The Next Chapter

"One of the biggest elements of my success came from just taking responsibility for my life." Kendra Wright is a woman on the rise.  She found early success in the world of digital marketing, working with big names and brands to help grow their platforms.  Now she is focusing on building her own brand — and inspiring people along the way. "I was born to a 15 year old mother and given a 5% chance t...

"Do not be afraid to seek out transformation of your mind."   AJ Richards came back from Iraq feeling that his life had no purpose.  He was working for a pest control company, doing door-to-door sales at the time.  Richards realized that he had to make changes or he might not survive. "I was a soldier and I wore that very proudly.  I was totally prepared to die while I was over there.  When I got...

"When something looks interesting on the horizon, I want to check it out."   Evo Terra , a well known digital strategist, speaker and podcaster  wanted to see what life was like as a world traveler.  He and his wife, Sheila Dee, made the decision in late 2014 to sell just about everything — including their house — and hit the road. They describe the journey as both amazing and complicated.   "Our...

Find your wings and you will fly.   That's a version of what kids are told at Phoenix based New Pathways for Youth .  More specifically, they are told to figure out which wing is the strong one and which wing is the weak one.  That way, they stay airborne. It's a concept that helped 16 year old Catalina turn her life around. The teen was hesitant about joining the intensive, "all-in" mentoring pro...

"I have really put a priority on my health.  Having cancer changes your priority on everything." Kirk Nurmi has walked through an incredible journey over the past few years.  After being assigned to represent notorious boyfriend-killer Jodi Arias, Nurmi's life, at times, seemed like a reality TV show.  One that he never wanted to be the star of.   Nurmi was thrust into the center of a media circus...

Tracey Martin is not big on resolutions.  In fact, she is 100% anti-resolution.  Martin, a life strategist based in Scottsdale, Arizona, believes life is a journey and we should never stop.  Not even when a goal is met or a resolution is checked off our list.   When it comes to that life journey, Martin encourages people to stop thinking so much about the exterior, and start taking better care of...

"I was bullied as a kid and I had low self-esteem because of it.  I was made fun of because of my weight and it just sort of escalated."  Carrie Severson spent eight long years of her childhood being harassed, bullied and severely depressed.  "I had to leave my hometown, discover who I was and figure out a way out of the darkness on my own." Part of the journey in escaping that darkness was empowe...

"Sometimes when you lose weight, you are not necessarily going to be happy at the end of the day.  Don't just change your body, change your life." Felicia Romero, Celebrity Fitness Trainer, Entrepreneur and Motivational Speaker, has worked hard to change her life.  She fought food addictions as a binge eater and compulsive dieter for years.  She spent a long time working to better herself — from t...

"I loved my career in TV news.  I wouldn't have changed a thing.  It was very rewarding and I loved it.  But life is a book with many chapters." For former TV News Anchor Lin Sue Cooney, the time had come, after 34 years in the business, to turn the page. Cooney says she never wanted her legacy to be "oh she was the gal that read the news for so long".  She wanted an "encore" career and went in se...

Housing and consumer finance expert Dean Wegner from Academy Mortgage in Scottsdale, Arizona expects to see a push of people buying homes in the coming months. Since rates hit rock-bottom in 2009, it's been a bit of a guessing game as to when the Fed would raise rates.  With unemployment holding steady at 5%, analysts say the door opened wide for Fed Chair Janet Yellen to make a long anticipated m...

"There is something special about you, you just have to figure it out."   Lisa Glowacka is on a journey to evolve, both as a mother, and as a businesswoman. The mom of three who graduated from ASU has a background as a financial planner.  But several years ago, she began paying attention to the booming world of "mom blogs". She ended up finding a like-minded partner in former real-estate agent Mic...

"At least 20 million women in the United States are walking around with undiagnosed TBI." Dr. Maria Garay-Serratos says brain trauma in domestic violence victims is pervasive.  In fact, her own mother passed away from head trauma, she says, after suffering abuse over the course of 40 years. Garay-Serratos has only recently started talking openly about her family's painful story.  In her case, they...

