity in news coverage, Cielo decided to quit her job in television and make a change in the media industry by launching a website focused on grassroots journalism. She married her love of storytellng with considerable journalistic skills. That is how Blend (blend the world) was born. She also launched a production company and provides an online mastermind class for building successful websites. Other online courses are being developed as well.
BLENDtw has grown to become one of the most popular sites among people in Gen Z in America. The publication reaches more than 1 million readers per month. The company has expanded into a digital marketing agency and production company. Cielo has been featured on Forbes, The List,ABC News, Medium, Thrive Global, NBC News, Fox, CBS News, and many other outlets.
Cielo likes to push her boundaries and expand her comfort zone. She believes that everything that we do, especially things that are scary for us, strengthens our confidence.
Learn more at her website: https://blendtw.com/
Social Media Channels:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cielojsolis/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cielojsolis
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cieloschoice
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maricielosolis/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cielojsolis
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ashley Tresoline is a personal chef who has shared her love of health and wellness through food for more than nine years. After living with multiple sclerosis for a decade plus, Ashley discovered the power of clean eating and knew she had to share it with her community. Her expertise has allowed her to educate all age levels, from 4-100, on the value of healthy, organic, seasonal food and its impact on overall health, both individually and in group settings.
As host of Food For Life, a new show on E360tv, Ashley captures the joy of food and how it is woven into our lives. She shares inspiring stories of wellness through food, tips & tricks in the kitchen, and delicious recipes to help you in your own food healing journey. Ashley also is a regular guest on Mass Appeal, a local lifestyle talk show in Western Massachusetts. She has been featured on various media outlets such as Pioneer Valley Communities and The Rhode Show, and has been a contributing writer for Business West and Health Care News.
Ashley is an educator for Greenfield Community College, where her courses are sell-out successes. She is an active member of the community, running virtual workshops for local organizations, such as the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield.
The passion Ashley has for her craft is unparalleled and her clients can attest to her enthusiasm and dedication. She believes that health starts from the inside out.
Follow Ashley and learn more:
Instagram: @bellafoodie7
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bellafoodie
Website: www.bellafoodie.net
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Erin Washington is a motivational speaker, podcast host, author and former college athlete who struggled with weight and body image for 20 years. She finally found her best body at 37 after having two kids. Erin promotes a balanced lifestyle of “Squats and Margaritas” and offers tips and motivation to women who are working out but not seeing results. Erin, who lives in Atlanta, hosts the wildly popular Squats and Margaritas podcast and recently founded the Blue Butterfly Foundation, a non-profit that provides mentorship for teen girls struggling body image, self-worth and other issues. The Blue Butterfly Foundation Inc. is creating a network of strong women sharing personal stories of triumph to inspire and empower teenage girls. Erin's second book, From Pain to Purpose: Finding Meaning in the Mess was born into the world this week! Available on Amazon or by order everywhere.
Learn more at https://thebluebutterflies.org/
https://squatsandmargaritas.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-washington-627a608/
Instagram: @Erin.Washington_
Podcast: Squats and Margaritas (available on multiple platforms)
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
As a featured expert in media, Dawna Campbell is known as The Mind Whisperer combining her past knowledge as a Financial Advisor with her wisdom of the subconscious creation of money to increase your revenue 25% or more consistently. With more than 25 years of combined professional experience, Dawna empowers you to infinite prosperity for a life of happiness, prosperity and love. She is a professional speaker sharing the stage with Sharon Lechter, Mark Victor Hansen, Lisa Nichols, Dr. Joe. Vitale and Bill Walsh. She has been featured in more than 300 media outlets, including NBC, Yahoo Finance, ABC, Fox News, Roku TV and the Los Angeles Tribune. She is a monthly contributor to Best Holistic Life Magazine and Your Success E-Magazine, as well as being on the cover of Soeleish Magazine, Los Angeles. Dawna also is the Lead Trainer at The Mentors Studio, with Michael Silvers (T. Harv Eker) and Mary Glorfield (Tony Robbins's EVP of 18 years). Dawna shares her techniques during interactive workshops and maintains an international private practice. Her personal heart centered healing approach is to create a world that is a better place for all to live.
Dawna has an international private practice where she assists her clients creating a life of happiness, prosperity and love; a professional speaker sharing her techniques; and a best selling author. To learn more about Dawna, visit https://dawnacampbell.com or follow her on social media.
Dawna, who lives in Montana, advocates for spending time outside. It serves as a rejuvenation tool for her.
To learn more about The Mentors Studio, https://thementorsstudio.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawnacampbell811
Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/msdawnacampbell
LinkedIn:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DawnaCampbellOfficial
Youtube: https://youtube.com/dawnacampbell
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR (she/her) is a midlife coach, a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado, a Nationally Registered Art Therapist, and a master-level Reiki practitioner. After two decades of midwifing hundreds of women through life’s major transitions and experiencing her own passage through a fiery midlife portal, she was inspired to write Midlife Emergence to accompany other women in traversing their midlife journeys. Jen is also a visual artist who creates custom pieces for collectors worldwide and exhibits her fluid, abstract art locally in her beloved town of Boulder, Colorado. There, among the sunny foothills, Jen can be found making bottomless bowls of popcorn and snuggling on the couch with her unconventional family, her coven of close friends, and her rescue cats, Jinx and Juju.
website: jenberlingo.com
buy the book: https://a.co/h5UDU4Y
instagram: instagram.com/jenberlingo or @jenberlingo)
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenberlingotherapy
tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenberlingo
twitter: https://twitter.com/jenberlingo
linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenberlingo/
pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenberlingo/
etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/artsorceress
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kelsey Aida is a bestselling author and transformation facilitator who helps women manifest their dream lives and love themselves deeply through the process. She is the author of more than five personal development books, including #ActuallyICan, Affirmations for Happiness, Letters to the Universe, My Pocket Guide to Manifestation and Self-Love for the Modern Woman. She also helps people via her international retreats, 1:1 coaching, online courses and the popular spiritual podcast “High Vibin’ It.” When she’s not transforming people's lives, you can find her enjoying some hot yoga, feng shui-ing her new home or charging forward in the sun. Visit KelseyAida.com to start aligning with your highest self today!
After healing herself from three long years of chronic depression, with her mindset alone, Kelsey wanted to share what works (and what does not) to help others experience their life to the fullest. Now she teaches thousands of people around the world through her podcast, coaching, books and retreats how to raise their vibration, feel better, love themselves fully, heal their emotions and manifest their deepest desires.
Learn more at KelseyAida.com and @KelseyAida.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Nicole Christina is the host of the multi-award winning Zestful Aging Podcast, an interview show heard in 106 countries. Nicole’s guests are change makers from a variety of disciplines; filmmakers, writers, advocates, poets, musicians, scientists, athletes and entrepreneurs, many of whom are top experts in their fields. She calls herself “the Terry Gross of aging well.” After more than 30 years as a psychotherapist, she’s created Zestful Aging Coaching. Nicole has also authored the book Not Just Chatting: How to Become a Master Podcast Interviewer. Nicole also is an avid tennis player.
Nicole cannot live without nature. She has a spiritual connection with trees and fauna. She lives in a small town outside Syracuse, New York. Nicole cited the scientific studies that bolster her sense that nature helps improve her well-being. She feels joy, freedom and gratitude when she has had an opportunity to be in nature. She tries to absorb the goodness of the moment.
She soon will embarking on a trip to the Netherlands to visit the Anne Frank museum. While visiting, she will interview two people connected with the museum and the World War II resistance.
Find out more at ZestfulAging.com and at the links below:
● https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolechristinalcsw/
● http://ZestfulAging.com
● http://Facebook.com/ZestfulAgingPodcast
● https://instagram.com/zestfulaging/
● https://www.pinterest.com/ZestfulAging/
● https://www.youtube.com/@zestfulaging132
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Anne Scottlin, MA, CPC, is a global impact strategist, award-winning author, actress and speaker. Her passion is powerfully supporting leaders and changemakers to make the world a better place. Anne has been a professional in the industries of personal empowerment and positive change for over a decade. She is a human rights advocate, emotional wellness specialist, and founder of The Meta Mindset program. Anne’s Global Book Award Winner and Amazon Best-Seller, Live for Joy, has impacted lives around the world, as have her podcasts, articles, and radio & TV appearances. She offers group training, international retreats and workshops, as well as in-person and virtual classes.
Among her beautiful messages: To become her best self, she makes a daily choice to give up guilt.
Learn more and follow Anne at the links below:
https://www.instagram.com/annescottlin/
https://twitter.com/annescottlin
https://www.facebook.com/AnneScottlin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annescottlin/
https://www.youtube.com/c/AnneScottlin
AnneScottlin.com
Book: http://amzn.to/3rvsOTg
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
A born go-getter from early on, Samantha Tradelius always knew she was destined to do big things. Armed with her brokerage license and natural gift for being a connector, Samantha began her entrepreneurial journey co-founding Commercial Coverage Insurance Agency (CCIA) alongside her husband. From humble beginnings, the pair quickly turned CCIA into a wildly successful business, valued at an impressive eight figures.
Following her success with CCIA, Samantha knew it was time to lean into a passion that had inspired her from a very young age. She never stopped thinking about the stories her grandmother and hero, GG, would tell her about raising three children as a single mom in the 1950s. Samantha noticed that in all her grandmother's stories, her grandmother never mentioned anyone helping her…or asking for help. She knew that her grandmother had done everything she could to rub her nickels together to make everything possible for her children.
Inspired by this story, Samantha wanted to utilize her skills as a self-starter and born networker to create a non-profit that provided the much-valued support that many single mothers need. Not one to waste any time, Samantha established The Sparkle Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping single women throughout the Bay Area, the Inland Empire, and the cities of Los Angeles and Sacramento.
In just a few short years, The Sparkle Foundation has seen an unprecedented amount of success, thanks to Samantha’s sheer determination and passion for giving back to her local community. The Sparkle Foundations supports single mothers and children with an array of initiatives including enrichment scholarships for children, a Christmas holiday gift drive and back to school backpack drive.
In addition to The Sparkle Foundation, Samantha established SparkleBiz, which provides micro-loans for female-owned small businesses, and access to a large, connected network. Since its founding in 2016, The Sparkle Foundation has raised more than $1 million—with every dollar reinvested in the community.
Samantha wrote and self-published a book, Impact: Stories of Change Makers, Creators, and Everyday Women Doing Extraordinary Work and is also the host of growing weekly podcast, InspiHER’d.
Learn more at:
https://www.sparklenow.org/impact
https://www.samanthatradelius.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sparkle_foundation/
https://www.facebook.com/sparklefoundationinc
https://www.instagram.com/samanthatradelius/
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-leonard-olsen/support
LeAnn Austin lives in beautiful Georgia with her awesome husband and crazy dog Nutmeg. She has four amazing sons, two incredible daughters-in-law, and two grand-doggies. She enjoys mowing the lawn, eating smoked meat, walking anywhere, sharing insights on her podcast: Love Tidbits, playing pickleball, watching The Chosen, and spending time with family and friends.
She loves coaching, especially talking about the daughter-in-law relationship and loving ourselves. She coaches and instructs part time for the Life Coach School, and has her own business focused on love. She believes that, when we truly love ourselves, it makes loving others so much easier. Check out her Lovin Me Program and Lovin My DIL Course. For more details, go to leannaustin.com
One of her favorite quotes is: “You either love someone or you don’t understand them.” She frequently asks herself, "What would love do?"
Listen to the episode to learn helpful tips on handling relationships and one of the best self-care practices I have heard (involving a light switch)! Please subscribe and review the podcast!
https://www.instagram.com/LeAnnAustinCoaching
https://www.facebook.com/LeAnnAustinCoaching
https://www.tiktok.com/@leannaustincoaching
https://leannaustin.com/podcast
https://leannaustin.com
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Katherine King, a licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a manner of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), has twenty years of experience providing individual, family, and group psychotherapeutic treatment for children, teens, and adults. She has treated people with Clinical Depression, Anxiety and Panic Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Grief and Loss, Attachment Disorders, Adjustment Disorders, Personality Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Addiction, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Eating Disorders, Bi-Polar Disorder and more. Katherine has led therapeutic groups on countless topics, including social skills, anger management, positive parenting, building self-esteem, communication skills, relaxation techniques, healthy relationships, life transitions, pursuing your passions, optimism and positivity, building tools for self-calming, setting and holding boundaries, being your most authentic self and many more. Katherine brings the culmination of her vast experience and expertise to every group session she teaches.
With a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master of Clinical Social Work, Katherine King is currently licensed as an ACSW, LCSW in both Florida and North Carolina. She is also a Certified Art Healer.
In addition to treating clients in a private practice setting for ten years, Katherine worked for many years in a nonprofit setting treating children and teens. She has worked at a Hospice Children’s Program, at an inpatient hospital, as an elementary school therapist, and as an Emergency Room Patient Advocate at The Cleveland Clinic in Florida. Katherine served as an individual therapist to students and teachers directly affected by the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, and is currently working with students and teachers affected by the school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Katherine is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She volunteers teaching art therapy to residents at Transformation Village of Buncombe County. She manages a Question and Answer page at the nonprofit organization Arms Around Autism Spectrum Disorder.
For many years, Katherine was a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Management Team, which provides trauma and crisis intervention to first responders following disasters and other traumatic incidents. Katherine has been a Disaster First Responder, was part of the Disaster Action Team, and a Shelter Manager for the American Red Cross for over 10 years.
Katherine volunteered for several years as a Holiday Grief Camp Counselor for Hospice of the Treasure Coast, served on the Boards for the Port Saint Lucie, FL National Little League Association, and volunteered for many years for the March of Dimes, The Alzheimer’s Association, The American Heart Association and The American Cancer Society.
She and her Australian Shepherd, certified by Therapy Dog International, Inc., worked together as a team in diverse venues such as nursing homes, child welfare camps and weekly visits to the Autism Spectrum Disorders classroom at Palm Point Research School in Port Saint Lucie, FL. Perhaps most significantly, they spent many days assisting in Parkland, Florida immediately following the mass school shooting there.
She opened The Blue Blanket to change the narrative from mental illness to mind wellness. She offers incredibly healing soul restoration retreats.
Website: theblueblanket.org
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/634264848373695/?ref=share&mibextid=S66gvF
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/katherine-king-cosimano-acsw-lcsw-4862a5238
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Holly Copeland, MA is a certified Human Potential coach and Biofield Tuning Practitioner, NeuroMeditation and Subtle Energy Meditation teacher, and Reiki Master. She teaches non-dual awareness and subtle energy meditation techniques and uses neurotechnology, Reiki and tuning forks in transformative quantum healing experiences and in her coaching work.
Holly's childhood passion for maps, the environment, technology and spirituality initially led her to a 25-year career as a conservation scientist mapping the Earth's ecosystems with GPS. Heartbroken by the state of the planet coupled with a personal health crisis, she set out on a new path of healing and transformation. She shifted her focus from exterior to interior and rewired her brain to a state of resilience and joy.
Founder of HeartMind Alchemy, and as a former scientist turned meditation teacher and coach, Holly unites ancient wisdom with modern science and harnesses modern technology and neuroscience to empower clients on their path to human flourishing and upgrading from “ordinary mind" to luminous awareness. She guides people out of the muddy waters of the thinking mind to live in flow joyfully and effortlessly from their own inner compass--their own stable ground of being.
Holly's Story:
"Two years ago, my life felt like it was falling apart. A job that I'd been in for 17 years was not working for me anymore and I started having symptoms of severe mold poisoning, sending my health into a downward spiral. In 2018, I changed jobs and detoxed from the mold, but somehow by making that change, I unearthed a new realization that I hadn't been living wholeheartedly and joyfully for awhile--I really couldn't remember when. Specifically, my despair over the state of the world combined with years of a stressful busy job left me frayed and burnt out. I was determined to never let myself become so unhappy again and inspired to change a WHOLE lot more. Thus began my journey inward. I literally wrote "My Rewire My Brain Project" at the top of my journal page and outlined all the things I was learning how to do to change my brain and change me. The first was learning to focus and calm my mind. No more did I want to float aimlessly from thought to thought. I read about alpha brain waves and the power of shifting from crazy nonstop thinking beta brain waves. As a scientist, understanding how my brainwave patterns led to unhealthy thinking and stress was a huge light bulb moment for me. You mean I could change my pattern of thinking and be happier? I have control over that? The answer is definitely yes, you CAN. I set out to change my brainwaves and it profoundly changed my life. And if I can do it, you can too."
Learn more at: https://www.heartmindalchemy.org/
https://www.facebook.com/heartmindalchemy
https://www.instagram.com/hollyerincopeland/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvp70F24kTTn-k09t3fcKAw
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan, is the President of Educorp Consultants Corporation and Senior Innovation Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Education Entrepreneurship, University of Pennsylvania, and a former education industry entrepreneur. Dr. Kurshan has more than 40 years’ experience in education as a researcher, entrepreneur, developer, investor, and company executive. She developed the first children’s software products for Microsoft, as well as award winning products for McGraw-Hill, Apple, CCC (Pearson), and others.
She is the author of several books, including Internet for Kids (Sybex); Exploring Creative Writer and Exploring Fine Artist (Addison-Wesley Longman); Understanding Computers Through Applications (Glencoe); Activities for Kids and Kids at Heart (Reston). She has received numerous awards and recognitions including the WISE Prize, the King Bahrain UNESCO Prize, 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Directors, 100 Edtech Influencers, and Laureate Tech Awards – Technology Benefiting Humanity.
Bobbi shares her journey, including obstacles, which can inspire listeners. Her InnovateHERS website is rich with resources for entrepreneurs and those seeking leadership positions. The site also invites readers to share their stories, which are highlighted on the site.
Becoming her best version has changed over time. Most importantly, she takes time for herself, and does not sweat the small stuff.
Follow her and learn more at the links below:
Twitter @bkurshan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-bobbi-kurshan/
For her latest book:
www.innovateHERs.org
Twitter: @innovate_HERs
Instagram: @InnovateHERs
Linkedin: InnovateHERs community
Facebook: InnovateHERs Community
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Mary Beth O'Connor has been clean and sober since 1994. She also is in recovery from abuse and trauma. The details of her story can be found in her memoir, From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction, where she describes the child abuse that led her to use methamphetamine beginning at 17, the chaos of her 15-year addiction, and building an individual recovery plan that worked for her.
Mary Beth is a Director and Secretary for She Recovers Foundation and is a Director for LifeRing Secular Recovery. She regularly speaks on behalf of LifeRing, She Recovers, and multiple paths to recovery. She also develops relationships with organizations supportive of the multiple pathways approach, such as participating in San Francisco’s Methamphetamine Task Force, and working on joint projects with Women for Sobriety.
Mary Beth has had numerous essays and memoir writings published, such as in The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Recovery Today. Professionally, six years into her recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm in Silicon Valley, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014, Mary Beth was appointed an Administrative Law Judge. She recently retired, so she could devote her time to her writing and recovery advocacy.
Her new book is From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction. From a junkie addicted to methamphetamines to a federal judge, Mary Beth’s memoir shares her inspiring journey from rock bottom to resilience as she forged a personal path to recovery from trauma and addiction. Within a week of being born, O’Connor was dropped off at a convent. When she was brought into her home, her mother focused on her own needs and desires, ignoring her young child. When she was nine years old, her stepfather kicked her in the stomach for spilling milk, beat her when she didn’t clean a plate to his satisfaction, and molested her when she was 12. A few months later, with her first sip of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill wine, her life changed. She felt euphoric and relaxed. So she got drunk as often as possible, adding pot, then pills, then acid. At 16, she found her drug of choice--methamphetamine. With her first snort, she felt that she experienced true joy for the first time. When this high was no longer sufficient, she turned to the needle and shot up. During the next 16 years, she descended into a severe meth addiction, working her way down the corporate ladder, destroying relationships, and shattering her physical and emotional well-being. At 32, she entered rehab, where she was ordered to submit to the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. As an atheist, turning her will and her life over to a higher power was not an option, and she refused to agree she was powerless. Told to comply or fail, she bravely created a new path that combined ideas from multiple programs and even incorporated some AA concepts. Clean and sober now for nearly three decades, she is proof that anyone can find their sober self, their best self, no matter how far they have fallen. Along with her inspiring story, she offers a comprehensive checklist of questions for readers to ask themselves, as they take the brave steps toward recovery, offering a powerful blueprint for personal change. To become her best version, she uses patience and prioritizing.
