Becoming Your Best Version

LeAnn Austin lives in beautiful Georgia with her awesome husband and crazy dog Nutmeg.  She has four amazing sons, two incredible daughters-in-law, and two grand-doggies.  She enjoys mowing the lawn, eating smoked meat, walking anywhere, sharing insights on her podcast: Love Tidbits, playing pickleball, watching The Chosen, and spending time with family and friends.

She loves coaching, especially talking about the daughter-in-law relationship and loving ourselves.  She coaches and instructs part time for the Life Coach School, and has her own business focused on love.  She believes that, when we truly love ourselves, it makes loving others so much easier.  Check out her Lovin Me Program and Lovin My DIL Course.  For more details, go to leannaustin.com

One of her favorite quotes is: “You either love someone or you don’t understand them.”  She frequently asks herself, "What would love do?"  

Listen to the episode to learn helpful tips on handling relationships and one of the best self-care practices I have heard (involving a light switch)!  Please subscribe and review the podcast!

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https://leannaustin.com

Katherine King, a licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a manner of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), has twenty years of experience providing individual, family, and group psychotherapeutic treatment for children, teens, and adults.  She has treated people with Clinical Depression, Anxiety and Panic Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Grief and Loss, Attachment Disorders, Adjustment Disorders, Personality Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Addiction, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Eating Disorders, Bi-Polar Disorder and more. Katherine has led therapeutic groups on countless topics, including social skills, anger management, positive parenting, building self-esteem, communication skills, relaxation techniques, healthy relationships, life transitions, pursuing your passions, optimism and positivity, building tools for self-calming, setting and holding boundaries, being your most authentic self and many more. Katherine brings the culmination of her vast experience and expertise to every group session she teaches.

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master of Clinical Social Work, Katherine King is currently licensed as an ACSW, LCSW in both Florida and North Carolina. She is also a Certified Art Healer.

In addition to treating clients in a private practice setting for ten years, Katherine worked for many years in a nonprofit setting treating children and teens. She has worked at a Hospice Children’s Program, at an inpatient hospital, as an elementary school therapist, and as an Emergency Room Patient Advocate at The Cleveland Clinic in Florida. Katherine served as an individual therapist to students and teachers directly affected by the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida, and is currently working with students and teachers affected by the school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Katherine is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She volunteers teaching art therapy to residents at Transformation Village of Buncombe County. She manages a Question and Answer page at the nonprofit organization Arms Around Autism Spectrum Disorder.

For many years, Katherine was a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Management Team, which provides trauma and crisis intervention to first responders following disasters and other traumatic incidents. Katherine has been a Disaster First Responder, was part of the Disaster Action Team, and a Shelter Manager for the American Red Cross for over 10 years.

Katherine volunteered for several years as a Holiday Grief Camp Counselor for Hospice of the Treasure Coast, served on the Boards for the Port Saint Lucie, FL National Little League Association, and volunteered for many years for the March of Dimes, The Alzheimer’s Association, The American Heart Association and The American Cancer Society.

She and her Australian Shepherd, certified by Therapy Dog International, Inc., worked together as a team in diverse venues such as nursing homes, child welfare camps and weekly visits to the Autism Spectrum Disorders classroom at Palm Point Research School in Port Saint Lucie, FL. Perhaps most significantly, they spent many days assisting in Parkland, Florida immediately following the mass school shooting there.

She opened The Blue Blanket to change the narrative from mental illness to mind wellness.  She offers incredibly healing soul restoration retreats.

Website: theblueblanket.org

FB Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/634264848373695/?ref=share&mibextid=S66gvF

LinkedIn:  http://linkedin.com/in/katherine-king-cosimano-acsw-lcsw-4862a5238

Holly Copeland, MA is a certified Human Potential coach and Biofield Tuning Practitioner, NeuroMeditation and Subtle Energy Meditation teacher, and Reiki Master. She teaches non-dual awareness and subtle energy meditation techniques and uses neurotechnology, Reiki and tuning forks in transformative quantum healing experiences and in her coaching work.

Holly's childhood passion for maps, the environment, technology and spirituality initially led her to a 25-year career as a conservation scientist mapping the Earth's ecosystems with GPS. Heartbroken by the state of the planet coupled with a personal health crisis, she set out on a new path of healing and transformation. She shifted her focus from exterior to interior and rewired her brain to a state of resilience and joy.

