Bold Becoming

Andrea was really good at her PR job before she started working for her bully boss, during, and after. But working for him took a huge toll on her self-perception, to the point where she questioned whether he was right that she wasn’t any good. Andrea endured 8.5 years of chronic tears and a “living hell” until her breakthrough moment.

Ponder with us, the many reasons we stay in abusive, power-over relationships. Learn how resilience can sometimes be antithetical to our wellbeing. Hear about how Andrea stood her ground against a man who tried to break her. Find out what it’s like to come out metaphorically beaten and bruised, yet with enough agency to not have to break before you make an important change.

Bio

Andrea Pass is the owner of Andrea Pass Public Relations. She is the expert at booking clients on podcast interviews as well as features, quotes and reviews in digital media, broadcast, print and more. She creates and implements public relations campaigns in a wide range of categories including consumer products, lifestyle, business-to-business, education, health/wellness/fitness, beauty, food, authors, non-profits and more. Andrea Pass Public Relations has an expertise in national, regional and local media relations outreach. Her strength in relationships coupled with her knowledge of the ever-growing media base results in securing top tier, targeted media placements to increase brand awareness, reputation management and sales for established businesses and growing entrepreneurs alike.

Guest Info.

Be careful what you ask for. Sara’s friend invited her on a trip. She said she’d only go if she got laid off and the rest is history. Sara began a journey away from abuse and bad behavior caused from stress, pressure, ego, and the drive for money and accolades. Leaving sunk costs behind her, she embarked on many trips, including with psychedelics.

Hear about toxic work cultures impacting Sara’s identity and how they lead to a breaking point. About how the mighty dollar erodes quality and function. And how one woman stepped away from it all to embrace trust, surrender, and faith on a journey back to herself. 

Bio

Sara Roccisano spent over 20 years working on Wall Street as an Investment Banker and in Private Equity, Corporate America, and Government as a Renewable Energy Executive. As one could imagine, she became burnt out. Her spirit was unhappy, and she craved something more fulfilling. In early 2020, she answered a spiritual call to embark on a 5-Week Adventure around the world on the heels of coronavirus plaguing her home in New York City. The journey helped her to rediscover herself. By 2022, she surrendered by quitting her career and life as she knew it and began coming back home to self. 

Sara is a world-traveling, scuba-diving, spiritually transforming, International Public Speaker, Travel Storyteller, Author, and founder of Embolden Adventures. She has traveled to 42+ countries and over half of the United States from the tops of the mountains, the depths of the oceans, the mysterious megalithic, and everywhere else in between. 

Guest Info.

Iryna went from being on an all-consuming academic tract to motherhood, wife, caretaker of her mom with cancer, and divorcee, and in the process found herself in a hopeless dark hole. “It felt like burned out land. Nothing alive there, like dry land with the cracked bottom when there’s no water and the tumbleweed is rolling there. This is how it felt inside.”

Witness how Iryna’s life roles came out of her values, regardless of what it cost her. Discover what it's like to feel like nothing is alive.  How did Iryna move past that difficult phase? Find out how Iryna went from being defined by the relationships in her life and what she does to by who she is. 

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Bio

Iryna Ishchenko is a Master Certified Coach who became a coach for caregivers after taking care of her mother who had terminal cancer and medically induced dementia and solo parenting a newborn baby at the same time and not finding any help for herself how to survive that nightmare. After surviving that experience she decided to be the help she needed but didn’t have.

Taking care of your aging parents with dementia doesn’t have to be frustrating. If you want to get your life back, and thrive without resentment or feeling like you are merely “surviving” or “what kind of person am I becoming” Iryna can help you make it happen.

Guest Info.

show notes coming soon!

Bio

I’m an average human being, a mother, a poet, a writer, a trauma survivor, and a coach and healer. 

I help parents who parent with a narcissistic partner or ex to preserve sanity, take their life back and support their children. 

My experience of growing up in highly narcissistic environments, and later being in narcissistic relationships, led me to reflect on my own life at a point when I was severely depressed and suffering from C-PTSD.  Since then, I’ve been healing from inner child wounds and narcissistic abuse to build a thriving life for me and my daughter. 

I’ve worked in the field of education for almost 20 years before I became a life coach and Advanced EFT and Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner. I also hold a diploma in NLP. I am a DISC Facilitator and qualified to work with narcissism and domestic violence. Other qualifications include MA, BA, CELTA, EYT, diplomas in teaching and in Montessori teaching.

Guest Info.

When her husband got a job in Japan and she became a trailer wife, Linda was already a globetrotter. But now she gave up a successful corporate career to live in Japan with her husband. And she quickly found out how much of herself was wrapped up in her own career status. She was at a loss when people asked what her husband did and didn’t ask what she did. The move to Japan was the beginning of many more international moves, Linda discovering what was happening to her identity, and intentionally reinventing who she was becoming. 

Learn how chosen change can end up with unexpected identity loss. Hear about how that impacted Linda and what she did about it. Find out how even returning home to your own country can cause immense, unexpected identity changes.

