Make Life Less Difficult

Send us a message! My guest today is Chris Thyberg. Chris is the founder and principal of The Serving Way, a leadership coaching practice dedicated to partnering with experienced and emerging leaders in all sectors as they pursue great purposes for results that really matter. It is his calling and privilege to journey alongside clients as they develop new capacities to achieve exceptional performa...

Send us a message! My guest today is Larry Center.  Larry served as the Assistant Dean for Continuing Legal Education at Georgetown University Law Center for over 30 years.  He’s now shifted to leadership coaching and brings a wealth of knowledge from his own leadership journey and development. In our conversation, Larry shares pieces of his journey that started with being born extremely premature...

Send us a message! My guest today is Devon ONeil.   I first met Devon through an article he wrote called, “ What it Takes and Why it’s Worth it ,” that was published in The Adventure Journal .   Devon shared his experience of moving to Colorado to pursue his dreams of living in the outdoors and having near-constant connection with nature and the sports he loves.  That wasn’t the part of the articl...

Send us a message! My guest today is Elizabeth Tilstra.   Elizabeth describes herself as a perfectionist who found herself in the physically-demanding career of professional ballet, later becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy.  As a PT she is dedicated to working with people committed to being hard on their bodies – just as she was as a professional dancer. She works with clients from all backgrou...

Send us a message! My guest today is my niece!  Sarah Cole joins me to discuss conflict and how we can make dealing with conflict a little less difficult. In Episode 16, I shared strategies for approaching and managing conflict based off the Thomas-Kilmann Model of Conflict Management.  After listening to this episode, Sarah reached out to me and asked me several questions including, how can someo...

Send us a message! My guest today is Kris Burbank. Kris’s website begins with the phrase: Learn to Bloom.  Kris embodies this admonition in a deep way and helps others learn to bloom amidst the challenges of life.   As the proud mother of three grown children, including a son born four months premature with severe cerebral palsy, Kris loves working with parents to help them figure out how to make...

Send us a message! My guest today is Miranda Holder. Miranda is a leadership coach who began her career as an endurance athlete.  At 25, while training for the US Olympic Rowing Team, she found out she had a congenital heart condition that abruptly ended her career as an athlete. She transitioned to coaching and served as the Head Coach for the Georgetown University’s Women’s Rowing Team but found...

Send us a message! My guest today is Aaron Brown. Aaron has over two decades of experience in law enforcement, Army Special Operations, national security, and intelligence.  His work has taken him to challenging and remote places around the world.  And he has advised senior government officials on matters of national security and now consults in the private sector. I first met Aaron when we were l...

Send us a message! My guest today is Melina Cordero. If you Google Melina Cordero, you’ll find page after page of Melina in the news, on podcasts, and highlighted in prestigious corporate publications for her quick rise in her firm, breaking glass ceilings and being the youngest executive ever in her position. On her own website, Melina describes herself as a “former box-ticking corporate exec who...

Send us a message! My guest today is Gavin McClurg. It’s difficult to know how to introduce Gavin.  He’s had more adventures, close-calls, and epic expeditions than anyone I know.  He’s also one of the most driven and passionate humans out there.   I met Gavin through the paragliding community by listening to his podcast, Cloudbase Mayhem.  After learning to paraglide, I got the crazy idea to reac...

Send us a message! Anna Sparks returns for another great conversation exploring the book we read: Unbound, A Woman's Guide to Power by Kasia Urbaniak. Unbound is described as, "The ultimate guide to owning your power – and mastering how to use it.  Part manual, part manifesto for a woman of the pivot, Unbound   is a how-to guide to the impossible, the outrageous, the unimaginable--a fiel...

Send us a message! My guest today is Madeha Al Ajroush.   Madeha has been a dedicated psychotherapist for over 25 years.  She’s passionate about her work helping clients on their journey toward greater personal fulfillment. She describes therapy as an effective process of self-discover.  And creates a safe, respected place for people to explore their pasts, present, and futures. Madeha was mention...

