In Her Words

Lashelle Bolton bonded with the daughter she gave birth to at age 14 by taking her deep into the Sahara Desert in north Africa. She says she felt the presence of God. As she looked at waves of endless sand stretching out in all directions she thought, “The same Creator that made all this made me.” It was a long odyssey for the Bronx woman who found out she was going to be a teen mom in a Long Isla...

Euralis Figueroa was a girl who never heard the word college. She’d never even thought about it. An amazing mentor changed all that and now she’s paying it forward by mentoring Latina girls just. like. her! Wanna feel better about the next gen? Just listen to this pod. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up between Tokyo and California/New Jersey, Mayuko Fukino was bullied in school, a small girl slung around by her backpack. No wonder she grew up to become a Karate instructor! It helped her four kids navigate middle schoo.l (No small feat for the best of us!) A deeply spiritual and mystical person, Mayuko speaks about her gifts and deep love of nature which brought her from the dense urba...

Becca Shell celebrates 20 years of sobriety this month. The mother of two got her Masters Degree in Counseling to help many others recover from addictions. Her story contains both laughter and tears and serves as inspiration of a whole new life after putting aside the bottle. CONGRATS BECCA! Honored to call you my friend. BTW I owe my sobriety to a wide, wild community of 12 step fellowships as we...

You can pass by Walkers Ferry Road a hundred times and never once wonder: who was Walker? Lorraine Walker Carpenter knows. He was family. On solving mysteries and connecting to the ancient chain to our ancestors. It’s a pleasure to hear her sweet voice tell such meaningful stories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I thought I was going to talk to Lorraine Walker Carpenter about saving a 150 year old log cabin. Oh no. We stumbled on something even more fascinating: her mystical connection to her organic vegetable garden which uses ancient natural techniques to use ONLY RAINWATER to grow a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes, collards and other yummy veggies. A perfect post summer solstice respite! See omnystudi...

Simone Finch created the Hulu streaming series SINGLE DRUNK FEMALE based on her personal experience sobering up. She talks real talk about growing up in Boston, success as a writer, bipolar disorder, what her Father/spirit guide told her psychic, women in Hollywood, her Mom’s superpower with customer service, the Writers’ Strike, “California Sober,” the shmuck in Charlotte who wouldn’t follow her...

Bea McCormack’s brother Bob brought us peppermint  candy canes for Christmas … by the millions. But the real stories of Bob’s Candy Co. start with a grouchy Black candy master and a white Roman Catholic Priest, her uncle, who proved to be quite the inventor…and even appeared on the TV quiz show “What’s My Line?” Great STORY!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jen Olin Lafontaine is as practical as she is creative. She values KINDNESS above all else so she and I agree with the Dali Lama: Our religion is KINDNESS. So she knows…as I have experienced… that leaving a detailed DEATH BINDER with alllllll your wishes is one of the kindest things you can do. Don’t fret. There’s a WHOLE BUNCH OF LIFE in our chat complete with long drives with a 15 year old and d...

Lauren Ansley has expanded from standup comedy to bringing JOY (not just laughs but real bonding experiences that include inspirational twists) to corporate events. We talk about her new love interest and she sounds positively giddy. Fingers crossed. This guy sounds like the real deal. GOOD LUCK LAUREN!!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dads and daughters can be TOUGH. Dads can shut down. For years, decades, lifetimes. I know. I am one. X4. That’s FOUR grown kids for whom I’m sure I was at one point or another “emotionally unavailable. That’s why Wendy Swanson’s story of making peace with her Dad meant so much to me. Peace is possible. Amends. Reconciliation. Clinging to the good times, the glimmers of light and hope. Wendy is a...

Lucretia Carter Berry went to an HBCU, then married a white guy who became a Youth Minister and they have three daughters and oh I had SOOOOOOOO many questions. She started giving moms straight talk about curly hair and wound up writing books and teaching classes to fight racism. She might be banned in Florida but thank God she’s still teaching in NC schools! To get to know her is to love her. So...

Alara Vural is 1/2 Turkish, 1/2 British and 100% delightful. I’d listen to her read the phone book. She’s missing her calling as a voiceover artist! We talk housework (she hates it), her local pub (she adores it) and marketing messaging (her SUPERPOWER). Then we talk about God, the Universal Spirit and connecting with all that. WOW!!! It’s a LOT Y’ALL!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Roxanne and Stuart speak from tough personal experiences on the front lines on when and how to intervene in a loved one’s drinking and drugging. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roxanne McDonald was beaten by her father, left home as a teen to become a cocktail waitress, disappeared into full blown alcoholism, gave birth to a daughter, went to prison in California, regained custody of her daughter, became a GOOD mom, and went on to become a Sober Coach, Family Coach and Interventionist…and oh yeah, a comic. She’s been clean and sober by God’s grace and a whole lot of anon...

Cara Truitt filed for bankruptcy, divorce and then her sister was killed in a car wreck…all in ONE WEEK. That was more than a decade ago. Since then she’s married a great guy (“my rock”); they’ve had a son and a daughter together, AND she’s launched multiple businesses. It took time. It took grit. It took an amazing community of women which Cara built. Listen to her testimony of the power of women...

How do you find peace, even happiness in the midst of terrible trauma? Lianne Hofer says it’s like falling through the ice. First you get out. Then you warm slowly.  Her amazing restorative energy after severely damaging abuse.  Her latest essay appears in the book STOP THE SILENCE: THRIVING AFTER CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE with Dr. Pamela J. Pine.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marketer Megan Miller put her skills to work for Claire’s Army and other pediatric cancer causes after her own son was forced to fight cancer. She talks real life about what pulled her family through and what did not help. Also her love of Opera and why she remains a person of faith and a devout Catholic after trying times.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kim DeRhodes trained for years getting her degree from UNC-CH as a licensed pharmacist when she noticed that no one ever taught her about the exploding world of herbal and vitamin and mineral remedies flooding the counters of health food and drug stores. So she did her own research and soon became the go-to expert at the hospital for doctors and other treating professionals who wanted to know how...

My dear family friend Betty McKemie, died last Friday in Asheville at the age of 96. In this interview she recounts her personal experiences during the bombing of her home town of London, England and her arrival in NY Harbor as a “war bride.” She had five children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Andrea DeSantis (no relation to Ron) took a sharp turn to Med School from studying Hotel Management at Penn State. Now she treats patients, many of them immigrants, quite sick, but without a whole lot of money. She does so with great care and compassion. I don’t know how she maintains such an unruffled demeanor. Listen to some of her stories! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Dr. Hannah Brandt failed again and again at losing weight. So she hired the help she needed and dropped 60 pounds…not all at once…but she has kept it off. We talk about butt-kicking hikes in National Parks and how she still loves good kettle cooked potato chips and how she helps other women lose the weight and keep it off. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kristen Lampert became a mom “in the bottom of the ninth inning” so to speak after a heartbreaking series of tries with IVF (in vitro fertilization). Now she coaches high performing parents on how to stop frantic juggling and lead more peaceful, balanced lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marisa Wheeling Ciesluk could have been insulted when her boss called her a “fire starter.” It probably was not meant as a complement. Now she has taken it as a badge of honor and her unique mission: to stoke the fires of true passion in the hearts of women. But first she had to face and honor and heal her own history of childhood abuse. A powerful conversation with a steadfast and powerful woman....

Rachel Hatteburg Walt invites us to learn a lot more about how our energy works through our personality by way of The Human Design Experiment. From passion to vocation to making the most of our hidden talents, you’ll see applications everywhere. Rachel invites us to download a FREE personalized chart at Craftingood.com Enjoy! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.