Courtney: Beyond the Cake

Dan Davis is the founder, CEO, and creative mind behind Stiry, a video storytelling platform whose purpose is to help people discover their infinite potential through stories that move them. In fact, the tagline for Stiry is “stories that stir" - they’re meant to stir emotions that lead to positive action.

Since starting Stiry in 2016, Dan has directed over 200 films around the world - from billion dollar CEO’s, to the number one rock band in the world, and to the everyday person that has an inspiring story to tell.

But Dan didn’t always know storytelling and making connections with people was his purpose. Dan was an entrepreneur - has been since he was 12-years-old and thought he always would be. After starting a sports company in college that didn’t pan out, Dan went on to help run a multi-million dollar film production company and then made a drastic jump into healthcare, where he took on the title of CEO by the age of 30.

Everything looked great on paper, but after a few months in this corporate role, Dan knew it wasn’t right. With the support of his wife and family, he resigned, moved his family back to Utah and with no money, no job and a family to support, he finally took the time to discover his own story… and Stiry was born.

Dan’s philosophy is that “every person deserves to wake up every single day with purpose and when you dedicate time to uncover your story, you can reveal the greatness already within and have the power to do something extraordinary with your life.”

Today Dan and I talk about the unexpected turns along his path, what it was like walking away from a booming career, why personal inspiration is such a big part of his life, and how Stiry is meant to connect us, inspire us and move us to find purpose in the every day.

Links:
http://stiry.myshopify.com/

Elena Davis was born in Sardegna, Italy - home to her mother’s family and where she’s spent nearly every summer of her childhood and adulthood since moving to the states when she was seven years old. Italy is home, just as much as Salt Lake City is for Elena now. It’s where her roots planted and grew deep over years and years of returning to visit her “nonna” and “nonno.” It’s where she fell in love with cooking, baking and most of all, sharing food around tables of new acquaintances, old friends and family. Elena’s website, mamamiamangia.com, is filled with these family recipes, stories and traditions, along with new creations and a passion for sharing the joy food brings to our lives.

In addition to dreaming up recipes, Elena is a mother to three children and a part-time reading specialist at a high school in Salt Lake City, Utah. She enjoys running, hiking, and traveling with her family, including yearly Sardegna trips.


https://www.mamamiamangia.com

Kylie Childs is a 6th grade teacher who found her passion for teaching at an early age. Having now been part of the education system for several years, Kylie’s love for her students and teaching our youth has continued to grow, as have her concerns around the education system, and not just due to at-home learning during the pandemic. Kylie says, more and more, teachers and parents are at odds over the learning process and the students are the ones suffering.

Bekah Brewer, is a self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur, who recently became a mother and as she looked at the type of education she wanted to give her son, felt concerned for her options.

Mutual friends brought Kylie and Bekah together, but it’s the mutual mission these women share that has been the catalyst to their business: Cube Kids.

Kylie and Bekah started Cube Kids just last year in hopes to bridge the gap between teachers, parents, and students with weekly, at-home, interactive lessons to help enhance what is being taught at school.

Monica Packer is a self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist, who’s journey started when she was just a teenager battling the need to reach an ideal she had created in her mind about academics, spirituality, body image… you name it. After years of battling perfectionism, and developing eating disorders, Monica finally decided it was time to change and chose to focus on progress. That shift in perspective led Monica to start a blog, which quickly transformed into a popular podcast, About Progress.

Monica is a wife, a mom, a podcaster and a progress coach. Her goal is to save women from themselves, by helping them ditch perfectionism, step into their gifts and move toward real progress.

Monica has been a dear friend of mine for over 8 years now and I’m so excited we have the opportunity to learn from her and feel inspired by her today.

Si Foster was born in Okinawa, Japan, where her parents met, married and started their family. It’s also where Si fell in love with food, thanks to her mother’s influence in the kitchen. But it wasn’t until Si was a newlywed and learned that if she wanted to eat good food, she was going to have to make it. She started teaching herself the ins and outs of the kitchen, created a food club with her friends, and eventually started a blog, “A Bountiful Kitchen,” in 2008.

Since then, Si’s focus has been on creating delicious, accessible recipes for the whole family. You’ll often see her cooking with her daughters, serving meals to the masses, and sharing her food knowledge with her followers and friends on Instagram, as well as in in-person classes.

Most recently, Si’s journey has taken her abroad, yet again - this time with her husband Grant, as they serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Spain, Barcelona mission.

