Becoming Your Best Version

Trish Glowacki is a filmmaker, writer and songwriter. Her first musical, WARNING: Take Only As Directed, was adapted to the screen. The award-winning film has proven to be an innovative and effective tool for teaching teens, their educators, parents and guardians about the dangers of prescription medicine misuse. Trish launched glowmedia in 2016 and is making a series of short films, based on the Warning model, addressing a broad range of mental health issues.

In November 2011, Trish lost her 21-year old son, Charlie, after a five-year battle with anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Charlie died of an accidental Oxycontin overdose. In the wake of Charlie’s passing, the family searched for ways to both handle the incredible grief and honor their beloved son's memory. Trish, an accomplished musician and thespian, set out to write songs and a play about Charlie. In the process of writing and researching, she realized a larger vision for his legacy.

The growing opioid crisis had just started to reach a national consciousness. Overdoses have quadrupled since 1991 and the crisis has penetrated both rural and urban communities, crossing ethnic and socio-economic boundaries. Armed with a powerful story and an urgency to educate youth nationwide, Trish decided to adapt her play into a short film musical that could be used as a unique teaching resource. The goal was to produce a high-quality short film and disseminate it to as many middle and high school classrooms as possible.

Leveraging her extensive contacts in the music and film industries, Trish enlisted studio musicians, hired a film director and production company, and co-wrote the screenplay. The 26-minute film, Warning: Take Only as Directed, premiered in 2014 and soon after was added to Discovery Education, the nation’s largest provider of digital educational content. To date, the film has been viewed by over a million students nationwide. The film comes with free resource guides and lesson plans. These materials facilitate classroom conversation and enhance understanding of the film content.

The overwhelming success of this film inspired the Glowacki family to focus on other sensitive issues facing today’ s youth. In 2016, they created a 501c3 organization, the glowmedia project, and started fundraising for the development of a series of new films that, like Warning, seek to build awareness and reduce stigma around various challenges affecting teenagers. Three new short films, co-written by Trish and Andrea Hansell, Ph.D., a licensed clinical child and adolescent psychologist, were released in 2017. These films focus on eating disorders/body image, anxiety and depression, and LGBTQ+ topics. Similar to Warning: Take Only as Directed, these shorts integrate music, realistic characters and dialogue, and authentic storylines. They also come with educational materials, created by experts in the field.

The fifth film, addressing bipolar disorder, King of the World, was released in 2020. The pandemic brought new projects to a halt, but they were able to produce a documentary about the effects of the pandemic on the mental health of teens, Unimaginable, which will be released this fall.

With pandemic restrictions lifted, they were able to film their seventh short, addressing suicide prevention, There Can Be Light, in May. That film will premiere this fall in select cities in October (L.A. on 10/1 and Silver Spring, MD's American Film Institute on 10/12), and be released in early 2023.

Learn more:

glowmedia.org 

FB: @glowmediaorg, IG/twitter: @glowmediafilms, Vimeo.com/glowmedia 

*Dial 988 for the Mental Health Crisis Line

Kathy Fritz is a board-certified master hormone coach who helps women in perimenopause and menopause experience relief from hormonal symptoms like fatigue, hot flashes, moodiness, and insomnia. Her clients lose weight, rediscover their energy, feel sexy, and stop thinking they're losing their minds. Kathy's background in education gives her the expertise to individualize material so her clients can go from where they are to where they want to be.

According to Kathy:  "I help perimenopausal and menopausal women get relief from their hormonal symptoms like insomnia, weight gain, and hot flashes. I know there’s a lot of (mis)information out there about midlife, what’s normal, and what you can do about it. You don’t have the time to research your symptoms or go through months of trial and error trying to fix them. I’ve sifted through the evidence-based material so I can create individualized hormone-balancing plans, because every woman’s hormonal landscape is unique and shifting. I will help you make meaningful, sustainable changes that get you relief and help you maintain a new level of health."

She notes that the pill stops communication in one's body. She did her own research to help herself and uses what she learned to help others. She discovered her second calling. "I enjoy journeying with people and being able to support others to meet their own goals feels to me like meaningful work."

Menopause is the day that marks your last day of bleeding. But one can still move the needle even after menopause. Food, movement and lifestyle choices can help. Medication, which can have long term effects, does not have to be the answer, though bio-identical medication can be helpful.

