Gratitude Through Hard Times

Planning for the end of your life is like pre-gratitude. Pre-gratitude in the sense that it's going to happen, it's going to hurt; how do you make something beautiful out of it? Sandy Gibson has the solution for making death into something beautiful by creating a better place than the traditional cemetery. Sandy Gibson  is the Co-Founder and CEO of  Better Place Forests , a sustainable alternative...

Leaders of today have had to reevaluate where and how they do their business. How they used to lead may not be as effective in our ever-changing virtual world. Heather Hansen O’Neill knows that the ‘office’ resides within you and that you can lead from wherever you are. With the right tools and strategies, your leadership can evolve with the times. Heather is an international keynote speaker, beha...

It can be hard to slow down enough to consider long-term goals in our fast-paced world. Especially when social media constantly shows us the successes and accolades of everyone we know. But to create a meaningful life, we need to slow down enough to reflect on the past and prepare for our future. Dorie Clark teaches us to play the long game to reorient ourselves to see the big picture. Dorie has b...

The world is riddled with uncertainty and challenges. We can let the uncertainty crush us or let the uncertainty propel us. One way to use uncertainty to propel us is to lead with humanity by giving grace, empathy, and understanding to the people around us. Monica Pool Knox knows how critical leading with humanity is. Monica Pool Knox oversees LivePerson's global human resources strategy — includi...

Belonging is often described as a feeling of security, support, acceptance, and inclusion. In addition, it's directly linked to decreased turnover, reduced sick days, and increased performance. People who feel like they belong want to show up because of each other. It's not the work that inspires people; it's the commitment to a shared purpose and community. Esther Raphael knows how powerful an in...

You can heal your trauma. Whether your trauma is unprocessed or you're using it to fuel you, you can heal and live in a place of contentment, joy, and peace, where you create healthy relationships and success in business. Faith Jones not only healed her trauma but overcame it to go from surviving to thriving. Faith Jones is a lawyer, activist, entrepreneur, and business advisor. She began her care...

Do you think that you are living in a dress rehearsal? This is a one-act play called your life. What kind of role do you want to play? Because you don't get to do this again. The genesis of living a meaningful life is knowing what success means to you and stripping away the obligations that are no longer in service of that meaning. Of course, success is about more, but it's not about the more we t...

Life is all about trial and error. Therefore, it's vital to try as many new things as possible in order to discover what you really want to do in life. By chasing fulfillment over pleasure, you'll create a rich life while pleasure will bring you an empty life. Tyler Wagner knows the value of chasing fulfillment and traveling down the path that's right for him. Tyler is the founder of Authors Unite...

Every single person deals with down moments in life. Yet, it's in those hard times where our legacy is forged. So don't look at those challenging times as problems; instead, become a problem solver. Welcome difficulty into your life and navigate through those storms. You are in total control, do not blow with the wind. Lt Col Dan Rooney knows that flying into the wind is how he creates an impactfu...

Action now is better than never. This is especially true in the DEI space. When it comes to DEI, we can start driving change with more education, access to opportunities, and the creation of systematic changes. But all of this starts with a step in the right direction. Rosa Nunez believes that it's never too late to do the right thing. Rosa is Foley Hoag's Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion...

Our education system has created a massive gap in individuals for feeling true fulfillment, true creativity, and true contribution in the world because it's focused more on creating cogs in a wheel than actually individually contributing members of society. The things that you don't learn in college are the things you need to know to be truly fulfilled in your life. Zander Fryer knows and teaches...

It's never too late to start new. It's never too late to jump horizontally. It's never too late to keep living a little bit more of your truth. Progress is not linear. Paul Park knows that it's never too late to find your purpose in life. Paul is the Chief Revenue Officer at Sparrow. Prior to Sparrow, Paul Park was the Acting Head of Sales at TriNet, a leading PEO in the HR Tech space that is publ...