Bio

Linda Mueller is a certified life coach and mentor who empowers international women to adapt and thrive wherever they may land. With extensive personal and professional international experience, she utilizes all that she has learned to coach with compassionate accountability during all stages of her clients' international journey. From preparation for an international move to adaptation abroad to repatriation, Linda uses proven strategies and tools to help globally-mobile women find purpose, connection, and a renewed sense of self that is independent of location.

Linda is a former corporate climber with 10+ years of accompanying partner experience in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. She fully understands the opportunities and challenges that partners encounter while living abroad and is passionate about supporting those on a similar journey. Linda resides in Chicago (USA) with her husband and teen third culture kid (TCK).

Guest Info.

This episode continues the conversation with Terry Mandel. It’s where the identity shift discussion really takes off…finding out she’s lost family members in the Holocaust, when for over 60 years she believed her family had been spared that atrocity.

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As a very young child, Terry Mandel had a sixth sense about her reality as it related to her family history. Growing up in LA, she sensed there was something missing from her family’s immigration story and her family vehemently prohibited questions on this topic. As an older girl, when she learned of the Holocaust, her family story made even less sense—things just didn’t add up.  

Now in her 60’s, Terry recently had a mind boggling and soul wrenching experience she’s adjusting to, after learning that a dozen family members were murdered in the Holocaust after having been told her entire life that all of her family escaped. Terry’s now on a mission to learn all there is to be discovered about her family’s saga and tackle problems inherent in systemic realities that keep people from knowing of and becoming the full version of themselves. In 2023 she founded The Unerasure Projekt, a not-for-profit dedicated to reclaiming hidden legacies in ourselves, communities, and the world.

Bio

Terry Mandel has advised leaders and entrepreneurs in the US and abroad for decades. As a depth-oriented strategist, leadership mentor, speaker, and learning program designer/facilitator, she focuses on “the right things right now” to help clients bridge the gaps between their aspirations, operations, and communications. Her approach taps often-overlooked resources and illuminates systemic obstacles that deplete morale, block innovation, and depress profitability. The goal: Workplaces that attract and retain innovators and top performers, fully engage the team’s collaborative capacity, and deliver on the promise of their visions.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Jewish refugees from Nazi-era Germany, Terry learned early to navigate different cultures. In 2023, she founded The Unerasure Projekt, a not-for-profit dedicated to reclaiming hidden legacies in ourselves, communities, and world. Our programs and services inspire, educate, and facilitate hands-on expression, enabling participants to weave deep personal meaning in their present-day lives and communities out of painful, abstract history.

Guest Info.

https://unerasure.org (in development)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rightthingsrightnow/

As a very young child, Terry had a sixth sense about her reality as it related to her family history. Growing up in LA, she sensed there was something missing from her family’s immigration story and her family vehemently prohibited questions on this topic. As an older girl, when she learned of the Holocaust, her family story made even less sense—things just didn’t add up.  

Now in her 60’s, Terry recently had a mind boggling and soul wrenching experience she’s adjusting to, after learning that a dozen family members were murdered in the Holocaust after having been told her entire life that all of her family escaped. Terry’s now on a mission to learn all there is to be discovered about her family’s saga and tackle problems inherent in systemic realities that keep people from knowing of and becoming the full version of themselves. In 2023 she founded The Unerasure Projekt, a not-for-profit dedicated to reclaiming hidden legacies in ourselves, communities, and the world.

Bio

Terry Mandel has advised leaders and entrepreneurs in the US and abroad for decades. As a depth-oriented strategist, leadership mentor, speaker, and learning program designer/facilitator, she focuses on “the right things right now” to help clients bridge the gaps between their aspirations, operations, and communications. Her approach taps often-overlooked resources and illuminates systemic obstacles that deplete morale, block innovation, and depress profitability. The goal: Workplaces that attract and retain innovators and top performers, fully engage the team’s collaborative capacity, and deliver on the promise of their visions.

As the daughter and granddaughter of Jewish refugees from Nazi-era Germany, Terry learned early to navigate different cultures. In 2023, she founded The Unerasure Projekt, a not-for-profit dedicated to reclaiming hidden legacies in ourselves, communities, and world. Our programs and services inspire, educate, and facilitate hands-on expression, enabling participants to weave deep personal meaning in their present-day lives and communities out of painful, abstract history.

Guest Info.

https://unerasure.org (in development)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rightthingsrightnow/

Patricia Loff remembers her first sign of illness: she got bags under her eyes when she was 10 years old. When she was about 15, she recognized something physical holding her back from reaching her pinnacle as an athlete. In her 20’s she was diagnosed with cancer. Patricia went through more surgeries than you can shake a stick at until she called it quits. And that’s when her life turned around for the better ever after story. 

Discover how stopping to resist death opened up new avenues for healing and health. Find out a little bit about thought control. Learn about the power of the subconscious mind and how to benefit from it rather than feed it with self-fulfilling prophecies. Join Patricia in one of her classes on how to experience pain and disease differently. 

Bio

Patricia is a healing expert and founder of Rapid Health Transformation. After experiencing her own shift from a prognosis of 3-6 months to live to complete disease reversal, Patricia has spent the last 20+ years helping others do the same.

Guest Info.

This is Part 2 of a 2-part series. Be sure to listen to Part l.