Learn more at the links below:
From Junkie to Judge: One Woman's Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction
junkietojudge.com
@MaryBethO_ (LinkedIn and twitter)
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Chanelle René is a New Jersey-based, award winning artist exploring themes of diverse beauty, freedom and self-discovery. She uses bold color and painterly brush strokes to create immersive portrait paintings in oils and mixed media. Current projects include Grant Street Beach, a series of paintings highlighting African-American generations on the segregated beach of Cape May, New Jersey, from the 1920-60s that reference Chanelle’s own family photographs. Chanelle has exhibited throughout New Jersey and internationally at venues such as the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition, Noyes Art Museum, Atlantic City Arts Foundation public installation, Cape May MAC, The Curator’s Salon and the Ocean City Arts Center as Best of Show awardee. Select media features include The Curator’s Salon, Cape May Magazine and Soup Can Magazine. Chanelle is a self-taught artist who made a midlife pivot from a 20-year career in digital marketing to professional artist. Her mission is to inspire Black women to fall in love with themselves – with an invitation to take up space, honor desires and nurture the Soul. Chanelle offers paintings and workshops to support her community.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Portraiture allows me to explore the complexity and nuance of the human spirit. I seek a visual embodiment of our truest self, deepest emotions and engagement with the full spectrum of modern beauty and feminine strength. As a Black woman, I not only want to reflect myself but normalize and amplify the visibility of Black women simply being....
My painting process is a mix of bold color and expressive marks applied with intention. I layer a variety of media to create depth, contrast and surface texture in my works, including spray paint, pastel, and oil paint. These materials combine to create interest, inviting the viewer to take a closer look and discover something new. Throughout this process of layering, I discover the essence of the figure I’m representing, capturing the energy and strength in her face, body, and eyes.
Often the sitter's eyes decide if they will be a subject of my portraits. The direct female gaze was considered taboo throughout art history. With a passive gaze or eyes closed, she was simply an object of pleasure--without power, without agency. Black women were generally excluded as the main subjects in historical works. In many of my paintings, I give the direct gaze to black women, giving back her power and agency. My work contributes to the narrative of empowering black women – igniting hope and endless possibilities.
Website: chanellerene.com
Instagram: @beingchanellerene
hello@chanellerene.com
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Michelle Harris founded Bosstrack in 2021 to provide women new to leadership roles with the development, support and mentorship she found lacking for new leaders. Often little thought is given to the new tools and perspectives needed to lead and, as a result, new leaders are expected to just “figure things out.” Bosstrack was developed to fill this gap. Michelle has more than 25 years of leadership experience with more than half of that time spent at an executive level. Her focus has always been on people, shaping her teams to produce results and grow in their roles. She has led her teams through financial reorganizations, acquisitions and multi-billion dollar private equity sales. She is excited to bring this opportunity to new women leaders.
Michelle offers interesting insight about the balance between wellness and being a leader, as well as challenges of women in leadership. Her global brand, Bosstrack, has become an online women’s leadership community of ambitious female leaders.
According to Bosstrack's website, "Whether you’re a new manager pushing to become a successful, high impact leader or an experienced leader looking to sharpen your skills and network, you’ve landed in the right place. We’ve helped other women become high-performance, high-impact leaders and we’d love to work with you too! If you’re looking for a wealth of educational resources in one easy to access place, coaching calls to engage in, advice and guidance, accountability, mentorship, an incredible group of business besties, or even an action plan to become the successful leader you envision yourself being, click below to join our exclusive community and get started."
When not working to empower women leaders, you can find Michelle in the water, in a photography studio or at a new restaurant. She enjoys photography, scuba diving, free diving, enjoying food and wine and exploring new places. She is based in Miami and is a mom to two and wife of a former Marine. Michelle is also the host of the podcast Her Hype Squad with Bosstrack.
CONNECT WITH MICHELLE:
linkedin.com/meetmichelleharris/
michelle.harris@thebosstrack.com
https://thebosstrack.com
Instagram and Facebook: @thebosstrack
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Angela Irwin is an international Life and Confidence Coach, TEDx speaker and the founder of Joyful Life Solutions, which specializes in helping women reprogram their self-acceptance to build lasting confidence, so that they can achieve their full potential. Prior to that, Angela spent 15 years in the corporate medical device field, holding various positions in marketing, management and clinical education in the U.S., Australia and Europe.
During the pandemic, Angela launched the Joyful Life Cochlear Implant Fund (www.jlcif.org) to help ensure her fellow cochlear implant recipients have access to the ongoing critical technology that they need to keep their hearing. Angela lost her hearing as a child, for unknown reasons. She helps others navigate similar journeys and to raise awareness of the impact of hearing loss.
Angela supplements her training by drawing from her personal experiences, numerous challenges and transitions in her own life. In addition to her coaching training, Angela holds a B.S. degree in sociology and psychology, as well as an MBA. Born in a small farm community in South Dakota, Angela has lived and traveled all over the world. She and her husband have been living in France for the past 11 years.
Angela believes in the adage that doubt and fear takes you out of action and only action takes you or of fear. She also allows herself grace when faced with difficult or uncontrollable situations.
You can watch Angela’s TEDx talk here: https://bit.ly/2S3vHxH
Website: https://joyfullifesolutions.com/
Instagram handle: @angelamirwin
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-irwin-5686722/
FB page: https://www.facebook.com/joyfullifesolutions
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
After a 30-year career in financial services and the not-for-profit sector, Monique Giroux took an early retirement at 55, traded in her business suit for hiking boots, and sold her home and possessions to pursue a slower paced, minimalist, nomadic life. Monique made a commitment to herself in 2019 to live an anxiety free life by finding calm and peace of mind after an enlightening experience in Bali. Immersing herself in self-study and becoming a certified Forest Therapy Guide, Reiki Master, meditation, yoga nidra and restorative yoga teacher, Monique is now breathing deeply. She works with clients to help them slow down, and to connect with their inner voice and intuition through nature connection and energy healing.
Founder of The Flourishment Collective (www.flourishment.global) Monique is now traveling the world sharing stories of #2suitcases1laptop and the forest therapy guides she meets along the way. She is working on her first book that was downloaded while in a deep meditative state during a 9-day silent Buddhist retreat.
She shares distance reiki with clients around the world, supports women’s retreats, mentors and trains new forest therapy guides. She continues to use her corporate experience as one of the female founders of the climate start up Homes to Zero (www.homestozero.ca) and consults on partnership and not for profit projects on occasion.
Monique is currently in Slovenia healing from an injury sustained while hiking. She hails from Toronto, Canada. Through her internal growth, she realized that she did not need her big home in Toronto, so she sold it, as well as 90% of her possessions. She now travels the world with one suitcase and one backpack. She is doing her part to alleviate the harm we are causing the earth.
Anxiety, the illness of our time, comes from our inability to stay present, says Monique, drawing from the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Her practices help her diminish anxiety from her life and the lives of her clients. Her self-care practices strengthen her ability to keep anxiety at bay and to help others do the same.
Learn more about her work at the links below.
Social Media:
Blog: https://www.flourishment.global/blog
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-flourishment-collective/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishment.collective/
Forest therapy focused Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theforestwhisperer/
Personal LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/moniquefgiroux
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kizzy Kittrell Dogan, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of T&G Commercial Cleaning, LLC, Founder of Love Circle Inc, Author of Thirteen: Lessons for Every Teen Girl's Journey to Womanhood, Contributor to IamTeenStrong.com, Workshop Facilitator, and Keynote Speaker. Kizzy transforms and empowers teen girls to discover their purpose, passion, and superpowers as The Teen Girl Mentor.
Kizzy is a results-driven leader whose success is marked by steadiness, ethics, optimism, and fun. She has provided countless hours of business development and professional mentorship as a successful entrepreneur.
Kizzy proudly sits on the St. Margaret's Achievers Toastmasters International Executive Board and volunteers with the Youth Leadership Program. She advocates for second chances, is a conference and seminar enthusiast, pizza connoisseur, and lover of all things extravagant. Kizzy is hugely passionate about inspiring, motivating, and fostering the best qualities in everyone.
Kizzy is a native Washingtonian and a mother of three sons. Although she prides herself on being a loud sports mom, she equally enjoys driving her sons mad with her unapologetic partiality to girls.
Kizzy proudly sits on the St. Margaret's Achievers Toastmasters International Executive Board and volunteers with the Youth Leadership Program. She advocates for second chances, is a conference and seminar enthusiast, pizza connoisseur, and lover of all things extravagant. Kizzy is hugely passionate about inspiring, motivating, and fostering the best qualities in everyone.
Kizzy's messages are gold. She preaches self-love. She assures young women that we are empowered to not allow people to come into our spaces and misuse us. We can choose.
To become her best version is a continuous process. She works hard to control her thinking. When she has negative thoughts, she declares her strength and power. She believes in prayer and affirmation. She also exercises to feel good about herself. She surrounds herself with positive people. Finally, she takes care to prepare for whatever she is called to do.
Social Media Handles:
LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook: @IamKizzyDogan
http://www.kizzykdogan.com/
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Elle Russ is a #1 bestselling author, world-renowned thyroid health expert, and thought leader on confidence and self-esteem. Elle has written for Entrepreneur and has been featured in Success, HuffPost, Podcasting Magazine, Mind Body Green, Prevention, and more.
Elle is the author ofConfident As Fuk and The Paleo Thyroid Solution – a book which has helped thousands of people around the world reclaim their health. She is also a TV-Film writer and the screenwriter of the award-winning documentary film Headhunt Revisited.* She holds a degree in Philosophy from The University of California - Santa Cruz.
Elle has been coaching people all over the world in a variety of areas for over a decade. She is also the host of The Elle Russ Show - a weekly show intended to inspire, motivate, and educate. Elle has been podcasting for 8 years with over 500 guests and 20 million downloads.
Elle offers affordable online courses and free masterclasses. Visit ElleRuss.com to learn more.
Learn more about Elle's work at the links below:
WEBSITE
https://elleruss.com
https://www.instagram.com/_elleruss/
https://www.facebook.com/elleruss
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elleruss/
https://twitter.com/_elleruss
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Christina Flach is CEO and founder of Pretty Girl Makeup. She is a renowned celebrity makeup artist with experience working with celebrity clientele, magazines, and big name brands. She has been featured in Vogue, People, Time, and Elle, as well as campaigns for Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, and Bloomingdales. Christina also writes articles detailing the must know tips, tricks, and hacks of the makeup, wellness, and nutrition industries. Christina has participated in numerous podcasts, TV, radio, and magazine interviews to raise awareness for the causes she holds close to her heart, and is the Beauty Expert on NBC in California.
Christina is a single mother of four, as well as a philanthropist. She raises funds and awareness for anti-sepsis causes, having lost her husband to sepsis. She also started the Beau Friedman Outdoor Classroom at the Edna McGuire School in Mill Valley, California, raising money for the Baby Beau and Ken Flach Educational Funds at the Northern Light School in Oakland, California. She lost one of her sons sixteen years ago. Education and nutrition are top interests for Christina.
Christina uses her platform to promote the importance of feeling beautiful from the inside out. She inspires women to be the best version of themselves and how to overcome life's greatest obstacles. She believes happiness and attitude are a choice, and wishes herself a good morning each day and setting her intentions.
To learn more:
www.prettygirlmakeup.com
www.christinaflach.com
Follow her on Instagram at @prettygirlmakeup and @christinaflachmakeup
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Faigie Kobre (Faigie is Yiddish for bird) is an elementary school art teacher in Long Island, New York, who also works with women who love art but don't feel artistic. She helps them reignite their creativity through the medium of alcohol inks. She started her career as an early childhood educator (she got her masters in education in the 1980s) and then spent 25 years as a high-end portrait photographer. She conducted workshops on creativity and how to give kids are that feeds them. While she loved helping children enhance their creativity, she switched careers in her 50s (after her children were grown) and loves teaching women how to tap into their untapped creativity. Locally, she conducts art parties in her community, but her coaching and workshops are offered online as well.
Faigie constantly works on herself to become a better human being. She works on her relationships. She has six children, so she works on changing her way of dealing with each of her children, according to their needs and temperaments. Any relationship requires you to give of one's self. We are never finished, because there is so much to work on and to change.
Learn more about her work here:
www.creativityreignited.com
@creativealcoholinking
www.Facebook.com/creativealcoholinking
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Roxanne McCarty-O’Kane is a ghostwriter and writing mentor who works closely with aspiring authors to empower them to become the changemakers they dream to be through authorship. Storytelling has been Roxanne’s bread and butter since 2007 with a long career as a journalist for newspapers, magazines, and online publications before transferring her skillsets into non-fiction book creation. Her emphasis on connection to her authors and honoring the uniqueness of their stories has seen her recognized in:
2022
- Finalist Sunshine Coast Business Awards Creative Industries
- Finalist Australian Woman Small Business Champion Awards Sole Trader
2021
- WINNER Micro/Small Business Woman in the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network Awards.
- Australian Small Business Champion Awards Sole Trader Finalist.
2020
- Australian Small Business Champion Awards Sole Trader Finalist.
- Australian My Business Awards for Young Leader of the Year Finalist (one of only two female finalists).
- Australian My Business Awards for B2C Business of the Year Finalist.
2019
- Young Business Woman of the Year Finalist in the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network Awards.
- Australian My Business Awards Young Leader of the Year Finalist.
When she isn’t in her writing cave, leading Ignite & Write workshops, or mentoring aspiring authors, Roxanne enjoys asserting her dominance in family games of Bananagrams, playing her guitar, and curling up in the hammock on the back deck with a good book.
Roxanne McCarty-O'Kane joined us on the podcast from Australia. Roxanne says: "My first contact with newspapers was as a ‘paper girl,’ jumping on my bike with a totally stylish yellow PVC satchel slung over my shoulder delivering copies of The Evening Post to subscribers in the small town of Wainuiomata in New Zealand. Rain, hail, or shine, they always received their papers and being in the land of the long white cloud, it often meant arriving home from deliveries soaked-through. Fast forward to today and I am a qualified journalist who has written for a number of newspapers, magazines and e-zines and am what you would call a jack of all trades. I have had to decipher incredible tech-speak, political jargon and complex government documents to draw out the things that really matter to people and have covered everything from everyday news happenings to court proceedings, business stories, profile and entertainment, features that cover hard-hitting topics that can impact the wider community and had the privilege to chat with a number of high profile Australian and international celebrities."
Her Phoenix Phenomenon project showcases inspiring people's stories. She now focuses on authors' stories. Get help with your book by contacting Roxanne at the links or email below. She also does service work helping victims heal from sexual abuse, as part of the No More Fake Smiles organization.
Roxanne follows the premises of the seminal book, The Four Agreements, by Toltec shaman, Don Miguel Ruiz. She is mindful about her words, and she strives not to take things personally or make assumptions and always to do her best in any situation.
Roxanne has penned her own book, Ignite & Write, a resource for fellow authors. Learn more and follow her work: https://www.roxannewriter.com.au/
Email: hello@roxannewriter.com.au
Instagram: @roxannewriter
Facebook: facebook.com/roxannewriter
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/roxannemccartyokane/
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
You might be wondering how someone transitions from scientist with a tenured professorship at a major research university to uncovering hidden truths with paint and brushes. Dr. Robin Davisson’s career is as interesting, unpredictable and exciting as her abstract expressionist paintings. Robin recently left a 25-year career as a biomedical scientist in academia to pursue her passion for painting--a startling and exhilarating second act! She just opened StudioLab RD, a new and unique creative hub where they are creating connection through art in the heart of Georgetown, in Washington, DC.Robin started her professional life as a biomedical scientist in the field of molecular physiology. Her work over nearly three decades contributed in major ways to our understanding of the control of the circulation in health and disease, relevant to disorders as varied as high blood pressure, heart failure and obesity. She was honored with many major national and international awards by her scientific peers and was an endowed professor at Cornell University. She is currently Professor Emerita at Cornell and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University.
Throughout this award-winning career, Robin’s passionate avocation was textile art, including spinning, natural dyeing, knitting and weaving. Eventually, the pull of art was irresistible, and she decided to close her research laboratories to devote her efforts completely to abstract painting. She is an alumna of multiple programs at The Penland School as well as numerous other online and in-person art courses.
Robin’s lyrical, process-driven work is rooted in eclectic curiosity and the material surprises she discovers working with her finely-developed visual vocabulary. Her debut exhibition opened at Calloway Fine Art in Georgetown, Washington, DC in Spring of 2021, where she continues to show. Robin is currently one of three finalists for the 2022 DC Mayor’s Arts Awards in the Emerging Creative category. This spring Davisson opened a unique new creative hub in Georgetown called StudioLab RD.
Visitors to StudioLab can browse available art, flip through her art library and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea on the studio’s sun-filled street level. Upstairs, guests can watch Davisson at work, from testing ideas in her sketchbook and prepping canvases, to mixing and applying paints and discerning the final touches on completed pieces. Davisson is accessible and available to chat with visitors and exchange ideas. She often gives observers a chance to explore their creativity. Her intention is to explore the creative process together. Salons, a creative-in-residence program and other offerings are also currently in the works.
Today, Robin follows her intuition. She describes it as a combination of her history, her emotions and her intellect. She recognizes that, for her, it took a lifetime to develop and follow her intuition.
You can learn more about her work here:
www.robindavissonart.com
@robindavissonart
@studiolab_rd
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Wendy Posillico, who joined us from Jupiter, Florida, by way of New York and Lake Tahoe, is an athlete, a coach, a single mother, an explorer, and the founder of WP Elite Mindset Coaching and Live Your June. After becoming a professional golfer in her 30s and a single mother through IVF in her 40s, Wendy’s life went in a completely new direction, and she came to understand the importance of a flexible mindset, targeted goals, and clarity of self. Drawing upon her background in special education (she worked as a special ed teacher in Harlem) and human development, a lifetime of experience in competitive sports, and the most up to date research on high performance, Wendy created her Elite Mindset coaching program. She learned to embrace transition and trust her intuition in order to transform her life, and she wants to help others to do the same.
She encourages people to "live their June," explaining that "June is who you really are. It is an energy inside each one of us that is as unique as a fingerprint.... Live Your June offers self-assessments, online courses and private coaching to help instigate the connection with who you are and who you were born to be." Wendy describes "June" as the best in us, passed on from generations before we came into the world. She notes that, as children, we tend to live our uniqueness and are not hampered by societal judgments. She helps adults come back to who they really are before the world told them who they were supposed to be.
Wendy runs groups in which she provides safe spaces for participants to be vulnerable. "We all need space to speak the stuff that's scary," Wendy says. She continually challenges her clients to think bigger, and marvels at the "something in people's eyes when they believe in themselves." Her personal philosophy is that we should aim to "instigate our souls." She coined the term "soulstigate," which is "about listening to your inner being and trusting when something does not make sense."
Wendy also raises money for pediatric cancer research, in honor of her late niece, and funds for clean water efforts in Zambia, Africa. Check out https://whitsway.org/ and https://golfforeafrica.org/ to learn more about these organizations.
Learn more about Wendy's work at liveyourjune.com and follow Wendy on Instagram and Facebook: @liveyourjune.
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Emma Payne, who joins us from Vancouver, is the founder and CEO of Grief Coach, a text messaging service that delivers ongoing, expert grief support globally. Grief Coach, which was borne out of her personal loss, combines Emma's passion for mobile technology and engagement, with her deep commitment to providing affordable, accessible, and personal grief support. An MIT graduate and best-selling author who started building online communities before Netscape was born, Emma knows that, while grief is hard, it’s a little easier when we have people by our side.
"Expert grief support for you. Gentle coaching for friends & family who want to help but may not know how. All via text. For less than the price of an hour's therapy, we'll send you thoughtful, personalized tips and suggestions all year long. Texts are curated by experts and customized based on your loss. Because nobody should have to grieve alone." (source: grief.coach)
Stark numbers exist regarding grieving. The U.S. Census recently reported the biggest jump in mortality rates in 100 years. Death spiked almost 19% in 2019-2020 (Covid, suicides and overdoses account for some of this). So that feeling that we have that so many are grieving is not just a feeling. It is real. Before the pandemic, it was hard to find a grief counselor. When we are grieving, there is vast data that indicates that we are at risk of negative health outcomes. This is especially true of vulnerable communities. But the health care system needs to acknowledge this, and has not. Yet. Grief Coach has filled a huge gap.
One does not have to have a smart phone to access this service. It is a one way service, in that clients receive customized support through Grief Coach via text. Fourteen percent of Grief Coach's clients are seniors (read "not necessarily tech savvy"). Many of their clients come via hospices. Clients can invite people to join their service who want to help but do not know how to help a grieving person. Grief Coach's feedback is an almost constant stream of gratitude for their help. "Thanks for telling me what to do," many support clients remark.
