The Courage Coalition

We all have it, the grip. That quiet, relentless need for things to look a certain way before we believe they’re “right” or “working.” I’ve gripped dreams, businesses, parenting, even the way joy should unfold. But the truth is, that grip is exactly what keeps us from seeing the beauty, the shift, the growth waiting to happen. At our first women’s retreat in Costa Rica, everything changed when I r...

There are moments in life when courage doesn’t look like the roar of a lion it looks like a whisper that says, not yet . In this week’s episode of The Courage Coalition , I sat down with Kristy Barkley, a woman whose story reminds us that sometimes the cracks in our lives are exactly where the light gets in. Once a high-powered sports executive for the Nashville Predators, Kristy’s life changed ov...

So often, we search outside ourselves for answers that were never meant to come from anywhere but within. Intuition is that sacred knowing the whisper that speaks before logic catches up.  I’ve learned that it’s not about trusting something mystical, but about remembering that our instincts were designed to protect and guide us. The problem is, most of us are too busy listening to the noise to hea...

We all say we’ll never repeat the patterns we grew up in, until our body tells the truth. Collapse is clarity. The story we explored today isn’t about hustle or heroics; it’s about a woman who finally chose communication over coping. That’s the pivot: not louder effort, but honest connection about money, schedules, mental health, faith. Simple does not mean easy. Simple means: we share the calenda...

There was a time in my life when control was my safety net. If I could plan it, predict it, or manage it, then I believed I could protect myself and the people I loved. Faith felt intangible something I couldn’t measure or touch. But over time, life kept nudging me toward something deeper. Intuition. Knowing. God. Energy. Whatever name you give it, it’s that quiet whisper that says trust me when e...

Some moments on the podcast feel less like an interview and more like a remembering—and my conversation with Katie Farinas was exactly that. Katie is a yoga teacher, podcast host, and Dharma coach who helps midlife women come home to who they’ve always been. We unpacked Dharma not as a single “magic pill” purpose, but as a through-line: Dharma = your essence + the expression of your essence. The e...

The world is loud so loud that sometimes it feels like we’re living in a constant hum of urgency. “Hurry up.” “Do more.” “Don’t fall behind.” It shows up everywhere our businesses, our homes, our volunteer roles, even our dreams. For a long time, I thought that was what ambition sounded like. But what I’ve learned is that the noise is what keeps us from the knowing. It’s what keeps us from hearing...

Some of the most life-changing people show up when we step into new rooms. That’s how I met Nancy Moore an entrepreneur, podcaster, and community builder helping women design businesses and lives rooted in passion and purpose.  Nancy’s story is a beautiful mirror for so many of us: she chose “secure” first (accounting at E&Y), discovered it didn’t light her up, and let an unexpected layoff bec...

This past week reminded me that courage doesn’t always roar it sometimes sits in an airport crying, whispering, “I don’t understand, but I’ll keep going.” Missing my flight felt like failure in motion. I had everything planned flights booked, conferences lined up, meaningful interviews scheduled and then, in one unexpected moment, it all fell apart. But as I sat there in that airport, what hurt mo...

If you’ve ever wondered what courage looks like in real life, it isn’t a headline; it’s the rhythm of chores at dusk, tiny hands that miss their dad after a video call, and a mom who keeps choosing the next best step. Sadie reminds us that hope isn’t the absence of hard, it’s the decision to see beauty in the middle of it and to keep moving anyway. What stood out most in our conversation was how f...

Fear is one of those companions we all carry sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly. What struck me in reflecting on my own journey is how often I’ve mistaken comfort for courage. People look at the big moves 13 years of foster care, selling everything and moving to Montana, launching a nonprofit and say, “Wow, you’re so brave.” And yet, many of those choices didn’t scare me. They were hard, yes, but...

Some truths don’t land softly: life doesn’t always get easier, but it can get better. Better happens when we practice hope like a verb. In my conversation with Lowell Hochhalter of The Lifeguard Group, we sat with this tension. Hope isn’t naïve sunshine; it’s the grit that keeps us moving when the road climbs. As a long-time foster mom, I’ve asked myself whether exposing my kids to hard stories di...