Holly's Story:

"Two years ago, my life felt like it was falling apart. A job that I'd been in for 17 years was not working for me anymore and I started having symptoms of severe mold poisoning, sending my health into a downward spiral. In 2018, I changed jobs and detoxed from the mold, but somehow by making that change, I unearthed a new realization that I hadn't been living wholeheartedly and joyfully for awhile--I really couldn't remember when. Specifically, my despair over the state of the world combined with years of a stressful busy job left me frayed and burnt out. I was determined to never let myself become so unhappy again and inspired to change a WHOLE lot more. Thus began my journey inward. I literally wrote "My Rewire My Brain Project" at the top of my journal page and outlined all the things I was learning how to do to change my brain and change me. The first was learning to focus and calm my mind. No more did I want to float aimlessly from thought to thought. I read about alpha brain waves and the power of shifting from crazy nonstop thinking beta brain waves. As a scientist, understanding how my brainwave patterns led to unhealthy thinking and stress was a huge light bulb moment for me. You mean I could change my pattern of thinking and be happier? I have control over that?  The answer is definitely yes, you CAN. I set out to change my brainwaves and it profoundly changed my life. And if I can do it, you can too."

Learn more at:  https://www.heartmindalchemy.org/

https://www.facebook.com/heartmindalchemy

https://www.instagram.com/hollyerincopeland/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvp70F24kTTn-k09t3fcKAw

Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan, is the President of Educorp Consultants Corporation and Senior Innovation Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Education Entrepreneurship, University of Pennsylvania, and a former education industry entrepreneur. Dr. Kurshan has more than 40 years’ experience in education as a researcher, entrepreneur, developer, investor, and company executive.  She developed the first children’s software products for Microsoft, as well as award winning products for McGraw-Hill, Apple, CCC (Pearson), and others.

She is the author of several books, including Internet for Kids (Sybex); Exploring Creative Writer and Exploring Fine Artist (Addison-Wesley Longman); Understanding Computers Through Applications (Glencoe); Activities for Kids and Kids at Heart (Reston).  She has received numerous awards and recognitions including the WISE Prize, the King Bahrain UNESCO Prize, 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Directors, 100 Edtech Influencers, and Laureate Tech Awards – Technology Benefiting Humanity.

Bobbi shares her journey, including obstacles, which can inspire listeners.  Her InnovateHERS website is rich with resources for entrepreneurs and those seeking leadership positions.  The site also invites readers to share their stories, which are highlighted on the site.

Becoming her best version has changed over time.  Most importantly, she takes time for herself, and does not sweat the small stuff.  

Follow her and learn more at the links below:

Twitter @bkurshan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-bobbi-kurshan/

For her latest book:

www.innovateHERs.org

Twitter: @innovate_HERs

Instagram:  @InnovateHERs

Linkedin: InnovateHERs community

Facebook:  InnovateHERs Community

Mary Beth O'Connor has been clean and sober since 1994. She also is in recovery from abuse and trauma. The details of her story can be found in her memoir, From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction, where she describes the child abuse that led her to use methamphetamine beginning at 17, the chaos of her 15-year addiction, and building an individual recovery plan that worked for her.

Mary Beth is a Director and Secretary for She Recovers Foundation and is a Director for LifeRing Secular Recovery. She regularly speaks on behalf of LifeRing, She Recovers, and multiple paths to recovery. She also develops relationships with organizations supportive of the multiple pathways approach, such as participating in San Francisco’s Methamphetamine Task Force, and working on joint projects with Women for Sobriety.

Mary Beth has had numerous essays and memoir writings published, such as in The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Recovery Today.  Professionally, six years into her recovery, Mary Beth attended Berkeley Law. She worked at a large firm in Silicon Valley, then litigated class actions for the federal government. In 2014, Mary Beth was appointed an Administrative Law Judge. She recently retired, so she could devote her time to her writing and recovery advocacy.

Her new book is From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction.  From a junkie addicted to methamphetamines to a federal judge, Mary Beth’s memoir shares her inspiring journey from rock bottom to resilience as she forged a personal path to recovery from trauma and addiction. Within a week of being born, O’Connor was dropped off at a convent. When she was brought into her home, her mother focused on her own needs and desires, ignoring her young child. When she was nine years old, her stepfather kicked her in the stomach for spilling milk, beat her when she didn’t clean a plate to his satisfaction, and molested her when she was 12. A few months later, with her first sip of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill wine, her life changed. She felt euphoric and relaxed. So she got drunk as often as possible, adding pot, then pills, then acid. At 16, she found her drug of choice--methamphetamine. With her first snort, she felt that she experienced true joy for the first time. When this high was no longer sufficient, she turned to the needle and shot up. During the next 16 years, she descended into a severe meth addiction, working her way down the corporate ladder, destroying relationships, and shattering her physical and emotional well-being. At 32, she entered rehab, where she was ordered to submit to the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. As an atheist, turning her will and her life over to a higher power was not an option, and she refused to agree she was powerless. Told to comply or fail, she bravely created a new path that combined ideas from multiple programs and even incorporated some AA concepts. Clean and sober now for nearly three decades, she is proof that anyone can find their sober self, their best self, no matter how far they have fallen. Along with her inspiring story, she offers a comprehensive checklist of questions for readers to ask themselves, as they take the brave steps toward recovery, offering a powerful blueprint for personal change. To become her best version, she uses patience and prioritizing.