"We take the beautiful knowledge that exists and make it accessible," Emma says. Many of Grief Coach's experts worked in hospices or with patients with terminal illnesses for decades. Grief Coach is developing additional resources for people with terminal illnesses and for health care workers who work in high trauma/high death roles.
"No one teaches us how to grieve. We are in a grief and death illiterate society. It is scary to sit with someone in the depths of grief and depression. Grief must be relieved," Emma explains. We are all fortunate that Grief Coach is helping us process and move through our grief.
Learn more about Emma's work here:
www.grief.coach
Check out the Grief Coach blog for helpful tips: https://grief.coach/blog/
https://www.instagram.com/grief.coach/
https://twitter.com/mygriefcoach
https://www.facebook.com/mygriefcoach
https://www.linkedin.com/company/griefcoach
https://vimeo.com/griefcoach
https://www.tiktok.com/@grief.coach
https://www.pinterest.com/mygriefcoach
--- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Vailes ("Joye") Shepperd is a captivating author. There are few historical novels about the successful Black experience before, during and after slavery. Because of a lack of documentation about the African American experience and culture during the early part of U.S. history, A Good Ending for Bad Memories (Bold Story Press, 2021), while fiction, is a true account of Black reality and culture in the U.S. It is full of compelling characters and rich settings, and adds to an important narrative. "Our history was not compiled and kept like others, but we all know stories that are important to know," Vailes relates. Her book's characters bring to life multiple aspects of the American Black experience, and her readers, like me, are the beneficiaries of her shared work.
A Good Ending for Bad Memories is a richly sensual novel about a prosperous African American family before, during, and after slavery. It threads truth, folklore, legend and fact, in a captivating exploration of a family’s complex legacy. The plot frames their experiences and events in the United States, as well as in Mexico and Egypt. Vailes brings her characters to life in a way I have not experienced, in recent memories. She shares that her brother is a poet but, I believe, Vailes's work sometimes reads like poetry.
Vailes is one of the founding/member editors of the Washington Independent Review of Books (www.wirobooks.com), which began when The Washington Post ceased publishing Book World. She interviewed authors and wrote regular articles about writing for the Washington Independent Review. She designed a writing program for high school students while teaching in a Saturday program under the auspices of Substance Abuse Prevention Education. Vailes was editor of The African Safari by P.J. Fetner (St. Martin’s Press) and Take Me with You by Scott Jackson, President and CEO of Global Impact. Her short story, "Monroe" was published in an anthology of women writing about men, Brothers and Others. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and, sometimes, two sons. A Good Ending for Bad Memories is the first of four upcoming books.
When asked what she does to become her best version, Vailes explains that "sometimes you just have to make a decision, like 'This is a good day. I am thankful to have this day and I'm going to make it the best I can. I'm going to smile at this. I'm going to look at something beautiful and smile.'" Vailes reminds us to be intentional about what we ingest with our minds. We all have the ability to control, more or less, what we allow into our orbit.
Learn more (and check out her blog) here: https://linktr.ee/vailesshepperd
https://www.vailesshepperdbooks.com/
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Amal Ghandour is a Lebanese-Jordanian author and blogger (Thinking Fits), with a career that spans more than three decades in the fields of research, communication and community development. Her book, About This Man Called Ali (2009), was named the first biography of a modern Arab artist by the renowned Historian, Philip Mansel.
Amal's latest book, This Arab Life: A Generation’s Journey Into Silence (2022), is her quest for clarity during difficult, unpredictable moments in the Arab world. She describes it “as a memoir that is not of an individual but of the generation that came of political age in the 1980s in the Levant,” and admits that her book straddles genres to include history and cultural/political commentary. This Arab Life, she adds, “is an intimate rendition of the times that shaped us; the way we internalized our parents’ myriad dejections and disappointments; the pragmatism and silence that defined us; and the dispiriting inheritance we inexorably bequeathed our own children.” Amal had to do some "excavation" during the writing of this book, to explore and deal with the existential angst that arose in her. Amal laments her generation's failure to have a say in the geographies and social structures that shape their destinies and explains what she believes to have contributed to this situation, and what could have been done to avoid it.
"It is very frightening to excavate, but the process is very rewarding," Amal reflects. Amal also discusses her take on the two-state solution that has dominated the discourse about Palestine and Israel, which she notes is "Israeli occupancy of a people who do not want to be occupied." As a person who lives in an area experiencing serious hardship, she fiercely resists optimism where it is not justified.
In 2009, Amal became Senior Advisor to Ruwwad al Tanmeya, a regional community development initiative. She sits on the Boards of Directors of Ruwwad in Lebanon and Palestine, on the Board of Trustees of International College (IC), and on the Board of Directors of Synaps. She also served as Special Adviser to Columbia University’s Global Centers, Middle East (2014-2017), and on the Board of Directors of The Arab Human Rights Fund (2011-2014).
Amal holds an MS in International Policy from Stanford University and a BSFS from Georgetown University.
Among her works: Aeon, The Daily Beast, Washington Independent Review of Books, Midanmasr, Canvas.
Website - https://amalghandour.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amalghandour/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ghandour_ag
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61908393-this-arab-life
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/This-Arab-Life-Generations-Journey-ebook/dp/B0B6DGWW5Q
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Raquel Benavidez joined us from San Diego to talk about how she employs the teachings of Toltec shaman, Don Miguel Ruiz, in her daily life and work. Don Miguel Ruiz is the author of the bestselling The Four Agreements and The Mastery of Love. Raquel maintains that The Mastery of Love is about the compassion that nurtures the four simple, logical argreements in Don Miguel's seminal work, The Four Agreements, which changed my life. "We are here to create ourselves only," Raquel says. "We can disagree, but we do not have to judge. As long as others are not hurting me...people have the right to think however they'd like. What gives me the right to think I know the only truth? We must stop our righteous indignation because being righteously indignant puts us in the same trap."
Raquel has launched The Truth Foundation, which is dedicated to educating and expanding the perceptions of identity and race both in the workplace and one’s personal life. The program works in partnership with her corporate clients to bring empowerment and hope to local underserved communities through guidance programs that broaden the opportunity to achieve real success and happiness among their constituencies.
"The Truth Foundation was born out of a necessity to help and share the opportunities given to us. As women, we want to nourish and be able to provide to those in need. We get inspired by Mother Nature, and in current times, we feel more than ever that we need a collective need for change. We are ready to let go of the old paradigms and bring light into this new era, with transcendental love-universal love and compassion. Seeding fortitude and resilience in young women to embrace and nurture their inner truth, cultivating a community of rising luminaries to trust and harness the experiences of life through power of choice, respect, and faith in oneself. The Truth Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 in the US, that endeavors to help people identify and pursue their passions and live in their truth. We empower and support a more mindful approach to business & life. Goals: Professional Development. Education. Spiritual Journeys. Activism."
"Angels at Work exists to support the success and wellbeing of all individuals working in the corporate business world, the education sector, and small businesses alike. Our work focuses on complementing institutions’ existing strategies, aiming to assist them in building a more dynamic workplace. We also offer a range of services to build and maintain mindfulness within the workplace."
See TheTruthFoundation.org and AngelsAtWork.org for more information.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
In 2018, Catherine Hand was one of two producers for Walt Disney’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved children’s classic A Wrinkle in Time. Catherine’s career in the entertainment business was launched working for the legendary writer/producer Norman Lear. She was the Associate Producer on Lear’s Emmy Nominated ABC TV special, I Love Liberty, and helped to create the national nonprofit, People for the American Way. Later, she served as a development executive at Zoetrope, Francis Coppola’s company where she worked on several projects, including Godfather III. Catherine has also worked for years in the public service sector. After having produced several large-scale events for national organizations, garnering a Gracie Award for best public affairs programming in 2009, Catherine was recruited by the Obama Administration where she was part of the core leadership team involved in communicating policy and political decisions impacting the federal workforce.
Catherine shares some beautiful life lessons in this episode. "Faith is for when things are going wrong," she shares. Her lifelong dream did not come to fruition until after she turned 60. But she did not give up. "We can't changes things...but we can stop fearing them," she counsels. "Thoughts are temporary," she says of her 3:00 am musings. "They are not permanent," and we can talk back to them. One of her takeaways from writing her book, Becoming a Warrior, is that "Have something worth fighting for...that is greater than yourself." And others can benefit from what you have learned. Catherine encourages us to become warriors in the universe to illuminate others.
She continues to develop new projects and enjoys coaching others to become warriors in their own lives. Her memoir, Becoming a Warrior is scheduled to be published by Bold Story Press on October 25, 2022. It will be available everywhere.
"I read Madeleine L'Engle's award winning novel, A Wrinkle in Time, when I was ten years old and dreamt of one day making it into a movie. It would take five decades for my childhood dream to come true. My journey would include working alongside the television luminary Norman Lear in the creation of the nonprofit People For the American Way, and a 25 year-long conversation with author Madeleine L’Engle about her book. My memoir, Becoming a Warrior: My Journey to Bring A Wrinkle in Time to the Screen due to be released in October 2022 illustrates one woman’s persistence—through a demanding career in the entertainment industry, the sudden and unexpected death of my beloved husband, raising three young children on my own—and eventual success. In 2018, over fifty years after I first read A Wrinkle in Time, Walt Disney Studios released a major motion picture based on this beloved novel directed by Ava DuVernay, written by Jennifer Lee and starred Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha Raw and Storm Reid." -- Catherine Hand
“Catherine’s journey of over 50 years to have A Wrinkle In Time brought to the Silver Screen is simply extraordinary. And the book’s impact upon her life is both compelling and inspirational.”
-- Alan Horn, Former Chairman of Walt Disney Studios - Motion Pictures
“No one I’ve known ever loved a book more than Catherine Hand loved A Wrinkle in Time. Her perseverance and journey to make the film is nothing short of inspiring.”
-- Norman Lear, award winning writer/producer
To learn more, see catherinehand.com
https://www.instagram.com/catherinehand5555/
twitter: @madebyhand
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Trish Glowacki is a filmmaker, writer and songwriter. Her first musical, WARNING: Take Only As Directed, was adapted to the screen. The award-winning film has proven to be an innovative and effective tool for teaching teens, their educators, parents and guardians about the dangers of prescription medicine misuse. Trish launched glowmedia in 2016 and is making a series of short films, based on the Warning model, addressing a broad range of mental health issues.
In November 2011, Trish lost her 21-year old son, Charlie, after a five-year battle with anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Charlie died of an accidental Oxycontin overdose. In the wake of Charlie’s passing, the family searched for ways to both handle the incredible grief and honor their beloved son's memory. Trish, an accomplished musician and thespian, set out to write songs and a play about Charlie. In the process of writing and researching, she realized a larger vision for his legacy.
The growing opioid crisis had just started to reach a national consciousness. Overdoses have quadrupled since 1991 and the crisis has penetrated both rural and urban communities, crossing ethnic and socio-economic boundaries. Armed with a powerful story and an urgency to educate youth nationwide, Trish decided to adapt her play into a short film musical that could be used as a unique teaching resource. The goal was to produce a high-quality short film and disseminate it to as many middle and high school classrooms as possible.
Leveraging her extensive contacts in the music and film industries, Trish enlisted studio musicians, hired a film director and production company, and co-wrote the screenplay. The 26-minute film, Warning: Take Only as Directed, premiered in 2014 and soon after was added to Discovery Education, the nation’s largest provider of digital educational content. To date, the film has been viewed by over a million students nationwide. The film comes with free resource guides and lesson plans. These materials facilitate classroom conversation and enhance understanding of the film content.
The overwhelming success of this film inspired the Glowacki family to focus on other sensitive issues facing today’ s youth. In 2016, they created a 501c3 organization, the glowmedia project, and started fundraising for the development of a series of new films that, like Warning, seek to build awareness and reduce stigma around various challenges affecting teenagers. Three new short films, co-written by Trish and Andrea Hansell, Ph.D., a licensed clinical child and adolescent psychologist, were released in 2017. These films focus on eating disorders/body image, anxiety and depression, and LGBTQ+ topics. Similar to Warning: Take Only as Directed, these shorts integrate music, realistic characters and dialogue, and authentic storylines. They also come with educational materials, created by experts in the field.
The fifth film, addressing bipolar disorder, King of the World, was released in 2020. The pandemic brought new projects to a halt, but they were able to produce a documentary about the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of teens, Unimaginable, which will be released this fall.
With pandemic restrictions lifted, they were able to film their seventh short, addressing suicide prevention, There Can Be Light, in May. That film will premiere this fall in select cities in October (L.A. on 10/1 and Silver Spring, MD's American Film Institute on 10/12), and be released in early 2023.
Learn more:
glowmedia.org
FB: @glowmediaorg, IG/twitter: @glowmediafilms, Vimeo.com/glowmedia
*Dial 988 for the Mental Health Crisis Line
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kathy Fritz is a board-certified master hormone coach who helps women in perimenopause and menopause experience relief from hormonal symptoms like fatigue, hot flashes, moodiness, and insomnia. Her clients lose weight, rediscover their energy, feel sexy, and stop thinking they're losing their minds. Kathy's background in education gives her the expertise to individualize material so her clients can go from where they are to where they want to be.
According to Kathy: "I help perimenopausal and menopausal women get relief from their hormonal symptoms like insomnia, weight gain, and hot flashes. I know there’s a lot of (mis)information out there about midlife, what’s normal, and what you can do about it. You don’t have the time to research your symptoms or go through months of trial and error trying to fix them. I’ve sifted through the evidence-based material so I can create individualized hormone-balancing plans, because every woman’s hormonal landscape is unique and shifting. I will help you make meaningful, sustainable changes that get you relief and help you maintain a new level of health."
She notes that the pill stops communication in one's body. She did her own research to help herself and uses what she learned to help others. She discovered her second calling. "I enjoy journeying with people and being able to support others to meet their own goals feels to me like meaningful work."
Menopause is the day that marks your last day of bleeding. But one can still move the needle even after menopause. Food, movement and lifestyle choices can help. Medication, which can have long term effects, does not have to be the answer, though bio-identical medication can be helpful.
She helps women move their bodies from glucose burners to fat burners. She helps women improve energy levels and sleep quality. Food, movement, essential oils/supplements and toxic burden relief are the four pillars upon which her work is built. Stress and external things that negatively affect our bodies also are examined.
She was surprised to discover that menopause and its attendant symptoms and effects can begin in one's mid-30s. Making changes early can positively impact one's life. Eliminating dairy can help some people, for instance. Her partnership with women have improved the lives of so many, nationwide.
What makes Kathy her best version? "I carve out self-care time every single day. It entails, for me, time in prayer, aromatherapy, and exercise. Practicing self-care makes me a better mother, person and coach."
https://kathyfritzcoaching.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kathyfritzcoaching/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-fritz-hormone-coach/
freebie: 4 Surprising Ways to Reduce your Hot Flashes, Insomnia, and Waistline
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Siobhan Davenport is a multi-best selling author and champion for Women and Girls with more than 15 years of non-profit experience. She is the founder of Non-Profit Entrepreneurs, a coaching and consulting firm that empowers non-profit leaders to build to give and increase their impact. Siobhan is a professional certified impact coach and transformational speaker.
Siobhan shares eloquently from her heart and experience. A recovering people-pleaser who suffered from imposter syndrome over the course of her life, she learned the healing value of forgiveness--of self and of others. She pays it forward in this chapter of her life by helping primarily women harness their passions for giving back to their communities by successfully setting up their nonprofit organizations. She offers her clients a blueprint for successfully making an impact, which includes how to use the required nonprofit language to obtain necessary funding, to build awareness of one's chosen cause, and how to build an effective board of directors.
As the daughter of teen parents, Siobhan knows about overcoming odds. Personal willpower is important, but it’s imperative to have a community that fosters success. Siobhan dedicated her career to racial and gender equity by giving young girls everything she had--tools to overcome challenges and the community and support systems that enable girls to thrive.
In her role as President & CEO of Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (CSGW) (2019-2022), she was focused on closing equity and achievement gaps for teen girls, particularly those of color, in the DC Metropolitan area. Crittenton partners with schools to run multi-year programs that drive youths' social, emotional and academic success. Prior to serving as CEO, she was CSGW’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and built collaborations between schools, nonprofits and corporations to better meet Crittenton girls’ challenges. She also launched the Declare Equity for Girls: It’s Time campaign, a landmark initiative that included focus groups and exposed the major barriers to personal and academic success.
As the Executive Director of the Rocksprings Foundation (2002-2018), Siobhan oversaw the foundation’s impact investing around economic and educational opportunities to low-income families and youth. Prior to that, Siobhan served as Senior Producer and Host for On the Potomac Productions, including the acclaimed series “The New Washington.” Siobhan holds a BS in Business Administration from Boston University and a Master’s degree in Journalism from American University.
Siobhan is a contributing author to a new book, A Reason to Be Volume 4: Seeking Life Purpose (Tilda Whitaker-Bakeris, 2022), which is an Amazon #1 best seller. It is a collaborative book with nine co-authors and is a must-read for all who are seeking to walk and live in their purpose. Siobhan's contribution is titled, "Purposeful Living with God." Readers are guided and inspired to step into the purpose and passion for their lives and missions. You can order a copy at www.buildtogive.org or on Amazon.
Siobhan also contributed to Soul Talk: Twenty Soul-Stirring Stories of Women Who Let Go and Let God (Cheryl Polote-Williamson, 2017) and Shift Happens: Inspirational Stories on Finding Happiness, Achieving Success and Overcoming Obstacles (Nikki Woods, 2016). Both are inspiring reads.
To learn more, go to her website: https://www.buildtogive.org/. Siobhan offers free consultation calls--sign up on her website.
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildtogive1
Twitter: @SiobhanDAuthor
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Katie O’Malley is the founder of (en)Courage Coaching + Consulting with more than a decade of professional experience serving the nonprofit, corporate and education sectors. Across these workplaces, she noticed that her strengths and values consistently steered toward the support and development of others. In 2012, she earned a Master's Degree in Counseling and Board Certification in Coaching. She leverages a mix of evidence-based practices from the fields of counseling, management consulting and leadership education to equip her clients with customized strategies to meet their individual needs.
Coaching recent grads, experienced professionals, and small business owners aspiring to lead their teams and organizations is her most fulfilling, life-giving work. She believes that earning the right to hear a client’s story, and creating a partnership that encourages the design of their most authentic and courageous life, is an incredible privilege. The average age at which a person is put in a leadership position is age 30, Katie says. Yet people are typically not trained in leadership skills until age 42. Katie helps to fill this 12 year gap by equipping people with the necessary skills, and helping organizations learn how to prevent attrition by training their employees with appropriate skills and providing needed support.
"Self-awareness is one of the key attributes of a good leader," Katie maintains. She counsels listeners to pay attention to their strengths and privileges, and to have a commitment to learning about themselves. Her company offers:
- Career Development + Advancement
Perfect for Recent Grads & Career ChangersServices cover issues from job application to compensation negotiation. * Leadership Development + EducationPerfect for New Managers & Small Business OwnersFrom motivating team members to creating a vision, no leadership challenge is too big (or small) for coaching. * Authentic Living + Life CoachingPerfect for Folks Struggling to Find Their WayKatie helps clients identify their motivations, values and interests as the foundation to build the life they desire.
(en) Courage Coaching + Consulting offers several programs, including the Coaching Career Accelerator Program and the Small Business Coaching program, which you can read more about on her website.
She also helps client with more personal, difficult issues. Trauma, she says is not the difficult thing that happens, but our reactions to the event/happening. Katie helps equip her clients to deal with workplace-induced trauma, like that which can stem from discrimination, harassment, bullying, microaggressions, gaslighting and more. Such trauma can affect our mental and physical health. "In the healing, we regain our personal strength and sense of power," Katie shares.
To become her best version, Katie reminds herself that "consistency beats intensity every day of the week." She also strives to be one percent better every day of her life. She proves the adage that growth most frequently happens over time.
Katie recently left her full-time position as the Senior Associate Director of Leadership Development at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is now working full time on what began as her passion project, (en)Courage Coaching + Consulting, and is now a nationwide endeavor.
Learn more about (en)Courage + Coaching at encouragecoaching.org
Follow Katie at:
Instagram @encouragecoachingchicago
Facebook @encouragecoachingchicago
LinkedIn: Katie O’Malley
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Caralena Peterson is the author of The Effortless Perfection Myth (September 2022) about the gender issues today’s women run into in college. She graduated from Duke University in 2015 with majors in Women’s Studies and Public Policy. She has published articles with Inside Higher Ed, The Week, She Knows Media, Ms. Magazine, Rewire News, Bustle, Garnet News, Women’s E-News and Elite Daily. She is also a mixed-medium artist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Washington Life Magazine.