Whose story are you living the one the world handed you, or the one you’re here to write? Lately we’ve been unpacking how early beliefs become “truth,” and how easily we outsource our next step to noise: the perfect niche, the perfect avatar, the perfect strategy. Tools matter—books, coaches, conferences have shaped me but they are not my compass. Alignment is. When I try to force my business into...

On this week’s episode of The Courage Coalition, I had the privilege of sitting down with Malik Mack serial entrepreneur, speaker, and now author of 101 Side Hustles, Small Businesses, and Income Streams A Guide to Your Financial Freedom . Malik shared how his entrepreneurial journey started in middle school, selling gum for a profit and learning the math of return on investment before he even kne...

Our beliefs shape the lens we see life through but many of them aren’t actually ours. They were placed on us when we were five, six, seven years old, as our little brains were still wiring. Words spoken, experiences endured, and cultural messages absorbed became “truths” that we rarely stop to question. Over time, those beliefs become so ingrained we no longer even recognize them as beliefs they s...

Some stories punch the air out of the room. Amara’s did. She aged out of foster care, and for years the only people who truly knew her her siblings were scattered. The day she volunteered at a park serving breakfast to the homeless, she saw a face that looked familiar. It was her oldest brother. She was there to serve; he was there to be served. They cried, hugged, tried to make sense of a system...

This week on The Courage Coalition , we close out the BEAM process with the letter M—Mindset . Mindset is a circle it always brings us back to our beliefs and our values. Too often we attach our worth to numbers in the bank or benefits on paper and call that success. But true abundance isn’t just a dollar figure. Abundance is freedom of time, freedom of relationships, freedom of choice, and the co...

There’s a quiet kind of courage in the way Jessica tells her story: a little girl in a house without electricity, pulling Salvation Army pieces from a closet and stepping into a “magic mirror.” Clothing wasn’t status—it was sanctuary. It was imagination when life felt unsafe. It was the first tool she used to see a future bigger than her circumstances. That muscle—imagination—became her superpower...

This week on The Courage Coalition , we arrive at the “A” in the BEAM Blueprint: Action . After uncovering our beliefs and values and gathering the evidence of where we’ve been and where we are, it’s time to do the brave thing take a step forward. Action doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. In fact, the most powerful changes often come from the smallest, simplest shifts. One baby step c...

This week on The Courage Coalition , I sat with Gena Floro—a former foster youth whose story cracked my heart open and stitched it back together with hope. Between ages eight and eighteen, Gena was placed in 32 homes and attended 17 schools . Those aren’t just numbers; they’re 32 sets of rules, 32 beds, 32 times of being reminded she didn’t get to belong. In care, even simple choices ear piercing,...

In week two of the BEAM process, we step into evidence . Numbers can feel intimidating P&Ls, budgets, balance sheets, but evidence isn’t just the black-and-white of what comes in and what goes out. Evidence is also the story of what you’ve already overcome. Maybe you put yourself through college on next to nothing, or you found a way to save for that first big family trip, or you had the coura...

When I met Dani Malanche on the Tour du Mont Blanc, I knew right away she was someone I needed to know. We shared a few days on the trail together, and what unfolded was more than conversation, it was a lesson in courage, persistence, and what it means to live fully. Dani is a solo backpacker who has logged more than 2,000 miles, including the 800–mile Arizona Trail. But she’s also a former educat...

This week on The Courage Coalition , I had to sit with a hard question: Where do I go from here? The truth is, I was wrestling with clarity — not because I don’t have stories or lessons to share, but because sometimes the message feels heavy. Then a conversation with a prospective client reminded me of something simple but profound: we all live in cycles. The same story, the same belief, the same...

Sales often gets a bad reputation, something “sleazy” or uncomfortable that we’d rather avoid. But as my guest, bestselling author and sales coach Mandi Graziano , reminded me, we are all in sales every single day. Whether it’s a mom negotiating with her kids to get out the door, a teacher guiding students, or even a doctor helping a patient choose the best path, sales is everywhere. The differenc...

When the world gets loud, I’ve learned to choose quiet. Not the kind that avoids life, but the kind that lets me hear it. Lately the static, the shoulds, the strategies, the scroll, has blurred what matters. So I’ve been sitting with my core values: family, health, courage, faith, service, and freedom. When I get still, I can finally see what’s out of tune. For me, it’s been family, little tension...