Welcome back, Choice Wisdom!

I say “welcome back” because…well, it’s been a bit since I published a podcast episode.

Basically, I dropped the mic.

But not in the sense that I had something profound to say and it was time to exit the stage on that high note. The reality of what happened was a bit different. It was because I had a lot of realities I needed to sort out and choices to make to keep creating a life I wanted.

I dive into that a bit in this episode, so to get the full story, please listen in!

I also have the pleasure of sharing the stories of two other amazing women I interviewed before I went into podcast hiding:

Mei-Yung Lee is the CEO of Ageless Zen, a skincare company founded as for-profit, but built upon a nonprofit purpose. Her dad was a Chinese medicine doctor and herbalist and when she was growing up, she told me he would always create natural remedies for the family when anyone had a cold or flu. She mentioned it would stink up the house and everything was bitter to drink, but it always provided the cure. And it instilled her a belief in the power of natural healing.

Cara Castellow is a State Farm agent in Ennis, Texas and a force of nature herself, especially in her dual-life role as founder & president of Cara Caters, a nonprofit feeding schoolchildren across her community. Since its founding, it has provided more than 35,000 meals to food-insecure kids in her community.

Among us, we share what it takes to commit to more than one passion and find peace and joy in all of it.

Keep making great choices, and stay inspired, friends! - Gayle

If you'd like to learn more about the guests on this episode, visit https://choicewisdompodcast.com.

"The secret to extraordinary success isn’t pushing harder - it’s unlocking the natural brilliance already within you." - Liam Naden

Liam is a transformational coach who works with business owners and leaders. His pioneering coaching methods combine neuroscience, psychology, and practical strategies to help high achievers unlock their potential and live a deeply balanced, purpose-driven life.

Through his work, Liam helps ambitious people unlock their brain’s full power for business, career, and personal growth. He also helps people build stronger marriages and relationships through connection, trust, and intimacy through employing his proven brain-based methods.

Liam has been in it in a way most successful business people don’t experience. His journey has taken him from the heights of being a serial entrepreneur and millionaire - to losing everything and becoming homeless in his mid-40s – literally overnight. It was only as he rebuilt his life and wealth in a more fulfilling way that he discovered the missing link to true success: the correct functioning of the human brain.

Today, he’s living a life a lot of people would want. I caught up with him on his yacht off the coast of Italy for this conversation. And he’s going to share with you the secret of how that worked for him, and it’s based on something he discovered about humans that happened to us about 12,000 years ago.

This interview is a masterclass in natural success.

If you'd like to learn more about Liam and his work, or reviewother podcasts available from Choice Wisdom, visithttps://choicewisdompodcast.com.

If you find value in this podcast and would like to contribute to making it a success, you can leave a tip here: https://buymeacoffee.com/gaylegoodmanlynch

Susan Louie is a Rapid Transformational therapist, life coach, clinical hypnotherapist, and recovered corporate high achiever. She works with high-powered executives to offer something uniquely powerful: rapid, lasting transformation that honors both their professional drive and their need for deep, meaningful change. And sometimes, one session with her is all it takes.

Susan Louie was a high achiever who twice climbed the corporate ladder over a 25-year career. She lived what seemed like a dream life – running marathons, competing in tennis and skiing, traveling on luxury yachts, and building investment properties.

At age 42, Susan executed a big pivot – to gain greater flexibility to raise her boys as a single mom, she transitioned out of corporate into a role in teaching.

In spite of all the success of career and parenting, one evening everything changed for Susan. She was standing in her driveway after her youngest son had moved out the last of his belongings as he headed out to create his own life. And that’s when panic struck. Susan found herself paralyzed, unable to enter her own home, terrified of being alone - despite all of her accomplishments.

Now in her third career act, Susan combines her corporate and teaching backgrounds working as an executive coach – but not the kind of executive coach you would expect. Most coaches who work with leaders help them refine their leadership style and approach to managing others. Susan, on the other hand, helps her executive clients go on an internal journey to get to the root of stress responses which can stand in the way of great leadership.

If you'd like to learn more about Susan and her work, or review other podcasts available from Choice Wisdom, visit https://choicewisdompodcast.com.