"While experiencing the harmful and overwhelming effects of Effortless Perfection firsthand during college, Caralena added Women’s Studies as a second major to get to the bottom of it all and started writing honestly about her experiences in a column for the student newspaper. After graduating from Duke University in 2015, she set out to educate as many college women and their parents as possible about what she uncovered and the importance of sharing our authentic selves with the world. Today she writes regularly on the topic and travels to high schools and colleges throughout the nation to speak about Effortless Perfection, mental health, hook-up culture, and disordered eating. Caralena is also a mixed-medium artist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Washington Life Magazine. When she is not busy with all her side hustles, Caralena works full-time as an English teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana (though she will be stepping back the 2022-2023 school year to promote her book)."
"Most women don’t go off to college expecting a major drop in confidence; they’re getting ready to have the best four years of their life. But the reality is that women leave college with less self-esteem than they came in with and are two times more likely to experience depression than their male counterparts. So, where is the disconnect happening? Drawing from a plethora of data and her own personal experience, Effortless Perfection expert Caralena Peterson shows us just how immense the Myth’s impact can be and why women need to start talking about the ways it disadvantages them instead of hiding behind secrecy and comparison. Full of authentic reflection and heart, this talk invites undergraduate women to take an honest look at their state of mental health and learn ways to move into healing and empowerment."
"We must show enough of our own vulnerabilities that others don't feel the need to hide their own," says Caralena. Caralena does just that. She notes that The Effortless Perfection Myth keeps us in isolation, and the feminist movement started because people started sharing their struggles. The Myth is a mental health and a gender issue that Caralena is helping us to combat. Caralena shares advice for women and their parents to help them appreciate the difference between pursuing an image and developing an identity, and learn how to pursue internal appreciation and love, as opposed to outside validation.
You can check out her past work and sign up for her newsletter at www.caralenapeterson.com and follow her on Instagram at @effortlessperfectionmyth. Listen to and like her fantastic TEDx Duke talk: https://youtu.be/d8ZSQQSmZ8c.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Laura Stassi is creator and host of the public radio podcast Dating While Gray: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships, which began in 2020 when she won a diversity in voices contest on NPR. On her podcast, she explores issues and relays true stories about love after age 50. Online dating, sexual intimacy, financial considerations, deal breakers--everything’s on the table--from interesting, diverse voices.
Her book, Romance Redux: Finding Love in Your Later Years (Rowman & Littlefield, September 2022) is a deep dive into dating while gray. "Romance Redux explores how older people are seeking, finding, and keeping intimate relationships. Laura includes her own experiences as well as those of other gray love seekers and finders. She also talks with dating and relationship experts and researchers to explore the obstacles and rewards of re-partnering at this stage of life. Whether it’s through “gray divorce,” which remains high, or the untimely death of a partner, more and more older people are facing vibrant years ahead of them, alone. They’re interested in finding love for the later years of life but after decades off the market, dating again can feel daunting. Using personal stories and expert research, Laura takes readers on a tour through the many ways older adults are finding companionship, romance, and a fulfilling sex life."
Laura equates "gray divorce" with divorces involving those over age 50. Her podcast includes people who are interested in finding love post-50, such as divorcees, widows, widowers, those who never married, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Laura writes about and discusses the obstacles and rewards of re-partnering later in life. She notes that the pandemic forced many of us to be more thoughtful about with whom we want to spend our time.
Laura was married for almost 30 years before getting divorced. Newly single, she turned to friends and relationship experts for advice. On Dating While Gray and in Romance Redux, Laura shares the lessons she’s learned and introduces other gray daters as they all weather the wild world of love, with advice from experts.
Laura is also an award-winning writer of health, wellness and medical features for military families, and she’s the author of several nonfiction books for young readers. She has two grown children and enjoys jogging along the wooded paths of Reston, Virginia, and the sandy shores of Emerald Isle, North Carolina.
Find out more about Laura and her work at laurastassi.com.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Sally Tierney is the owner and CEO of Clear Path Forward, a private investigation firm based in the Washington, DC area. Empowering her clients with the facts, to bring clarity and transparency to a daunting situation, is her mission in life.
Sally used her considerable skills to start a business helping others when their lives seemingly are falling apart. Sally is the strength people need when navigating terrible situations in their lives. She is a truth seeker and empowerment advocate for anyone who is having trouble navigating an unfair system. Her experience has taught her that there are times when a private investigator is necessary to bring accuracy to light. Her husband was wrongfully accused of something he did not do. Sally worked to demonstrate the truth, and her husband was exonerated. It was a harrowing experience, and Sally turned it into a business using the law to expose facts and force transparency when needed to support and strengthen her clients’ cases. Her firm's services also include medical and mental health advocacy; advocating for sexual assault victims; elder care advocacy; assistance with domestic violence and child custody cases; and mitigation investigations to reveal insightful details about individual lives that can lessen penalties ordered during criminal sentencing.
In addition to being a private investigator, Sally has successfully owned and operated Just Dance, a studio in Alexandria, Virginia for the past 18 years. She also is the producer and host of The Dance Studio Podcast. This is her fun way of giving back to studio owners and dance teachers all that she has learned over her long career. Sally was a dancer in professional theatre for several years, and taught dancing for 20 years before opening her own studio. She was a teacher for Project Plie, American Ballet Theatre’s diversity & inclusion initiative, and served on several non-profit arts organizations, like Artspire, which awards scholarships to those in underserved communities.
Sally knows the necessity of self-care, so that she can give so much to others in need. She has a daily gratitude practice and keeps her consciousness open for miracles. And she finds them.
You can follow Sally on FB, Linkedin, and Instagram under the name Sally Tierney. Her website address is www.clearpathforwardpi.com
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kerry Byrne, PhD, is a researcher, collaborator and entrepreneur in aging, care and connection. She is the Founder of The Long Distance Grandparent, a mission-driven business helping grandparents strengthen relationships with their grandchildren – no matter the distance between them. Dr. Byrne launched an online monthly membership program called The Long Distance Grandparent Society to support grandparents in their journey to create fun and meaningful moments with their grandchildren through intentional and purposeful grandparenting. It’s the only program like it in the world and Kerry built it based on her 20-plus years experience as a research scientist in the area of aging and care. Kerry pivoted in her career, though she always had an interest in family caregiving and human connection as a professional focus. A serendipitous event moved her into the burgeoning field of gerontology. Kerry did consulting work for various companies, and was on a tenure track as a professor, before she launched her own business. Her impetus for starting The Long Distance Grandparent was driven, in part, by her living very far from her parents and wish to help them with their desire to know their grandchildren. In the U.S., she reports that more than half of grandparents live more than 200 miles from their grandchildren. Drawing on her personal and professional experience, Kerry helps improve intergenerational relationships within families, because these relationships impact everything from mental health to ending ageism. She shares practical, research-backed strategies through her blog, email newsletter, speaking engagements, membership program, and a few on this episode! For example, Kerry advises grandparents, grand-aunties and grand-uncles to "sweat the small stuff," i.e., remember the small details about your loved ones so they feel heard, known and special. These things can include sports, foods and any other interests. Kerry's membership group also receives ideas for virtual grand-dates, like art projects the grandchildren and grandparents can do together at the same time, virtually. Kerry is a mum to two little boys and all the grandparents in their lives are at a distance. She recently moved back home to Canada after living abroad (including in Dubai) for the last five years. Learn more at: https://thelongdistancegrandparent.com/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Margo Weinstein is a traveler, intrepid adventurer, class-action lawyer, and single mom. Educated at Yale College and Northwestern University School of Law, she became a partner in a multinational law firm, but that did not stop her from traveling to over eighty countries, moving with her young son to Shanghai and Bali, and discovering how to combine wanderlust and motherhood. For now, she lives with her son in a high-rise in downtown Chicago, anticipating her next move. Jalan-Jalan: A Journey of Wanderlust and Motherhood is her first book.
JALAN-JALAN: A JOURNEY OF WANDERLUST AND MOTHERHOOD:
"In Bali, jalan-jalan means to go forward, a route used for traveling, and the path chosen in life or career. Jalan-Jalan: A Journey of Wanderlust and Motherhood is the story of my path to Bali. As a Chicago-based class-action lawyer, intrepid travel provided an escape from the demands of my career. I summited mountains, kayaked tropical fjords, almost drowned in icy Class V rapids, and battled baboons in my Zimbabwe hotel room. I took risks that led my son Jake to exclaim, “Mom! How was I ever even born?”
But he was born, and my risk calculus changed as I adjusted to the joys, demands, and qualms of motherhood. Instead of camping on deserted beaches in Papua New Guinea and Palau, we stayed at all-inclusive beach resorts in Jamaica and the Riviera Maya. I left the river rafts and kayaks behind for Disney Cruises with Jake. Searching for a better way to combine my wanderlust with motherhood, I gripped Jake’s hand and leaped. We landed first in Shanghai and then in Bali, living as expats and learning about new countries, cultures, and ourselves.
Regardless of where you are on your path, if you share my wanderlust, maybe this book will inspire you to travel, too. Or, after reading about my near-death experiences traveling in Pakistan and Burma and how I dragged my young son to live on the other side of the world (twice), you may be glad you stayed home with this book."
"I travel because it takes me out of myself and my world. It enriches my life, by being in other cultures and learning about how others see the world, which makes me a better person."
To learn more about Margo and her book, and to read her travel blog:
Website: https://margoweinstein.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Margo.Weinstein.Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margoweinstein/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Susanne Kerns is a podcaster and humor writer living in Austin, Texas with her husband and two children. Her work has been featured in Scary Mommy, Redbook, Today Parents and several parenting anthologies, including the NYT bestselling I Just Want to Pee Alone series. She co-produced, and performed in, the "Listen to Your Mother" show in Austin, Texas. She's currently writing her first non-fiction book to help other women to deal with the identity crisis that can come with giving up your career to become a stay-at-home mom. She co-hosts the Mom & ... Podcast with Missy Stevens, which also focuses on helping moms define themselves outside of "mom." In 2017, she started the group, "Informed Parents of Austin," to advocate for LGBTQIA+ students, families and staff in her school district.
Susanne uses her "privilege of safety" to be the megaphone for children in the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as for their parents. When people do not feel safe enoughto speak, Susanne volunteers to speak for them. Her efforts have paid off. For example, her local school district will be teaching an inclusive, science-backed sex education program this term. Susanne works hard to use her core values to inform her life decisions.
Missy Stevens is a writer, foster child advocate and podcaster. Her past life includes stints as a corporate community relations manager and non-profit communications writer. These days, Missy is an aspiring novelist, slowly working on endless revisions of her first manuscript. Her work has been featured in local and national online publications, as well as in the stage production, "Listen to Your Mother." Missy, a native Austinite, lives with her husband, two sons, two dogs and "too many plants. Just kidding. There is no such thing as too many plants."
Missy admonishes listeners to not wait to do what you want to do. At-home moms can start before their children leave home to hone their skills or build new ones. She uses her considerable skills as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) to help children who cannot speak for themselves. It is emotional work, and Missy understands that she cannot take care of herself or others without proper sleep and rest. "I can't do what really matters to me if I don't take rest time. I unpacked a lot of guilt over that." Missy--and we--are better off when we practice self-care.
These two women are inspiring and insightful each week on their fantastic Mom & ... Podcast. Learn more at https://momandpodcast.com/. Here are links to some things mentioned during the episode:
Listen to Your Mother (LTYM) Show: https://listentoyourmothershow.com/
Susanne's LTYM performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCd92XF-0kU&list=PL5oPQWgVdsDk53yC_eChWcMyA0NFXwix2
Missy's LTYM performance: https://youtu.be/FSxjHKH69-o
Ann Imig's new coaching site: https://listenlifecoaching.com/
Informed Parents of Austin: http://informedparentsofaustin.com/
Jen Mann of "I Just Want to Pee Alone": https://www.facebook.com/peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat & https://www.facebook.com/IJustWantToPeeAlone - Our podcast episode discussing her new "Midlife Bites" book is here: https://momandpodcast.com/midlife-bites-jen-mann/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Batul Sadiq is the founder, owner and wardrobe stylist at BHS Image Consulting, in the Washington, D.C. area. She realized, as a young professional and mother, how image and style could be used as tools to communicate personal and professional goals. She was able to attract positions and experiences in which she was valued by, in part, honing in on her own authentic style, and ultimately made the decision to be in control of her own narrative.
Batul uses her experience to work with women to identify their personal style and guides them in curating a fun and functional wardrobe to enhance their lives, empower their spirits and achieve their goals. BHS Image Consulting is the realization of a dream that started in the heart of the fashion district in New York City where she received extensive training from industry veterans and had the opportunity to collaborate with fellow creatives. She continued her journey in the neighborhoods of San Francisco and learned the value of a holistic approach to the art of dress in addition to its impact on individuals, communities and the environment, around the globe.
Her initial desire to support women at different stages of life and encourage them to strip themselves of the labels placed on them has grown with time. "There is no budget, body type or image standard, but rather the unique needs of people looking to share their spark with the world," Batul says. Since 2005, she has assisted women across the country from all backgrounds to reveal their most authentic selves through their wardrobe styling and image. She helps women overcome roadblocks in their lives and recounts stories of clients who finally started feeling heard in their workplaces when they owned their authenticity and felt better about themselves, starting with identifying and owning their personal style.
Batul shares that we should employ the "teflon/velcro" technique of letting negative comments slide off of us, while holding onto the positive feedback we receive. Her driving force for her entrepreneurship venture was to identify and stay true to her "why." She gives herself permission to be her best and affirms each day that she is deserving. As are you.
Her time spent at the Fashion Institute of Technology and San Francisco State University, combined with her Asian American Muslim upbringing, has shaped her perspective on the way we dress and its impact on business, environments and people. Batul also is an image consulting coach for Emerge Consulting Solutions, a member of Fashion Group International and a blog contributor at Mind Body Soul Sisterz, which brings together women who offer concrete steps to help us own our own authenticity and achieve our goals.
You can follow Batul's work at:
Website www.bhsimageconsulting.com
Instagram: @bhs_image_consulting www.instagram.com/bhs_image_consulting/
Facebook: @BHSImageConsulting https://www.facebook.com/BHSImageConsulting/
Like To Know It: BHS Image Consulting https://www.shopltk.com/explore/BHS%20Image%20Consulting
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/bhsimageconsulting
LinkedIn: BHS Image Consulting https://www.linkedin.com/company/bhs-image-consulting/
Batul offered a free bra and measurement guide she created for viewers who can use it to solve their discomforts: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFDgMkYFtI/fr-Zx5_clsBcG1dDFVIAKA/view
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Jodi Silverman helps women embarking on the empty nest and midlife transition to rediscover who they are, outside of a mom, mother-figure, daughter or partner. As a mentor and coach, she provides community, tools and strategies to increase resilience, find happiness, and discover purpose, meaning, fulfillment and fun.
Jodi helps women shift the focus that may have been on everyone else back onto themselves. She shares her best tips and strategies, learned from her own daring and continuing journey, to help women release fear and limiting beliefs, preventing them from stepping into their purpose and living their most daring life now. She has inspired thousands of women around the country through her coaching programs, Moms Who Dare® Membership Community, "In the Nest with Jodi" show and as a sought-after speaker. Jodi has been featured in CEO Mom Magazine, This Is It Network and on a variety of podcasts.
Her mantra is "Dare On!" It has become a rallying cry for those in her community to embrace what is next in their lives. She encourages listeners to cultivate happiness for themselves, to practice the pause and release judgmentalism, and continually decide what would best support your own self-growth. Jodi believes we should never be finished with our own personal growth, as do I.
Learn more about her work and offerings at the links below.
Website: https://jodisilverman.com
Moms Who Dare Private Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/momswhodare.fortheemptynester
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodisilverman/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jodi_silverman/
"In The Nest with Jodi" on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/inthenestwithjodisilverman
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Emily Clement helps people reclaim their personal power and manifest the lives they truly desire. She is a soul-searching joy-creator with a passion for helping others shine. Emily is an inspirational speaker, certified transformational life coach, educator, workshop facilitator and emotional wellness/healthy boundaries expert.
Emily was a student of life and business strategist, Tony Robbins, and now works behind the scenes at his events. She will travel with him to New Zealand and Fiji this year to work on another of his events.
Emily pivoted from being a full-time teacher (she taught at an all boys middle school as well as at a men's prison, to give a voice to the voiceless) to becoming a full-time life coach. Because of these experiences, she can "hold your hand and kick your ass," she quipped.
Emily's work led her to observe that therapy typically is about learning the backstory to determine how a client became who he or she is, whereas coaching focuses on who one is now. She prefers working as a coach to being a therapist because she believes that every time you tell your old story, you recreate it, and she helps clients understand that their history does not dictate one's future. We all can let go of our old stories. She helps clients define what they desire and to identify fears and blockages to achieving what they want. Emily views her client's job as determining what exactly they want. Then they can work on how to get it. She notes that we often are familiar with what is comfortable, but encourages listeners to flirt with the edges of their comfort zone, as a way to build confidence.
She earned a teaching certificate and B.A. in psychology from Wheaton College and a M.Ed in counseling from Plymouth State. Emily has taught and traveled all over the world. As a certified life coach, she has integrated her favorite elements from the best of her life experiences---teaching, counseling, speaking, meeting new people, building community and effecting positive change.
Learn more about her work at emilyclementlifecoach.com, where she offers free workshops on boundaries and personal freedom, mindset and manifestation. Emily also offers free connection calls to explore where you are and where you want to be.
Follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @emilyclementlifecoach.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Margit Novack is an entrepreneur, thought leader in aging and pioneer in Senior Move Management. Margit founded Moving Solutions in 1996, when she was in her 40s. Over the next 25 years, her passion and commitment to serving older adults and their families inspired her team to provide world-class service that earned her awards and national media attention in this then-new cottage industry. She had no direct experience in the field at the time she started her company, but saw a need and sought to serve a vulnerable population.
Margit is widely recognized as founder of the Senior Move Management industry. She is the Founding President of the National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers (NASMM), chaired the NASMM Ethics Commission and developed industry training. NASMM recognized Margit’s commitment and service by creating the Margit Novack Award for Excellence in Senior Move Management.
In 2020, Margit left the formal work world and began a new role as author, speaker and champion of a re-visioned picture of aging. Squint: Re-visioning the Second Half of Life is her first book, which she wrote during the Covid pandemic. Her book is an uplifting guide for the second half of life. Margit’s memoir opens our eyes to the abundant possibilities of later life. She pairs profound and memorable personal stories with larger themes -- downsizing, caregiving, forgiveness, estrangement and more -- and shows that with the right perspective and “re-visioning,” the future is rich with possibility. Realistic, compassionate, substantive and uplifting, Margit’s Squint is a guidebook that leaves us better equipped for the years ahead. She believes that "life will never get better than it is right now," and believes the statistic that a positive outlook can increase one's lifespan by seven years. She notes that, sometimes, we don't know what we are passionate about, and encourages listeners to be on a journey of uncovering your passions, which may change over time. At age 72, she recognizes her desire to be part of a team, so she started a "mitzvah team" of friends to make a difference in her community. She and her team have collected socks for shelters at long term health care facilities, for example. She believes in living with intention, as opposed to a "I'll see what happens" approach, and preaches about the value of intentionality in her book and during public speaking engagements.
Kudos for Squint:
“Telling it straight about aging and more, it’s a must read, and a must have, for an enlightening and joyful journey.”
-- Helen Dennis, Columnist, Author and Specialist on Aging and the New Retirement
“A delightful and poignant journey through the common experiences of the second half of life.***”
--*** Teepa Snow, Occupational Therapist and CEO of Positive Approach to Care
Margit grew up in Philadelphia, went to the Philadelphia High School for Girls and has graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a great gardener, terrible cook and enthusiastic walker. Margit lives with her husband and three dogs (a retired Greyhound racer and two puppy mill rescues), and divides her time between Philadelphia and Maryland’s eastern shore, where she loves kayaking upwind.
