Stories that Empower

Adam weighed 327 lbs, had over $40,000 of credit card debt and was depressed. He hit rock bottom, overhauled his lifestyle and helped people in his home town lose over 35,000 lbs of weight. Adam is now on a Million Pound Mission, with a passion to enable others to achieve their desired goals. He shares the following nuggets of life wisdom: - show up, take a step each day, be consistent and move th...

Karen realized that she has a unique gift of receiving messages from deceased loved ones. She enables people to connect with their loved ones and guardian angels. Karen believes that the messages come to us as thoughts. Her advice to those that wish to connect with their deceased loved ones is to: - ask your deceased loved ones to give you a 'without a doubt' sign (e.g. a true visitation) - be ope...

When Leesa was working in IT, she realized that her soul was dying. She decided to get in touch with her inner child and went on a journey of expressive writing, self inquiry and healing. Leesa picked up a creative pursuit and discovered that she wants to embrace whatever emotions come up for her. She shares these nuggets of life wisdom: - we have a short span of time on earth - let's focus on wha...

Victor Chiu is a multi-award winning author for his book Wall Street Kitchen: The Recipe Behind a Housewife's 1000% Stock Return. He is also an active stock and real estate investor. Victor graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2005, where he studied economic geography to obtain his B.A. A contributor to business media, he has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, U.S News &...

Bella experienced chronic stomach problems. She used to have feelings of "I'm not good enough to exist, if I'm not outstanding". Bella was afraid to leave her house. She had developed anxiety disorder. Her inner voice told her to "wake up", as in waking up in her life. Bella wrote "Raw: My Journey from Anxiety to Joy - A Memoir", which was part of her healing. She shares this life wisdom: - someti...

As an entrepreneur, Paige was on the verge of burnout. She was desperate for peace in her life. Then, Paige was diagnosed with breast cancer. She practiced meditation, mindfulness and visualization. Paige saw her cancer journey as a love journey, e.g. saw it through a compassionate lens. She shares this wisdom: our connections to ourselves, our spirits and others is most important the importance o...

Doug Bopst is an award-winning personal trainer, author, speaker and business owner. He is a former felon and drug addict, sentenced to years in jail due to his poor decisions.. He is the author of two books: "From Felony to Fitness to Free," and "Faith Family Fitness," He has appeared on WBAL, WJZ, ABC and FOX 45, as well as been a recurring guest on National Substance Abuse Expert Mike Gimbels "...

Dr. Diane Pomerantz is a clinical psychologist who has been in practice working with children, adolescents, and adults in the Baltimore, Maryland area for over thirty-five years. She has done extensive work in the area of trauma and child abuse and research in the area of personality development of abused children. She currently runs Healing Through Writing groups in her practice. She is a breast...

Amy Dresner is a former professional comic and recovering drug, booze and sex addict. She's been the top columnist for the addiction/recovery magazine TheFix.com for over 6 years, also writing for addiction.com, Vice, Psychology Today, After Party Chat, Refinery 29 and others. Her first book, "My Fair Junkie: A memoir of getting dirty and staying clean" was released by Hachette in September 2017 t...

Lizbeth Meredith is the author of Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters, a 2017 IPPY silver medalist. Her work has appeared in Sunlight Press and Feminine Collective. Now working as a probation officer in Alaska, her now grown daughters live nearby. https://lameredith.com/ "Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters" Amazon link: smarturl.it/PiecesOfMeLM Audiobook: http://www.vibrancepr...

Marlena Chertock has two books of poetry, Crumb-sized (Unnamed Press, 2017) and On that one-way trip to Mars (Bottlecap Press, 2016). She lives in Washington, D.C. and uses her skeletal dysplasia and chronic pain as a bridge to scientific poetry. Her poems and short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Breath & Shadow, The Deaf Poets Society, The Fem, Paper Darts, Wordgathering, and more. h...

Kathryn's spouse abandoned her and just walked out. She experienced the following: loss of clarity, felt debilitated, was isolated, felt shame and lack of worthiness. So, she journaled. A friend came to her rescue and "saved her life" by empowering her and reminding her that she is better than this and stronger than this. Kathryn shares these wonderful nuggets of life wisdom: - each of us has a va...