She helps women move their bodies from glucose burners to fat burners. She helps women improve energy levels and sleep quality. Food, movement, essential oils/supplements and toxic burden relief are the four pillars upon which her work is built. Stress and external things that negatively affect our bodies also are examined.

She was surprised to discover that menopause and its attendant symptoms and effects can begin in one's mid-30s. Making changes early can positively impact one's life. Eliminating dairy can help some people, for instance. Her partnership with women have improved the lives of so many, nationwide.

What makes Kathy her best version? "I carve out self-care time every single day. It entails, for me, time in prayer, aromatherapy, and exercise. Practicing self-care makes me a better mother, person and coach."

https://kathyfritzcoaching.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kathyfritzcoaching/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-fritz-hormone-coach/

freebie: 4 Surprising Ways to Reduce your Hot Flashes, Insomnia, and Waistline

Siobhan Davenport is a multi-best selling author and champion for Women and Girls with more than 15 years of non-profit experience. She is the founder of Non-Profit Entrepreneurs, a coaching and consulting firm that empowers non-profit leaders to build to give and increase their impact. Siobhan is a professional certified impact coach and transformational speaker.

Siobhan shares eloquently from her heart and experience.  A recovering people-pleaser who suffered from imposter syndrome over the course of her life, she learned the healing value of forgiveness--of self and of others.  She pays it forward in this chapter of her life by helping primarily women harness their passions for giving back to their communities by successfully setting up their nonprofit organizations.  She offers her clients a blueprint for successfully making an impact, which includes how to use the required nonprofit language to obtain necessary funding, to build awareness of one's chosen cause, and how to build an effective board of directors.

As the daughter of teen parents, Siobhan knows about overcoming odds. Personal willpower is important, but it’s imperative to have a community that fosters success. Siobhan dedicated her career to racial and gender equity by giving young girls everything she had--tools to overcome challenges and the community and support systems that enable girls to thrive.

In her role as President & CEO of Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (CSGW) (2019-2022), she was focused on closing equity and achievement gaps for teen girls, particularly those of color, in the DC Metropolitan area. Crittenton partners with schools to run multi-year programs that drive youths' social, emotional and academic success. Prior to serving as CEO, she was CSGW’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and built collaborations between schools, nonprofits and corporations to better meet Crittenton girls’ challenges. She also launched the Declare Equity for Girls: It’s Time campaign, a landmark initiative that included focus groups and exposed the major barriers to personal and academic success. 

As the Executive Director of the Rocksprings Foundation (2002-2018), Siobhan oversaw the foundation’s impact investing around economic and educational opportunities to low-income families and youth. Prior to that, Siobhan served as Senior Producer and Host for On the Potomac Productions, including the acclaimed series “The New Washington.” Siobhan holds a BS in Business Administration from Boston University and a Master’s degree in Journalism from American University.

Siobhan is a contributing author to a new book, A Reason to Be Volume 4: Seeking Life Purpose (Tilda Whitaker-Bakeris, 2022), which is an Amazon #1 best seller. It is a collaborative book with nine co-authors and is a must-read for all who are seeking to walk and live in their purpose. Siobhan's contribution is titled, "Purposeful Living with God." Readers are guided and inspired to step into the purpose and passion for their lives and missions. You can order a copy at www.buildtogive.org or on Amazon.

Siobhan also contributed to Soul Talk: Twenty Soul-Stirring Stories of Women Who Let Go and Let God (Cheryl Polote-Williamson, 2017) and Shift Happens: Inspirational Stories on Finding Happiness, Achieving Success and Overcoming Obstacles (Nikki Woods, 2016).  Both are inspiring reads.

To learn more, go to her website: https://www.buildtogive.org/.  Siobhan offers free consultation calls--sign up on her website.

FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildtogive1

Twitter: @SiobhanDAuthor

Katie O’Malley is the founder of (en)Courage Coaching + Consulting with more than a decade of professional experience serving the nonprofit, corporate and education sectors. Across these workplaces, she noticed that her strengths and values consistently steered toward the support and development of others. In 2012, she earned a Master's Degree in Counseling and Board Certification in Coaching. She leverages a mix of evidence-based practices from the fields of counseling, management consulting and leadership education to equip her clients with customized strategies to meet their individual needs.

