Astrid Baumgardner is a Yale Professor, NYC-based career coach, author of the book Creative Success Now, TedX speaker (you name it!) who helps others make life and career choices based on their values, strengths and passions.  But - for an important twist - Astrid also made her own life leap, which really came to focus in a time of personal and physical crisis, after she went into a coma, 25 years into her career..

Today, Astrid delves into:

• What sparked her own life leap after 25 years
• The questions we should all ask ourselves
• What mindset is (and isn't!) helpful
• Why we should all unlock and cultivate our inner creativity when making life and career changes - and how to do it

Check out Episode 41 and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!

And learn more about Astrid Baumgardner at www.astridbaumgardner.com, on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram @astridlrb.  Learn more about her book, Creative Success Now, and watch her TEDx talk, Cracking the Code on Creativity.

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Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
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• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

Today we're back with a solo episode from your host on how we can evaluate our time, energy and talents in a whole new way to help us leap.  We'll  dive into (and highly recommend you also check out for yourself!):

• Rachel Rodgers' book "We Should All Be Millionaires:  A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power"
• Gay Hendrix's book "The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life To The Next Level"
• Plus a previous podcast episode of our own with Yale Professor, life coach, TedX speaker and more, Astrid Baumgartner (Ep. 14), on unlocking your creativity to live a life more in alignment with your values and goals.

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Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

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• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

Lori Leonardo wanted love, marriage, and a kid (in that order).  But when she found herself in her late thirties, divorced, and frustrated with her options, she decided to take matters into her own hands.  In this rewind episode, we’ll hear about Lori’s leap into single motherhood, by choice, including: 

• How and why she decided to do it
• Reactions from her friends and family 
• How she had a very slim chance—one shot, actually—and decided to take it 
• How she found the resources that made this all possible, and 
• What she wishes she’d known, plus larger insights for the rest of us who might feel we’ve reached a dead end but might not have considered other, ‘less-traveled’ paths 
• *PLUS, an update on Lori's life that has significantly affected her parenting plans since this episode aired a year ago*

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Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

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• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

Today, we're rewinding to Sara and Nick, whose family of five leapt across the world five years ago and isn't done yet.  Since we first aired this episode, we've heard from a LOT of parents -- especially those with younger kids -- trying to figure out ways to make changes while also balancing their relationship with each other, their careers, of course their kids' needs.  Leaping as a family is its own beast, no doubt.  But Sara's and Nick's journey, not just the whole getting overseas part (the "chosen challenge") but the unexpected challenges like a layoff, a big change in career goals, and more, remind us that change and doing hard things as a family -- whatever that looks like for you -- can make us tighter, better and stronger.  So tune in to hear how Sarah and Nick Windschitl, two teachers from Minneapolis with three kids under the age of 10, did and continue to do it.

Also, here’s the podcast episode we referenced from one of our amazing listeners, Deb, who went back to school in her thirties and said it was one of the toughest and best things she’s ever done. And she recently did a related update!

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

When Yasmine, a then-mom of two on maternity leave, decided to go back to school instead of back to her day job, she knew she was taking the less-traveled path. Then she got pregnant, started her first "internship" at 34, and things really got interesting.  Or, as she puts it, very freeing.  Join us in Ep. 37 as we discuss making changes as a mom, a Millennial, and what it is that really gets in our way.  “For me, for a long time, my limiting belief was it's too late," Yasmin says. "It's not."  We also delve into the identity crisis (and guilt - because I spent so much time on this already!) that can come with career change, reframing failure, and how motherhood actually helped Yasmine feel more reconnected to herself and her goals.  We also get to move counties, and talk about how it felt to be a student and then pregnant intern in your mid-thirties so, buckle up.

More on Yasmine on IG @pivot.by.design.  More on the identity shift (er, crisis?) that can come with career change, and on getting out of your bubble and figuring out what to do next, in Ep. 5 of Life Leaps Podcast with JoDee Scissors.  

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

Annet and her partner of nearly ten years planned to leap together.  Then, she shares, "the whole plan crumbled," but she decided to do it by herself anyway.  Annet's story takes us from a small village in Estonia to big city corporate burnout, to creating portable income and a trip around the world, to healing heartache.  And talking to her reminded me how often hardship can spur on the biggest, most positive changes in our lives, if we let it. 

Follow Annet's journey on IG @AnnetMuru.   And find the other podcast episodes referenced here!

• Ep. 9:  "What Do I Want To Offer The World" - From Non-Profit Employee to Entrepreneur (As A Young Mom), With Rosie
• Ep. 7:   "If You Can See It In Your Mind" - Leaping Countries, Industries, and Why We Should Never Stop, With Chamo
• Ep. 35: "What Separate Those Who Leap (And How To Get It)" - With Your Host

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

Today we dive into the art and the science behind the leap.  What's the one thing we've seen all our guests have in common?  And how do we get it?  Join us today in Ep. 35, a solo ep. with our host (!), discussing this and more.  

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

"When I proposed to her, she said she could only live in an area with a subway," Yosuke jokes while sitting in the kitchen of he and his wife, Yuka's, rural home in southern Japan. The couple met later in life and thought they were set in their ways, until an earthquake hit -- and the boredom, stress (and risks) of city living all came into focus. 

Join us in Ep. 34 as we unpack the story behind this creative, persistent, and quite unflappable couple's journey from urban living to something altogether different -- a life where they live off of, well, mostly honeybees.  Today they share:  

• how in the heck they got there; 
• what drove them to keep at it even when their first two plans failed (you’ll see in the very end, it’s quite a different answer for each of them); 
• how they made the money work; 
• and more, including what insights they have for the rest of us looking to make life changes (some of which might surprise you).  

And follow their journey on IG @pocotoscana!

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

Motherhood rocked Jade's world - career included - and she's in the throes of leaping back in to her business and her 'pre-mom' self. Join us for a candid conversation in Ep. 33 as we cover how Jade first leapt to a new city and formed her business "The Mindful Step" in the first place; was forced her to put her plans on ice; and - most importantly - reignited her adventurous and ambitious self to form a new (and less conventional) family plan, starting now.   

Follow Jade's journey and her extraordinary business - The Mindful Step - which connects people around the world with sustainable fashion and other Portuguese brands from her home base of Porto, Portugal, on Instagram now. 

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)

*Quick note: the podcast will be bi-weekly now - so you'll get brand new episodes every other Wednesday!* 

We're so excited to kick off a brand new season, starting with an update on your host's own life leap.  It's been (gasp) a year since we packed up our Washington, DC apartment, sold our car, quit a job, and took ourselves and our toddler (and now our pets!) overseas and ended up in Spain.  We've shared our updates along the way (starting with the day before we boarded the plane in Ep. 8, and our most recent was Ep. 31!) and now -- a year in -- we'll fill you in on:

• How we navigated a big disruption this summer -- getting evicted from our new chosen home in Spain 
• (Re)learned the importance of patience, staying focused, and adapting when needed -- plus the value of a good emergency fund
• How we redefined success, stayed sane, and made it back

***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:

• Facebook: Life Leaps Podcast
• Instagram: @LifeLeapsPodcast
• Online at: https://lifeleapspodcast.com/
• Or send us a good old-fashioned email at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you.

*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)