Fiat Career Coaching Podcast

How do you react when someone dear to you is suffering? Are you quick to provide a consoling word, or is your immediate response to be a loving presence?

Debbie Herbeck was born Jewish. She grew up in a Jewish family, had Jewish friends, and thought everyone was Jewish. She had never read the Bible and didn’t know anything about Jesus.

We all desire authentic love. The kind of love that doesn’t run away when we put up walls or when we fall or when we struggle to love ourselves. We all want that faithful kind of love that lasts, that is proven in fire.

Think of someone in your life, (or maybe you’re that person), who is secure in who he or she is. That has experienced that kind of authentic love, and freely gives it out.

They practically glow with genuineness, and you feel more like yourself being around them, because they fully embrace themselves, warts and all. I can think of many such people.

Rachel Bulman, my guest for today, is one of those people. She is an author, speaker, wife and mother to six children, with one in heaven. Speaking to her was like speaking to the older sister I never had. She is a woman fully secure in who she is and whose she is (a beloved daughter of God).

She is funny, real, and the kind of person you want to invite over for coffee every week.

I first heard about her through a reality television show on YouTube, called "Meet the Bulmans" back in 2022. (If you haven’t seen it, you have my permission to stop reading, click the link, binge watch a couple episodes and then come back.) It follows the lives of Rachel, her husband Jason and their kids, and their joys and challenges of the week.

My husband and I watched it around the time we got married and it gave me great hope as we embarked on this crazy, wonderful journey.

Through this podcast episode, my prayer is that you’ll not only be re-affirmed in your true identity as God’s beloved, but you’ll also become more aware of the many small and big ways His love is manifested in the people and situations around you.

Tune in for:

Resources mentioned in the episode:

To learn more about Rachel, visit https://www.rachelbulman.com/.

To connect with Valentina, visit https://fiatcareercoaching.com/.

This past summer while speaking at the GIVEN Forum in Washington, D.C., I had the pleasure of meeting Felicitas Brugo Onetti.

Felicitas was a fellow panel speaker, and I was really moved by her life’s mission of combatting human trafficking and wanted to share her story with you.

She is as an Anti-Trafficking Education and Outreach Coordinator for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where she works to highlight the intersections of social justice issues such as foster care, substance use, online exploitation, young adults, child welfare issues, and other adverse health and social effects.

As God would have it, we had the opportunity to record this episode in person and talk more about her work, how she maintains her joy while working in such a heart-wrenching field, and the importance of approaching difficult conversations with love.

Tune in for:

Resources mentioned in the episode:

To connect with Valentina, visit https://fiatcareercoaching.com/.

Holiness is attractive. Think of Mother Teresa, John Paul II or even that elderly woman at church whose encouraging smile and wave puts you at ease and somehow points you to Christ.

Regardless of our particular vocations or the circumstances in our lives, we are called to be living icons of God. However, sometimes in the griminess of life and the bumps and bruises we experience, we can begin to put holiness on an altar and think it’s just for nuns or priests or the aforementioned old lady at church. But not so.

There are women like the Mexican mystic from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, María Concepción Cabrera de Armida, (lovingly called Conchita) who show us that holiness is for everyone.

Conchita, who is now a Blessed, is one stage away from becoming a canonized Saint in the Catholic church. She was a wife, mother of nine, foundress of five Apostolates and author on the level of St. Thomas Aquinas.

I had the great pleasure of speaking with evangelist and author, Kathleen Beckman about her book on Conchita’s spirituality, “Beautiful Holiness: A Spiritual Journey With Blessed Conchita to the Heart of Jesus.”

This was a conversation I know I will come back to for all the grace-filled gems that Kathleen shared. We spoke about:

It was truly an honor to speak with Kathleen and I know this conversation will bless you as much as it did me.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

As an avid reader, I am always on the lookout for good children’s books that share the faith and inspire the love of reading in my son.