Coaching recent grads, experienced professionals, and small business owners aspiring to lead their teams and organizations is her most fulfilling, life-giving work. She believes that earning the right to hear a client’s story, and creating a partnership that encourages the design of their most authentic and courageous life, is an incredible privilege. The average age at which a person is put in a leadership position is age 30, Katie says. Yet people are typically not trained in leadership skills until age 42. Katie helps to fill this 12 year gap by equipping people with the necessary skills, and helping organizations learn how to prevent attrition by training their employees with appropriate skills and providing needed support.

"Self-awareness is one of the key attributes of a good leader," Katie maintains. She counsels listeners to pay attention to their strengths and privileges, and to have a commitment to learning about themselves.  Her company offers:

(en) Courage Coaching + Consulting offers several programs, including the Coaching Career Accelerator Program and the Small Business Coaching program, which you can read more about on her website.

She also helps client with more personal, difficult issues. Trauma, she says is not the difficult thing that happens, but our reactions to the event/happening. Katie helps equip her clients to deal with workplace-induced trauma, like that which can stem from discrimination, harassment, bullying, microaggressions, gaslighting and more. Such trauma can affect our mental and physical health. "In the healing, we regain our personal strength and sense of power," Katie shares.

To become her best version, Katie reminds herself that "consistency beats intensity every day of the week." She also strives to be one percent better every day of her life. She proves the adage that growth most frequently happens over time.

Katie recently left her full-time position as the Senior Associate Director of Leadership Development at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is now working full time on what began as her passion project, (en)Courage Coaching + Consulting, and is now a nationwide endeavor.

Learn more about (en)Courage + Coaching at encouragecoaching.org

Follow Katie at:

Instagram @encouragecoachingchicago

Facebook @encouragecoachingchicago

LinkedIn: Katie O’Malley

Caralena Peterson is the author of The Effortless Perfection Myth (September 2022) about the gender issues today’s women run into in college. She graduated from Duke University in 2015 with majors in Women’s Studies and Public Policy. She has published articles with Inside Higher Ed, The Week, She Knows Media, Ms. Magazine, Rewire News, Bustle, Garnet News, Women’s E-News and Elite Daily. She is also a mixed-medium artist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Washington Life Magazine. 

"While experiencing the harmful and overwhelming effects of Effortless Perfection firsthand during college, Caralena added Women’s Studies as a second major to get to the bottom of it all and started writing honestly about her experiences in a column for the student newspaper. After graduating from Duke University in 2015, she set out to educate as many college women and their parents as possible about what she uncovered and the importance of sharing our authentic selves with the world. Today she writes regularly on the topic and travels to high schools and colleges throughout the nation to speak about Effortless Perfection, mental health, hook-up culture, and disordered eating. Caralena is also a mixed-medium artist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Washington Life Magazine. When she is not busy with all her side hustles, Caralena works full-time as an English teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana (though she will be stepping back the 2022-2023 school year to promote her book)."

"Most women don’t go off to college expecting a major drop in confidence; they’re getting ready to have the best four years of their life. But the reality is that women leave college with less self-esteem than they came in with and are two times more likely to experience depression than their male counterparts. So, where is the disconnect happening? Drawing from a plethora of data and her own personal experience, Effortless Perfection expert Caralena Peterson shows us just how immense the Myth’s impact can be and why women need to start talking about the ways it disadvantages them instead of hiding behind secrecy and comparison. Full of authentic reflection and heart, this talk invites undergraduate women to take an honest look at their state of mental health and learn ways to move into healing and empowerment."

"We must show enough of our own vulnerabilities that others don't feel the need to hide their own," says Caralena. Caralena does just that. She notes that The Effortless Perfection Myth keeps us in isolation, and the feminist movement started because people started sharing their struggles. The Myth is a mental health and a gender issue that Caralena is helping us to combat. Caralena shares advice for women and their parents to help them appreciate the difference between pursuing an image and developing an identity, and learn how to pursue internal appreciation and love, as opposed to outside validation.

You can check out her past work and sign up for her newsletter at www.caralenapeterson.com and follow her on Instagram at @effortlessperfectionmyth. Listen to and like her fantastic TEDx Duke talk:  https://youtu.be/d8ZSQQSmZ8c.