In Part 2, Quintina discusses how she’s in the 2% of people who don’t return to The Life (sex trafficking). She offers ideas around what we all can do to change this statistic and includes her educated opinions on the movie Sounds of Freedom, currently in theaters. 

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Quintina grew up in a dysfunctional family. She escaped the fate of her brothers—foster care and adoption. But by the time she was 20, she got caught between a rock and a hard place when she had to deal with untrue, serious legal charges levied against her, causing her already fragile house of cards to collapse. A man trafficking humans saved her and she began living under his spell: turning tricks, working full-time as a hairstylist, and giving all her earnings over to him.  

How does systemic exploitation turn people against even themselves? How did abuse in childhood set her up for giving her life over to a pimp’s lies and deception? Listen to how trafficking changed Quintina’s entire identity, even down to using a new name. Find out how she extricated herself and stays “square,” why 98% of people who exit return to trafficking, and what can preempt this. 

Bio

Quintina Sonnie is a Lived Experience Expert and Conscious Choice Creator who has dedicated 7 years to the anti-trafficking movement. She is a survivor herself who has become a spiritual guide and healer. She lives her life fully barefoot, is a Breathwork facilitator, Tarot & Human Design reader and the founder of the Conscious Choice Creation Method.

Guest Info.

quintinalsonnie@gmail.com 

Julie’s Info. 

Driving with high school friends, the car rolled four times. Fate intervened to save his life when his friend’s mom, and nurse, diverted the ambulance from bringing him to the nearest hospital, getting him straight to one that could properly treat his trauma. With a TBI (traumatic brain injury), Daniel began stepping into his uncertain future.

Hear about what it’s like when your life might never get back on track. Learn what kind of support made all the difference. Find out how Daniel discovered inner resources to overcome his prognosis, and how that journey created new resources that he repurposes for any new life challenge he faces. Get a glimpse of grief and loss from a teenager’s perspective. Find out how Daniel’s experience delivered new values and vision for a meaningful and fulfilling life.

Bio

I sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2009 from a motor vehicle accident. I needed to have brain surgery to save my life. I went through 3 months of physical therapy and 17 months of speech therapy after the accident. This event inspired me to go into the helping profession. I obtained my master's in social work and currently work in a hospital and started my own private practice business focused on mental health therapy, trauma, and TBIs.

Guest Info.

https://www.revitalizementalhealth.com/

Julie’s Info. 

Jyoti is a young, smart, high-performing, American born and raised Punjabi woman. Depression and anxiety were foreigners to her until an uncle from India migrated to the USA and lived in her family’s home. He quickly went from being tolerable to an unbearable tyrant. Jyoti protected herself by working three jobs to stay away from home. His emotional abuse eventually lead her to becoming suicidal.

Find out how journaling, as part of therapy, and later writing her first (of many) fiction books, helped her healing process. Learn about the impact emotional abuse can have on a person. Discover how many ways trauma changed Jyoti’s life trajectory, the support that buoyed her through those years, and what it looks like to be one strong, badass woman, even while living with fear. 

Bio

Jyoti Dhanota is a self-published author who began writing as a way of healing her trauma.

Guest Info.

Leeanne Brennan is an artist who realized she’d left part of herself behind after becoming a mom and making it big as a commercial artist. Not only had she lost touch with her internal drive for art—the drive that’s disconnected from anything other than personal desire—motherhood wasn’t cutting it either. She landed in a dark and desolate place with no hope and no idea where the way out was. She didn’t even believe there was a way out. 

Find out what sparked the beginning of regaining her full identity again. Learn how Leeanne brought creativity back into her life on her own terms, and what this looks like to her and other artists she helps. Discover basic steps she uses to help others bring creativity back into their lives and how they make it grow into a habit that keeps on giving. 

Bio

Leeanne Brennan is an Artist and Mindset & Accountability Coach for Creatives living in North Carolina with my husband and 2 small children. She creates sensitive, whimsical art to help unblock limiting beliefs and manifest a life we love, and runs programs to help creatives start and finish their creative projects.

Guest Info.

From the age of two, Shell Lightning Spirit didn’t think about regular stuff kids think about. Now was she allowed to talk about what she was thinking. Add to this, drowning when she was seven and seeing what it was like on the other side. Shell lived between a rock and a hard place as she grew up and tried to make sense of life. To cope, she withdrew into a tight, tiny ball of a person until one night, in her first year of college. Struck by lightning, she fast-forwarded the process she’d already begun of reclaiming who she really was.

Hear about how a child who is “different” experienced a series of unfortunate events, including life threatening ones. Find out what it’s like to be in the light where you go when you die, and then coming back to the darkness of life as a human on planet earth. Discover how Shell’s spirit stayed alive and found its way to the surface over and over again, and how that gives meaning to her life.

Bio

Shell Lightning Spirit Mualem is a Transformational Guide and Lifelong Learner. Her formal disciplines are Macro and Clinical Master Social Worker, Personal Fitness Trainer and Reiki Master. She is currently working toward a Doctorate in Metaphysical Sciences. Shell has been awarded Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor; Six Sigma Green Belt; LEAN Leader; Professional in Healthcare Quality; and Basic Nutrition Certificates. 