To learn more about Margit and her memoir, Squint, please visit www.margitnovack.com, and follow her at:
facebook.com/margit.novack
nstagram.com/margit.novack/
twitter.com/MargitNovack
linkedin.com/in/margitnovack
Learn more about host, Maria, at www.MariaLeonardOlsen.com, and follow her at @FiftyAfter50.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Danielle Glosser is the Principal of Client Raiser, a business dedicated to helping artists to increase their client volume and the visibility of their art. Since 2014, she has worked with nearly 200 artists in 20 states across the country in support of their professional goals. Danielle also assists art collectors in exposing them to new work and finding pieces that bring them joy. She has hosted unique online art exhibitions that have benefitted nonprofit organizations and struggling artists during the pandemic, and brings a passion for social justice to her work. Danielle supports women in the arts and increases exposure of work by artists of color.
Danielle’s expertise in strategic planning, project management, research, writing and networking comes from years of working and building relationships in the private, nonprofit and government sectors on social justice issues from inner-city schools in Oakland, California to The White House. She has had several careers, including doing marketing work for the NBA, which have informed her work today on behalf of artists. These professional opportunities — coupled with her personal belief that the arts are central to igniting conversation and enhancing human understanding — moved her to help artists with the business elements of their practice and to share their work with the world.
Danielle is a 25+ year resident of Washington, D.C. She has led workshops with over a dozen arts organizations, including the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, ArtTable, Maryland Institute College of Art, Hamiltonian, Transformer, Washington Project for the Arts, Halcyon, Superfine Art Fair, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Gateway Arts District, VisArts, Washington Sculptors Group, Women’s Caucus for Art, Artomatic, District of Columbia Arts Center, Montgomery Arts Association and Capitol Hill Arts League. She is also a member of ArtTable, which is the leading organization for professional women in the visual arts. She is passionate about art and amplifying artists' voices, and has helped many art collectors and artists fulfill their professional and personal dreams.
Danielle offers complimentary sessions to artists and art collectors. Here’s a link to sign up: https://www.clientraiser.com/contact and to learn more about her work.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Rachel Strabley is a Certified Consulting Hypnotist through the National Guild of Hypnotists in Nashua, New Hampshire. Rachel studied at the Yale University's The Science of Well Being program. She began her study of hypnosis to help with her own depression and sleep problems, and now uses hypnosis and other modalities to help her clients, who are in the U.S. and abroad. Her youngest child uses Rachel's hypnosis recordings to help her fall asleep!
Through hypnosis, clients are able to overcome a lack of confidence, decrease or eliminate fears and phobias, address weight issues, low libido and menopause symptoms, improve relationships with themselves and others, release beliefs that block success, and reduce or eliminate old pain and recurring illnesses. Rachel's primary focus is to guide female entrepreneurs to level up their businesses. She has enabled numerous businesswomen to increase their profitability and confidence, and to improve their lives overall. She also has helped athletes improve their performances in their sports of choice. Conducting emotional detoxes with her clients--enabling them to release emotions subconsciously held since childhood--also is part of her practice.
Rachel conducts group hypnosis sessions, like a recent offering to a group of realtors to help them improve negotiating skills and attract clients. She notes that, because one receives only what one is willing to receive via hypnosis, participants take what serves them individually during group sessions.
Rachel encourages us to follow our intuition, to ask the universe for what we want and need, and to listen when something gets in the way. When the student is ready, the teacher will come.
Some of Rachel's fantastic offerings on her website, like her "Mini Hypno Boosts," are free. Learn more about Rachel's work at https://hypnosiswithrachel.com/ and follow her at the links below:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/hypnosis_with_rachel/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/HypnosiswithRachel/
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-strabley-42799a/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Amikaeyla Gaston is the Executive Director and Founder of International Cultural Arts & Healing Sciences Institute (ICAHSI). She is a force for change. Proclaimed as one of the “purest contemporary voices” by National Public Radio (NPR), Amikaeyla is a public keynote speaker, performer, educator, and author. She travels the world serving as a Cultural Arts Ambassador for the State Department and is the Founder of the International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute and co-Executive Director for World Trust Educational Services Organization. With over 25 years experience in the Behavioral Health arena, Amikaeyla has been bringing together artists and healers of all forms and specialties to promote healing and wellness through the arts & activism. She leads corporations, universities and organizations through cultural competency, restorative justice, and racial equity training designed to facilitate, engage and support people in exploring challenging conversations. She does expansive work with political refugees, war survivors and at-risk populations worldwide and is often called into difficult scenarios to offer inter-cultural literacy and deep restorative justice work in support of transformative and peaceful solutions. Her international program of public dialogue is designed to allow different traditions and nationalities to gather together and address issues concerning our communities at large. Her programming has been utilized by the Department of Health & Human Services, USAID, The American Psychological Association, SAMHSA, and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, taking her around the world doing peace work in Israel, Beirut, Amman, Damascus, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, just to name a few. Appearing internationally on television, radio and film, with appearances on PBS, HBO and in the Sundance Film Festival, Amikaeyla is the winner of twelve WAMMY Awards for Best Jazz, World and Urban Contemporary Vocalist, and is the proud recipient of the United Nations Global Woman Award, the Voss Foundation Emerging Women Leaders Award, the Pioneer Award for Exemplary Leadership and Outstanding Service in Social Justice and Advocacy and the International Hero for Peace and Forgiveness award. Her extensive studies with traditional healers and cultural artists around the healing effects of music led to the commemorative Golden Buddha performance at personal invitation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India.
Amikaeyla uses music as medicine to connect people and to practice cultural diplomacy. "When words defy us, music can touch our hearts in certain ways you cannot otherwise do," she says. Ami recognizes the power of art as advocacy and has used her art to build bridges by appealing to people's emotions. Her stories are powerful and I feel blessed to have had this tremendous light and change agent on the Becoming Your Best Version podcast.
Amikaeyla grew up in Potomac, Maryland, and now is bi-coastal, with a home in the DC area and in California. She will be performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this fall.
You can learn more about Ami's work at www.Amikaeyla.com and follow Amikaeyla on social media at @amikaeyla and @Amikaeyla Gaston.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Lisa Lucca is the author of Ashes to Ink: A Memoir, a story of heartache and the power of forgiveness, about her narcissistic father who came out as gay, and mother who did not want people to know, in their midwestern town, that she was the straight partner of a gay man. Lisa co-authored an epistolary memoir, You Are Loved, with her partner, Mark Mathias. Her memoir with her husband is a beautiful love story, told over the course of ten years via emails betwee the two that delved into life's biggest issues and the choices that shape our lives. She also was a #Blogher17 Voice of the Year Honoree (for her blog piece, "Two Roofs, One House"), and is published in several publications and anthologies, most recently in the collection, Crone Rising.
Lisa’s weekly public radio show, Live True, has streamed globally since 2019. Her fifteen-year career in the entertainment industry included positions at LucasFilm and in production management on a world tour with Janet Jackson. She reinvented her life during the time in which she was a single mother, and became a life coach when laid off after 9/11. "To make a living, I became a life coach," Lisa says. "To make a life, I opened my dream palette to do my radio show and writing." While acknowledging that change can be scary, Lisa believes that it is more painful to live a life you hate than to search for a life you love. She left her first husband with only $100 in her pocket and with a three-year-old son, and never looked back. She is flourishing in the southern New Mexico desert mountains by living a creative life. Her coaching and speaking focuses on empowering women to live true to who they are, especially in mid-life and beyond. "Do you want to be an 'older woman' or an 'elder woman,'" Lisa asks.
Lisa believes that, in our 40s, we learn more about who we are, in our 50s we practice being who we are, and in our 60s we come into our third chapter, in which we can be the creators who no longer settle for less than we deserve. If we do not create--whether it is a garden or a community or something elese of ourselves--we fester. "All of us have the need within us to create something."
Lisa Lucca (she/her)
lisalucca.com
Facebook: /lisaluccawriter
Instagram: @lisa.lucca
Twitter: @lisaluccawriter
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Julia Roberts, MSc, helps thousands of writers every year see their creative process more clearly and master their strengths and struggles. She is on a mission to help writers glide past those awkward, painful moments that can stop your writing in its tracks. She can help you stare down doubt, dread and delay, and write with more ease and satisfaction.
Julia's new book, Write Without the Fight: Master Your Creative Process to Write with Ease and Satisfaction, was launched in May 2022. With this book, Julia helps writers gain confidence and creativity in their writing. She taps into the surprising science of creativity to give the reader grounded, proven, easy-to-use methods to find clarity, ideas, structure and to finish their work. She shares her personal experiences, and those of her clients, with creativity, writing and publishing.
Julia is performing a TEDx talk: “It’s Not Just Mojo, The Surprising Science of Creativity” in Summer 2022. She is also the author of Sex, Lies & Creativity – Gender Differences in Creative Thinking, (Difference Press, 2014), has her Masters of Science in Creativity, and is a trained and certified Life and Creativity coach.
Learn more about Julia's work at https://www.decodingcreativity.com/, follow her on Instagram at @juliadecodes and join her private Facebook group, Write Without the Fight.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Hara Allison is a storyteller through photography, design and her podcast, "See Beneath Your Beautiful." On her podcast, guests share stories of adversity and perseverance which inspire, encourage and challenge us. Hara embraces these tough conversations, intimately exploring our loves, fears and hopes with a delicious combination of depth and lightness. One of her most impactful podcast episodes aired on 9/25/21: "Motherless Daughters." Hara interviewed a dozen women who lost their mothers about the impact the loss had on them. Hara has found that talking about one's pain can free us of it.
Despite a traumatic childhood, including sexual abuse at a young age and her mother passing away at the age of 46, Hara finally found her worth and wishes that others see their own beauty and the light they were meant to shine. Hara said it took her 52 years to be able to confront her feelings of low self-worth. She also shared that, the more she parented, the more she was able to forgive her parents.
Hara's clients believe in her ability to tell their story. From that vulnerability and trust comes honest images that make them feel understood and confident. She calls it an "honor, every single time" to photograph her clients.
Her "See Me" photography series is a compilation of arresting photographs of women with the words they self-selected to describe themselves hand-painted on their skin. The 25 women photographed, many of whom she had never met, shared why they claimed the words they chose, and what they were willing to say out loud. Hara believes that is what is beautiful about a person is the light that shines through them, not their physical characteristics. It shows in her work, and particularly in the See Me series.
She also has volunteered to photograph people who are dying. It was beyond her comfort zone, initially, but she wanted to witness them. "All I ever wanted was to be seen," she reflects.
Most importantly, Hara is now open to not knowing. Hara questions everything she thinks she knows. "There could be another answer," Hara says.
For more information, check out the links below.
Photography: https://hara.photography/
Podcast: https://seebeneathyourbeautiful.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SeeBeneathYourBeautifulPodcast
IG: https://www.instagram.com/hara_allison_photography/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Meta Wagner is the author of What’s Your Creative Type?: Harnessing the Power of Your Artistic Personality and of the fabulous Substack newsletter, Page Fright, which is a great resource for writers. She is a writing and creativity professor at Emerson College in Boston, and has also taught at Boston University, Wheelock College and Grub Street creative writing center. Meta is the creator of an original model for creativity, the Five Creative Types, and has given talks about it at TEDx, creativity conferences, and corporate events and webinars. Meta has been a contributor to The Boston Globe opinion pages and a columnist for PopMatters, and has had articles published in The Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe Magazine, Wall Street Journal custom content and others. She is a writing coach and writing workshop leader.
Meta inspires creators of many types. She frequently speaks on claiming one's power and drawing motivation from what worked for the masters, like Ernest Hemingway. Meta helps people understand their creative type, accept it and use it to one's greatest advantage. She admonishes people not to "should" themselves, but to explore their authenticity. She believes in the catharsis of telling one's truth via creative endeavors.
Learn more about Meta's work and follow her at the links below.
Website: http://www.metawagner.com/
Buy her book: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781580056373
Page Fright Newsletter: https://metawagner.substack.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meta.wagner
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/metawagnerwriter/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meta_wagner1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meta-wagner-5b541861/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativelymeta/
TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGttCeMK9NU&t=9s
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Lizzie Moult is a Confidence Coach, Cognitive Behavioral Therapist and writer, who illuminates the energetic dance between our minds and bodies and what it takes to trust ourselves fully. She aims to wake up people’s feelings to get them in touch with the boundaries they need to draw.
Lizzie is an Australian country gal who broke the rules and dedicated her life to the journey of self-exploration. She is an expressive, down to earth soul, who leads with heart and seeks to expand minds. After healing her own stories, beliefs and patterns that kept her feeling small, stuck and prioritizing everyone else, Lizzie is now a radiant and humbling example of how you can turn your story around and do life your own way!
Her mission is to empower people to connect to their truth and trust their gut to be able to confidently express themselves fully and freely, encouraging them to go for the life they desire, without self-doubt, hesitation or seeking approval. Lizzie is passionate about sharing her wild adventures to inspire others to speak their truth and think bigger!
Lizzie currently lives and works from her home in Scotland, UK.
Links:
https://lizziemoult.com/
https://www.instagram.com/lizzie_moult/
https://www.facebook.com/lizziegmoult
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Erin Mathis, cofounder of The Style Core, is a Style Coach for women in midlife who feel stuck in a rut and want to empower themselves to take charge of their future. She helps women up-level their personal style so they show the world who they really are and align their image with the impact they want to make. She applies the same process she used to transform her own image to help her clients reinvent themselves so they can confidently show up as the captivating women they are and tell the world who they are through their look. She has more than 15 years of experience in helping professionals reinvent themselves with the purpose of aligning their image with the impact they want to make.
Her expertise includes the following…
- How image has the power to transform your entire life
- Getting your brand aligned with your mission
- How to overcome a midlife crisis and thrive
- Use your style to become a magnet for new opportunities and success in midlife and beyond
Some people might dismiss style transformation as “just a makeover,” but as a style coach, Erin understands how image has the power to transform your entire life. She shares more about this in her TEDx Talk "The Power of Image to Transform Your Life.”
From her home town in Northern California, Erin coaches women around the world online through her transformational style coaching program, Your Million Dollar Look. Erin graciously has offered her free guide My Top 5 Secrets to Up-level your Styleto the Becoming Your Best Version audience: https://erinmathis.com/top5.
Website: https://erinmathis.com
TEDx Talk: https://erinmathis.com/#ted-talk "The Power of Image to Transform Your Life"
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Michela Fantinel joined the podcast from beautiful northeast Italy. Michela is a life and mindset coach and entrepreneur, based in Italy, who has pivoted a few times in her career and life. At age 44, she swapped a manager's life for a less ordinary life and became a travel blogger and publisher. At 56, she started her coaching practice with the mission to help women over 50 step out of an unfulfilling life, get unstuck, set clear goals and achieve success beyond their realistic expectations. Michela is passionate about healthy living and the art of growing young and sharing her knowledge with like-minded women who are ready to open up to limitless possibilities. She shares in the podcast about choosing a path that aligns with your values, learning to tune into one's intuition, and discerning out your passions and values so that you can pursue a lift in alignment with them. She maintains that, once you can determine your what and why, that you can more easily pursue your how. Michela observes that we are all works in progress, that she strives to work on areas in which she has become stuck, and that she continually asks herself how she is serving others. She uses mindfulness and varying forms of meditation and healing modalities to address obstacles in her life. Michela encourage us to ask ourselves, "What is my soul telling me to do?" Everything is in motion and evolution. We must embrace change and pace our progress in our individual ways. Michela helps women in midlife do just that, both in persona and online.
Learn more about Michela (and book a free coaching consultation) at https://magicfifty.com/. Learn more about solo travel for women, particularly in Italy and Australia, at https://www.rockytravel.net
Follow Michela at:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/MagicFifty/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/magic.fifty/
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikifantinel/
See www.MariaLeonardOlsen.com for more information on Maria's work, and follow her on @fiftyafter50 on social media. Reviews and subscriptions appreciated.
#amplifyingwomensvoices #womensupportingwomen #podcast #fiftyafter50 #becomingyourbestversionpodcast #magicfifty #rockytravel #solotravel #coaching #lifecoaching #solotravel #inspiringwomen
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Tessa Krone, MA, Speaker, Educator, Podcaster and Coach, is the co-founder of The Open Nesters Podcast. Tessa and her partner Amir have a successful podcast in which they discuss the stage of life as kids become adults, as ACT III, or the OPEN, rather than empty, NEST. They have created new lives for themselves in many ways and, as their adult kids say, they are "living [their] best lives!" The Open Nesters Podcast (available wherever you get your podcasts) has a mission to empower and inspire others whose children are now adults. They seek to imbibe this stage of life, ACT III, with curiosity about the new possibilities and surprises yet to be experienced. Their personal goals are also a part of their mission as they believe that being open minded and open hearted, and connecting more deeply, as well as uniquely, to new experiences and people will keep them healthy and vital. They welcome others to integrate these goals into their lives, as individuals, and a couple. Another aspect of their mission is to inspire more fun, exploration and the building of a new community of open nesters around the world. By hearing about the possibilities others are exploring as Open Nesters, they hope you will be inspired to live at the edge of your curiosity.
Tessa teaches a wide range of offerings around the world, many of which incorporate the aspect of play. Tessa helps women, men & their partners embrace their sexual desires, and awaken the playful dimension of love, touch, and creativity in and out of the bedroom.
She suggests that we think back to what we used to do to spark joy when we were children, and incorporate those activities into our lives. Dance, creating art, laughing in the mirror, laughing yoga and playing games are examples. She observes that, when we laugh, we surrender from our bodies and release natural feel-good hormones. Because hugging can have similar effects, Tessa created "hum-hugs" as a modality for increasing good feelings. She had participants, in a recent seminar at a Burning Man event, hug on the left, so that they could feel the heartbeats of the person whom they were hugging, and simultaneously hum while hugging. Humming, she maintains, neurologically clears space within. Worth a try!
Tessa encourages us to become our best selves by sharing our light with others, and accepting ourselves with compassion. She suggests we become "permissionaries."
See https://theopennesters.com/ to learn more. Connect with Tessa on @theopennesters on Facebook and Instagram and search for Stacey Tessa Krone Battat, M.A. on LinkedIn. To check out some of the resources Tessa mentioned, see https://theopennesters.com/open-nest-resources/. To learn more about her next event that she spoke about during the show, the Radiant Women's Day Long Retreat: Gathering Mothers & Daughters for Embodied Holiness, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/534171515041927.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Andrea Koppel coaches young people in how to find their professional passions. She shares, through personal experiences in allowing herself to fail and explore new opportunities, that the best way to finding a fulfilling career is to experiment with different iterations. It is by working through one's fears that we may uncover our true passions and evolve into the most authentic versions of ourselves.
Andrea is a former award-winning CNN correspondent, who followed a path for years along the trail blazed by her esteemed father, veteran news broadcaster and "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent, Ted Koppel. Andrea currently is an Ed Tech start-up entrepreneur, career coach, and Founder and CEO of the College2Career Academy, which helps confused college students and grad students find careers they will love. She urges students to explore the tangible hard and soft skills they have that are applicable to many different career paths.
Andrea models for her students, as well as for all of us, how to live a life without regrets. While, at age 43, her identity was caught up in being a CNN correspondent, she is living a life true to who she is now, a person who had a son at age 40, who has different priorities and who no longer relishes the 24/7 stress of the high-powered job she once held. She is still "mission driven," but her current work resonates more with her values. She reframed her setbacks as opportunities, remarking that getting fired as a CNN correspondent was "an incredible gift," because it allowed her to launch into the great unknown and to pursue ultimately more fulfilling positions during various stages in her life. She was able to explore how to use her transferable skills in different industries. While the learning curve was sometimes steep, she appreciated the growth she experienced in various positions she tried, and encourages others to do the same.
She reminds us that fear is an indication that something is new. It is an emotion that can trigger a flight, fight or freeze reaction. Yet it is through leaning into our fears that we evolve. Andrea learned how to "drop into her heart," as opposed to following her brain's messages in every situation. She now emphasizes her mental, physical and spiritual wellness, noting that food is medicine, movement is healing, and meditation is more than managing anxiety and stress. Andrea views meditation as a way to drop into our intuition. She reads voraciously and encourages listeners to manifest in their lives what they truly want.
In 2021, Andrea was named a Top Job Search Expert to follow on LinkedIn. She is also the host of the Apple TOP 100 podcast, Time4Coffee (on which she has interviewed more than 300 people about how they uncovered their career passions), and founder of Time4Coffee LLC, a company with a mission to empower 1 million students to turn their degrees into careers they will love. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur and podcaster, Andrea zigged and zagged her way across three different industries. She started out her professional life as a journalist where she spent 20 years, the last 14 of them with CNN. She then pivoted from journalism into public relations; and eventually moved into the nonprofit world, leading global affairs and policy for Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian and development organization. Andrea has a B.A. in political science, Asian studies and Chinese from Middlebury College and never studied any of the industries she ended up pursuing.