Laura Stassi is creator and host of the public radio podcast Dating While Gray: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships, which began in 2020 when she won a diversity in voices contest on NPR. On her podcast, she explores issues and relays true stories about love after age 50. Online dating, sexual intimacy, financial considerations, deal breakers--everything’s on the table--from interesting, diverse voices.

Her book, Romance Redux: Finding Love in Your Later Years (Rowman & Littlefield, September 2022) is a deep dive into dating while gray. "Romance Redux explores how older people are seeking, finding, and keeping intimate relationships. Laura includes her own experiences as well as those of other gray love seekers and finders. She also talks with dating and relationship experts and researchers to explore the obstacles and rewards of re-partnering at this stage of life. Whether it’s through “gray divorce,” which remains high, or the untimely death of a partner, more and more older people are facing vibrant years ahead of them, alone. They’re interested in finding love for the later years of life but after decades off the market, dating again can feel daunting. Using personal stories and expert research, Laura takes readers on a tour through the many ways older adults are finding companionship, romance, and a fulfilling sex life."

Laura equates "gray divorce" with divorces involving those over age 50. Her podcast includes people who are interested in finding love post-50, such as divorcees, widows, widowers, those who never married, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Laura writes about and discusses the obstacles and rewards of re-partnering later in life. She notes that the pandemic forced many of us to be more thoughtful about with whom we want to spend our time.

Laura was married for almost 30 years before getting divorced. Newly single, she turned to friends and relationship experts for advice. On Dating While Gray and in Romance Redux, Laura shares the lessons she’s learned and introduces other gray daters as they all weather the wild world of love, with advice from experts.

Laura is also an award-winning writer of health, wellness and medical features for military families, and she’s the author of several nonfiction books for young readers. She has two grown children and enjoys jogging along the wooded paths of Reston, Virginia, and the sandy shores of Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

Find out more about Laura and her work at laurastassi.com.

Sally Tierney is the owner and CEO of Clear Path Forward, a private investigation firm based in the Washington, DC area. Empowering her clients with the facts, to bring clarity and transparency to a daunting situation, is her mission in life. 

Sally used her considerable skills to start a business helping others when their lives seemingly are falling apart. Sally is the strength people need when navigating terrible situations in their lives. She is a truth seeker and empowerment advocate for anyone who is having trouble navigating an unfair system. Her experience has taught her that there are times when a private investigator is necessary to bring accuracy to light. Her husband was wrongfully accused of something he did not do. Sally worked to demonstrate the truth, and her husband was exonerated. It was a harrowing experience, and Sally turned it into a business using the law to expose facts and force transparency when needed to support and strengthen her clients’ cases. Her firm's services also include medical and mental health advocacy; advocating for sexual assault victims; elder care advocacy; assistance with domestic violence and child custody cases; and mitigation investigations to reveal insightful details about individual lives that can lessen penalties ordered during criminal sentencing.

In addition to being a private investigator, Sally has successfully owned and operated Just Dance, a studio in Alexandria, Virginia for the past 18 years. She also is the producer and host of The Dance Studio Podcast. This is her fun way of giving back to studio owners and dance teachers all that she has learned over her long career.  Sally was a dancer in professional theatre for several years, and taught dancing for 20 years before opening her own studio.  She was a teacher for Project Plie, American Ballet Theatre’s diversity & inclusion initiative, and served on several non-profit arts organizations, like Artspire, which awards scholarships to those in underserved communities.

Sally knows the necessity of self-care, so that she can give so much to others in need. She has a daily gratitude practice and keeps her consciousness open for miracles. And she finds them.

You can follow Sally on FB, Linkedin, and Instagram under the name Sally Tierney. Her website address is www.clearpathforwardpi.com

Margo Weinstein is a traveler, intrepid adventurer, class-action lawyer, and single mom. Educated at Yale College and Northwestern University School of Law, she became a partner in a multinational law firm, but that did not stop her from traveling to over eighty countries, moving with her young son to Shanghai and Bali, and discovering how to combine wanderlust and motherhood. For now, she lives with her son in a high-rise in downtown Chicago, anticipating her next move. Jalan-Jalan: A Journey of Wanderlust and Motherhood is her first book.