Shell has primarily worked with the most vulnerable, traumatized and marginalized populations. She is recognized and valued for her grounded open presence and expertise in guiding individuals, groups and organizations through complex change. Her experience includes teaching and speaking about human bioethics, cultural competence and trauma. She has published articles on gang violence. In 2016, she launched a large scaled comprehensive suicide prevention package for more than 50 Hospitals in her home state of Michigan and in 7 other US States. In 2020, she led an integrated well-being initiative to directly support doctors and nurses on the frontline during the Covid Crisis. 

Guest Info.

lightningspiritproductions@gmail.com 

Tina Brandau 1.0 was a high-achiever loving life in the corporate fastlane and a jet-setting mover and shaker. But one day she became Tina 2.0. She went from a 40-year-old to functioning like a 3-year-old and it took ten years to become Tina 3.0. Tina was going to be in a marathon when one day, out on a run, a tree fell on her and she got a TBI (traumatic brain injury). 

What impact did this have on her identity? How did she manage to lower expectations and keep her goals itsy bitsy instead of what she was used to? Learn how Tina never lost hope in herself and shows up today as an international speaker and best selling author of Standing Strong, inspiring others to never give up on their dreams. 

Bio 

Tina Brandau is the premier life, leadership, and business Success Coach who has dedicated her life to empowering others to create a greater impact. She's also a best-selling author, a speaker who has been on more than 500 stages, and the founder of Success Coaching Solutions, with decades of experience as a proven leader, C-Suite executive, and successful serial entrepreneur.

What sets Tina apart is her incredibly powerful story of surviving and thriving following an unimaginable accident while training for a marathon.

Tina is passionate about sharing her hard-won wisdom, experience, steps, and strategies with others. Her motivational talks are packed with practical insights, inspiring stories, and actionable techniques to help individuals and businesses unleash their full potential and achieve their biggest goals. She believes the biggest challenge in life is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming.

Success Coaching Solutions Bio - The heart of Success Coaching Solutions' work is empowering executives, business owners, and leaders to master Your leadership skill-set, mind-set, and tool-set, to elevate your leadership, ignite your potential, and embrace your legacy while meeting life’s greatest challenge head on – “to become all that You have the possibility of becoming.” Success Coaching Solutions – Where Your Greatness Begins.]

Guest Info.

https://www.successcoachingsolutions.com

Julie’s Info.

TRIGGER WARNING—RAPE

Cara Lynn was an 8 years old when she was raped. Her mom didn’t find out the whole story until she was 15. She was raped a few more times and is also a survivor of a relationship with domestic violence. When her first child was born, she found out she was the product of a rape, and this then explained everything—rape is who she was.

But Cara Lynn never let these assaults break her. And after seeing the man who raped her for the third time, now in her 40’s, she fell apart and is piecing herself back together. 

Find out what it’s like for a child to live with a death threat, if she discloses the crime. How did Cara Lynn cope with her traumas without resorting to drugs, alcohol, or some other addiction? What helped her heal, and not choose death, and how can she now have compassion for these men who raped? Be the first to hear this amazing saga from an articulate, grounded and healed woman. And find out how my forthcoming book—MASTERS OF CHANGE—could have helped her. 

Bio

When you discover your passion and true calling, it’s imperative you share it in the world. Hello, I’m Cara Lynn, founder of WalkNWisdom-The Magic of Becoming You™, and creator of the Post Traumatic Self Alignment Program (PTSA). I help Trauma Survivors Break Free Forever (BFF) from survival mode to live a life they truly love. Break Free Forever from the Trauma Drama. I apply the most cutting edge science and evidence based methods in neuroscience coupled with UFH sessions to show individuals how to create a life they truly love by getting into the identity of who they want to be. I use UFH sessions as a starting point for clients or as a stand alone experience.

I have an intimate understanding of trauma through my own existence and journey. I was tired of survival mode. I knew there had to be more to this life than discouraging overwhelm, depression, and people pleasing. I became the change I wanted to see. I reclaimed my power by healing the “trauma drama”. I did not try to fix myself, because I was not broken, and neither are you. I let go of the past with the methods I’m certified in to create the woman I AM, and LOVE today. 

I combine all my experiences, knowledge and training to create individual plans and healing maps that are client led. Together we discover the wisdom in the trauma, keep the lesson & neutralize the triggers as we integrate the information in a safe, and gentle way. As clients come back into self-alignment, they naturally shift into a new mindset of a conscious creator empowered by self-love and true choice. One learns to become THE powerful creative force in their life.

When you’re ready to upgrade, release the past, stop self-sabotage, and eliminate limiting beliefs to live an authentically aligned life, then let me show you how. Let’s go from Trauma 2 Sunshine together. Let it begin with Unity Field Healing. Together We Rise.

Guest Info.

Angela McCullough was a smart, successful, and happy high achiever. She made it her mission to break the stereotypes about her life trajectory and potential as a Black woman from Detroit. But when breast cancer in her early thirties brought her face-to-face with her own mortality, priorities turned into mirages as new ones became the foundation for the next version of herself. 

Find out how Angela used her mindset, community, and faith to survive. Discover what kind of support was fundamental to healing and how the possibility of death changed her daily lifestyle. Learn how this experience gave her a new perception of humanity that fundamentally changed her identity, auto-translating her purpose into a new mission of ensuring that problems of social equity are tackled instead of ignored or overlooked. 

