Fuel Your Purpose

You do NOT want to miss the powerful duo on today’s podcast! Priscilla Presley and Lauren Cheek are from The Forward Female, a coaching and creative agency helping women around the world build successful businesses and a thriving community. They help women navigate their business goals through their business development coaching programs, full-service creative agency, entrepreneurial community, an...

I first met Marcus nine years ago when he began services at my nonprofit, Puzzle Pieces. He had big goals for himself from day one, never letting his disability hold him back or stop him from dreaming. One of those dreams was to be on stage sharing his love for dance. Marcus connected with a local dance studio, where he was able to find a job and perform on stage in front of thousands of people. M...

If you have a space in the world of social media, you are familiar with the negativity that can creep in. Just recently, I had some internet trolls light up my comments in a reel that I posted. They questioned me as a mom, the intentions behind my platform and my advocacy. But here’s a lot more to a person and their story than what a post or reel can portray, right? Join me and let’s talk about ou...

I have known Maggie since high school. She married her high school sweetheart, went to college and became a nurse, and had two kids and raised her babies in her small hometown. From the outside, she had the textbook perfect life. But in 2021, Maggie turned her life upside down. She felt stuck in a rut and dreamed of MORE… She made a lifestyle change, prioritized her health, and eventually quit her...

Meet Amanda, a local mom from my hometown, who didn’t let a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis at 22 stop her from pursuing the life she wanted. She pursued her dream of becoming a teacher, wife and mom. The resiliency she has learned through living with her disease prepared her for the cerebral palsy diagnosis of her fifth child, Georgia, who is immobile and nonverbal. Amanda talks vulnerably about the...

This podcast may just be the kick in the butt you need.  As a kid, when you want to create a really big snowball, you find a hill and roll the ball downhill to make it bigger. That snowball can gain momentum and become something huge.  Our lives are kind of like that snowball. We take the same shape that our momentum creates. How big is your snowball? Do you have the momentum you want in your life...

I am so honored to introduce you to my friend, Jason Koger. After a near-fatal ATV accident in 2008, Jason had both arms amputated in order to save his life. Being a father and husband, he had no choice but to overcome and move forward in a positive way. This local hometown hero turned a terrible accident into a platform to share his faith. He’s the first person in the world with bionic hands, has...

Do you find that you are always chasing more? Hustling for something bigger? I am here to tell you the key to finding out what to chase is identifying what makes you happy, what brings you joy. A lot of people are chasing more money, a higher position, a better reputation. But do those things truly bring joy? I am betting the answer is probably no. We see the illusion of perfect lives in our socia...

You are going to love listening to my friend, Hannah. Her accent will bring a smile to your face and her journey of being a woman on mission will inspire you. Hannah talks about moving away from her home, finding community, all while navigating postpartum life. She vulnerably shares her journey and how she found her purpose, launching her Faith Found Me platform, where she brings awareness to mate...

***Warning: This episode discusses a traumatic beach experience where I almost lost my husband and son in the ocean. If you have experienced drowning or something similar, this podcast episode can be triggering.*** This episode was tough. I wasn’t sure I was going to share this story. But after talking to my husband and my son, we all decided it was important to share. On our Spring Break beach va...

I love Kara’s energy. In her own podcast, she locks arms with other special needs moms, sharing her own story of raising a child with multiple brain tumors. Kara is raw and vulnerable about her journey and I loved chatting with her in this week’s episode of Fuel Your Purpose. We talk about redefining the “recovery” phase as a mom of a medically complex child to the “restoration” phase. Kara shares...

I am so happy I found Keylonda on Instagram! What a joy and light for the disability community. She is a shining example of living life on purpose and supporting inclusion! Keylonda is a speech therapist by trade. When she didn’t see kids with disabilities – like the ones she helped in therapy – represented in children’s books, Keylonda decided to write her own. She didn’t want kids to miss out on...

What would I tell my younger self? For me, this means before I started my nonprofit. Before I left my teaching job in pursuit of my dreams. Before I began my leadership journey. What would I tell younger Amanda? Put in the work to become the best version of myself. Imagine how different those first years of my nonprofit would have been if I had worked on myself then like I am doing now. That commi...