Today, Si shares with us the lasting impact her mother’s cooking had on her life, the importance of family meal time, what led to putting life on pause to serve a mission for the Church, and what that experience has been like during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Shayna Ferm and Tracey Tee, moms and creators of The Pump and Dump Show, are bringing you a new podcast: Band of Mothers. With no topic off limits, the Band of Mothers podcast explores women’s lifestyle subjects with honest, hilarious and entertaining conversations through the lens of being a mom in today’s world. This is a podcast for every mom, because every mom should have a Band of Mothers. Listen at http://wondery.fm/BOM_BeyondTheCake.

At an early age Jocelyn Delk Adams was in the kitchen with her grandmother learning the ins and outs of home cooked meals and decadent desserts made from scratch. While Jocelyn was devoted to dancing at the time, those visits to “big mama” Maggie’s house were always magical and the memories became a permanent fixture in Jocelyn’s heart - and are the reason baking eventually became her full-time passion and career.

Jocelyn is the founder of Grandbaby Cakes, a brand inspired by big mama, which shares classic recipes in modern and accessible ways. She’s also the author of Grandbaby Cakes, the cookbook, a national television personality and brand ambassador. You’ve likely seen her gracing the screen of the Today Show, Food Network, The Rachael Ray Show, and Good Morning American - to name a few!

Today on “Courtney, Beyond the Cake,” Jocelyn shares with us how Grandbaby Cakes began and how she turned it into her full time gig. Beyond that, and probably what I’m most excited for you to hear today, is our conversation around motherhood and the importance of finding magical moments in our every day lives.

Fifteen years ago Karalynne Call found herself in a life-threatening battle with depression. After attempting to take her own life, Karalynne was desperate for help and healing. Help, she was able to find with doctors who tried their best to prescribe the right antidepressants with the right dosage for her needs, but it was the healing part that Karalynne felt was still out of her grasp - until she finally found a doctor who believed that what Karalynne was experiencing was something that could, in fact, be healed. Karalynne then went on a two year journey with this doctor that completely changed her mental and physical health.

Karalynne is a mom of six, a certified nutritionist, a wellness coach and a mental health advocate. On her Instagram and website, Just Ingredients, she offers tips and tricks, how-to’s and why’s behind choosing better, whole, non-toxic ingredients.

Today, Karalynne and I are talking about her journey overcoming depression, the changes she’s made in her lifestyle to help in healing, how we can correct hormone imbalances through the foods we eat and products we use, and what Karalynne hopes to teach others from her experiences.

Just Ingredients
https://justingredients.us
@just.ingredients
https://www.mygutsyhealth.com/blog/fighting-fepression-with-diet

Mental Health
https://www.nami.org/help
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

Suicide Prevention Lifeline
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/

Today on Courtney Beyond the Cake, I’m welcoming my friend and beauty guru, Courtney Anderson, CEO to five Spa Trouvé locations here in Utah.

In 2011, Courtney discovered her passion for the beauty industry when she started working as a manager for a local spa. While Courtney was falling head over heals for her job, the company was unknowingly about to go out of business. But, by the time she found out about the companies financial woes, she had already fallen in love with the work and was determined to save it.

Nine years later, Courtney is the CEO of five Spa Trouvé locations and has evaluated Spa Trouvé to one of the premiere medical spas in Utah.

Today, we’re talking about how Courtney turned a failing company into a success story, as well as her thoughts about how the beauty industry has changed over the years, how it’s changed our perceptions of self love and self care, her must have skincare services and products, and the one product she says no woman should live without.

Marcia Cornell, is the founder and CEO of My Mind’s Eye. Does that name ring a bell? You’ve likely heard me talk about this brand time and time again on Instagram. My Mind’s Eye is a paper crafting and party goods company that has become my go-to over the years for party decor for birthdays, holidays and photoshoots.

After seeing a void in the scrapbooking marketplace, Marcia launched My Mind’s Eye in 1999 with a hand-illustrated line of coordinating paper crafting products. She quickly grew My Mind’s Eye into one of the leading brands in scrapbooking and in 2014 expanded the brand into party and stationary.

Since launching the party goods line, My Mind’s Eye has been featured by dozens of magazines, television shows, movies and even at the White House.

Running My Mind’s Eye for over two decades now, Marcia has seen her fair share of bumps in the road, including a recent battle with breast cancer. Through it all, Marcia has kept her can-do attitude and shares with us today why she never gave up.