Her resiliency, brilliance and insight will inspire you!
Follow Andrea's work at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-koppel-caffeinated-career-coaching/
and https://Time4Coffee.org
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Alicia Dara is an amazing woman who shared multiple pearls of wisdom with our listeners about how to find your voice, how to become the protagonist in your own story, and even how to truly connect with one's emotions to fully enjoy classical music! She is a nationally recognized speech and presentation coach based in Seattle. She has helped thousands of people including CEO’s, Global VPs, Executive Directors and Presidential candidates break through blocks, find their Power Voice, and put it to work. "What we allow is what we encourage," she shares, in describing how she helps women learn how to set appropriate boundaries in the workplace. Her most popular group training is "Power Voice for Career Women," which helps women strengthen their voices, clarify their messaging and push back against workplace sexism. Corporate clients include Microsoft (where she is a vendor), Amazon, Kimpton Hotels, Planned Parenthood, The Riveter and Carhartt. Private clients include the National Women's Political Caucus, the Female Founders Alliance, and members of Facebook, Merrill Lynch, Seattle Trade Commission, Windermere and Twitter. Alicia is currently working on her first book about strengthening women’s voices in the workplace. Learn more about Alicia's work and access her fantastically helpful resources, which include YouTube instructional videos about how to be a better public speaker, at www.aliciadara.com.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ellen Warner's career as a photojournalist spans more than 50 years. Her photographs have been published in numerous newspapers and magazines and exhibited extensively. Over the years, she has developed a specialty of author portraits and has worked for most publishing houses in New York and London. She has also written travel articles, which have been published in The New York Times and Travel and Leisure in the U.S.A., and in The Traveller in the U.K. Ellen’s recently published book, The Second Half: Forty Women Reveal Life After Fifty(Brandeis University Press, March 8, 2022), explores, in photographic portraits and interviews, how the second half of life is experienced by women from many different cultures. From a French actress to a British novelist, from an Algerian nomad to a Saudi Arabian doctor, and an American politician, Ellen Warner traveled all over the world to interview women about their lives. She asked them what they learned in the first half that was helpful in the second, and what advice they would give to younger women. Their revealing and inspiring stories are enlightening for all readers, and are illustrated by Warner’s stunning portraits, which tell their own stories. I wrote a review of Ellen's excellent book for The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/03/04/second-half-advice-ellen-warner/. As I wrote in my review, "Paring away the less essential, being generous, practicing gratitude, staying in the present moment and finding purpose are ways of living urged repeatedly [by the women interviewed for] the book." Learn more about Ellen's work at https://www.ellenwarner.com.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ulrika Sullivan, who is originally from Sweden, is a former scientist turned author, intuitive spiritual life coach, yoga teacher and energy healer. She is passionate about helping busy women to connect with their intuition, energy and true selves to find inner calm, self-love and life balance so that they can live from the heart with more ease and flow. Ulrika is the author of Wisdom Beyond What You Know: How to Shift from Being Driven by the Mind to Living from the Heart and Intuition, the creator of the podcast New Light Living - See Your Life in a New Light and founder of the Beyond the Mind membership community. See https://ulrikasullivan.com/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Debra Sabatini Hennelly was the student government president and my UVA Law School class president for the class of '88. She teaches organizations ethical leadership, including how to create psychological safety in the workplace, so that employees will feel empowered to speak up, as an early warning about problems that can be prevented and addressed early. Employee wellbeing is crucial to organizational health. The pandemic's "Great Attrition," or "Great Resignation," underscored the importance of creating an ethical culture in an organization, so that employees feel like they belong, that their voices are heard, and that they are doing work that matters. Debbie also penned a book, Presence in Chaos – 365 Mindful Moments, that contains inspiring daily quotes set against her beautiful original photography, and describes how the book grew out of her experiencing burnout and reaching a personal low point in her life.
Debbie helps executives and boards create cultures of integrity and inclusion, which are essential to the resilience of organizations and their people. She uses stakeholder-focused frameworks for managing compliance, ethical and ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) risks and opportunities and helps integrate them into operations and culture. She also coaches legal and compliance professionals, helping them lead effectively and develop strategies for personal resilience. For more than 25 years, Debbie has been creating innovative approaches to managing compliance and fostering ethical leadership—from boardrooms to break rooms—with organizations ranging from small entities to some of the largest multinationals. Her expertise is rooted in her multi-disciplinary background in engineering and law, cultivated through her decades of corporate leadership roles and consulting experience. Her passions for learning, teaching and "connecting the dots” fuel her ability to inspire authenticity, engagement and accountability. Debbie founded Resiliti in 2004 (originally, as Compliance & Ethics Solutions), to provide ethical leadership, culture and compliance consulting and training. Resiliti offers a comprehensive suite of services, including holistic risk management, ESG strategies, culture mapping and experiential learning. They help bring to life organizational values and build cultures of integrity that support the perspectives and dignity of each individual in a team and across an organization.
Debbie is an adjunct professor in Fordham University School of Law’s Program on Corporate Ethics and Compliance. Debbie spent almost 15 years in legal and compliance leadership roles—AT&T Lucent Technologies; Avaya; BP; Avon Products; as well as general counsel and chief compliance officer for two privately-held chemical companies, reporting to their CEOs and meeting quarterly with their boards of directors. Her experience holding senior in-house roles in public and private companies, as well as working in two ethics and compliance service providers, has enabled her to acquire an uncommon perspective from both sides of the client/vendor relationship. Prior to her corporate experience, Debbie practiced law with two major law firms in Washington, DC, and New Jersey. Before practicing law, she was a civil and environmental engineer, supervising construction for Exxon. Debbie is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics. She speaks frequently at conferences and writes on several platforms. Debbie earned her B.S.E. in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Duke University and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Learn more about her work at Resiliti.com and PresenceInChaos.com, and follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Yvonne Marchese is the host of the Late Bloomer Living Podcast, a professional photographer, mother and wife. At the age of 48, she realized that she’d bought into a story about getting old that was adversely affecting her health and relationships. Changing her story about aging inspired her to start the Late Bloomer Living Podcast where she is on a mission to redefine society's ideas on aging and exploring how to live a life by design. Yvonne believes that midlife is filled with possibility, that it’s never too late to pursue a dream and that the stories we tell ourselves have tremendous power. Yvonne will present an online event called Midlife Uprising, May 11-13, 2022, which is dedicated to helping women in midlife get unstuck, get inspired and take the steps to bust through resignation and old habits so they can take on new challenges, dreams and passion projects. The speaker lineup includes experts like Dara Goldberg, Jack Perez, Lou Blaser and me, Maria Olsen. The summit is built on three thematic pillars--Clarity, Compassion and Courage-- one for each day of the event.
Day 1 - Clarity around our automatic thoughts and unearthing our desires for the future.
Day 2 - Compassion - Reframing our thoughts with a big dose of self compassion.
Day 3 - Courage and taking action towards our desires and goals.
Stay tuned to https://latebloomerliving.com/ for more information and to listen to this terrific podcast!
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Nancy Gaudet is a strong, fiercely independent woman who cares deeply and loves unconditionally. Her story involves doing a bike ride for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to raise funds for children with Type One diabetes, as her son had been diagnosed with it at age nine. It was her fourth ride and she was 58 years old. She completed the 100 miles and two hours later had a massive seizure, landing her in the ICU unit at a hospital in Florida. She spent five days there close to kidney failure and was read her last rites. Fortunately, she has no permanent damage, went through months of rehab, and changed her life.
Nancy manages 12,000 apartments and supervises 400 staff for a family-owned real estate company in Boston. Her greatest joy is her 22-year-old son. She also is an advocate and fundraiser. She started and has been running for ten years a monthly support group for other moms, whose children also have juvenile diabetes, helping more than 200 mothers with that effort.
Nancy met her soulmate during the pandemic, while working on another fundraiser. She and her partner were both working on a fundraising project for dear friends. A friendship formed, and a goal of raising a substantial amount of money to help mutual friends was achieved. According to Nancy, that first kiss, after months of talking on the phone for hundreds of hours, was just like living in a Hallmark movie. There was that one singular, slow motion moment when time stood still and two very bruised and battered hearts let the tiny droplets of love seep in slowly. She believes that there are no coincidences; there are only “God instances.”
To learn more about Nancy's support group for women whose children have juvenile diabetes, email her at NancyGaudet60@gmail.com.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
In her 30+ year career as an author, Laura Davis has written seven non-fiction books that have changed peoples' lives. The Courage to Heal paved the way for hundreds of thousands to heal from the trauma of sexual abuse. Becoming the Parent You Want to Be helps parents develop a vision for the families they want to create. And I Thought We'd Never Speak Again: The Road from Estrangement to Reconciliation teaches the skills of reconciliation and peace building to the world, one relationship at a time. Laura's ground-breaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold more than two million copies. Her new memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars, tells the story of Laura's dramatic and tumultuous relationship with her mother, from the time of Laura's birth until her mother's death. This story about "two souls who just wouldn't quit each other" provides a no-holds-barred peek at the real Laura--the woman behind the teacher, the facilitator, and author. Laura's love of words extends into her teaching life. She loves building communities of writers and teaches weekly writing workshops online and in Santa Cruz, California. When there isn't a pandemic, she leads transformative writing retreats in northern California, Bali, Peru, Italy, Vietnam and other international destinations. Laura lives in Santa Cruz, California with her spouse Karyn and their new yellow lab puppy, Luna. She enjoys swimming, hiking, mahjong, making kombucha, motion theatre, her grandchildren and, of course, writing.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Sara Schulting Kranz is an acclaimed author, keynote speaker, trauma and life/leadership authority, wilderness guide, and executive producer of "Walk Through This,” a documentary feature in production of her healing journey in nature. She is also a single mom of three amazing sons. As a multiple trauma survivor who used nature in her healing and transformational journey, Sara coaches clients, leadership executives and organizations on the necessity and benefits of using nature for mental and emotional health. You will find Sara speaking to businesses, corporations and running executive leadership workshops, in addition to leading healing, transformational and leadership retreats in nature. Sara’s signature land-healing retreat is in the Grand Canyon, where she guides clients to go deep within themselves while being guided into the healing benefits of nature. Her signature water-healing retreat involves kayaking out of Whittier, Alaska, alongside glaciers and surrounded by majestic mountains. All retreats, whether signature or tailored, involve transformational coaching, healing, hiking, adventure, connection to nature, energy work, manifestation, mindfulness and meditation. Sara’s book, WALK THROUGH THIS: Harness the Healing Power of Nature and Travel the Road to Forgiveness, was released in 2020. The documentary, "WALK THROUGH THIS: A Story of Starting Over," has filmed in Black Earth, WI, Los Angeles, CA, and in the Grand Canyon, and will be released in the near future. Some gems from this extraordinary woman: Hurt people hurt people, and healing people heal people. When we speak our truth, we are giving others the opportunity to do the same. Another nugget: Forgive yourself. This is your journey, just as your children have their own journeys. Find out more at https://www.saraschultingkranz.com/ and https://www.walkthroughthis.com/, and follow her on Instagram (@saraschultingkranz) and Facebook (Sara Schulting-Kranz). Check out her beautiful TEDx Talk on forgiveness: https://www.saraschultingkranz.com/keynote-speaker/#single/0.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ellen Albertson, PhD, RDN, NBC-HWC, is a psychologist, registered dietitian, national board certified health and wellness coach, reiki master, and mindful self-compassion teacher. Known as The Midlife Whisperer™, she helps women raise their vibration so they have the energy, confidence and clarity to make their next chapter their best chapter. A bestselling author, inspirational speaker and expert on women’s wellbeing, Dr. Ellen has appeared on Extra, the Food Network and NBC World News and has been quoted in Psychology Today, Eating Well and USA Today. She has written five books and articles for SELF, Better Homes & Gardens and Good Housekeeping. Her latest book, Rock Your Midlife: 7 Steps to Transform Yourself and Make Your Next Chapter Your Best Chapter!, provides concrete steps we can all use to improve our lives. She brings more than 25 years of counseling, coaching and healing experience to her holistic practice and transformational work. She lives on the Champlain Islands of Vermont with her high-tech, raw-food loving partner, Ken, and her tree climbing Border Collie, Rosie. Dr. Ellen helps us let go of who we think we are supposed to be and embrace who we are. Go to https://themidlifewhisperer.com/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Gina Vild is an author, educator, thought leader and speaker on the themes of happiness, living with purpose and resilience. Her career includes more than four decades in which she held senior leadership positions in healthcare, academia and government. Most recently, she served for 12 years at Harvard Medical School as Associate Dean and Chief Communications Officer. She is known for being a curator of poetry, meditation enthusiast, lifelong learner and mother. Her vibrant approach to life blends academic learning with real-world experiences. She is co-author with Sanjiv Chopra, MD, (Deepak Chopra's brother) of the successful book The Two Most Important Days, How to Find Your Purpose and Live a Happier, Healthier Lifepublished by St. Martin’s Press.She is at work on her next book on the topic of resilience. She blogs for Psychology Today and shared with us how to mend a broken heart and other interesting tips for living one's best life. See https://www.2mostimportantdays.com/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
The Hon. Marjorie Margolies is the former Congresswoman from the 13th district of Pennsylvania. She's a 25 year veteran of NBC news and the Founder and President of Women's Campaign International (WCI). She's a professor of political science at UPenn and the author of five books, the mother of 11 and the grandmother of 21. Her son is married to Chelsea Clinton. Her new book, And How Are The Children? (MacKenzie-Wyatt, January 2022), is a wonderful inside look at the world of an Emmy-award winning broadcaster who adopts hard-to-place refugees from Vietnam and Korea, blends them into a joyful, chaotic household consisting of four stepdaughters and two biological sons and then adds three more Vietnamese boys plus various and assorted family members who stay for 25 years. Marjorie was the first single woman to adopt from abroad! Hillary Clinton wrote the foreword to this rich, inspiring book. Marjorie, who was married to Congressman Ed Mezvinsky while continuing her own challenging work as an NBC correspondent, somehow made juggling eleven kids and a super-sized career seem effortless. One of Marjorie's adopted Vietnamese children, Vu, now an anesthesiologist, says, "What would have happened to me if my folder had been on a different desk that day."
Marjorie runs WCI, which trains and empowers women around the globe to transform their communities and to take a seat at the table in political leadership, economic development, civil society and conflict transformation. She has traveled to more than 50 countries. WCI has had phenomenal success, including doubling the number of women in parliaments around the world.
She is currently on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, having just completed teaching a course with David Eisenhower on the "First Hundred Days of the Biden Administration." In addition, she has lectured at universities throughout the country on topics like "Dealing with the Media" and "Women Leaders in Emerging Democracies," analyzing the ways in which politics and the media interact.
When she was elected to represent the state of Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives, she was the first woman ever elected to Congress from Pennsylvania in her own right. She was defeated because she became the main target of Republicans after she cast the deciding vote to approve President Clinton's budget.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Dara Goldberg is a changemaker, entrepreneur, speaker and the founder of the Lovin’ Midlife Movement. She’s known for her undying passion to make the world recognize women in midlife are invincible–not invisible. After 15 happy years advising and raising millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations and charitable foundations as a founding partner in a consulting firm, she woke up one morning and realized something was off. This was the pivotal moment–as society told her she was crazy for wanting to leave a perfect job–where she realized there needed to be a change. Now she advocates for and brings together women in midlife to change the way society looks at, listens to and understands them. Appearing weekly on Clubhouse, she has sparked a community of like-minded women who are fiercely proud to call themselves women in midlife. As she sparks conversations about aging with confidence and excitement, she lives in Philadelphia with her husband, two step-daughters, two cats and a super silly dog named Chumley. See www.lovinmidlife.com for more info. You can find her on Clubhouse and Instagram at @daradoesmidlife. It's a growth spurt, not a midlife crisis!
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Iris Krasnow, a Stanford University grad, became the fashion writer for the Dallas Times-Herald, before moving to United Press International in Washington, D.C. to become the national feature writer. In her several years at UPI, Iris specialized in celebrity profiles, including Yoko Ono, Billy Graham, Ted Kennedy, Norman Mailer and Queen Noor of Jordan. Iris is the author of Surrendering to Motherhood, the New York Times bestseller, Surrendering to Marriage, Surrendering to Yourself, and I Am My Mother's Daughter. The Secret Lives of Wivescontinues her journey as a journalist who chronicles the adult female growth cycle, followed by the publication of Sex After...Women Share How Intimacy Changes As Life Changes. Her newest book was released in 2020, Camp Girls: Fireside Lessons on Friendship, Courage & Loyalty.
Her writing has been featured in many national publications, such as Parade, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and AARP publications. Iris has been a guest on numerous national television and radio programs, including Oprah, Good Morning America, Today, All Things Considered, and has been featured on CNN. Interviews with Iris, and reviews of her work, have appeared in Time, O: The Oprah Magazine, Glamour, The New Yorker, U.S. News & World Report and Redbook. She is the Senior Editor of AARP's The Ethel, a lifestyle and health online publication for women over 50. Iris is a professor emerita teaching writing at American University in Washington, D.C., where she became one of my mentors, while teaching in the Lifelong Education And Professional Development (LEAD) Program there. She is married to an architect, and they are parents of four grown sons.
Iris helps women get unstuck. She instills hope in all who are blessed to know her.
See https://iriskrasnow.com/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Philippa P.B. Hughes is a Social Sculptor and Creative Strategist who designs relational spaces for honest conversations across political, social, and cultural differences. She has produced hundreds of creative activations since 2007 for people who might not normally meet to engage with one another in unconventional and meaningful ways. These relational experiences build social capital, social cohesion, and social discourse. Her practice encompasses a multi-disciplinary approach informed by sociology, psychology, philosophy, political science, history, community organizing, design thinking, creative placemaking, art, and humanities.
Philippa, who has been published many times and has spoken on multiple platforms, speaks about how to have better conversations and about using creative placemaking and innovative interventions and happenings to strengthen communities and to increase dialogue between people who might not normally interact. She also speaks about the personal transformation that comes from curiosity and discomfort. See https://www.philippahughes.com/ and https://www.curiosityconnects.us/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Brain health expert, Dr. Andrea Wilkinson, is helping people find focus, mental clarity and calm through a better understanding of how the body works. She has a Ph.D. in Psychology and has been researching brain health, wellness and mental resilience for the last 20 years. In 2014, she founded BrainShape.ca, a platform for adults who want to optimize their mental vibrancy and physical energy. Dr. Andrea is also the host of the BrainShape Podcast, a weekly show that covers the latest brain health research and shares tips on how to feel your best. Check out https://www.brainshape.ca/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ronit Plank is a writer, speaker, teacher and mother whose work has been featured inThe Rumpus, The Atlantic, The Iowa Review, Writer’s Digest, The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, The New York Times and elsewhere. Her stories and essays have been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and The Best of the Net and she is author of When She Comes Back, a memoir about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation. Her short story collection Home Is A Made-Up Place won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022 by Sowilo Press. She’s also creator and host of the award-winning podcast, "And Then Everything Changed," featuring interviews with authors, survivors and people in recovery about pivotal moment in their lives and the decisions that have defined them. She lives in Seattle with her family. See https://ronitplank.com/ for more information and for links to her book, articles and podcast.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Barbara Ellison is a speaker, author, host, personality trainer, dream coach and wellness partner. She works with mid-life women who are ready to take charge of their lives so that they can be the best ever version of themselves--the full of energy, well-toned, confident and highly paid version. Barbara is on a mission to make happiness the norm by inspiring people to lead happy, healthy, financially free, abundant lives. Learn more at https://trendsinmarketingenterprises.com.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Patricia Lohan joins us from across the pond in Ireland. She is a Feng Shui expert, manifesting magnet, alchemist, healer and real-life Irish Celtic Shaman. Patricia is the creator of PowerHouse Feng Shui and Author of The Happy Home: A Guide To Creating A Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Life. She helps entrepreneurs make their homes & businesses magnetic to money, luck and blessings. She shows you what they don’t teach in business school, what lies between the lines, your top-secret tool for success. She has helped thousands of people across the globe embrace Feng Shui and create lasting changes in their businesses, homes and lives. She likens Feng Shui as accupuncture for the home. Patricia has seen first hand the power of the mind, surroundings and inner healing, clearing and aligning everything so it works holistically. She loves entrepreneurship, and has grown three successful startups of her own. Patricia has been featured in media around the world, including The New York Times, CNN, Forbes, The New York Post, She Knows, Essence, Mind Body Green, USA Today and Elephant Journal. See https://www.powerhousefengshui.com for more information. And a great tip she shared: Ask people, "What's your good news?" Everyone has something good in their lives. And that which we focus on becomes magnified. Let's join her good news movement!
