Welcome to EP 055 of the CVD Podcast!!Birthdays are usually a time to celebrate. For Barbie Garcia, her 27th birthday will be one she never forgets because it changed her life FOREVER.Barbie was on a boat off the coast of Mexico celebrating her birthday with her friends. Sounds pretty amazing, right!? It was... until the accident.Barbie told the captain her and a friend wanted to go for a swim. A few minutes later, she jumped into the water and got sucked under the boat while it was still in ...

Welcome to EP 054 of the CVD Podcast!!Have you ever heard of a professional best friend? Neither had I... until I met Cassie Heller!She's built a brand called My Friend Cassie in which she is a professional best friend and a life and wellness coach helping creators, entrepreneurs, and young professionals reach their HOTTEST potential without burning out or giving up. Wow!"Behind the scenes, I'm just a punny little lady with big dreams and a tall personality."Cassie is beaming full of amazing ...

Welcome to EP 053 of the CVD Podcast!!I know you might be thinking, "how does someone get involved in human trafficking THREE times!? Let alone once! She must have been putting herself in those situations."Now... our brains do this. We jump to conclusions with partial information. And this is wonderful in many circumstances. Other times, we need to push that judgement or conclusion to the side so we can be open to the full story... this is one of those times.Amanda Blackwood is an absolutely ...

Welcome to EP 052 of the CVD Podcast!!Many of us think about making drastic changes in our lives or "reinventing ourselves" in our twenties or thirties... but what about at 52!? We may think we'll have everything "figured out" by then, but the truth is that life can change at any moment. Lana McAra is the perfect example of that.Lana is an award-winning, international best-selling author and ghostwriter of more than 40 titles with 1 million books sold (many under the name Rosey Dow). However,...

Welcome to EP 051 of the CVD Podcast!! When I met Aariz in 2014, he was strikingly handsome, extremely confident, and pursuing his passion in media. He was also part of a student organization called Enactus Windsor (this is how we met each other), working to make a positive difference in our community. I never would have guessed that he would describe himself as a child as lonely and shy, and I had no clue that he was once very overweight with little drive to pursue his dreams.Then, in 2018, ...

Welcome to EP 050 of the CVD Podcast!! (Yes, you read that right! Episode FIFTY already!)Tia Wolfe is a podcaster who specializes in emotional and trauma healing. She is also an energy healer and life coach. Her life experiences also enables her to be a health/fitness coach as well as a relationship counselor. Tia and I could talk for hours about healing, personal development, and hosting mental health podcasts (and we have lol). It's always fascinating to hear all the details that go in...

"Be a friend, say something nice to a friend, because it could change their life."This is the tagline of The Pat McAfee Show and I feel compelled to echo this message this week.One person I know tried to take their life last week. Another one was seconds away from taking their life one year ago and just shared this on Instagram. I remember what that feeling was like... feeling lost, hopeless, like nothing would change, and that the only option was to take my own life. It's a very scary place ...

Welcome to EP 048 of the CVD Podcast!!Andrea Ames spent 35 years in the corporate world before jumping to entrepreneurship. She was kind of forced out a job when she didn't want to be and had so many questions about whether starting her own business was the right thing to do.Well... it turns out that jump was a huge blessing. Shortly after this transition, Andrea's mother fell ill and Andrea was able to care for her regularly because of the freedom of time that came with owning her own busine...

Welcome to EP 047 of the CVD Podcast!!Frankey Renaud is a retired CFL player turned transformational leadership coach. Pretty awesome, right!?Well, there's A LOT more to Frankey's story than just that. Frankey spent the first 25 years of his life trying to become the man he thought he had to be: tough, muscular, big beard, football player, hiding behind his armor, never choosing to be vulnerable or emotional (I'm sure many men out there can relate to this).After retiring from the CFL due...

Welcome to EP 046 of the CVD Podcast!!Clara Angelina Diaz-Anderson is an incredible woman with an amazing mission!Originally from the Dominican Republic, Clara moved to the US with her parents when she was young. She faced culture shock and depression, especially during the winters. She started to take personal development more seriously and was determined to make her winters better by associating them with fun times. Eventually this led her to ask herself, "if I can CHOOSE to create my best ...