If you find value in this podcast and would like to contribute to making it a success, you can leave a tip here: https://buymeacoffee.com/gaylegoodmanlynch

Featuring: Chelsey Charbeneau, Co-founder & CEO of Breathe Meditation and Wellness and Dr. Claudia Pyland, Associate Professor at TWU and owner of the Transcend Healing psychology practice

What’s the “minimum dose” of mediation to achieve a good result? Most studies have only looked at meditating 7 days per week, but a recent study looked at whether you can get a benefit with just 2 or 4 times per week. The results may surprise you… it surprised the researchers! You will hear it here first on Choice Wisdom!

In the fall of 2024, Breathe Mediation & Wellness in Dallas teamed up with Texas Women’s University researchers to ask this question: how often do you need to meditate to see the best result? They were looking for the “minimum dosage” of mediation to make a significant impact on a person’s mind and body.

This study, which was funded by a grant from the Lichtenstein Foundation, explored qualitative responses of participants, as well as quantitative data.

Before the study began, each participant’s brain was scanned at Braincode Centers in Richardson, Texas. Then a group of participants meditated at Breathe’s physical location in Highland Park either two or four times per week. There was also a control group of participants who did not meditate at all during the three-month period in which the study was conducted.

In this episode, Chelsey and Claudia share the early study results, as well make the case for not only meditating, but why meditating in a group setting is more beneficial than going it alone.

Want to know more? Check out the episode page on https://choicewisdompodcast.com.

Featuring: Sairan Aqrwai, Engineer & Midlife Business Strategist

Sairan Aqrwai is a true American immigrant success story. She is a seasoned professional with a rich background in engineering and business coaching.

In her day job, Sairan is dedicated to driving technical solutions and advancing organizational excellence, employing a strategic mindset and strong problem-solving skills to design and implement comprehensive solutions that meet the highest standards in the industry.

While she is an engineering leader by day, on evenings and weekends, you’ll find her coaching midlife women seeking personal and professional growth. Many of the women with whom she works are navigating a transition in life, such as returning to the workforce after raising their kids, shifting careers, or exploring new entrepreneurial ventures.

Sairan is passionate about helping her clients find their hidden gems and helping them create the life they want.

Want to know more? Check out https://choicewisdompodcast.com

Interested in starting your own business or side gig? Check out the Wantrepreneur Explorations Webinar, happening April 11, 2025 at Noon CDT. Learn more and register at: https://coequalnetwork.com

Featuring: Mary Czarnecki, Entrepreneur & Business Coach

Mary spends a lot of her time giving keynote speeches and facilitating workshops. But she didn’t always believe she was capable of being any of those things! In this episode, she shares how to overcome imposter syndrome and step into the spotlight with confidence.

Mary possesses multiple Ivy League degrees and has a background in brand management, marketing, and strategic development at Johnson & Johnson, WebMD, and Accenture.

Yet despite her credentials, when she went out on her own as a coach, she experienced a crisis of confidence and she had to learn how to overcome her limiting beliefs in order to be successful. Today, she coaches clients from varied walks of life in creating the confidence they need to create the life they want.

In this episode, Mary shares her tips for overcoming imposter syndrome and step into the spotlight with confidence, with wisdom she speaks to in her keynote address titled, “The Key to Becoming Fireproof.”

Want to know more? Visit https://choicewisdompodcast.com

Thinking of starting your own business or going into coaching? Check out the Wantrepreneur Explorations webinar, happening Aprill 11, 2025 at Noon CDT. You can learn more and register at: https://coequalnetwork.com

Featuring: Mary Czarnecki, Sairan Aqrwai & Gayle Goodman Lynch

As many people approach midlife, they start to think that there may be more to life than the work that they do or the job that they have.

By the time we reach our late 40s and into our 50s, especially after the children have left home and are starting their own adventures, it’s almost as if we reach a graduation of sorts ourselves, where we have learned a great deal and we seek to apply our life’s knowledge in service of something more than ourselves. And sometimes that means we outgrow the career that we’ve have for 20, 25, 30 years.

This may be why we are seeing so many people today pivoting into coaching in midlife, especially. Or perhaps looking to start another kind of business, sometimes in a field very different from the industry they’ve grown comfortable in.

