Becoming Your Best Version

Known for helping attorneys and professionals become bestselling authors and get positioned as experts in their practice area, Melanie Herschorn wants to help you step into your spotlight as an authority. As a publisher and book marketing strategist, she’s on a mission to empower new authors to make an impact and grow their income with their signature book.

With her comprehensive background of over 20 years as a celebrity publicist, award-winning journalist in radio, print and TV, as well as a clothing designer and entrepreneur, Melanie is uniquely positioned to support authors to step into thought leadership and make a big impact with their book. She earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California where she graduated first in her class. Melanie grew up in Canada has lived on both US coasts. She now resides in Arizona with her husband, daughter and son, her dog Marty and her cat Phoebe.

Her award-winning book, Make a Big Impact with Your Book, is available now. Learn more:

Website: https://yourbigimpactbook.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-herschorn/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigimpactbooks 

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

Book: https://amzn.to/43tBKO9

Andrea Nakayama is a Functional Medicine Nutritionist and educator, who has led thousands of clients, and now teaches even more coaches and clinicians around the world in a revolution reclaiming ownership of both their own and their clients’ health. 

As the host of the 15-Minute Matrix Podcast and the founder and former CEO of Functional Nutrition Alliance, Andrea draws on systems biology, mental models, root cause methodology and the therapeutic partnership to offer long-awaited solutions for the rapidly growing chronic illness epidemic.

After losing her young husband to a brain tumor in 2002, she discovered a passion for using food as personalized medicine and is now regularly consulted as the nutrition expert for the toughest clinical cases in the practices of many world-renowned doctors. She trains nearly four thousand practitioners each year in her methodologies so that they too can become the last stop for their clients and patients as well as a trusted referral partner for doctors in their area.

Learn more:

Jessica Baladad, six-year cancer survivor, is the creator of Feel For Your Life, a free mobile application that provides resources on how to perform self breast exams and when to get screenings, while allowing users to track and monitor their changes and set reminders. An unexpected breast cancer diagnosis at 33 years old empowered Jessica to channel her experience into a mission that is changing the way women advocate for their medical care. It’s the first of its kind created by a breast cancer patient and has been downloaded tens of thousands of times all over the world. In 2024, Jessica implemented an AI feature into the app to help patients interpret and better understand pathology reports from their breast cancer screenings. Jessica’s history with breast cancer catalyzed her dedication to building Feel For Your Life. She’s the fourth generation on her paternal side of the family to be diagnosed with the disease, and yet, no known gene mutation has been found in her lineage. She first learned how to do a self breast exam after having a benign tumor removed at 18, and nearly 15 years later, Jessica was diagnosed with Stage 2B invasive ductal carcinoma after performing a routine self exam in the shower. She underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, 24 rounds of radiation, a hysterectomy and 10-hour flap reconstruction.

Since launching the app, Jessica has expanded her advocacy into healthcare reform. She has helped write legislation in the State of Tennessee to promote risk reducing measures against cancer and disease. Billed as the Feel For Your Life Act, it requires high school students to learn about self breast exams, testicular exams and skin exams. Additionally, Jessica has spoken out against insurance companies before members of Congress. She is working to eliminate quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) scores, Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) and co-pay accumulators. Jessica plans to grow her efforts further by working with medical providers, patients and vendors to bridge the gaps that keep individuals from getting access to the care they deserve.

Jessica has been featured on Good Morning America, Tank’s Good News, USA Today, The Dave Ramsey Show, UpWorthy and several national and international media outlets. She’s worked with the NFL on their Crucial Catch Campaign to promote cancer screenings, received the Hometown Hero Award from Ponce Law on Nashville’s Fox 17, has been recognized by the National Breast Cancer Foundation for her leadership initiatives and was the recipient of the Mona Lisa Foundation Grant in 2023. In 2020, the NFL’s Crucial Catch Campaign partnered with Jessica to spread awareness about the importance of screenings being missed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. She serves as an active committee member of the Tennessee Advocate for Breast Cancer (TA4BC) group.