Jenny had addiction in her family but didn’t know it when she was little. She became an alcoholic herself, then stopped during her marriage. But after the divorce, as a way to deal with the pain of shared parenting and single parenthood, Jenny started drinking again.

Find out how her thirteen-year-old daughter caused her to stop cold turkey. And then how three years later, Jenny was able to step up to the plate full force when that same child had a spinal cord injury. And discover how both of them are succeeding with flying colors, in spite of being paralyzed and living in a wheelchair. 

Bio

Jenny Grass D’Agostino 

•Over 16 million views on social media 

•Spoke on stages in front of hundreds of people all over the states to health & fitness enthusiasts, spinal cord injury advocate, stem cell therapy

•9+ years invested in Personal Development, Mind, Body, and Spirituality and Podcasting 

•Speaker-Teacher-Self Healer-Coach

•Reiki certified 

•daily meditation 

• Actively raised over 100k in fundraisers 

Guest Info.

FB- Jenny Grass D’Agostino 

IG- Jenny Grass D’Agostino and Dear Future Self Experience

TikTok- jennygrassdagostino

YouTube- dearfutureself 

Julie’s Info.

Susan Brown grew up in a small town in Mississippi. She made her escape after leaving college with enough credits for 1.5 degrees but not enough in one area to graduate. She and a friend went to Florida, shared an apartment, worked, and explored independence. But when her friend left, Susan couldn’t pay the rent on her own and made a bold decision after soul-searching for the right answer. Instead of moving back with her parents and risking getting stuck in her small town, she chose to live in her car.

Learn how the pursuit to keep momentum towards her new identity kept her in a good headspace as she navigated uncertainty and living on the edge of society. Find out the breakthrough moment that changed her trajectory and made it possible for her to come out the other side better off than she imagined. Discover how being bullied as a child helped her let go of internalized oppression that tainted her self-esteem and propelled her into a chosen new identity that embraces her potential.  

Bio

Susan is the Hope-Filled Efficiency Expert behind the LEGACY GAME CHANGERS movement. She is the author of the 5 star rated One Year Of Thankful Thursdays, the life changing Peace Of Mind Blueprint, Inspirational Speaker, and co-founder of Legacy Game Changers. 

She draws from her own inspirational journey including homelessness, being a paramedic, being a Health & Safety Director at the Red Cross during 9/11, nearly dying, and becoming a caregiver to her completely paralyzed mom. 

Susan talks about the hard stuff that most people shy away from, all while connecting in a unique way with compassion and pairs it all with practical high level strategies you can implement right away. 

Legacy Game Changers mission is simple. We equip Visionary Believers to break free from overwhelm and the fear of “what-ifs” and create and live out a game changing legacy that transforms generations to come! 

Guest Info.

https://www.legacygamechangers.com/ 

hello@LegacyGameChangers.com 

Grab my Top Secret Guide that I usually reserve for my paid clients at OvercomerSecrets.com

Julie’s Info.

Leonaura has always been ambitious: good at setting and achieving goals. She became a doctor. She became a mom before her age deadline. But then she stopped working because her son was critically ill. This all made sense and she managed these unexpected changes. 

But after her second son also required her to stay at home because of critical and chronic health problems, Leonaura reduced her self-identity to simply “a mother of two sick kids.” And depression kicked in full force.

How did she pull herself out of depression? What choices did she make that changed her perspective and got her doing things that brought her joy and meaning again, apart from being “just” a mom. Why wasn’t being “just” a mom enough for her? 

Bio

Dr. Leonaura Rhodes is on a mission to help people increase their happiness, health, and abundance. 

She began her career as a physician in the UK. When studying for her MPH she became obsessed with the science of wellness, illness prevention and peak performance. Her love for learning led her to train as a counselor, coach, relationship strategist, neurotherapist, and brain health coach. She is also a published author, course creator, corporate trainer and public speaker.  She has worked as a Results Coach and Business Results Trainer for Tony Robbins (Robbins Research International). 

Her own battle with chronic stress and severe depression led to a passion for helping people get physically and emotionally well. In 2014 she published “Beyond Soccer Mom: Strategies for a fabulous balanced life” (Morgan James Publishing), a guide to creating a meaningful, happy, healthy life for women. 

She has worked with thousands of people to help them intentionally create their future life with a process called  "Peak Life Design ". Her motto is "You can settle for an ordinary life, or you can become extraordinary". Originally from England, Leonaura now lives in Norwalk, Connecticut with her husband and two young adult sons. In her spare time you’ll find her kayaking, taking nature photographs and letting her hair down at concerts and music festivals. 

Guest Info.

Michelle Hammer began to sense that things were off in her teens. Her inner voice conversations took a turn and became more problematic. She got on some meds and didn’t tell her mom exactly what was going on. She was misdiagnosed as having bipolar when actually she has schizophrenia. Once she was properly diagnosed in college things became easier for her, knowing what was actually going on. 

