Build Your Own Fairytale

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Does the thought of waking up excited to go to work each morning sound like the stuff fairytales are made of? Best-selling author, transformational speaker, and nationally recognized productivity expert, Tanya Dalton, shares this IS possible when we live life on purpose.  Purpose doesn’t have to be a big “save the world” idea, but rather intent...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Living alone during the pandemic, Courtney Elko was craving connection and turned to different activities around the house to entertain herself. Courtney took to Instagram to share “puzzle time” with her friends and before she knew it, she started sharing other things - like cooking or makeup. After 20+ years in journalism (and never using “I”...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Have you ever been faced with an unexpected change in job that triggers an identity crisis? Or how about botching a presentation because you were thrown off by a question you hadn’t prepared for.  Anytime things don’t go as planned, we need to rely on our mental strength to overcome these obstacles. Yet, why are most of us not setting goals to...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Have you put off your dreams for “someday” because life is just too busy? Or have you forgotten how to dream all together because your days are so full of to-dos? Fear not! Lisa Zawrotny, founder of Positively Productive Systems and host of the Positively Living™ Podcast, is here to share productivity tips that can free up both physical and men...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show One year and 50 episodes of Build Your Own Fairytale! To celebrate, I pulled together a handful of my favorite moments from this past year.  If you’ve been here since day one, I hope these highlights serve as a reminder of some of the new habits or mindset you’ve adopted. And if you’re new here, this will give you a flavor for the fabulous conv...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Do you ever feel stuck on just identifying what your fairytale is? In this episode, Masako Kozawa, host of the Why Not Meditate podcast, shares why meditation is the free solution she believes we can’t get enough of AND how we can get started with just 5 minutes a day. Masako also shares her career path; from moving to a foreign country, to lea...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Shannon Russell spent over 16 years as a Television Producer in NYC and LA. But after some major life changes - including welcoming her second son - she realized she was ready to explore a new path that would be more aligned with her new lifestyle as a mom of 2. Shannon shares her journey of finding what she calls her “second act” - and newsfla...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Kathleen Ribeiro was managing a six-figure autobody business but felt undervalued and wasn’t happy. She decided to do something about it and started exploring the world of virtual assistants.  After pulling double duty working her day job and side hustle as a virtual assistant for just four months, Kathleen took the bet on herself and left her...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Courtney Quinn knew she wanted to have the flexibility and freedom that came from being a business owner someday, but as a college student, she diligently followed the traditional path.  She landed what she thought would be her dream job - consulting at an accounting firm - but knew almost instantly this was most definitely NOT her dream. She l...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Anyssa Lucena was working her way through that life checklist - you know the one so many of us blindly follow… go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, etc. But she woke up one day at the age of 38 asking herself, “Is this all there is? Why am I so unhappy?” And so she set out on a journey to find her happiness again. Anyssa shares tha...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Though Sheila Man and her husband built a beautiful life and family, she had lost that spark for life. Both Sheila and her husband were feeling unfulfilled, so they took the time to plan, prepare and ultimately left it all behind to start fresh in Bali.  A few months after relocating and living with intention - taking time with her family - She...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Ever the chocoholic, Lindsay Tarnoff wasn’t sure how, but set out to save the world with chocolate. After a seemingly random slew of jobs, she jumped at the opportunity to try building something out of her love for the delicious sweet with a kitchen business incubator in Rhode Island. As things were just starting to come together, Lindsay and h...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show After working as a goldsmith and jewelry designer for ten years, Tasha Sattler was laid off while out on maternity leave. And while it would have been easy to sit around and cry about it, Tasha chose to see it as the universe pushing her in a new direction. That new direction led her to start Rhythm Jewellry, a company that creates gold and ste...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Gabbie Truppi attempted to follow the “traditional” path most of her peers were following - going to college. But after only a semester, Gabbie’s gut told her this wasn’t the right path for her. After dropping out and moving home, she worked and took classes locally while she gave some serious thought to her next steps. It was during that time...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Amanda Fardella was in her 20s, working a “glamorous” role in fashion marketing. She had moved across the country for her work and on paper, society was rating her life as an A+. But when she started to think ahead to her future, she realized she wanted to make more and work less… but how? The answer appeared while she was listening to a podcas...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Lauren Skeldon’s career path has not been linear. She’s gone from nurse practitioner- literally returning to work as COVID raged in May 2020 - to stay-at-home-mom and now DIYer and content creator for A Girl’s Guide to Home DIY.  Lauren shares her journey, including: 1) making a pretty big life decision with her husband to relocate to a differe...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Kelley Kempel didn’t always have dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. But sometimes, all it takes is sticking with your passion while taking baby steps in a new direction. After building her package design career in corporate, Kelley learned she loved the feeling of achievement and being able to have and implement her own ideas. While searching...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Who hasn’t wanted to be a princess? When Lauren Elizabeth became an adult, she realized she could turn her princess dreams into reality; and she did just that. What started with one dress and a dream, she slowly built into a full blown princess company. As life and family priorities evolved, so too have Lauren’s business goals.  In this episode...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show How does a woman go from corporate → stay-at-home-mom → building a successful business? April Grow, fashion follower turned style superhero, shares her very candid advice on how she did it, all while managing to keep her husband and six kids (yes, six!) her top priority. In this episode we talk: Imposter syndrome - everyone’s got it. Feel the f...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show It’s never too late to reinvent your career path; Michelle Anhang is living proof! Over the course of a few decades, seven careers and family struggles with mental health, including the loss of her husband by suicide, Michelle has continued to show up for herself and her family and fight for a better life. Michelle shares the twists and turns,...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show How do you push through when something horrible happens? Chasta Hamilton shares her story of perseverance and how it has led her to life as an arts entrepreneur.  Orphaned as a child, Chasta found comfort in the creativity, play and catharsis of the performing arts. She believes that everyone has the power to reach their fullest potential and d...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Wife, mom of three, beauty queen, actress, theater director, music educator, singer and business owner. That’s a lot of titles; but Delana Green wears them all with pride. Tune in to hear how Delana took: 1) her dreams of becoming a business owner, singer and actress 2) her strengths (which took her some time to be able to proactively share) an...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Dori Stewart shares her journey from high school STEM teacher to multi-million dollar, global business owner. What started as a way to help her own children and their classmates learn quickly grew into SO much more. Most importantly, Dori didn’t let the fear of the unknown stop her! As a mom, she knew how to prioritize what was important, carve...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Successful small business owner and mom of five littles, Kristine Esposito, kicks off Season 2 to share her journey from teacher, to SAHM to professional photographer. We talk about how she got out of her comfort zone and into her fairytale AND how this has changed her POV on just about everything in life. Tune in to learn why Kristine feels pa...

Text Kristen your thoughts or feedback about the show Welcome back to Build Your Own Fairytale... the podcast for women who aren’t willing to settle and want MORE. More of the magic that life has to offer to make life the fairytale we are dreaming of.  I'm dropping in to share a sneak peek of what's coming up in Season 2. For many women, it feels like there are 2 career path options - ei...