Learn more:
https://www.feelforyourlife.com/meet-jessica
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicabaladadhttps://www.instagram.com/jessica.baladad/?hl=enhttps://www.instagram.com/jessica.baladad/?hl=enhttps://www.facebook.com/JessicaBaladad01/

Email: [email protected]

Renee Rodriguez helps protective mothers in a custody battle against a narcissistic co-parent to go into family court and get the custody arrangement that's best for their kids. Like Renee, these women have suffered psychological abuse at the hands of their former partners and are working to ensure their children are protected from further cruelty.

Her company, Best Foot Forward, is an example of a number of things: changing careers mid-life, pulling herself up after trauma, doing it all as a single mom, and bringing a sense of adventure and a sense of humor to it all…even with a heavy subject in which she immerses herself every day! Renee empowers parents to help themselves and find a shining bright light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Her turning point was during her custody battle for her son, after leaving a relationship rife with mental abuse. As a daughter of a Puerto Rican father whose family sought a better life on the mainland when he was 12 and a mother who only later pursued her GED, education and hard work was impressed upon her. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, the perfect Catholic student, who ended up having a child with a cruel, covert narcissist (diagnosed). She had been a performance coach for a couple decades, and switched her career to help other women succeed in dealing with their narcissistic nightmares.

Now she is focused on creating reverberating change in the new field of “divorce coaching,” as a custody consultant, Violence Against Women (VAW) Advocate, and a certified instructional designer, melding it together to allow abused parents to find self-empowerment again.

The Custody Blueprint® (TCB) exists to prepare protective parents for court through Strategy, Mindset and Evidence and using truth and virtue even in the face of lies and manipulation. Renee finds that moms are dependent on their lawyers to save them, and they have no real sense of how best to present their evidence in court. What really sets her blueprint apart is focusing on the mindset of dealing with a high-conflict co-parent--both in a custody battle AND as a mom trying to co-parent with a damaged individual. She addresses the shame, the guilt and the helplessness through her TCB program.

Learn more:

thecustodyblueprint.com

https://www.facebook.com/thecustodyblueprint

https://www.instagram.com/thecustodyblueprint/

https://www.youtube.com/@TheCustodyBlueprint

Lana Sheppard is a business coach, author and champion for entrepreneurs ready to embrace what many fear—letting go. Her latest book, the 2nd in the Give Up Series, is Give-Up: Lift Off, guiding business owners and leaders in challenging outdated beliefs, habits and narratives that stand in the way of real success. Lana’s passion lies in showing entrepreneurs how financial literacy and strategic decision-making can unlock sustainable growth in a way that’s practical, engaging and unlike anything you've encountered before.

Having built her success from the ground up—moving to Toronto at 17, securing a sales job with pure grit and climbing the ranks by teaching herself accounting and business strategy—Lana knows firsthand the feeling of hitting walls, feeling stuck and even becoming your own biggest obstacle. Embracing these lessons has led to her success in the last 20 years dominating the payroll and bookkeeping industry and growing and selling several businesses. Lana understands the keys of success that many pass by: why mindset matters. Through her book, workshops and coaching, she empowers entrepreneurs to release what no longer serves them and ignite what does. Her approach isn’t about giving up on dreams; it’s about letting go of the things standing in their way.

Lana believes success truly begins when entrepreneurs stop trying to do it all and start doing the right things well. She likens it to a hot air balloon: without shedding the extra weight, there’s no way to soar.

Lana provides some tips for entrepreneurs and talks about the difference between coaches and mentors. While she lives in Canada, she joined us from Malaysia.

Website: www.giveupbook.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/giveupbook

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giveup/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557930963745

Marissa McKool, MPH, The Public Health Burnout Coach, is a renowned coach, speaker and advocate with a mission to help female leaders and mid-career professionals alleviate their persistent work-stress and double their free time to achieve work-life balance. With more than 15 years of public health leadership experience and a personal journey overcoming burnout, Marissa empowers women to thrive while prioritizing self-care.

Marissa's coaching approach blends evidence-based strategies with feminist coaching principles and personal insights, aiming to eliminate the epidemic of burnout in public health. She teaches women how to set boundaries, reclaim control over their schedule, navigate work-life dynamics and prioritize rest and self-care—without compromising career aspirations. Her clients experience profound transformations, achieving professional milestones like promotions, significant salary increases, and improved well-being.