Learn more at the links below:

From Junkie to Judge: One Woman's Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction

@MaryBethO_ (LinkedIn and twitter)

Chanelle René is a New Jersey-based, award winning artist exploring themes of diverse beauty, freedom and self-discovery. She uses bold color and painterly brush strokes to create immersive portrait paintings in oils and mixed media. Current projects include Grant Street Beach, a series of paintings highlighting African-American generations on the segregated beach of Cape May, New Jersey, from the 1920-60s that reference Chanelle’s own family photographs.  Chanelle has exhibited throughout New Jersey and internationally at venues such as the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition, Noyes Art Museum, Atlantic City Arts Foundation public installation, Cape May MAC, The Curator’s Salon and the Ocean City Arts Center as Best of Show awardee. Select media features include The Curator’s Salon, Cape May Magazine and Soup Can Magazine. Chanelle is a self-taught artist who made a midlife pivot from a 20-year career in digital marketing to professional artist. Her mission is to inspire Black women to fall in love with themselves – with an invitation to take up space, honor desires and nurture the Soul.  Chanelle offers paintings and workshops to support her community.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Portraiture allows me to explore the complexity and nuance of the human spirit. I seek a visual embodiment of our truest self, deepest emotions and engagement with the full spectrum of modern beauty and feminine strength. As a Black woman, I not only want to reflect myself but normalize and amplify the visibility of Black women simply being.... 

My painting process is a mix of bold color and expressive marks applied with intention. I layer a variety of media to create depth, contrast and surface texture in my works, including spray paint, pastel, and oil paint. These materials combine to create interest, inviting the viewer to take a closer look and discover something new. Throughout this process of layering, I discover the essence of the figure I’m representing, capturing the energy and strength in her face, body, and eyes.

Often the sitter's eyes decide if they will be a subject of my portraits. The direct female gaze was considered taboo throughout art history. With a passive gaze or eyes closed, she was simply an object of pleasure--without power, without agency. Black women were generally excluded as the main subjects in historical works. In many of my paintings, I give the direct gaze to black women, giving back her power and agency. My work contributes to the narrative of empowering black women – igniting hope and endless possibilities.

Website: chanellerene.com

Instagram: @beingchanellerene

[email protected]

Michelle Harris founded Bosstrack in 2021 to provide women new to leadership roles with the development, support and mentorship she found lacking for new leaders.  Often little thought is given to the new tools and perspectives needed to lead and, as a result, new leaders are expected to just “figure things out.”  Bosstrack was developed to fill this gap.  Michelle has more than 25 years of leadership experience with more than half of that time spent at an executive level. Her focus has always been on people, shaping her teams to produce results and grow in their roles.  She has led her teams through financial reorganizations, acquisitions and multi-billion dollar private equity sales.  She is excited to bring this opportunity to new women leaders. 

Michelle offers interesting insight about the balance between wellness and being a leader, as well as challenges of women in leadership.  Her global brand, Bosstrack, has become an online women’s leadership community of ambitious female leaders.

According to Bosstrack's website, "Whether you’re a new manager pushing to become a successful, high impact leader or an experienced leader looking to sharpen your skills and network, you’ve landed in the right place. We’ve helped other women become high-performance, high-impact leaders and we’d love to work with you too!  If you’re looking for a wealth of educational resources in one easy to access place, coaching calls to engage in, advice and guidance, accountability, mentorship, an incredible group of business besties, or even an action plan to become the successful leader you envision yourself being, click below to join our exclusive community and get started."

When not working to empower women leaders, you can find Michelle in the water, in a photography studio or at a new restaurant.  She enjoys photography, scuba diving, free diving, enjoying food and wine and exploring new places.  She is based in Miami and is a mom to two and wife of a former Marine.  Michelle is also the host of the podcast Her Hype Squad with Bosstrack.

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE:

linkedin.com/meetmichelleharris/

[email protected]

https://thebosstrack.com

Instagram and Facebook:  @thebosstrack

Angela Irwin is an international Life and Confidence Coach, TEDx speaker and the founder of Joyful Life Solutions, which specializes in helping women reprogram their self-acceptance to build lasting confidence, so that they can achieve their full potential.  Prior to that, Angela spent 15 years in the corporate medical device field, holding various positions in marketing, management and clinical education in the U.S., Australia and Europe.  