Send us a message! My guest today is Dr. Lisa Clark Diller.  Lisa is an historian of the early modern world and the chair of the History Department at Southern Adventist University.  Lisa is passionate about teaching because she believes that education expands the heart and mind and helps people better become who they were created to be.  It gives them the tools and perspectives and dispositions t...

Send us a message! My guest today is Nickie Foley. Nickie and I met in January 2021 here in Sri Lanka.  We are both married to US Diplomats and the connection through the Foreign Service community is an immediate point of connection.  For Nickie and I, however, the first time we spent any time together in person it was on a 4-hour drive to a yoga retreat.  As I remember, there wasn't a minute...

Send us a message! My guest today is Melinda Grafton. Melinda is the founder and principal of 3D Renew.  She provides executive coaching, leadership development programs, and individualized wellness programs. Melinda's story includes leaving home at 12 years old, serving 26 years in the United States Air Force, journeying through injury and PTSD, and through it all always returning to her lif...

Send us a message! My guest today is Amanda Elo'Esh. Amanda is the founder and president of Living Wisdom Church, a dogma-free plant and energy medicine based community in the San Francisco Bay area. Amanda is a Spiritual Success Mentor who found and began using her spiritual gifts from an early age.  She has a masters in counseling psychology and expressive arts therapy.  She's an inter...

Send us a message! My guest today is Mary Kay Campbell.  Mary Kay is a speaker, storyteller, and connector. After more than 25 years of corporate experience in strategic marketing and communications, Mary Kay is applying this knowledge and her skills to her passion: storytelling -- and helping others tell their stories with impact! Mary Kay share how a life-threatening car accident led her to take...

Send us a message! My conversation today is with Brian Levenson, the founder of Strong Skills and author of the book, Shift Your Mind . Brian and his team at Strong Skills   provide executive coaching and mental performance coaching, speaking and consulting to elite organizations, performers and leaders.  He has been fortunate to work with CEO’s, professional athletes and with teams in the NBA, NH...

Send us a message! Russ Watts joins me again today as we discuss our personal journeys and experiences with EMDR -- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.  EMDR is known as an effective treatment for PTSD.  What Russ and I have both learned, however, is that there are significant benefits to be gained from Reprocessing even seemingly insignificant memories from earlier in life. We are not...

Send us a message! Before closing the door on 2021, I like to reflect on the year.  I've developed a four-step reflection process and I share that in today's podcast. The steps: Acknowledge you regrets Identify ONE thing you're proud of accomplishing Shift your focus to PROGRESS, not perfection Be kind to yourself! Listen to the full podcast for examples and explanations of how this...

Send us a message! Many times when I talk about stories, people say to me, "I don't have a story to tell."  My response is, "You don't have A story to tell, you have a MULTITUDE of stories to tell!!" Every single human has amazing stories.  You may not think so (about yourself), but I promise, it's true!  You may not realize how amazing your stories are because y...

Send us a message! My guest today is Matthew Thomas-Malani.  Matt and I went to high school together and reconnected a few years ago on Facebook when I shared a recommendation for the movie, Boy Erased , staring Lucas Hedges. Matt and I both grew up in religious communities that taught being gay was  wrong -- a sin.  As I have declared I no longer subscribe to those teachings, I've had people...

Send us a message! My guest today is Rashmi Zimburg. Rashmi is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach .  Drawing on her education and experience, Rashmi helps her clients make lifestyle changes and choose health-promoting ways that produce real and lasting results.  Rashmi shares pieces of her story from growing up in India, moving to the USA for university, working in NYC, and moving arou...

Send us a message! My guest today is Jennifer Adams Murtaugh. Jen and I went to high school together and reconnected a few years ago, both amazed at the crazy, difficult experiences life tossed our way since becoming adults. Today, Jen is happily married to Jonathan and lives in southern California.  But it's been a long and at times extremely difficult journey that has led to this point. Ple...

Send us a message! My guest today is Paula Widerlite.  Her story reminds us that we never know what someone has been through on their journey to success.  You can't judge a book by its cover... and you can't know people by their titles. Paula   is the former Chief Strategy Officer of Luminis Health, a $1.2 B not-for-profit integrated health system. Prior to that, she was the Vice Preside...