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Pleasance Silicki is an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor, Holistic Health Coach, Rising Kohenet, Author, Death Doula, Inner Voice Facilitator and Adjunct Faculty at The American University and the Maryland University of Integrative Health. She teaches from the foundations of evidence-based Positive Psychology and weaves the practices of many wisdom traditions including Vedic Wisdom, Mystical Judaism, Earth-Based Rituals and ceremonies, and Somatic Healing. She is the founder of THRIVE, an online self-care class and LOLA, a dynamic community-based in sacred circles and teachings that cultivate liberation and awakening in daily life.
Pleasance is the author of Delight: 8 Principles for Living with Joy And Ease and the host of the LOLA Community Podcast. As the founder of lil omm Yoga Studio, the co-founder of The National Kids Yoga Conference, and Septima Clark Public Charter School, Pleasance is passionate about bringing well-being into a variety of communities and connecting spiritual teachings to racial justice. In higher education, she taught Mindful Explorations, Strategies in Stress Management, and in the AU Community Experience program. She facilitates Mind-Body Medicine Skills Groups, Stress Management and Self-Care workshops and retreats. See https://linktr.ee/lilommyoga for more information about Pleasance's work.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Cultural and commercial diplomacy are the hallmarks of Lauri Fitz-Pegado’s career. She has been a civil servant at the Voice of America and the U.S. Information Agency, and a Foreign Service Officer in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Appointed by President Clinton, she was confirmed by the Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the Department of Commerce led by Secretary Ronald H. Brown. In the private sector she advised countries, corporations, individuals and non-profits as a senior executive at Hill and Knowlton and Gray and Company, and as a partner at The Livingston Group. Lauri also was an executive at Iridium, the global mobile satellite communications company. With a history of ballet training and performing with the Capitol Ballet, Vassar Dance Theatre and Ballet Santo Domingo, she now has returned to her passions by teaching ballet and mentoring. She applies her communications and public relations skills to promoting artists, and her business and leadership experience to advising dance institutions sharing her commitment to social change, empowerment, and inclusion. Lauri received her B.A. from Vassar College, M.A from the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and speaks Spanish and Portuguese. She is grateful for the rich contributions her community of family and friends has made to her life story. For more information, visit https://inthedash.live/.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Geeta Bakshi spent 14 years with the CIA doing counterterrorism work and focusing on the war in Afghanistan, bestowing upon her an enormous responsibility to help protect innocent lives from terrorist adversaries. Geeta is a second-generation American of South Asian descent and the founder of FAMIL, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Afghan allies and their families resettle in the United States after the evacuation of American troops from Kabul in summer of 2021. Geeta founded FAMIL, which means “family” in Afghanistan, to help Afghan allies of the United States, just as they had helped Americans in Afghanistan for so many years. FAMIL is dedicated to assisting Afghan allies and their families in the United States. They provide comprehensive support to Afghan families, with a focus on employment, education and integration. Their vision is for displaced Afghan families to rebuild their lives, pursue their dreams and become contributing members of their new communities in the United States. See www.familusa.org to learn more about her important work.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Alma Chopra is an entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, disabilities awareness advocate and life counselor, who has conquered Cerebellar Ataxia, a disorder that causes progressive loss of coordination and difficulties with balance and gait. Her story is an embodiment of hope, faith and courage in times of darkness and overwhelming uncertainty. Alma, whose name means "soul" in Spanish, wants her journey to serve as an example. "I am willing to show my vulnerabilities to the world. If it can inspire one person globally, my job is done." Learn more about Alma at her website, www.almachopra.in, and follow her on social media:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/almachopra
YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCspjHEVLhkfrxu-XJA7Y_gg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chopraalma
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Catherine Grace O’Connell is an Ageism Positivist, an Empowerment Cat-alyst, the founder of Forever Fierce: MIdlife Matters, a global Facebook Community dedicated to supporting and celebrating the Modern Midlife Woman, and the CEO of MODlife Media, a female-focused message based digital media agency. She is a Motivational Speaker and the host of the Mastering Modern Midlife Talk Show. Catherine is passionate about inspiring and empowering women at Midlife & Beyond to see aging in a positive light.
Women at Midlife & Beyond are the Perfect Storm. We are the first demographic in history to have health and vitality, wisdom and life experience, and a pocketbook to match. We are a fierce creative force balanced by compassion and empathy. Together, we control over 80% of the nation’s disposable income and it’s time we make our presence known!
Six years ago, her life looked vastly different. She was a woman who almost lost her life to late stage Lyme Disease, disempowered from decades of trauma and abuse. She had no self-esteem, no passion, no purpose and no future. Her beliefs changed and her life began to dramatically transform. She let go of who she was told to be in order to become the woman she had always desired to be.
She has been on a deeply spiritual path for over 30 years. She has her Masters in Spiritual Psychology and a PhD from the University of Rise Like A Phoenix. She is an energy worker trained in many different modalities. She has studied with some of the top spiritual teachers, mystics and mentors who empowered her to understand true transformation happens from within. She didn’t have a tribe so she created one!
Our attitudes, beliefs, energy, patterns, and behaviors in the present determine our future. What we think and believe directly affects how we age. Through her life experience, she has become an expert at Mastering Modern Midlife and it’s her passion to share what she has learned with others. See https://catherinegraceo.com/ to learn more.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Diane Papalia Zappa earned her PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology in 1971. She went on to teach human development courses to thousands of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, attaining the rank of tenured Full Professor of Child and Family Studies at the age of 30. While in Madison she and co-author Sally Wendkos Olds wrote A Child’s World (now in its 13th edition) and Human Development (in its 14th edition). In 1986, while still a Professor in Madison, she met Frank Zappa’s younger brother, Bob, who was marketing manager for one of her books. They married in 2015. Her latest book, The Married Widow, is available everywhere, and is her reflection on their relationship through the years. It is a beautiful and poignant love story, with inspiration for people who have lost loved ones. See www.TheMarriedWidow.com and https://www.facebook.com/themarriedwidow for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Kavita Ahuja is an entrepreneur and founder of Power Purpose Play , a global platform dedicated to advancing the personal growth and inner power of women in midlife. She is the host and visionary behind the successful podcast, “The Midlife Reinvention”, a course content creator, an accomplished writer and a Personal Transformation and Transition Coach. At age 52, Kavita, who also holds a major in Biology and an MBA, left an extremely successful corporate pharmaceutical career of almost 25 years, took control of her health, her spirituality and her personal relationships, and found her next true calling, which is to help women find the power within them to rediscover their purpose and reinvent themselves, regardless of their age or circumstance. She rediscovered herself after the age of 50, and she knows you can too. Her mission is to help you do just that. “My vision is to give you a glimpse of yourself beyond anything you can imagine," says Kavita. "I want you to experience more happiness, more hope for your future, more excitement for your next journey, more confidence in yourself, and a greater understanding of your true purpose and power in this next chapter of your life.” See https://powerpurposeplay.ca/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Lynda Rozell has lived most of her life in Virginia where she earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Foreign Affairs and a J.D. at the University of Virginia. After law school, she joined the firm, Hunton & Williams, as an associate on the Antitrust and Trade Regulation team in Washington, D.C. She subsequently worked as an Attorney Advisor on the personal staff of two presidential appointees to the Federal Trade Commission. Lynda also has worked as a massage therapist and run a small business providing in-home therapeutic massage for pregnant women. She served in a number of capacities at Tepeyac Family Center, a non-profit ob/gyn practice in Fairfax, Virginia, and the primary program of Divine Mercy Care, a charity devoted to transforming hearts through healthcare. She was married for 21 years and has two grown children and an elderly Chihuahua. Raised Catholic, Lynda fell away from the church for many years. To her surprise, she rediscovered faith as an adult. She actively volunteered at her local parish and parish school as well as serving as a Girl Scout leader when her children were young. In 2018, Lynda retired, moved to Florida, and embarked on her marvelous adventure as a full-time nomad, living in an Airstream travel trailer. She started a travel blog in 2019, www.tincanpilgrim.com, and wrote a book chronicling her transformation to a life as a Tin Can Pilgrim, including her ongoing growth in her faith and in the practical skills needed to live in and tow her Airstream trailer. Lynda seeks to live out her Catholic Christian faith in her ordinary, everyday life as she travels around the country visiting and writing about shrines, religious sites and the beauty of Creation. She invites others into the community of nomads and wanderers that she has found on the road and shares the signposts that continue to lead her to radical trust in God. She enjoys volunteering and spending time the many friends she has made in her travels across the country.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Ana McKessy is a holistic energy practitioner, taking women on a transformational energy journey using meditation, energy healing and coaching. Through her Facebook group, the Spiritual Gravy Train, Ana leads a community of women and shows them how to improve their energy and their lives through movement, wholesome nutrition, focused relaxation and connection to their inner self. She provides masterclasses on meditation, breathwork and energy. She also provides one-on-one coaching for women looking to move forward in discovering their true identity and life’s passion so that they can be the best version of themselves! Having devoted much time towards healing and recovering from her own core traumas and ancestral wounding, she has followed a calling to help other women do the same. Her energy work is transformative. Single sessions equate to years of therapy. Through Akashic record readings, channeled lessons from higher consciousness and spiritual counseling, she supports women looking to reclaim their voice and recognize their innate power. If you are looking to get un-stuck and start over again in your career, love relationships, money relationships or any other aspect of your life, she is here to help. See https://www.whenspiritleads.com for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
For more than 20 years, Kelly Howard has been connecting women to freedom and personal empowerment through fitness consistency, mindset and adventure. She’s changed thousands of lives with her "Fit is Freedom" podcast, courses and events, and is a contributing author to the bestseller, #1 Habits for Entrepreneurs. A serial entrepreneur herself (created and sold four companies), she’s the former owner of Bayou City Outdoors, the largest outdoor activity and social club of its kind. She’s helped thousands of women enjoy and flourish on hiking, biking and kayaking adventures worldwide. She currently calls Houston, Texas her home, but can frequently be found on rivers and trails across the globe. See www.FitisFreedom.com for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Sky Bergman is an accomplished, award-winning photographer. Lives Well Lived is a documentary that celebrates the incredible wit, wisdom and life experiences of older adults living full and meaningful lives in their later years.Encompassing 3,000 years of collective life experience, diverse people share life lessons about perseverance, the human spirit and staying positive in the midst of life’s greatest challenges. It was screened in more than 200 cities, garnered awards, and is being aired on PBS. It is Sky’s directorial debut. Her fine art work is included in permanent collections at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Her commercial work has appeared on book covers for Random House and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., and magazine spreads in Smithsonian, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, Reader’s Digest and Archaeology Odyssey. Sky currently is a Professor of Photography and Video at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. See www.lives-well-lived.com for more information. "'No' is just a starting point," says Sky. As a person who encountered much rejection before her film garnered acclaim and a coveted spot on PBS, this is true, well-earned wisdom!
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Emily Barrosse is founder and CEO of Bold Story Press, a publishing press by, for and about women. Previously, she founded Bold in Business, a program that teaches professional women to own their power for success in business. Emily developed her track record of publishing success while working in leadership roles in the publishing industry. She has more than 30 years of hands-on experience signing, developing, and publishing best-selling books. As Vice President, Editor in Chief at McGraw-Hill, she was responsible for a $500 million digital and print publishing list. In addition to her publishing and leadership expertise, Emily is a keen listener and communicator, and an excellent coach in the area of developing entrepreneurial leaders. She is passionate about working with and advancing women and minorities at every level. Emily has an undergraduate degree in Communication from the University of Delaware. She lives outside of Washington, D.C.
See https://www.boldstorypress.com/ for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Liz Solar is a Boston-based voice actor who can be heard on commercials, interactive apps, audio books and corporate narrations for regional and global brands. She has produced and participated in storytelling events, and produces and hosts the Embark podcast. Her mission is to share stories--both personal and universal--to promote understanding, empathy and a little more conversation. Liz coaches reluctant speakers to communicate with more confidence, power and grace. Her signature talks include "No is Not a Four-Letter Word." A founder and contributor to the writer’s blog, Acts of Revision, Liz is completing her first novel. She lives in the greater Boston area with her husband and Goldendoodle studio manager, Jessie. See LizSolar.com for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
After a lifetime of being physically active, in 2014 Luisa Coll-Pardo Heymann was side-lined with a broken neck after being hit by a drunk driver. For months she could barely move, so when finally able to resume something approaching normal life, she had to start getting back in shape in teeny-tiny bite-sized pieces; thus, the concept of mini-workouts was born. She soon realized that these were a fantastic addition to her weekly schedule--even once she could exercise normally again--and has kept it up ever since. If you’re in a similar situation working to come back from an illness or injury, are sedentary and/or tire easily and would like to have more energy, have a scary health problem that you need to get under control, or are just plain tired of being out of shape and don’t know where or how to begin to get your body on the road to better health, Mini-Workouts are a great place to start. See https://www.mini-workouts.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/Luisa.Heymann.Author for more information.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Laura Di Franco is the CEO of Brave Healer Productions, where they publish world-changing wellness books. With thirty years of practice in holistic physical therapy, a third-degree black belt, and 20 books and counting, she offers powerful expertise and energy that’ll help you leave a legacy with your brave words. In this podcast, Laura shares a few self-healing techniques and her success in making the pursuit of joy a priority every day. See BraveHealer.com for more information about Laura's work in helping others share their voices.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Nuthan Manohar, who is located in India, is the founder of Me Met Me, a "Sleep Whisperer," "Happiness Mentor" and "Ayurvedic Perfumer." Nuthan is a TEDx speaker on therapeutic perfumery, an adjunct faculty at IIM K (one of the top five management institutions in India, and top 100 globally) for Self Management, an international corporate trainer with clients like Linkedin, Discovery Channel, Indian Navy, Hyatt, and Yoga Alliance. She has a Masters in Yoga and an MBA. A volunteer movement she had started from her Yoga Studio went on to become a best practice case study acknowledged by UNDP.
During the peak of her brand consultancy career, when she was in charge of eleven countries, she faced a host of acute physical and mental challenges. This prompted her to set out on a mission to discover, design and share techniques to restore health and happiness. In 2020, she was able to assist over ten thousand people across the globe to become resilient to stress, stay happy and sleep deep. She is working towards the launch of her personalised therapeutic perfumery brand. Check out https://memetme.org/
Tune in to learn about how to sleep better and how to increase your happiness!
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Heather Leah is a poet, teacher, meditation and yoga instructor, children's book author and community organizer living in Ashland, Oregon. She is passionate about bringing people together and creating a sense of community and support. She is the founder of the movement WithLoveDC and the annual Women of the Wild gatherings. WithLoveDC is a movement to spread love, joy, and acceptance throughout the District. Join us in our mission to make this world a better place; one smile, hug, or random act of kindness at a time. They hold free pop up yoga around DC, including at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Women of the Wild is a magical gathering where women of all ages, races, religions, and backgrounds will share a sacred space among trees, rivers, and bird songs. Heather's favorite activity is to spend time with friends and explore hiking trails in the DC area with her dog, Snoop. See http://www.withlovedc.com/ for more info.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Robin Joy Meyers has used her expertise as a molecular geneticist to become a Joy Architect, ICF Certified Self-Mastery Mindset Coach, TEDx & international speaker and author to empower thousands of women worldwide to amplify their voices, embrace change and thrive through life’s transitions. She is the creator of the F.E.A.R. Method and author of Alone, but Not Lonely: Reclaim Your Identity and Be Unapologetically You, which was listed among “The 13 Life Coaching/Self Development Books That Everyone Should Read” by Fupping. Her upcoming book, The Common Denominator, will be released in early 2022. Robin Joy's TEDx Talk, “The Science of Loneliness and Isolation” has been viewed by tens of thousands and is featured on TED.com. Her expertise also has been featured on Hallmark's Home and Family TV show, CUTV News Radio, Thrive Global, Medium and Authority Magazine. See https://linktr.ee/robinjoymeyers for more information about her amazing work. Listen in and learn about the science of fear and loneliness, the importance of alone time, how we each have to validate ourselves (no one else can do it) and how the number one lasting relationship we have is with ourselves.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Barbara Guterman is a seasoned entrepreneur, a passionate business executive, and a veteran community organizer with a desire for creating powerful change. She is a devoted wife and mother to three grown sons who share her passion for business and for giving back. As a consummate entrepreneur for over 35 years, Barbara has launched companies and managed businesses in a multitude of industry segments including telecommunications, retail, franchising, manufacturing, fine jewelry and in internet-based start-ups. Her experience ranges from small business to large scale public corporations and covers many areas of expertise including, management, operations, sales, investor relations, public relations, community relations and external affairs. Her ability to see the big picture and to do whatever needs to be done to achieve that goal is what sets Barbara apart from others. At the young age of 23, Barbara saw an untapped market opportunity in the telecommunications industry and co-created one of the nation’s first competitive local phone companies. At the age of 30, Barbara’s company was the first in her industry to go public and was regarded by Wall Street as a ”leading edge” company. Under her team’s leadership, the company raised over $80 million dollars and grew to over 5,000 employees, providing competitive local and long-distance voice and data services to customers nationwide. She was widely recognized for these achievements and was featured in the September 1995 edition of Forbes magazine as a “Woman with a Mission”. Barbara has the distinction of being the first person to don the cover of Readers Digest, where she was highlighted as a distinguished woman entrepreneur. In addition, she was recognized as Ernst and Young’s 1997 Florida Entrepreneur of the Year, for her efforts in building Intermedia Communications. Barbara received her bachelor’s degree in Telecommunication from the University of Florida in 1985 and an MBA from the University of South Florida in 1993, where she was also named USF’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 1993. . Barbara is currently a Mentor and Partner in several start up businesses and runs a Women’s speakers series called Teach Give Inspire Fridays, a platform that allows women the opportunity to empower themselves, their businesses, their families and their communities. https://www.teachgiveinspirefridays.com/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Debra Soltis is a founding partner of the law firm of Kiyonaga & Soltis, PC in Washington, D.C., where she specializes in employment discrimination, criminal defense and civil rights litigation. Much of her practice focuses on empowering women in the workplace to combat sexual harassment and other forms of gender discrimination. Debra has been repeatedly recognized by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the best attorneys in Washington, D.C. in employment law and has been repeatedly honored as a SuperLawyer by her peers for her criminal practice. Since 2009, Debra has served as the Executive Director of GirlsUP, Inc, a DC not-for-profit which inspires adolescent girls to figure out who they are before the world tells them who they should be. She is a sought out commentator on issues related to civil rights, criminal justice and the societal challenges faced by adolescent girls and has appeared on CBS Evening News, NPR, ESPN and numerous other media outlets. For over twenty years, Debra was on the adjunct faculty of Georgetown Law School, co-teaching a course of original design on critical film theory with her husband, Paul Kiyonaga. Debra also serves as an Advisor to the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Debra was formerly an associate at Williams & Connolly, LLP, where she worked on a variety of civil and criminal matters for clients including Effi Barry, The Washington Post and Paramount Pictures. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Georgetown Law School and is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland. She and her husband have four children, two girls and two boys, ranging from ages 14 to 24. See http://www.kiyosol.com and https://www.girlsup.org/.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Jennifer Arthurton, who is based in Canada, is the creator and founder of Old Chicks Know Sh*t, a platform and podcast designed to inspire and support midlife women in chasing their dreams and creating their kick ass next chapter. Jennifer is an empowerment coach, podcast host, writer and speaker, and having made her own midlife course corrections, she is a passionate advocate of the inherent power and wisdom that women possess at a time when they often feel overlooked in society and doubt themselves most. Jennifer regularly appears as a guest on blogs and podcasts and as a speaker at marketing conferences, women’s conferences and events. Find out more about at www.oldchicksknowshit.com or Old Chicks Know Shit on Instagram and Facebook.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
"Yoga is my medicine," says Jennifer Degan. Jennifer has 30 years of practice as an educator, counselor, yoga teacher and somatic-based coach. Life brings her great joy and great challenge. Jennifer is a life-long learner, with the equivalent of two master’s degrees. She is a member of Wellspring Institute of Mental Health Advanced Graduate Study of Trauma. Attachment and the Embodied Mind is her most recent pursuit. She began the transformative process of her life when she was very young. Her spiritual life opened with the death of a sister when she was six years old. She had a supportive family and people around her that helped her understand grief, sorrow, hope and connectedness to something greater, a spiritual connection to the God of her understanding. From the age of three on, she has known this deep connection resides in us, and that we have the capacity to use the intimate and profound happenings in our lives for greater good.