During the pandemic, Angela launched the Joyful Life Cochlear Implant Fund (www.jlcif.org) to help ensure her fellow cochlear implant recipients have access to the ongoing critical technology that they need to keep their hearing.  Angela lost her hearing as a child, for unknown reasons.  She helps others navigate similar journeys and to raise awareness of the impact of hearing loss.

Angela supplements her training by drawing from her personal experiences, numerous challenges and transitions in her own life.  In addition to her coaching training, Angela holds a B.S. degree in sociology and psychology, as well as an MBA.  Born in a small farm community in South Dakota, Angela has lived and traveled all over the world.  She and her husband have been living in France for the past 11 years.

Angela believes in the adage that doubt and fear takes you out of action and only action takes you or of fear.  She also allows herself grace when faced with difficult or uncontrollable situations.

You can watch Angela’s TEDx talk here: https://bit.ly/2S3vHxH

Website: https://joyfullifesolutions.com/

Instagram handle: @angelamirwin

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-irwin-5686722/

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/joyfullifesolutions

After a 30-year career in financial services and the not-for-profit sector, Monique Giroux took an early retirement at 55, traded in her business suit for hiking boots, and sold her home and possessions to pursue a slower paced, minimalist, nomadic life.  Monique made a commitment to herself in 2019 to live an anxiety free life by finding calm and peace of mind after an enlightening experience in Bali. Immersing herself in self-study and becoming a certified Forest Therapy Guide, Reiki Master, meditation, yoga nidra and restorative yoga teacher, Monique is now breathing deeply. She works with clients to help them slow down, and to connect with their inner voice and intuition through nature connection and energy healing.

Founder of The Flourishment Collective (www.flourishment.global) Monique is now traveling the world sharing stories of #2suitcases1laptop and the forest therapy guides she meets along the way. She is working on her first book that was downloaded while in a deep meditative state during a 9-day silent Buddhist retreat.

She shares distance reiki with clients around the world, supports women’s retreats, mentors and trains new forest therapy guides. She continues to use her corporate experience as one of the female founders of the climate start up Homes to Zero (www.homestozero.ca) and consults on partnership and not for profit projects on occasion.

Monique is currently in Slovenia healing from an injury sustained while hiking.  She hails from Toronto, Canada.  Through her internal growth, she realized that she did not need her big home in Toronto, so she sold it, as well as 90% of her possessions.  She now travels the world with one suitcase and one backpack.  She is doing her part to alleviate the harm we are causing the earth.  

Anxiety, the illness of our time, comes from our inability to stay present, says Monique, drawing from the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh.  Her practices help her diminish anxiety from her life and the lives of her clients.  Her self-care practices strengthen her ability to keep anxiety at bay and to help others do the same.

Learn more about her work at the links below.

Social Media:

Blog: https://www.flourishment.global/blog

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-flourishment-collective/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishment.collective/

Forest therapy focused Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theforestwhisperer/

Personal LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/moniquefgiroux

Kizzy Kittrell Dogan, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of T&G Commercial Cleaning, LLC, Founder of Love Circle Inc, Author of Thirteen: Lessons for Every Teen Girl's Journey to Womanhood, Contributor to IamTeenStrong.com, Workshop Facilitator, and Keynote Speaker. Kizzy transforms and empowers teen girls to discover their purpose, passion, and superpowers as The Teen Girl Mentor.

Kizzy is a results-driven leader whose success is marked by steadiness, ethics, optimism, and fun. She has provided countless hours of business development and professional mentorship as a successful entrepreneur.

Kizzy proudly sits on the St. Margaret's Achievers Toastmasters International Executive Board and volunteers with the Youth Leadership Program. She advocates for second chances, is a conference and seminar enthusiast, pizza connoisseur, and lover of all things extravagant. Kizzy is hugely passionate about inspiring, motivating, and fostering the best qualities in everyone.

Kizzy is a native Washingtonian and a mother of three sons. Although she prides herself on being a loud sports mom, she equally enjoys driving her sons mad with her unapologetic partiality to girls.

Kizzy proudly sits on the St. Margaret's Achievers Toastmasters International Executive Board and volunteers with the Youth Leadership Program. She advocates for second chances, is a conference and seminar enthusiast, pizza connoisseur, and lover of all things extravagant. Kizzy is hugely passionate about inspiring, motivating, and fostering the best qualities in everyone.

Kizzy's messages are gold.  She preaches self-love.  She assures young women that we are empowered to not allow people to come into our spaces and misuse us.  We can choose.

To become her best version is a continuous process.  She works hard to control her thinking.  When she has negative thoughts, she declares her strength and power.  She believes in prayer and affirmation.  She also exercises to feel good about herself.  She surrounds herself with positive people.  Finally, she takes care to prepare for whatever she is called to do.

Social Media Handles:

LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook:  @IamKizzyDogan

http://www.kizzykdogan.com/