The Storied Human (What is your Story?)

Go ahead and text me! Lawrence C. Harris is a youth speaker who helps teens and young adults believe in themselves, think differently about their future, and make better choices. Growing up, Lawrence faced serious challenges. Those experiences led him to start speaking so other young people would know they are not alone and that their past does not have to decide where their life goes. He has spok...

Go ahead and text me! Melissa Pruitt is a Marketing & Sales Coach, Author, and Speaker who’s dedicated to helping online entrepreneurs take their knowledge and skills to market and sell their courses, memberships, and coaching programs. Her background in psychology and NLP as a clinical therapist and coach bridges human behavior with marketing strategy, and this is how she teaches her clients...

Go ahead and text me! What an uplifting conversation with Karen Salmansohn! Her unique perspective on death and how facing it can motivate us to truly live is refreshing and much needed! KAREN SALMANSOHN , bestselling author and behavioral change expert, whose books and courses have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. With 1.5 million social media followers , Karen has built a dedicated fol...

Go ahead and text me! Joan had a rough beginning when her father died young (Joan was only 2) leaving her mother destitute with two young children. She examined this early life in her late 20s during psychoanalysis and uncovered all kinds of connections and meaning about some of her issues and patterns.  She contrasts these psychoanalytic sessions with later ones in her life in her new memoir -- &...

Go ahead and text me! Ken Miller is one of the good guys -- after he straightened out his own life, he knew he had to pass it on. He now mentors Black men and gives presentations all over the country. His journey included going to an Ivy League college, then to jail, being homeless for several years and then to overcoming addiction and growing his businesses and becoming successful (he is a millio...

Go ahead and text me! If you have seen recent movies or shows about being a showgirl, it could seem  pretty depressing. Diane Christiansen is here to tell you that it was exciting and uplifting and a way for a young woman in the 1970s who could dance and perform well to see the world!  Showgirls were powerful women in charge of their own careers — and well-paid, valued players in the flashy world...

Go ahead and text me! Tiffany L. Smith, RN has spent nearly 15 years on the frontlines of American healthcare, working in ERs, ICUs, hospice, wound care, and more. A nurse, wife, and mother, she has witnessed both the triumphs and the failures of a system pushed beyond its limits. Her debut book, Broken and Brave: The Fight to Heal American Healthcare, blends memoir and manifesto, capturing the ra...

Go ahead and text me! For years he struggled with his undiagnosed BiPolar disease. He had several careers and tried several healing modalities.  Oddly, he found focusing on his work and working hard did help and when he went back to school as an adult, he ended up developing a note-taking method that he grew into a business. When he finally found a good psychiatrist, and was put on the proper medi...

Go ahead and text me! Michael McAdams was born in the City of the Seven Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael was brought up in a Christian household and was fortunate to have many spiritual and faith-based family members surround him. His uncle, John W. Sullivan, was a fiery Pentecostal preacher who founded churches in Florida, Kentucky, and the largest one in Middletown, Ohio. Wilma Jean Jones, Micha...

Go ahead and text me! Michelle and DeAnne's collaboration as psychologist and teacher, daughter and mother, brings true synergy to their writing. They draw from their personal and professional life experiences which are the inspiration and foundation for their work. They are fervent in their mission of helping people know they are not alone, arming them with knowledge and resources, and suppo...

Go ahead and text me! Life and Career Coach Elvira P. Romero helps others find a career and /or life that fits them better. She should know -- an interesting question from her boyfriend started her own journey for a new life. She pivoted through a few careers before landing on the perfect one for her -- career and life coach.  She now shares what she learned with her clients and talks about how al...

Go ahead and text me! Author and Speaker Andy Campbell has been through a lot in his life. Any one of the things he has endured would be almost too much, but somehow he has fought through and even written a book (“Overcoming Life’s Toughest Setbacks”)  designed to help others. Bio: Andy Campbell is a resilient survivor and inspirational author who has overcome numerous life-altering challenges - a...

