In Her Eyes

To kick off Season 4 of the In Her Eyes podcast, we begin the journey of self-discovery and the process of tapping into the power of our TRUE SELVES.

I have the PERFECT person to bring that conversation to you this week.

Ironically, much of our conversation revolves around the beauty of IMPERFECTION, and the lessons that it teaches us about BEAUTY, HARMONY, and the activation of SELF-LOVE.

In this episode, Ebonie takes us on a beautiful journey from the awkward little girl who didn't fit in to a woman who lives each day in JOY as a full expression of herself.  

She shares with us how each level of deeper understanding of herself, her passions, and the world around led her to the creation of a home that supports her. Ebonie describes her own space as one woven together through form and function to meet all of her needs, beautifully.  Her intentionality of each space is an inspiring lesson that we can all use to take action on our own spaces.

She describes, in detail, the daily ritual she uses to activate her Magical Essence.  The power and alignment it brings her. And we discuss how sharing it with the young girls in our lives empowers them to express their own authenticity.

And so much more!

For the complete show notes: Episode webpage

Stepmothers get a really bad rap.

And Disney does no favors to us stepmoms!

Emotions are hard to navigate on their own.  But when you introduce the dynamics of the role you play in someone else’s life, you’re sailing through uncharted seas with numerous variables.

This week I am sharing with you an extraordinary conversation that I had with a remarkable woman who supports high-achieving women in their roles as step-mothers. 

Liz Kelly is  a stepmom of nearly ten years to two teenage (bonus) boys and mom to two toddler boys.

She and her husband are raising these four incredible souls on our homestead near Princeton, New Jersey.

Five years ago, she became steeped learning how the brain processes emotion. Now as a neuro-emotional coach, she works with high-achieving women – especially stepmoms – providing emotional safety and the tools and language to understand how their emotions work. Through this work, women are changing how they show up for themselves and their families.

Liz comes from a 20-year career in writing and public relations to make her the perfect person to do this work in the world..

When you have found success in various areas of your life, it is hard to admit to struggling in such a vital and central area of your life.

Liz shares with us the reasons that she started working with stepmoms and how her research in neuro-emotions and self-regulation have become a refreshing, if not REVOLUTIONARY, way of looking at step-parenting.

This conversation is eye-opening if you play a central role in the raising of ANY children.  

Liz helps us design the life that we want as a stepmom by:

Throughout this conversation we discuss the ways that we can create emotionally-nourishing and supportive environments to help our kids, our spouse, and ourselves thrive in the blended-family dynamic.

I have to admit that I held a great deal of angst going into this conversation.  In truth, it is not something that I feel like I have done well to date.  

But in this beautiful and heart-felt conversation, Liz opened my eyes to a different way to approach so many of the challenges that I have encountered.

And, mostly, that I am not alone in my struggles.

For the complete shownotes: episode webpage

Instagram @lizpkelly

One of the easiest ways to enrich your overall health and well-being is to incorporate herbs into your daily life. But there is so much information out there, it is hard to know where to begin.

And most of us have been raised to be wary of things that grow on their own.

In the Western Hemisphere, we have come to see “health” as an ongoing battle. We are constantly trying to fix things that are broken or out of whack. Incorporating herbs into your everyday life creates a natural balance where your body is better able to respond to its surroundings with ease.

That’s why I am so excited to share with you the conversation that I had with a Master Herbalist!

My guest on this week’s episode, Heidi Benard, came to herbalism in the most pure way possible: wanting a healthier existence for her daughter than she had as a child.

Heidi has been creating organic herbal products professionally for over a decade and she started My Herbal Apothecary in 2019.

Her continued curiosity encourages her to extend her education and exploration every year. Heidi enjoys distilling this information into fun, easy-to-access plant-based products for your home medicine cabinet.

Our bodies are designed to process things in their most natural state, not the extracted and synthesized way we get most of our nutrients.

In this conversation, we discuss the simplest ways to get more goodness into our bodies.

Whether you are new the herbalism or have a cupboard full of tinctures and tisanes, you will love this conversation on the simplicity of introducing herbs into your life.

For the complete show notes (and how to make the deliciously healthy Nettles tea that we talk about) head over to: Episode Webpage

If you are looking to expand your journaling practice, feel stuck, or have yet to develop one; this episode is for you.

I find journaling to be the greatest gift I give to myself.

The ULTIMATE SELF-CARE.

Gems of wisdom, symbols, poetry, understanding, clarity, and guidance all appear in the private pages of my musing.

There is a reason the Julia Cameron’s brilliant book, The Artist’s Way, relies so heavily on the practice of journaling (or what she refers to as “the morning pages.”)

In this episode I guide you through the process of finding your journaling sweet spot.

I also share with you a bit of the poetry that appeared in my journal. In the page that I opened to, to share from, was one whereI was up in the middle of the night writing outside under a full moon. NOT something that happens often.

But one where I am eternally grateful for the moment, and the words that came through.

Whether you are a journaling novice, or an old pro like me, you will find a path to a deeper level of creativity in this episode.

For all the links to the items mentioned in this episode (and a sneak peek at the page I read from in the episode) head over to: Episode Webpage

Meditation has been shown to have cardiovascular and neurological benefits. But it can also expand your own creativity.

It seems that I run into a lot of people who say that they can’t meditate. Or they aren’t very good at it. (Their words not mine.)

Recently, my step-daughter asked me about starting a meditation practice. It got me thinking about where I started, how my practice has evolved over the years.