JALAN-JALAN: A JOURNEY OF WANDERLUST AND MOTHERHOOD:

"In Bali, jalan-jalan means to go forward, a route used for traveling, and the path chosen in life or career. Jalan-Jalan: A Journey of Wanderlust and Motherhood is the story of my path to Bali. As a Chicago-based class-action lawyer, intrepid travel provided an escape from the demands of my career. I summited mountains, kayaked tropical fjords, almost drowned in icy Class V rapids, and battled baboons in my Zimbabwe hotel room. I took risks that led my son Jake to exclaim, “Mom! How was I ever even born?”

But he was born, and my risk calculus changed as I adjusted to the joys, demands, and qualms of motherhood. Instead of camping on deserted beaches in Papua New Guinea and Palau, we stayed at all-inclusive beach resorts in Jamaica and the Riviera Maya. I left the river rafts and kayaks behind for Disney Cruises with Jake. Searching for a better way to combine my wanderlust with motherhood, I gripped Jake’s hand and leaped. We landed first in Shanghai and then in Bali, living as expats and learning about new countries, cultures, and ourselves.

Regardless of where you are on your path, if you share my wanderlust, maybe this book will inspire you to travel, too. Or, after reading about my near-death experiences traveling in Pakistan and Burma and how I dragged my young son to live on the other side of the world (twice), you may be glad you stayed home with this book."

"I travel because it takes me out of myself and my world. It enriches my life, by being in other cultures and learning about how others see the world, which makes me a better person."

To learn more about Margo and her book, and to read her travel blog:

Website: https://margoweinstein.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Margo.Weinstein.Author

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/margoweinstein/

Susanne Kerns is a podcaster and humor writer living in Austin, Texas with her husband and two children. Her work has been featured in Scary Mommy, Redbook, Today Parents and several parenting anthologies, including the NYT bestselling I Just Want to Pee Alone series. She co-produced, and performed in, the "Listen to Your Mother" show in Austin, Texas. She's currently writing her first non-fiction book to help other women to deal with the identity crisis that can come with giving up your career to become a stay-at-home mom. She co-hosts the Mom & ... Podcast with Missy Stevens, which also focuses on helping moms define themselves outside of "mom."  In 2017, she started the group, "Informed Parents of Austin," to advocate for LGBTQIA+ students, families and staff in her school district.

Susanne uses her "privilege of safety" to be the megaphone for children in the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as for their parents.  When people do not feel safe enough to speak, Susanne volunteers to speak for them.  Her efforts have paid off.  For example, her local school district will be teaching an inclusive, science-backed sex education program this term.  Susanne works hard to use her core values to inform her life decisions.

Missy Stevens is a writer, foster child advocate and podcaster. Her past life includes stints as a corporate community relations manager and non-profit communications writer. These days, Missy is an aspiring novelist, slowly working on endless revisions of her first manuscript. Her work has been featured in local and national online publications, as well as in the stage production, "Listen to Your Mother." Missy, a native Austinite, lives with her husband, two sons, two dogs and "too many plants. Just kidding. There is no such thing as too many plants."

Missy admonishes listeners to not wait to do what you want to do.  At-home moms can start before their children leave home to hone their skills or build new ones.  She uses her considerable skills as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) to help children who cannot speak for themselves.  It is emotional work, and Missy understands that she cannot take care of herself or others without proper sleep and rest.  "I can't do what really matters to me if I don't take rest time.  I unpacked a lot of guilt over that."  Missy--and we--are better off when we practice self-care.

These two women are inspiring and insightful each week on their fantastic Mom & ... Podcast.  Learn more at https://momandpodcast.com/.  Here are links to some things mentioned during the episode:

Listen to Your Mother (LTYM) Show: https://listentoyourmothershow.com/

Susanne's LTYM performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCd92XF-0kU&list=PL5oPQWgVdsDk53yC_eChWcMyA0NFXwix2

Missy's LTYM performance:  https://youtu.be/FSxjHKH69-o

Ann Imig's new coaching site: https://listenlifecoaching.com/

Informed Parents of Austin: http://informedparentsofaustin.com/

Jen Mann of "I Just Want to Pee Alone": https://www.facebook.com/peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat & https://www.facebook.com/IJustWantToPeeAlone - Our podcast episode discussing her new "Midlife Bites" book is here: https://momandpodcast.com/midlife-bites-jen-mann/