I was delighted to read Susan Joy Bellavance’s new children’s book, “When Jesus Speaks,” and was enthralled by the beautiful illustrations and text.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Susan to talk about her inspiration of the book, and it was a joy hearing her passion and the insights she desired both parents and children take away from the book. Susan is a ball of energy, with a true love for the Eucharist, the priesthood, and the power of God’s word.

To learn more about Susan's other books, visit: https://www.susanjoybooks.com/.

To connect with Valentina, visit: https://fiatcareercoaching.com/.

**This will be last podcast episode of the season, as I will be taking a break for the summer to resume again in the Fall.**

What does a typical Sunday look like for you? Does it revolve around time in worship with anticipation of a lively breakfast after church? Does the idea of Sunday conjure up thoughts of a cozy nap or of laundry day in preparation for the week?

As we navigate life, it can sometimes be tempting to live in a disintegrated way. How often do we “live for the weekends” or look at something so essential as our health as separate from our faith life.

“Live simply. Eat simply. Love one another simply. Do not complicate matters unnecessarily. How do you live simply? You remove activities that are not necessary or that pull you away from duty. Consider your duty. Then move through each day and try to serve only that duty. Have order in your life and in the life of your family. There should be a rhythm to each day that does not change.

Rise at the same time. Retire at the same time in the evening. Pray at the same time. This creates an environment in which you are free to consider God. Do not think, my friends, that you live in a world where the need for simplicity has disappeared. There should be calm and if there is not calm in your life, change your life and keep changing it until you feel calm.”⁠

Have you ever read a quote or story at just the right time? The type of writing that just speaks to what you’re walking through at that very moment?

That’s how I felt when I read Constance Hull’s article, “How Our Worldly Failures Lead Us to Grow in Hope” last year.

I had been praying for an increase in the virtue of hope and struggling with some recent disappointment. Reading Constance’s words was a gentle, yet firm, reminder on how to tackle life’s disappointments like the saints.

This episode is for you if you’re walking through a season of changes, sickness, loneliness, or if things aren’t going the way you planned.

By the end you’ll be encouraged and reorientated to the true source of all our hope.

Some helpful resources that Constance references are:-

Be sure to share with a friend. I pray you have a blessed Good Friday and Easter!

To read more of Constance's writing, visit https://catholicexchange.com/author/constancehull/.

To connect with Valentina, visit www.fiatcareercoaching.com.

What was the last beautiful thing you saw? Was it the morning light as it danced across your windowpane? The face of your child or your beloved? Or the steam rising from your coffee as you reached for your favorite mug? Hold that memory for a second.

Did you know that deep down, at the essence of that very thing, is God? Bear with me for a moment.

The very depth of all things that are good, true and beautiful is God. He is Beauty. If you don’t believe me, then take a listen to today’s episode.

During Holy Week in 1962, Saint John Paul II, then Karol Wojtyla, delivered a retreat to a group of artists about the beauty of God, the ache of artists, the importance of prayer, and the Eucharist.

Originally published in Polish, this retreat was recently discovered by Dr. Christopher West, from the Theology of the Body Institute (TOBI) and translated to English. The result is the book, “God is Beauty: A Retreat on the Gospel and Art,” which contains Wojtyla’s exquisite retreat, as well as rich reflections by various artists and theologians on Wojtyla’s major themes.

Today’s guest is Bill Donaghy, Senior Lecturer and Content Specialist for the Theology of the Body Institute, and one of the authors of the book. In our conversation today we discuss:

I think you will thoroughly enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Reading this book changed my view for the better on who God is, who I am, and how I’m meant to view those around me. I highly recommend it, whether you think you’re an artist or not.

As Saint John Paul II said, “Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term. Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life … to make of it a work of art."

Additionally, the TOBI is also offering a discount to all listeners for this book. Use the code BEAUTY during checkout to get 20% off one or more copies of God Is Beauty from their store.

To purchase the book visit: https://shop.corproject.com/collections/books/products/god-is-beauty-a-retreat-on-the-gospel-art.

To connect with Valentina, visit: www.fiatcareercoaching.com.