Since this experience, she has transformed and grown from other life experiences. She was dropped at age 11 on her back during an Outward Bound program and carried off on a stretcher. That “trust fall gone south” only made her dig deeper into her capacity to push through pain, debilitation and challenge, and find new ways to discover hope.
The experience of being dropped was only the beginning; she has since suffered brain trauma and surgery, multiple losses, and falls that keep her getting back up again, curious and aware that caring for ourselves is an important and necessary job to undertake, as we never know what will throw you back, literally!
She takes her practice of life seriously. Hope, persistence, deep love and connections are a starting place for her yoga and meditation practice. She encourages all her clients to find their authentic voice. It is from this core source that we gain the most inspiration.
Learn more at https://mindbodyawareness.net/ and http://restoringresiliencyclub.com
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Molly Watts is the author, mentor and podcast host of Breaking the Bottle Legacy. Breaking the Bottle Legacy is dedicated to helping daily drinkers and adult children of alcoholics change their relationship with alcohol. After living under the influence of her mother's alcohol abuse for most of her life, and loathing what alcohol had meant to their relationship it felt like bitter irony when Molly had to acknowledge her own dysfunctional drinking. She changed her 30+ year daily drinking habit, and was able to create a peaceful relationship with alcohol--past, present and future. She now helps others who worry about their drinking do the same. You can pick up a free copy of her e-book "Alcohol Truths: How Much is Safe?" to help you determine your own risk/reward analysis for alcohol. Visit www.mollywatts.com to get yours today.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Julie Reisler, founder and CEO of Empowered Living, is a Master Transformational Coach, Bestselling Author, TEDx Speaker, and Podcast Host of The You-est You®️. Julie has been featured in Forbes, MindBodyGreen, The Chopra Center, and Thrive Global and is the author of the Get a PhD in YOU book series. She is a multi-time TEDx speaker and teacher on the popular app, Insight Timer, with over 135,000 downloads. Julie is also the founder of the Life Designer® Coaching Certification Academy and Sacredology® Community. Julie has a master's degree in health and wellness coaching and is on the faculty at Georgetown University in their coaching program. She loves guiding big-hearted spiritual entrepreneurs to be their ‘You-est You’ in their careers and life. To learn more about Julie, go to juliereisler.com.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Fatima Gul Sindhi-American Human Rights Activist and Executive Director of the Sindhi American Political Action Committee (SAPAC). She has made it her life’s mission to raise awareness about the pressing human rights issues in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. As the Executive Director of SAPAC, Gul has been instrumental in carrying forth the organization’s mission to improve the socio-economic and political rights of Sindhis via political advocacy and education. Born and raised in Sindh, Gul spent the first ten years of her career as a teacher and counselor helping orphans at schools throughout Sindh, Pakistan. During her time in the education sector, Gul saw firsthand how the country’s school system was struggling to adequately prepare Sindhi youth for future opportunities. Later on, Gul worked in various fields including event management, where she gained substantial experience working with Sindhi media and witnessed the severe and prevalent censorship of human rights abuses faced by Sindhis in both domestic and international mainstream media. Both of these respective roles furthered Gul’s conviction and awareness about issues impacting the Sindhi people and cemented her resolve to pursue a career as a Sindhi-American human rights activist. Gul’s overarching aim of her work is to educate and foster awareness throughout the U.S. about the critical human rights violations occurring in Sindh, including: violence against women and children, religious persecution and enforced disappearances.
Gul’s tenure as SAPAC's Executive Director for over a decade has enabled her to pursue this work. At SAPAC, Gul has conducted hundreds of meetings with United States Representatives and Senators about the situation in Sindh, overseen the successful implementation of numerous community outreach events and aided in the research of developments in Sindh that are often not covered by international media and documenting it in SAPAC’s public newsletter, Sindh Guardian. Moreover, in 2017 Gul gave a presentation at the University of Florida’s Human Rights and Genocide Symposium. In October 2019 Gul was invited to speak before members of the United States Congress during a Human Rights hearing. During her statement, Gul highlighted a number of egregious human rights abuses occurring in Pakistan and how it acutely impacts minority communities, including Sindhis, in the country. A few months later in March 2020, Gul addressed members of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, Geneva, during a special session celebrating International Women’s Day. In her ninety second intervention, Gul brought attention to the abduction and forced conversion of Sindhi girls. In April 2021, Gul collaborated with the Sindhi Foundation, to organize and participate in a 350-mile walk from New York to DC to highlight the intersectionality of climate change and human rights abuses occurring in Sindh and the world. The event attracted support from a number of high profile individuals, such as Noam Chomsky. A short film covering the Long Walk is currently in post-production.
Gul looks forward to continuing her work and hopes that her efforts will showcase the strength of the Sindhi people and their rich history as people living together in peace and tolerance. See https://www.sindhifoundation.org/.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Nancy Davis Kho is a speaker and podcaster whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR affiliate KQED. She is also author of THE THANK-YOU PROJECT: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time (Running Press, 2019). Nancy covers “the years between being hip and breaking one” at MidlifeMixtape.com and on the Midlife Mixtape Podcast, available on all major podcast platforms. The Midlife Mixtape Podcast won a 2020 Iris Award as Podcast of the Year and was included in Wall Street Journal’s list of 8 Podcasts for Anyone Nervously Facing Retirement. Nancy has been both champion and judge in the acclaimed international comedy-lit improv show, Literary Death Match. More at www.DavisKho.com.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Judy Arazoza is a mother, grandmother and wife of her prom date from 38 years ago. When she became an empty nester, she decided to take on fitness as a project to pay it forward. She started out as a personal trainer and then became certified in nutrition. In her early years as a young adult, she was a respiratory therapy adjunct instructor and always had a huge interest in health. Judy found that physical fitness could not really happen without mental fitness. So she took it a step further and focused on mental fitness before physical fitness with my clients. She also considers a third aspect to overall wellness--spiritual fitness--which is often overlooked in the big picture of living well. Judy's goal is to help others improve their lives. Gratitude as a conscious practice is a cornerstone of her approach with midlife women. Judy's website is www.gratefulfitnessny.com and she hosts the "Air Hug Community" podcast.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Diana Dunbar Place is the founder of Third Act Quest, which helps people design their “third act” life plans or to work through specific challenges and important transitions in life or work. Her 35-year professional career includes: a decade in Boston with a leading international marketing & ad agency; ten years with America Online (AOL-Time Warner) in the exciting early days of the internet that culminated in a role as senior vice president. She has also started three entirely different entrepreneurial ventures. She co-founded Dunbar-Hunter & Associates, a cause-marketing firm (bridging corporations and nonprofits around a range of issues from aids, to homelessness, domestic violence and breast cancer), launched WonderBlink Photography, a dream she'd had since she was fourteen, and The Global Design Post, an online platform for designers.
Though each of these experiences was fascinating, remarkable and expanded her life and my mind, it is what happened around her business career — the little breadcrumbs that I followed — that have driven her, and were “calling” her all these years. Throughout her life, she has taken on mentor/advisor roles to a range of women, as well as started several organizations including an angel network to serve and connect women. For a variety of reasons, she never put this personal passion front and center. Until now. In her fifties, she found herself at powerful transition point. Despite the coinciding emotional challenges surrounding a cancer diagnosis, closing her latest entrepreneurial venture, and becoming an empty nester, she was filled with deep gratitude, joy and reignited passion for this next phase of her life. Third Act Quest is her way of living my passion to support, inspire and connect people as they create their “third act” of life, and helping to empower optimism versus fear and dread, and respect and collaboration versus disregard and disfavor in our culture. Through retreats, courses, group and private coaching, and a special event series, she can help reframe the experience and perceptions of aging among people of all ages. Third Act Quest is working to shift the experience and perception of aging for individuals, in the workplace and in our culture in general; inspiring people to reimagine what it means to grow older. Importantly as well, she wants to help bridge understanding, connection and mutual support between generations. Email diana@thirdactquest.com and connect by checking out https://www.thirdactquest.com/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Michela di Carlo is a Manchester-based, former feature writer for the most influential Italian national newspaper La Repubblica. She holds an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Rome and is a senior member of the Italian Professional Journalists Society. Michela is a speaker and creator of "Salotto Italiano" (Individual Restaurants Production), a series of charity events in support of the Prince's Trust. She has also hosted several "road-shows" around the UK promoting the Italian way of life. As a late bloomers’ advocate and founder of the illustrated indie magazine CrunchyTales.com, dedicated to discerning and sassy women over 40, she is now on a mission to reset the meaning of midlife, focusing her work on inspirational content to empower women feeling stuck in the second act of their lives.
CrunchyTales.com is the first illustrated online magazine on a mission to reset the meaning of middle age. It aims to empower those who don’t let age define them, women over 40 and beyond who need to be seen, heard, and celebrated. The news and features on lifestyle, food & wine, travel and wellbeing are specially tailored for the late bloomers--those women who are evolving rather than disappearing, open to change, and confident to start a positive revolution at any stage of their life. Check it out at https://www.crunchytales.com/.
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Karen Cleary Alderman retired in 2020 after a 49-year professional career. That career was diverse, improbable, and broke glass ceilings. It started in academia (6 years) researching and co-authoring three public policy books on veterans, women in the workforce and the transition to the all-volunteer force. She transitioned to federal service (27 years of which 23 years were in the Senior Executive Service (SES)), and finished at Deloitte, the world’s largest private sector consulting firm (15 years). Throughout, it was not just work. She married Kim Alderman in 1973 and raised four children. She joined, supported, and held leadership roles in professional associations including the American Society of Military Comptrollers and the Association of Government Accountants. She is committed to health and fitness, including competitive spring board diving. Karen currently is a USA Masters 1-meter spring board champion.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Sometimes life turns you upside down, dumps you on the floor, and asks “so what are you going to do about it?” Today’s guest, Michelle Fishburne, believes those are the moments in life that have led her to become her best version. The most recent dump-on-the-floor moment happened in 2020. At the beginning of January 2020, Michelle had a job she loved, she lived in a house she adored, and her youngest was in her senior year of high school. By August 1, Michelle did not have a job or a house and her youngest went off to college. Instead of being afraid, Michelle leaned into the moment and created a version of herself that had been lying dormant for years.
Michelle moved into her motorhome in September 2020 and traveled 12,000 miles all over America, interviewing people about their lives during the pandemic. Her project, called Who We Are Now, will be published by UNC Press in 2022. After she submits the manuscript this summer, she’ll be headed off again, all over America, for her next book. Michelle found the best version of herself.
Prior to launching this project, Michelle has been a public relations and partnership director for national nonprofits, a homeschool teacher, a newspaper columnist, and an international corporate attorney. Learn more at www.whowearenow.us.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Psychotherapist, author and healer, Lisa Tahir is passionately committed to working with people to help them heal through all of the senses of the body by utilizing intuition, therapy, energy healing, meditation, Reiki healing, crystal healing, nutrition, sound frequencies, yoga, exercise, podcasting, writing and teaching. She hosts the popular weekly podcast All Things Therapy, dedicated to promoting personal growth and advancing the conversation on emotional, psychological and spiritual development in a way that’s accessible to people all over the world. At nolatherapy.com you can connect with Lisa and learn more about her work including her nonprofit, “The Yes Foundation, INC,” which uses tax-deductible donations to teach children and adults with disabilities to blow and cast glass art utilizing her ADA-compliant and the patented workbench, “The CHAIR-iot.” Lisa authored the book, The Chiron Effect - Healing Our Core Wounds through Astrology, Empathy, and Self-Forgiveness.Learn more at www.NolaTherapy.com. Follow her on social media at @nolatherapy.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Chloe Cullen is the author of PERF: The Unspoken Flaws in Our Perfect Culture (New Degree Press, August 2021), a book of essays exploring perfectionism in mainstream culture and her own life. From Hamilton to Billie Eilish, from Twitter to Martha Stewart, PERF breaks down perfectionism as a cultural pattern that reinforces hard work and constant improvement in a never-satisfying cycle. Her work has also been published in TINGE Magazine, Please See Me and other publications. Chloe has worked at entertainment agencies, management firms and production companies in talent representation and development. In May 2019, she graduated from Penn State with her Masters in Creative Writing, her Bachelors in English and her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism. Check out the pre-sale video on her forthcoming book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVwAtjZT8rw Instagram: @ischloeawriter PERF newsletter: https://ischloeawriter.substack.com/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Amber Keyes is a multi-faceted, complex, and dynamic force for good in this world, with offerings that include parenting by design and helping women find their spark. She is the Chief Empowerment Officer of Keyes to the Kingdom and has dedicated her life's work to the revolution of human consciousness. She integrates her background in psychology, social justice advocacy, and Human Design to help people live their truth and love their lives. She believes that once you can see and accept yourself exactly as you are, the floodgates of opportunity and prosperity open to help you create a life beyond your wildest dreams. When she isn't transforming Human Consciousness through her work with clients, Amber can be found playing ball with her dog, or venturing outdoors with her family. Learn more at https://www.amberkeyes.com/.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Right to Know (RTK) educates the public on the complex intersection of genetic information, identity and family dynamics. They advocate for Misattributed Parental Experiences (MPE, NPE), anyone who discovers the person who raised them is not their genetic parent. Their advocacy includes increasing awareness of misattributed parentage experiences (MPEs), promoting access to trained mental health professionals, and changes in the law to reflect the right to know one’s own genetic identity. http://www.RightToKnow.us/. RTK has a hotline for people who need help: (323) TALK-MPE.
Alesia Cohen Weiss is RTK’s CXO, Chief Experience Officer. Alesia is a retired RN, Army Veteran, and blog writer. She is a leader in networking for positive emotional support, genealogical research, and education for those impacted by a surprise in their DNA. Due to her own experience from an over-the-counter DNA kit in 2014, she was shocked to her core to find the man who had raised her was not her genetic father. It took Alesia four years of sleuthing to discover the identity of her biological father. Unfortunately, he'd passed years before. After connecting with her genetic family, she discovered four members had brain tumors just like she'd experienced. Had she known she had a genetic predisposition, her doctors could’ve diagnosed her tumor much sooner.
Kara Rubinstein Deyerin is RTK's Chief Executive Officer. She is a non-practicing attorney with an LLM in Taxation and a master's in Trade & Investment Policy. Two years ago, Kara wanted to see where in Africa her father's family came from. Her over-the-counter DNA test revealed she was 50% something but it wasn't African. This meant the man on her birth certificate couldn't possibly be her genetic father. She lost her bi-racial identity with the click of a mouse. Kara discovered she was 50% Ashkenazi Jew. The DNA Pandora's box she opened led to an identity crisis. She's a passionate advocate for genetic identity rights. Read her blog about being Unexpectedly Jewish in Seattle.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Jacqueline "Jack" Perez founded Kuel Life in 2017. Through her platform, Perez champions change, redefining modern midlife for women through curated content and women-driven brands. The Kuel Life Community grows daily. With over 35 Kuel Category Experts and 35 women-driven brands, Kuel Life offers women an opportunity to "Share, Learn, Shop, and Play with Our Second Act Sisters!" Previously, she spent 20 years at Summit Strategy Partners, a San Francisco-based marketing and public relations firm, where she was a founding partner. Jack brings extensive, deep, start-up experience, having worked with numerous small to midsize companies. She is excited to finally birth her own start-up. Having earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, Perez carries a hard-nosed business understanding to the entrepreneur world. She is fluent in Spanish, and having worked with multiple international firms, has a clear grasp on cross-cultural influences. Jack’s passions include spending time with her son and traveling to exotic, off-the-beaten-path places such as Cuba, Jordan, Zambia, Bolivia, and Zanzibar. An endorphin junkie, Jack is an avid jump roper, Peloton-fanatic and a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo.
Learn more at https://kuellife.com/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Susan Burrell is the author of “Live Your Empowered Life: A 30-Day Journey Book” and she has a thought provoking podcast called Empowering Chats with Susan Burrell that can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and other popular platforms. Her guided meditations are accessible through the Insight Timer App. Susan is a feisty Scorpio (was even born with the red hair to back it up!) who has navigated life by learning how to listen within to that Divine urge that keeps pointing her in the direction of her life’s purpose even when she can’t see the road. She is a guide in the crossroads of life with a Masters Degree in Consciousness. Susan has been counseling and supporting people in transforming from the inside out for over 25 years. Her methods are proven because she has lived this journey to empowerment.
To learn more about Susan and her work: https://www.susanburrell.com
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Interview with my dear friend, Dr. Nicole Cutts. Nicole is aClinical Psychologist,Success Coach, TEDx Speaker, author and media commentator. She is also an entrepreneur at the helm of Cutts Consulting, LLC an Organizational Consultancy and Vision Quest Retreats through which she helps women clarify and achieve their Visions of Success. Through her work and book series for women and girls entitled The Adventures of Isabelle, Nicole inspires and empowers people to achieve a more balanced and successful lifestyle. Whether in a corporate board room, classroom or facilitating a retreat in an exotic location, Nicole enjoys taking audiences to the “Aha” moment, helping them identify blocks, spark a change in attitude and behavior and ramp up personal success and happiness! Nicole can be seen and heard frequently on TV and radio. She is also a former executive producer and radio show host on WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, DC.
Nicole received her Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology- LA, where her emphasis of study was Multicultural Community Clinical Psychology. She received her Executive Coach certification from The Center for Executive Coaching. She also holds a B.S. in Psychology from Howard University.
Contact Information:
www.cuttsconsulting.com
www.visionquestretreats.com
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
A rich and inpiring conversation with Yvette Bodden, author and founder of Awakened-Woman
As the founder and author behind Awakened-Woman, a digital platform designed to inspire and invigorate females, author Yvette Bodden writes with endless empathy. In just two years, AW has amassed tens of thousands of followers, thanks to a combined 500+ articles centered around celebrity profiles, relationships, love, abuse, motherhood and Latino culture, infused with a signature blend of her pragmatism and compassion. In 2021, she was named one of the “Bella Bosses We Admire” by Bella Magazine. Yvette’s words have also appeared on The Best Holistic Life Magazine, Thrive Global, media maven Arianna Huffington’s portal dedicated to ending the global stress and burnout epidemic, and BELatina News, where she profiles celebrities like Latin Grammy Award-winner Luis Fonsi, television actor, Joe Minoso and ABC's "The Baker and the Beauty, actress, Nathalie Kelly. Since 2020, as part of the AW Empowerment Series, she has interviewed Alexandra Garcia, Google, Jeimy Osorio, Actress & Singer, Heather Fink, CEO & Founder, The Sexiest Beauty, Novi Parker, Actress, Tyler Perry’s Sistas, Amelia Moran Ceja, President, Ceja Vineyards, Kara Goldin, Founder & CEO, Hint Water, Author of WSJ Bestseller, “Undaunted,” Maria Trusa, CEO, Forme Medical Center & Urgent Care, Shayla Rivera, NASA Rocket Scientist / Comedian, Benita Alexander, Journalist, Julissa Prado, CEO & Founder, Rizos Curls, Nathalie Kelly, Actress, Alexa Ray, Canadian Recording Artist, Vanessa Coppes, CEO, Bella Magazine, Lois Robbins, Actress from TV Land’s hit show Younger, Lisa Vidal for AW, Actress from The Baker and the Beauty and BET's Being Mary Jane, Nikki Boyer, Actress, 3-Time Emmy winning Media Personality and Host, Dying for Sex Podcast, as well as Christina Vidal Mitchell, Actress, ABC’s United We Fall. Her debut book, A Journey to Becoming the Best Self (Black Rose Writing)—part memoir and part prescriptive nonfiction, inspired by Yvette’s own post-divorce path from devastation to joy—was published in 2019, and received praise from The U.S. Review of Books. As a single mother based in New York City—a metropolis she credits for her open mind-- Yvette regularly channels her own growth experiences, she has contributed to outlets like SmartCoparent and DivorceHub.com that focus on personal crises. Ultimately, Yvette’s writing, which seeks to empower and encourage women searching for personalized definitions of success, is an effort to build strong communities through vulnerable and powerful storytelling.
Website: https://awakened-woman.com/
Instagram: @womanawakened
Facebook: AWinspires
Twitter: @womanawakened
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support
Hi! I'm Maria Leonard Olsen, author, attorney, public speaker, mentor and radio show host in Washington, D.C. I'm here to educate, elevate and infuse your life with inspiration and positivity. Stay tuned for more! #fiftyafter50 #becomingyourbestversion #positivity
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maria-leonard-olsen/support