Find out how schizophrenia impacts her identity and how she manages to live a pretty normal life with it. Learn about one person’s journey to reaching an accurate diagnosis and what happens in the interim when you’re treated for the wrong thing. Discover the many ways mental illness is misunderstood, ways others don’t support people as well as they could, and things that can make life better for people with mental health challenges. 

Bio

Michelle Hammer is a Schizophrenia Activist and spends her time passionately fighting stigma. She is an NYC native featured in the WebMD documentary Voices, which was nominated for a Tribeca X Award at the Tribeca Film Festival 2018. Michelle was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 22 after a misdiagnosis of bipolar at age 18. At 27, Michelle decided to use her artistic talents and fearless personality to do something that could benefit the mental health community. In May 2015, she founded a mental health-focused clothing brand. Schizophrenic.NYC is a clothing brand with the mission of reducing stigma by starting conversations about mental health. Michelle has also been featured in many publications such as Mashable, The Daily Mail, Stylist, and Buzzfeed.

Guest Info.

Insta: https://www.schizophrenic.nyc

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@schizophrenic.nyc

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SchizophrenicNYC

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/schizophrenicny

Julie’s Info. 

Life in the fast lane as a mom woman leader in medicine wasn’t working out so well for Erin Hurley on the homefront. Charting on her own patients from the room where her four-year-old was hospitalized wasn’t the kind of mom she wanted to be. Demands on time, energy, and the impact on family relationships and finances are significantly different for women than men in medicine. The extra time, and emotional and physical energy women physicians put into their jobs sacrifice other areas of their lives. And the fact that their patients have better outcomes didn’t balance out this equation for Erin. 

Find out what book catalyzed the beginning of Erin’s personal transformation, helping her let go of her identity as a physician leader. Discover how coaching helped change her mindset and life and why she retired from medicine. Learn how coaching made it possible to make decisions she wouldn’t have otherwise. And how the new mindset allowed her to move from having to be right, to being open and willing to learn and grow from anyone and everyone, and the impact that has on her level of joy and satisfaction with life. 

Bio

Erin Hurley, is a physician and Certified High-Performance Coach. She founded the company, Transformational Doc, to improve the wellbeing and sustainability of women in medical careers. Erin helps transform the lives of her coaching clients through her program, “The Happier, Healthier Healer,” which takes women from being buried and burnt out, to empowered and energized without having to leave their medical career. She regularly leads breakthrough retreats and workshops for women throughout the US. Erin also positively impacts clinician wellness in her community through her service on the board of the Marion-Polk County Medical Society. She also serves on the Executive Committee for the Oregon Wellness Program, an organization developed to support the mental health of medical providers throughout the state of Oregon.

Erin has over 25 years of experience from her career as a pediatrician with the majority of that time spent in leadership positions. She has been married for 22 years and has three amazing teenaged children. During her own transformation out of chronic burnout several years ago, she began learning more about the barriers to success faced by healthcare workers, and the unique challenges faced by women in medicine. She has researched methods and strategies to help individuals get out of chronic states of exhaustion and overwhelm which became The Happier, Healthier Healer Program.

Guest Info.

Website—happyhealthyhealer.com

Email—erin@happyhealthyhealer.com

Facebook: Transformational Doc https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=transformational%20doc

Julie’s Info.

Today’s interview is not about our guest’s identity transition but rather how some of his clients experience it in conjunction with retirement. Michael Sissison, a clinical psychologist in South Africa, has helped many people who were fine, but unexpectedly lost their sense of identity when they retired. He describes retirement as a rite of passage and how it can negatively impact identity because many haven’t prepared for its emotional and psychological impact. Two common struggles are:

1. Through whose critical gaze did I live my life? 

2. How can I avoid living with bitterness and regret?

Find out why people, particularly those with financial success, feel trepidation when it comes to retirement. What challenges does this present for managing loss, the unpredictability of change, and generating something new? How does retirement change interpersonal relationships and your relationship with your body? How does one integrate decades of life experience into a new version of themselves, one without their status role in the workplace? How do they adjust to new spaces that open up to fill the void? Just how much do picnics on the beach and playdates with grandchildren fulfill their need for meaning and satisfaction?

Bio

Michael Sissison is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, life transition coach and speaker. His journey as a psychologist and psychotherapist has exposed him to stories of human struggle. One such struggle has been the difficulty of adjusting to looming retirement.

He’s always wondered why so much emphasis is placed on school planning, having a child, financial planning, moving home, and marital preparation while discussion around psychological preparation for retirement is pushed into the background - seemingly forgotten and left behind. Just as there is so much discussion around raising a child in the early formative years, he believes that one’s latter years of development are of equal importance. But this crucial life transitional phase into retirement is often not adequately prepared for. How many of us have avoided sometimes difficult conversations about our final movement into life’s next stage?

Seemingly well set up for heading into the golden years, he’s noticed a gap and dearth of discussion around psychological challenges which inevitably arise - the adjustment to new life spaces, loss of work status, loss of life purpose, loss of body strength, the encroachment of physical decay and the inevitability of mortality, amongst others. Retirement impacts a person’s sense of self and relationship to others and one’s body. The challenge is to accept and integrate the changing status of one’s psychological, spiritual, and physical challenges.