Kick off Disability Awareness Month with me and my friend, Misty Coy Snyder from @hapinessisdownsyndrome. In this vulnerable conversation, Misty opens up about receiving her son’s Down syndrome diagnosis and how she wished her doctor presented the news. This momma talks about what she has learned about grief, grace and how she turned her talents and dreams into a new purpose of walking new parents...

Do you have that overwhelming feeling?  Do you feel like you can’t catch your breath due to all the things happening at once?  Whether they are good things or sometimes mix with not so great things, having that drowning feeling is something we all can say we have experienced.  Take a listen with me today as we talk through ways to push ourselves through the overwhelm and back to the...

Girl, are you saying this? I was. I can’t count how many times I used this phrase, in my head and out loud. A friend is taking a vacation? Must be nice. A colleague received an award? Must be nice. But when someone used this phrase to me about a recent fundraiser I put on for my nonprofit, those three words hit me in the gut. By telling someone it “must be nice” to have a big win, we discredit the...

Need a game changing book for 2023? I can’t recommend The Gap & The Gain by Dan Sullivan enough. I loved it so much I’m dedicating a whole podcast to it! Learn about a gap vs. gain mindset and how you can turn feelings of “not good enough” into finding the wins in what you have achieved. There is value in being still and realizing what you have accomplished. It’s this reflection that will brin...

Empowering women – what does this even mean and how do we accomplish this? Empowerment is not doing things for other women or giving them authority. It’s not locking arms and leading them in the right direction. To me, empowerment is owning my own mission, crushing my goals and sharing my story, which can help the women in your life open their own door. The best way to empower women is by helping...

Don’t just set a goal or make a vision board – work with me to establish a developmental plan for 2023 to make it EPIC! Target and develop the skills to achieve what you want for the new year. How can you make your year EPIC – E-volve, make yourself P-roud, ensure your plan is I-ndividualized, and be C-onsistent? Join me and let’s answer those questions together. Be intentional about creating a pl...

There wouldn’t be a Fuel Your Purpose podcast if it wasn't for Kacia Ghetmiri. I stumbled upon her podcast empowerHER and I was hooked. She got out of her own way to create the life she wanted and she’s empowering women – including me! – to do the same. In this podcast, Kacia and I talk about: ➡️ Confidence ➡️ Gut feelings ➡️ Giving ourselves grace when we break promises to ourselves ➡️ Grit &...

This week, my nonprofit celebrated 10 years of service with a big community event. It was magical and a huge success. I am proud of myself, which is a hard thing to say. But if I am being honest, I found myself focusing on the people who didn’t show up for my big night. Rather than concentrating on the people right in front of me, I was wasting time wondering why people weren’t in that room. Join...

Tis’ the season for chaos - am I right? The holidays are here and we’re wrapping up 2022 and prepping for all that is coming in 2023. I’m here to remind you that you can find calm in the chaos. If you are guilty, like me, of trying to do all the things, remember the importance of hitting pause. Ask yourself, “is this really important right now?” Give yourself grace and know that you can find contr...

For children, fear can be a very real thing. Whether it is perceived or not, fear can be a challenging emotion to process. This is especially true for children who have a sibling with a disability. They may not express it, but these children fear what will happen to them and their sibling should something happen to their parents. Join me as I share my sibling story and talk through my own fears su...

Are you in a season of being overwhelmed? Does anxiety have a hold on you and your potential? Everyone around me has been talking about being on the struggle bus lately – and I’m right there with them! Let’s talk about how to work through those feelings and get out of this season. And as an added bonus, let’s talk about that phrase – struggle bus – and if it’s something we should really be saying....

Finding your people can be a challenge, especially for women. We compare. We compete. We worry about what everyone else thinks of us. And when we begin our professional careers and have a family, we don’t prioritize time for friendships. We need to surround ourselves with people that fuel us and not necessarily the people that we spend the most time with. Join me and let’s chat about finding frien...