"When you face adversity you need to be mentally tough.  What's holding you back?  It's all mental." Former baseball player Matt Phillips remembers hearing about mental toughness as he was developing his athletic career. "I often found myself asking what does that mean?  What do I need to do to mentally push through that?" Looking back, Phillips said he realized there was a gap.  He didn't know ho...

"The American Dream is free but the hustle is sold separately." Carmen Garner knew little about dreams early on in life, but a lot about hustle.  The Washington DC teacher grew up in a way that is truly hard to imagine. "My grandmother had 13 kids.  9 of the 13 kids were heavily into the street life and drugs."  Including his own mother.   Before Garner was 10 years old, he visited both his mother...

"The Lion coming to get you." That is how Robert Koagedal describes imbalance and stress in our lives. Koagedal is board certified to practice Chinese Medicine: acupuncture, botanical medicine, and nutrition, and holds a Master of Science degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. He has built a very successful practice in Scottsdale, Arizona. Through acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, Koagedal helps...

New fallout at the VA after reports reveal that $142 million in bonuses were paid out, in spite of the ongoing scandal.   Carey talks to Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema about what's being done for our Veterans. Sinema says she is disgusted and calls on Congress to take action. The post Exclusive Interview: Carey Talks To Arizona Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema appeared first on Inspired Media 36...

"Heart disease is the #1 killer of both men and women in the US and worldwide.  In fact it kills more people than all cancer deaths combined.  Our colleagues in the cancer societies have done a great job of raising awareness, and we have to do the same thing for heart disease." Dr. Iva Smolens, Medical director of the Women's Heart Center at Banner Heart Hospital in Phoenix, says one person dies o...

At age 24, Gelie Akhenblit found that she highly disliked her job, and set out on a journey to find her true passion. "I am freakishly in love with networking," Akhenblit says.  And so she made it her career.  In 2008, at age 27, Akhenblit founded Networking Phoenix, an online platform for professionals to connect with other professionals and meet at mixers and events.  Her self funded startup has...

"It's not an anger problem.  If this was an anger issue, all of us would be abusers.  This is about one person wanting to gain or maintain power with tactics of abuse." At the age of 15, Donna Bartos found herself in an abusive relationship.  Although she didn't realize it at the time.  The first six months she describes as being treated like a princess.  Then things changed.  Her boyfriend starte...

"If people cannot find your business on the web, it's like you don't exist.  You are invisible." Denise Wakeman is a successful online business strategist who helps small business owners and entrepreneurs increase visibility. She says it is crucial for everyone to build their online presence because potential clients and customers "want to know more about you and what you are doing".  Showcasing y...

"Tech jobs pay more than other types of jobs." Steve Zylstra, President and CEO of Arizona Technology Council says there is a huge upside for millennials – especially young women – to get into tech.  Now.   Zylstra points to Intel as an example.  The company has about 11,000 employees in Arizona, and the average compensation, he says, is $131,000.   "We did a study of about 171 technology companie...

"What really moved me into becoming a champion of this cause — I am a cancer survivor."   Laura Capello, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona was shocked when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She has no family history and was otherwise healthy.   Capello studied journalism at Arizona State University and dreamed of being a sports reporter.  After realizing that wasn't the right...

Andrew Pulsipher had a family secret he held onto for 33 years.  He was HIV positive.   Before Pulsipher was born, his dad cheated on his mom and contracted HIV.  Both parents later died from AIDS. Pulsipher was raised by family members.  He grew up in the 80's at a time when there was tremendous stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS.   Pulsipher didn't know what his future held. After meeting his now w...

"It's not really a social media network, it's more of a discovery platform.  It's a place where people go to dream and discover new stuff." Jeff Sieh calls himself The Manly Pinterest Guy. "It was assumed that there were just women on Pinterest.  I thought I would turn it on its head, poke a little fun."  That's when got wise to the booming business world of Pinterest. Sieh says he began to pin fr...

"I didn't fail as a person.  I maybe failed to meet somebody else's expectation, but that doesn't mean that I can't bring value to a company, to other people, to my family, and to myself." That is what Kathi Miller-Miller realized after she was fired.  It is a shocking experience for anyone who goes through it.  You question your own values and self worth. Miller was a business professional, a man...