These observations, together with helping his own parents navigate their retirement, has led him to running retirement workshops and coaching people for life beyond what they know. His aim is to move people into a place of generativity, love and joy as opposed to stagnation, inertia and bitterness. He looks forward to sharing his knowledge with you.

Guest Info.

https://linkedin.com Website: https://michaelsissison.com/

michael@sissison.com

Julie’s Info.

 TRIGGER ALERT: suicide attempt description

  The day Jennifer attempted suicide every single body part hurt. Even her eyelashes. Growing up in a family with a narcissistic mother, her identity was nipped in the bud. Jennifer’s every thought and action was predicated on how it would impact her mother rather than herself. Later, as an independent, working professional, she realized she couldn’t even think for herself and had a nervous breakdown. Then one day a straw broke the camel’s back and she tried but failed to suicide. 

   Find out what it’s like to live with maintaining the option to die by suicide, and what it was like to think you are in the process of dying. Learn how Jennifer rebuilt herself from scratch and discovered who was inside the shell of a person she’d always been. Hear about what turned her life around and set her on a path free of suicidality and living a joyful and fulfilling life. 

Bio

  Jennifer’s narcissistic mother made her believe she was stupid and destined to fail. She had two eating disorders and was suicidal by the time she was sixteen years old and at twenty-three, suffered from imposter syndrome. This resulted in a psychological breakdown that prevented her from working for four years.

  She attempted suicide a few years ago. When this failed, she turned her life around and is now a successful businesswoman and life counselor.

  Jennifer is the author of Permission Granted: Live Your Life Full of Joy and Peace, a book in which she shares ninety-one self-limiting beliefs that, as a result of being raised by a narcissistic mother and an enabling father, she learned growing up and realized as an adult that she needed to change to be happy.

  She is founder and president of Give Yourself Permission, which helps women create new rules for their lives so they can overcome limiting attitudes preventing them from achieving career success and finding happiness. Before becoming a transformational coach she founded Prospecting Works, a successful business that assists salespeople in overcoming cold-call reluctance. She is also a lightworker, a person who’s undergone a spiritual awakening and feels called to a deeper purpose in this world. Jennifer feels destined to help women who have attempted suicide find peace and joy.

Guest Info.

Marla Green had a calling: become a nurse practitioner. She specialized in oncology until in an accident, her life changed on a dime. She lost her career to disability and has been struggling to regain a sense of meaning and purpose while also to regain financial independence. Wracked with unbearable pain she can’t count on herself the way she used to. She’s also found it disconcerting and surprising to be on the other end of things in health care settings.

Find out how Marla copes with her losses. Learn what it’s like to go from provider to patient and how that’s informing her current work as a nurse educator. Lean in with us as she describes things none of us ever want to know. Experience the power of a woman determined to keep going against all odds and who’s making that happen.  

Bio

Marla Green is the owner of Educatrix Advanced Practice Seminars, LLC. Her company conducts biannual continuing education (CE) conferences for nurse practitioners. CE credits are necessary for practitioners to obtain and maintain national certification and state licensures.

Having received her master’s degree in nursing from The University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2011, she is a nationally accredited Family Practice Nurse Practitioner with the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The majority of her nursing and nurse practitioner career was spent taking care of oncology patients.

In 2016, an 18-wheeler rear ended Ms. Green, causing back and neck injuries that ended her nurse practitioner career in an inpatient/outpatient capacity. She currently resides with her nine-year-old son, mother, and goldendoodle in McDonough, GA.

Guest Info.

https://www.Instagram.com/educatrixaps

https://www.TikTok.com/educatrixaps

https://www.Facebook.com/educatrixaps

https://www.LinkedIn.com/company/educatrixaps

https://www.YouTube.com/educatrxaps

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlacgreen

Julie’s Info. 

Both Jen Kline Clark and her husband’s work was going well. Their kids were also doing well and they’d finished reading all the Harry Potter books. But then at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, out of the blue her husband needed a wheelchair. Things went from bad to worse and he averted an amputation and death. Because of this, mortality motivation kicked in. Jen changed her attitude about her business. She decided to make sure that she, alone, would start earning what was needed to maintain and improve upon her lifestyle. 

Find out how the potential loss of her husband forced Jen’s identity to level up. What thoughts and decisions changed as a result of her husband’s life-threatening illness? Do you have to wait until a potential loss to change your identity and become who you could have been all along?

Bio

Jen’s a wife and mom to two grade school age kids. 

She is a lawyer by trade with a curvy path through service, charter schools, nonprofits, marketing and coaching.  Jen built and sold a thriving advertising business. When she realized her clients came for the ads but stayed for her business guidance, she decided to focus on their success.  Which led me here.

Jen is a straight-shooter who is driven to see people succeed.  She mixes pragmatic with woo, money with fun, and laughter with action.

In the five years Jen has been coaching, the consistent thread she hears from clients is her ability to peel back the layers and give them back their underlying truth clearly so they can collaborate on a doable action plan.

Her superpower is the ability to see where you are headed, reverse engineer the ways to get there, and stay beside you step-by-step.

Guest Info.