Learn more:

WEBSITE: https://www.mckoolcoaching.com/

CONTACT INFO:  [email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissa-mckool-a9701892/

Jennifer Henczel is a podcaster, author and founder of the Inspiring Innovators Club and the Women Podcasters Network, Show and Awards. Jennifer’s mission is to lift women’s voices and stories globally.

Jennifer is known for her ability to build thriving, supportive and collaborative communities, and she teaches others how to do the same. She loves creating opportunities for women to connect and collaborate in meaningful ways. Using her proprietary “Rise Reach Results Roadmap” Jennifer provides tools, templates and trainings to help her members generate more impact and influence. Jennifer speaks about her mindset, messaging and monetization strategies for building communities, leveraging content and turning expertise into multiple streams of income.

Jennifer is an award-winning leader and has won or been nominated for a number of awards. Most recently, she won the Business Podcast of the Year Award from Podcast Awards for her Women in Podcasting Show, and the Innovator of the Year Award at the Quill Podcast Awards.

Learn how to "drop the hustle and join the huddle":

WEBSITE:

Women in Podcasting Network www.womenpodcasters.com

PODCASTS:

Women in Podcasting Show www.womeninpodcasting.net/podcast

Inspiring Influencers Show https://www.inspiringshow.com/podcast

SOCIALS:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InspiringShow

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/womeninpodcasting

Facebook Groups: https://www.inspiringshow.com/groups

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer.henczel/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenniferhenczel

Dr. Beth Kaplan is a visionary thought leader, researcher, and keynote speaker who has redefined the intersection of belonging and leadership development. She empowers companies to enhance employee engagement and retention while significantly lowering turnover costs. Beth is a sought-after consultant and advisor for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, government, and educational institutions. She is currently pioneering a groundbreaking belonging tool with the University of Pennsylvania designed to measure belonging and predict the propensity to thrive.

Drawing from more than two decades of experience as a workplace executive and extensive research on belonging and workplace trauma, Beth distilled her expertise into her debut book Braving the Workplace: Belonging at the Breaking Point. Named one of the world’s leading experts in belonging, Dr. Beth Kaplan is sharing her insights on navigating the rapidly changing, modern workplace landscape. Her nonfiction book, Braving the Workplace: Belonging at the Breaking Point, combines groundbreaking research with engaging storytelling to offer a comprehensive guide for both employees and senior leaders to transform their work environments. Dr. Kaplan provides a clear, actionable framework to help individuals and organizations cultivate a sense of belonging at work while promoting mental health.

Belonging is fundamental to our humanity, and the profound consequences of failing to foster it are clear. Gallup reports that more than 80% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going across the board – at work and beyond. Braving the Workplace offers a valuable roadmap for many, from individuals grappling with personal belonging issues to senior leaders tackling leadership challenges and driving inclusivity.

In this heartfelt and helpful book, Dr. Kaplan shares her personal journey of discovery, guiding readers through the importance of belonging in workplaces, while offering compassionate insights and practical wisdom. Braving the Workplace serves as both a mirror and a guide, helping readers recognize unhealthy work environments and providing them with the tools to make informed decisions about their professional and personal lives.

Inside Braving the Workplace, readers will find:

 Strategies for personal growth in finding a sense of belonging in the workplace

 Practical tools to help people cultivate a strong sense of personal belonging in any environment

 A step-by-step guide on how to understand the modern-day worker and lead with belonging, taking action to increase well-being and bottom-line results

 Quizzes and writing prompts for self-reflection to help each reader make informed decisions about their professional and personal lives

Dr. Kaplan has spent 15 years helping companies unlock success through a culture of belonging. As a trailblazer in her field, she integrates cutting-edge neuroscience with behavioral development, ushering in a new era of human connection. Her extensive expertise in learning, leadership development, and post-traumatic growth makes her a standout in her field well-positioned to write a book on the subject.

“We are in a loneliness epidemic, and I don’t think people know where to go or who to turn to. I wrote Braving the Workplace to help people feel less alone. My hope is that this book transforms isolation into a powerful sense of belonging for my readers,” Beth explains. For her work and insights, many call her your workplace best friend.