Vanya Erickson used to photograph and haul horses for a living. For the last 25 years she has been mentoring teachers while teaching writing and public speaking in the oldest, continuously used schoolhouse in California. She loves hiking in the High Sierras as well as dramatically reading aloud to children. Vanya holds a BA in Comparative Literature as well as a Teaching Credential, both from the...

Michelle Cox holds a B.A. in English literature from Mundelein College, Chicago, and is the author of the award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series, as well as the weekly "Novel Notes of Local Lore," a blog dedicated to Chicago's forgotten residents. Cox lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and three children and is currently hard at work on Book 5 of the series. In her vast fre...

After Carlyn's divorce, she experienced insomnia, anxiety and depression. Initially, her affair with "Ben & Jerry" (as in the ice cream) helped her deal with it. It was actually her strong and deep relationship with her pets that helped her cope, deal, recover and heal. Carlyn is one of the leading experts on animal human health connections. Her advice to those experiencing a loss: become mindful...

Dr. Ginni's father passed, when she was 12. This loss completely altered her life. Having lost loved ones, she has dedicated her life to bring hope and healing for grieving children and their families. She wrote "A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life", which she found incredibly healing. Dr. Ginni shares the following wisdom: talk about death while your loved ones are still alive, wh...

Patti was raised in a dysfunctional family. She found herself surrounded by alcohol, drugs and the loss of her mom. Her life seemed focused on destruction. All she wanted was to be loved and cared for. Patti feels that her decision to travel with Jeff (then boyfriend, now spouse) saved her life. It felt like divine intervention. Patti turned her life around. She didn't want to repeat the mistakes...

Betsy married a gentleman, who was a widow with a young child. She loved her new family, but saw they may need time/space to heal from their loss. Betsy realized that "love and loss live side by side". She also lost 3 loved ones, due to suicide. This taught Betsy that new things can grow even after a loss, such as a more affectionate family. Her "platinum rule" is to do unto others what they want...

As a child, Barbara felt like an outsider, didn't belong, lacked self esteem, had misguided goals, felt empty and was competing with everyone for everything. She had an AHA moment: we buy things that we can't afford to impress people that we don't care about. At 50, she needed to flee her life. So, she signed up for 300mi bike ride, which became the vehicle that enabled part 2 of her life. Barbara...

Rebecca got divorced with two young children. Her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This enabled her to reconnect with her mom. Rebecca shares these wonderful nuggets of wisdom: look inwardly, become awareness of your fears, face your vulnerabilities, let go, allow life to unfold, enjoy what comes, be in the moment, be grounded and get to know your loved ones. Rebecca Whitehead Munn is a...

As a child, Linda's inspiration, leadership and determination enabled her and her siblings to win all-inclusive trips for her family to Disneyland 3 consecutive years! Linda shares this wisdom: you can make your dreams come true, don't be afraid to try new things and set the goals that you are most important to you. Linda has a daughter with special needs. Her advice to those caretakers that are c...

Sheila felt compelled to write her mom's story after her stroke, otherwise it would disappear. She then realized she wanted to write more, so she wrote a novel called "Appetite". Sheila's advice to caregivers is to find a support group and do something you love. Her advice to writers is get going, write, there's no perfect first draft and enroll in a class. Toward the end of her forty-year career...

Leah got into drugs and became pregnant, when she was 20. She turned her life around, which set her on a path that was more constructive and gave her life meaning. Leah's story highlights: face your fears / don't blame others / you are in control / you have the power to change things / get yourself to that happy place / you attract what you focus your attention on / true love comes from within. Le...

Iris' mom experienced breast cancer. This impacted her brain and caused her personality to change. This loss had a profound impact on Iris. She learned to separate the illness from the person. Iris reminds anyone going through the same caregiver challenge that you're not alone, to get help (e.g. a friend, relative, health care professional, clergy, online) and to find camaraderie with other people...

Naomi, a born storyteller, shares this wisdom: - seek the joy, over the goals - allow yourself the pain of hardtimes and in the morning, take the next steps - a catastophy often provides us with something better than we thought - sometimes we get what we need, instead of what we want Naomi McDougall Jones is an award-winning writer, actress, and producer based in New York City. She is currently in...