E: jen@jenklineclark.com

IG: @jen_kline_clark

It’s been eight years since Shawn Whittemore and his wife, Cynthia, had their world turned upside down. They lost their son, Noah, when he was 32 weeks gestation. He stopped moving when the umbilical cord strangled him. Once at the hospital, Shawn and Cynthia had to make a million on the spot decisions. Thus began their journey of being parents of a deceased child.

Learn how Shawn’s parenting role shifted from anticipation of a healthy baby to being the father of a baby that’s passed. And how he has a sort of dual identity, as the father of four live children and three that didn’t make it—Noah, plus two others (one ectopic pregnancy, one miscarriage). How he answers the question “How many children do you have?” depends on the circumstances. Sometimes he says four, other times, seven. 

Julie’s Info. 

Motherhood catapulted Arielle into questioning everything and filled her with self-doubt. Postpartum depression and pelvic floor pain catapulted her onto a journey to discover her true self. Postpartum rage added fuel to the fire. Physical pain kept her from doing things she loved, things that also protected her mental health like running and a passionate relationship with her husband. Postpartum depression affected every aspect of life, to the point she believed her family would be better off without her. 

Find out the impetus for regaining her spark for life. Listen to how Arielle went from being lost and disconnected from who she was, what she wanted, and justifying being “just a mom,” to feeling confident with motherhood and her role in society. Learn about how common postpartum conditions impact mothers and their families. Listen to how Arielle’s identity transformed when she healed her mind and body. And how now she helps others do the same. 

Bio

Arielle Martone is a doctor of physical therapy, neuro-clinical specialist, certified yoga teacher and certified postnatal coach turned mama coach after overcoming postpartum depression and pelvic pain. Arielle helps new moms reclaim their identity by reconnecting mind, body and soul in order to feel amazing in their bodies and confident in their new role as mother.

Guest Info.

Russell’s heart was missing a valve. He had surgery at twelve-days-old, and a few more over the years. This condition kept him from doing many things kids do. He had strength and endurance challenges. He lived with fear of getting hurt. His physicality revolved around protecting his chest and not damaging anything internally. His identity loss was the form of an identity nipped in the bud. Instead of the weak, slight kid with some academic confidence, he’ll never know who he would or could have been, had he been born with a normal heart.

The flip side is a man fully engaged with life. Russell views life more broadly, values it more deeply, and believes he may experience more joy than the average person. Listen to what it’s like to live in a body that holds you back. Learn how he faces obstacles and challenges and endures the grief of lost opportunities. Find out how he dealt with comparison with others. Discover how he went from not being able to run on the basketball court for more than a few minutes to now doing strength training and rucking events, even though he can never build extra muscle. What role has experimentation played? What keeps Russell motivated to keep working so hard and continually discover what’s possible?

Bio

Russell Smith is a writer and real estate investor, with a family firm soon to celebrate 70 years in business, in Louisville, Kentucky. He writes a weekly newsletter with the tongue-twisting title of Solvitur Ambulando, which means “solve it by walking” and which focuses on modern living, philosophy, lessons from unheralded books, and adding a dash of intellectualism to life without getting a headache. He has just completed two terms on the Board of Directors of St. John Center, a non-profit for the homeless, where he served as Board Chair and revamped their largest fundraising event. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Sorkin Center in Washington DC, which strengthens non-profit Boards and leaders. His wife, Kathleen, works in government relations for a hospice provider. He has two daughters, Beatrice (10) and Cordelia (8) — yes, named for characters in Shakespeare. The family welcomed two new Havanese puppies this summer, Otis and Olivia. He enjoys reading, smoking meats on the Big Green Egg, rucking, yoga, tennis, and fly fishing.

Guest Info.

https://srsmith3.substack.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/russellsmith3/

Julie’s Info.

This is a double feature episode. Part 1 is about growing up and how he landed in prison. Part 2 is about prison life and how he became a new man in prison, and got paroled, with the help of prison staff attesting to his transformation. Jorge tells his story with spectacular clarity and it’s filled with a treasure trove of takeaways. A sequel is forthcoming, to cover his reintegration into civilian life.

Fifty-year-old Jorge Bautista never intended to return to freedom. At age 18, he was given 30 years to life and sent to Pelican Bay State Penitentiary. This supermax prison houses those the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation labels “the worst of the worst.”  He’d taken the life of a rival gang member after one of them killed his best friend. He quickly adapted to the inner rules of prison life. He didn’t repent his crime. He spent many, many years in solitary confinement.

This is the first interview Jorge’s done since being released six months ago. He said he was nervous, but told me that because of the healing and personal development work he did in prison, he’d be able to do it. Find out what catalyzed his shift in perspective and behavior to create peak transformation. Learn how he coped with prison, and the pain of his eventual repentance. Discover how powerful human relationships can be and what positive support can do for a person.

Bio

My name is Jorge Bautista. I was born in Mexico, but my family moved so much that by the time I was 13, we’d moved residency 14 times, to different cities, counties, states, and countries (Mexico and US).

I'm 50 years old and just got done serving 32 years in prison for taking the life of another human being when I was 18 years old. I was sentenced to 30 years to life and I did all of my time in a maximum security prison. 15 years into my prison sentence, my younger brother was murdered which changed the trajectory of my life. After being found suitable for parole, I was deported back to Mexico where I currently live.

Guest Info.