In this episode, Choice Wisdom host Gayle Goodman Lynch is joined by two other coaches who approach this conversation from two different angles. Mary Czarnecki is marketing leader turned full-time business coach, workshop leader and speaker. Sairan Aqrawi still works in a full-time job as an engineer, but on the side she coaches midlife women who are seeking professional and personal growth, particularly those who seek to monetize their passions and skills. Each of them brings a unique perspective to the subject of midlife explorations.

If YOU are thinking about starting your own business, make plans to attend Gayle’s free Wantrepreneur Explorations webinar at Noon Central time on Friday, April 11. Whether you are considering taking the leap into business ownership full time or starting gently with a new side gig, this webinar will offer practical things to consider when you are looking to start your own business.

Learn more and register for the webinar here:

https://coequalnetwork.com

To learn more about Choice Wisdom, visit: https://choicewisdompodcast.com

Amanda "(“Mandy”) Ralston has 25+ years of experience in behavior analysis and is deeply committed to reshaping how the world sees autism. Through her latest venture and her thought leadership, she aims to transform the landscape of autism care and other neurodivergent conditions.

Certified as a behavior analyst since 2002, Mandy has founded and scaled two clinics that delivered life-changing applied behavior analysis (ABA) services to hundreds of families, schools, and individuals with autism and other developmental or intellectual disabilities. Her successful exit in 2019 to the fourth-largest ABA provider in the U.S. marked a significant milestone in her career.

Mandy is recognized internationally as a thought leader in behavior analysis, ethics, outcomes, and practice. She has served as a Subject Matter Expert on global panels, sharing her expertise to shape the future of the field. As a dynamic and sought-after speaker, she addresses audiences worldwide on topics including autism spectrum issues and her acclaimed talk, “#ItsNotBinary: Avoiding Binary Thinking in Work, Life, and Social Media.”

Mandy’s latest venture, NonBinary Solutions, and its flagship product Knowetic.ai, are on the cutting-edge of data analytics and technology, pioneering Clinical Decision Support Systems to empower ABA providers and stakeholders within the neurodiversity ecosystem.

As a queer, neurodivergent serial entrepreneur, Mandy focuses her work on fostering a more inclusive and equitable society, driven by the belief that diverse perspectives are essential to meaningful change.

Learn more about Mandy and her work on my website at https://choicewisdompodcast.com

For many people, a new year is a great time to make the choice to do one or more things differently than we’ve done before. The “new year, new me” philosophy fuels the new year’s resolution. However, the reality is that the majority of people who make new year’s resolutions only stick with them for about three months.

If you made a new year’s resolution this year (or are thinking about making one), I want to share my perspective with you. I believe the process behind making new year’s resolutions has a fundamental flaw, and that is – most of us are already too booked up to add anything else to our plates.

Before you dive head-first into making changes big or small in 2025, I invite you to consider what you need to let go of first. The idea is this: before you resolve to do something new, find something you’re already doing that you can replace instead.

Like all choices, it’s simple, but making lasting change isn’t always easy. To help you, I’ve created Practically Grounded, a weekly quick-read newsletter that offers practical tips for leveling up your choices for 2025.

Subscribe to the Practically Grounded Newsletter here:

https://www.choicewisdompodcast.com

Can you change the world through investing? In a country where women-owned businesses receive only 2% of private equity funding, there's certainly room to do just that. In this episode, Kelly Ann Winget, founder & CEO of Alternative Wealth Partners, shares her wisdom on investing in alternatives and how women can both become savvier investors and attract more funding for their businesses.

Alternative Wealth Partners is a Dallas-based private equity company that manages diversified funds of alternative assets. An alternative investment is anything outside traditional assets – which are stocks, bonds and cash. Alternatives cover a broad range assets, such as oil and gas, real estate, crypto, venture investing, private equity, and collectibles, such as stamps or art.

Traditionally, private equity has a reputation of being complicated and exclusive. As Kelly explains it, this is because the industry lacks transparency, as well as diversity in the management. Kelly and her team seek to remove these barriers by allowing the public into the alternative investment space by making it understandable and accessible to Main Street investors.

Want to know more? Check out the episode page on https://choicewisdompodcast.com.