Because we are talking about creativity this month, I had originally planned to create a meditation for listeners addressed to creativity. But then I realized that I had so much to offer to those that find it difficult to meditate. So instead, I decided to create a podcast dedicated to beginning or helping you expand your practice.

In this episode you will learn:

Whether you are trying to achieve a goal, form a healthy habit, create art or build a business that will rock the world you need space.

Defining the physical space will allow you to create the mental space.

It will also help you evaluate the things that come up on the other side of “trying.”

In this episode, I walk you through the steps to finding and defining the physical space.

Even if (especially if!)you think you don’t have it.

And then I help you come face to face with the RESISTANCE that appears once you move toward the action taking place within your space.

I walk you through the 4 questions that you need to ask yourself to make magic happen in your life.

For the full show notes, the questions, and link to my upcoming MasterClass; head over to: Episode 79 webpage

If you have ever wondered why you may struggle to pick wall colors or hang art in your home, this podcast is for you.

In this episode, my guest is a fellow artist and color obsessed momma.

Visual artist, colorist, writer Barbara Mayfield was born and raised in Philadelphia, studied at the Tyler School of Art and is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

She works in oil and acrylic on canvas, panel and paper, as well as assemblage. Her luminous imagery celebrates the natural world and our place in it.

She authored and illustrated The Magical Mrs. Iptweet and Me, an award-winning novel for the grade-school set about the joys and power of creative play and community.

She was one of four artists on the first mural arts team at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Community Programs Department who brought contemporary mural art to Philadelphia.

In 1991, Mayfield moved to northern New Mexico where she studied monotype printmaking at the Santa Fe Art Institute.

Her work has been represented by galleries in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Stamford, Connecticut, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Her artworks are part of public and private collections across the country.

She began her career in color consulting in 2015 with the Benjamin Moore Paint Co.

Now an independent color consultant, Mayfield serves residential and commercial clients who seek an artist’s eye and color expertise and sensibility when choosing paint colors in the greater Philadelphia area.

Barbara shares with us how art is an integral part of her whole life. She was raised by an artist and despite being encouraged to pursue more lucrative careers, she never really found another hat that fit.

In the episode, Barbara reads an excerpt from her book: The Magical Ms. Iptweet and Me. She tells the fascinating story of how the book came to be. She reinforced my belief that allowing yourself to dream (and keeping a pencil and paper by your bed) has real world implications!

We talked extensively about the power and importance of choosing and hanging artwork at home.

How and where to find local artists.

How to communicate with them (they are mostly introverts, so this is important!)

Wall colors that work best with art.

The importance of positioning.

The healing powers of a color aligned home.

Why you SHOULDN’T test out a wall color by painting a sample on the wall.

And so much more!

To see Barbara’s extraordinary art and experience her hilariously, informative “Artists in Cars” drive-bys that explain exterior paint color choices, head over to the episode webpage: Episode 78

Do you wish you had more energy to bring to your day?

How about joy?

Do you feel like juggling ALL THE THINGS lives little time for YOU in your life?

If so, you will LOVE this episode!

On this week's podcast, I share a conversation that I had with the host of the Cheers, Mama podcast, Katie Dragos. We break down the important things you need to know about living life more fully while being everything for everyone.

Katie is a mindset and personal growth coach, and a full-time working mama and wife, who is committed to celebrating the everyday and sharing the honest truths of working mom life. With over 17 years of marketing, event planning and community service work, she has combined her loves of creativity, cultivating connections and helping others with a one-on-one coaching and community-based program for working moms and caregivers called “Unleash Your Awesome”.

Katie is passionate about helping other multi-passionate mamas re-find themselves and reclaim their energy in order to find more JOY in the day-to-day of life.

Filled with both practical tips and mindset shifts, this episode covers so many of the things that we face when trying to balance all of our responsibilities.

We look at

To learn more, head over to the full show notes: Episode 77 Webpage

Could our seasonal allergies be exacerbated by our current physical and emotional state?

I believe they are.

As a kid, I didn’t hear about seasonal allergies very often.

In fact, when I announced to my family that I had a “debilitating allergy to dust” to avoid spring cleaning, I thought I was pretty unique.  I wore that badge proudly for years.

As I have continued to rid my house of artificial fragrances and other toxins, I find that I almost never experience anything that you would put the “allergy” label on.  And my immune system seems capable of combating other more dangerous invaders as well.

The perfect balance.

If we look at the emotional states that can amplify allergic reactions and how to take action from a more systemic approach, we see a fascinating correlation.

In this episode, I help you find the solutions to take charge of your immune system so that it doesn’t overreact when exposed to all the precious responses our plant friends are producing in the days and weeks ahead.

When we think of our body as a castle, and our immune system as the knights who are protecting the castle, we can start to see how we can approach allergy season with a sense of control rather than helplessness.  

We look at 

For the complete show notes, visit the episode webpage.

All month long we are tackling thoughts and ideas that come up in the process of this proverbial season of Spring Cleaning.

In this episode, we are taking inventory.

But it is an inventory with intention.

Stepping outside of that route energy of “I should” will guide you toward your path to upgrading whatever space (physical or mental) that you are working on.

When we let our hearts guide our actions, we automatically upgrade whatever we are working on.

Tune in to discover how the simple act of “cleaning” can lead to an energetic upgrade that can ultimately transform your life.

For the full show notes, head to: Episode 75 Webpage