Have you ever wondered where your perspectives come from? Throughout your lifetime, various people have taught you your current belief system. In order to find the root cause of a belief, you need to keep asking yourself why until the root appears. Dr. Shindale Seale focuses on finding the root cause to create transformational education. Dr. Shindale Seale is a cultural equity and diversity strate...

If you aren't living your truth, then you aren't living the life you are meant to live. Ray DeForest knows just how necessary it is to live your truth. Performer, producer, activist, community leader, Ray DeForest, may also be known to some as his popular theatrical character, Doris Dear. 3-time winner of the MAC Award, actress and comedienne Doris Dear, has been featured in numerous movie and TV...

To create equity, we have to do things that are above and beyond because we're compensating for the way the system is already stacked against certain individuals. Equality and equity are different in that equality treats everyone the same regardless of need, while equity treats people differently depending on need. Kathy Goss knows just how vital equity is, especially when it comes to recruiting....

At any point, any one of us is one question away from a completely different life. A good question creates a pause. And when we can pause, we can think, reflect, and then acknowledge the people who have formed our story up until this point. And then, most importantly, we can consider who we want to continue to fuel that story? Marc Champagne knows the life-changing power that questions have. Marc...

One billion people, or 15% of the world's population, experience some form of disability. Disability refers to the interaction between individuals with a health condition (e.g., cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and depression) and personal and environmental factors (e.g., negative attitudes, inaccessible transportation or public buildings, and limited social support). Almost everyone is likely to ex...

Times of struggle are familiar to all of us. Moments where we're unsure of how we'll make it out the other side, that are difficult and dark are moments we all have in common. Sometimes they come upon us from out of nowhere and other times we bring them upon ourselves. Regardless of how they come about, they all have the potential to be better than we could ever imagine. David Paynter's worst year...

There's a demographic that a lot of people don't know exists. That demographic is gentlemen in the inner city who are extremely intelligent, have high grades, have massive potential, want to go to college, and be super successful. Two issues are standing in the way of this demographic achieving that success. The first issue is that they don't have access to the community that will help them become...

Creating relationships is more challenging than ever for business and marketing professionals. But it doesn't have to be. If you want to become the ultimate marketing engine, focus on making customers into members to help them achieve lasting transformation. John Jantsch has the strategies you need to create customers and clients for life. John is a marketing consultant, speaker, and author of Duc...

It is through hardship and hard work that creativity grows and flourishes. When crunched for time or in a challenging situation, we have to find alternative, innovative solutions to our problems. Maria Goyer knows firsthand that necessity is the mother of invention. Maria is the Chief Innovation Officer at Velocity Global, where she drives strategic initiatives and innovative best practices across...

In our modern world, we have access to what seems like an unlimited amount of food. For instance, grocery stores are filled with aisles and aisles of processed foods. But real food is not limitless. Real food comes from the hard work of local farmers and independent makers. The best quality food comes in a limited quantity. Jessica Young knows well that real food is not limitless and has a solutio...

Not being able to articulate your ideas can be deeply frustrating. But, your ideas are needed out in the world. You just need to find your red thread that makes your big ideas irresistible. Tamsen Webster knows all about finding your red thread. Part strategist, part storyteller, part English-to-English translator, Tamsen Webster helps experts drive action with their ideas. Tamsen honed her tradem...

Change is constantly occurring, and with change comes new ways of seeing and doing things. To stay flexible through times of change, clarity about your purpose and the good around you builds your resilience to weather times of change.   Rachel Flood knows how vital clarity is for creating resilience.   Rachel is the Director of Operations at The Flood Law Firm. She has almost two decades of experi...

We've all heard the saying that people don't plan to fail they fail to plan. Well, the expression is true, especially for creatives looking to spark innovate ideas. Creativity requires unstructured, structured time, which means we need to plan times to be unstructured in our days, or we'll get swallowed up by our calendars. Think of this as structured serendipity. Hannah Donovan knows how crucial...