Dr. Kaplan holds an M.S.Ed and Ed.D in learning and leadership strategy from The University of Pennsylvania. She currently lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.

To learn more:

https://drbethkaplan.com/

https://www.facebook.com/drbethkaplan

https://www.instagram.com/drbethkaplan/

https://x.com/drbethkaplan

Alison Weihe is a founder and award-winning entrepreneur in the construction industry in South Africa over the past 25 years. The Creative Stone Company has built a reputation as an ethical design-driven company of excellence and service. In the past six years she transitioned into the coaching, speaking and writing space where she won further awards – Speaker Factor Winner 2021 of the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa (PSASA) and a Global Coaching award from the Coach Foundation and is a nominee in Women of Stature Awards in South Africa 2025 in the Coaching and Mentoring Category.

As a serial entrepreneur passionate about making a difference, Alison became an Executive Partner in the Mindset Development Institute, alongside her business partner, Jabu Zwane and their growing team, recently winning a further award as one of the top empowerment companies in South Africa. Both Alison and Jabu have a deep commitment to do legacy work, build entrepreneurship education and tell the untold stories of hope and healing in South Africa. Alison has an interesting background as an entrepreneur. She was a political activist for almost 20 years in different shapes and forms, as a journalist and a trade unionist under COSATU. Alison was part of COSATU’s launching Congress in 1985 and worked directly under President Cyril Ramaphosa and many other remarkable leaders of that time.

What sets Alison apart is her vulnerable tone as a profound storyteller. She is known as a Soul Speaker. She believes it is her mission to use her voice as one of reconciliation, hope and healing at a seminal time in our country’s history.

Alison's message: Own your story, live with grace, step into the power of who you were truly meant to be. That is how we heal some of the anguish in the world, one conversation at a time.

Alison joins us from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Learn more:

Website:  https://alisonweihe.com/

Book: Belonging – Finding Tribes of Meaning, by Alison Jessica Weihe

Purchase from Amazon: https://a.co/d/6Xezlll

Facebook: www.facebook.com/alison.weihe

Instagram: www.instagram.com/alison_weihe/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alison-weihe/

Rebe Huntman is a memoirist, essayist, dancer, teacher and poet who writes at the intersections of feminism, world religion and spirituality. For over a decade she directed Chicago’s award-winning Danza Viva Center for World Dance, Art & Music and its dance company, One World Dance Theater. Huntman collaborates with native artists in Cuba and South America, has been featured in Latina Magazine, Chicago Magazine and the Chicago Tribune, and has appeared on Fox and ABC. A Macondo fellow and recipient of an Ohio Individual Excellence award, Rebe has received support for her debut memoir, My Mother in Havana: A Memoir of Magic & Miracle  (Monkfish Book Publishing Company, February 18, 2025), from The Ohio State University, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation, PLAYA Residency, Hambidge Center and Brush Creek Foundation.

"Writing with a physicality of language that moves like the body in dance, Rebe Huntman, a poet, choreographer, and dancer, embarks on a pilgrimage into the mysteries of the gods and saints of Cuba and their larger spiritual view of 'the Mother.' Huntman offers a window into the extraordinary yet seldom-seen world of Afro-Cuban gods and ghosts and the dances and rhythms that call them forth. As she explores the memory of her own mother, interlacing it with her search for the sacred feminine, Huntman leads us into a world of séance and sacrifice, pilgrimage and sacred dance, which resurrect her mother and bring Huntman face to face with a larger version of herself."

Rebe also helps other writers. With over thirty years of experience as a writer and a coach, she shows writers the ropes, helps them build a powerful, personalized writing practice, and teaches writers step by step strategies to find their voices, become the best writers they can be, and deliver their work to the world.

Rebe's essays, poems and short stories appear in The Missouri Review, The Southern Review, Parabola, CRAFT LIterary, The Cincinnati Review, Ninth Letter, South Loop Review, Sonora Review, Tampa Review, The Pinch & elsewhere. She lives in Delaware, Ohio and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Learn more:

www.rebehuntman.com

https://www.instagram.com/rebehuntman/

https://www.facebook.com/rebehuntmanauthor/