Go ahead and text me! Major (Ret.) Roy E. Emerson, originally from Vacaville, California, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1988 as an Infantryman, beginning his career with the 75th Ranger Regiment. He participated in Operation Just Cause, conducting a combat parachute assault in Panama. Over his career, he served in multiple leadership roles, including with the 18th Airborne Corps Long Range Surveill...

Go ahead and text me! Award Winning Memoir Author Sandra SchnakenburgI grew up in Barrington, Illinois.  After earning a B.S. in Finance at Arizona State University and an MBA from the University of Southern California, she settled with her husband, Karl,  in Singapore, then Australia — where their twins, Kyle and Alexis, were born.  After moving back to the United States, the family lived in The...

Go ahead and text me! Jean Tren-Hwa Perkins was born unwanted during the 1931 Yangtze River Flood, adopted by medical missionaries, brought to the US for a few years, then trapped in Communist China. She was neither American nor Chinese "enough," yearning for acceptance and home her whole life. Her memoir, finished by her son, is an eyewitness account of Chinese history and her own harro...

Go ahead and text me! Kristine Homann has been through a lot. Stuck in a toxic marriage, she tried hard to find a way out. Eventually, she was able to free herself and her girls from the situation. But the scars it left were hard to heal. She found ways to help herself and her children, and now she shares what she learned as a health and wellness coach.  Kristine Homann is an RN and Mindset coach...

Go ahead and text me! Risa August is not your average human.  When faced with a devastating pituitary disease diagnosis, she pushed through to find herself again. One of the things she did was participate in a bike ride from Canada to Mexico! She published her multi-award-winning memoir "The Road Unpaved - Border to Border with a Brain Tumor and a Bike" about this major life-altering dia...

Go ahead and text me! Recruited right out of college to work at one of the largest data firms, Sean McMann embarked on an eight-year journey from new grad to consulting director. Privileged to see behind the curtain of some of the largest corporations today, he recognized the system was broken and quit at the height of his career, when working the least but making the most money he ever had, betti...

Go ahead and text me! With a Master's degree in international affairs with a focus on international politics, Matt Kazdan could have headed to a think tank or Washington DC. But he chose instead to use his skills in policy-making and his understanding of international politics to work at ta0ngelic, a nonprofit that helps underserved populations with access to sustainable sources of energy. Th...

Go ahead and text me! Recruited right out of college to work at one of the largest data firms, Sean McMann embarked on an eight-year journey from new grad to consulting director. Privileged to see behind the curtain of some of the largest corporations today, he recognized the system was broken and quit at the height of his career, when working the least but making the most money he ever had, betti...

Go ahead and text me! Larry Jordan spent 25 years in investment banking, assisting companies, governments, and non-profit agencies in issuing over $10 billion of municipal bonds for capital projects and cash flows. In 2011, he quit his job and sold his house to spend his life in service. He drove veterans to the VA clinic, prepared 1,000 tax returns for low-income families, taught school in Africa...

Go ahead and text me! When Lauren first starts talking about her Ten Words, they sound simple enough: Attention, Acceptance, Benevolence, Creativity, e.g. -- but as you ponder them, they start to lead you down a path of self-enlightenment, They work together, and they reflect on each other. From the book's jacket: " What if just ten words could change your life - and the world - for the...

Go ahead and text me! Jay Waddell is a retired executive, college professor, and life coach. who has fought several health battles in his life, the last one was heart failure and he had to get a heart transplant! He explains his approach and how he wasn't so willing to go through the ordeal at first. Eventually, he did decide to go through with it and now has a new heart. He is writing a book...

Go ahead and text me! ANIKA PAVEL was born Jarmila Kocvarova in Czechoslovakia. What was intended as a one-year stay in England turned her into a refugee when the Soviet Union invaded her homeland, writing a bloody end to the Prague Spring. She received a crash course in life that took her from sleeping in a telephone booth at the Victoria railway station in London to waitressing, to the lights of...

Go ahead and text me! Jan Allen Ackley, author of "Searching for Change," shares his journey from growing up in impoverished rural Ohio to becoming a successful corporate finance executive. He highlights the impact of mentors who guided him and the transformative experience of joining the Air Force. Ackley emphasizes the importance of leadership, advocacy, and personal growth. He discuss...