Morning Cup of Faith

What is your super power? This new episode with real life “Wonder Woman," model, actress, singer and beauty mogul Gwendolyn Osborne is about emotional and physical strength. You might remember her for the twelve years she was a model on “The Price is Right.” Gwen had a breakout role in the blockbuster sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” and then a startling Covid diagnosis redirected her life and inspired her new podcast. Gwen shares, “I was sick in bed facing death. One of my lungs was half-filled with fluid. I had to believe that my God was going to let me live. Questions were running through my head. ‘What is the last conversation I had with my children? What am I leaving behind? What is my legacy, my purpose?’ I had to believe this was not the end.” Gwen's spirit was reignited on the set of "Wonder Woman 1984.” Her new podcast “Tea With Gwen" is about the Wonder Women of the World and learning how they maintain and sustain in today’s busy world, healthy from the inside out: how you eat, sleep and exercise your mind, body and spirit. Gwen recalls, "I’m watching all of these incredible women on the set and I was inspired to reached out to Wonder Women of the world like Holly Robinson Peete and Pat Smith. We all need to share this information, this superpower inside of ourselves. We all need that uplift in each other.” Gwen is a goddess of beauty with the most gorgeous smile and figure. She was born to a Jamaican mother and a British father, and she grew up in the city of Bath in Somerset, England. In 2018, Gwen divorced NBA basketball player Kenny Smith and they have a son, Malloy and a daughter, London together. Gwen was also a single mother at the age of 18 with a daughter named Monique. She handles her motherhood journey and balancing act with beauty and grace, which is a part of what her new podcast is about. Gwen has also ventured into the beauty industry as the creator of Lomolique, an anti-aging facial oil (lomoliqueskin.com) If you have ever felt silenced or overpowered, or you have wondered what your superpower or purpose is, Gwen will help you unlock your potential. Gwen admits, "You get a lot of power from your pain. That’s something I continue to do, find power through the pain and keep moving through it. I feel like I’ve been silenced for the last twelve years and I’ve been on mute with my husband and my career. That’s what Covid brought me; I am going to be heard.” This warrior amazon is breaking out in 2021! What keeps this Wonder Woman going? Gwen reveals, “Faith is something you have to believe in during those quiet moments when it’s just you. You have to have faith that your path has been created for you, and there’s only one you, and you are special and brilliant. God will always be there for you.”

When Covid hit, author-speaker Marie Zoutomou-Quintanilla's work abruptly stopped and she prayed, “Lord, use me.” KKLA 99.5 was set to interview her for her motivational book “You’re Being Tested, Do Not Worry,” and they asked her instead, “Hey, do you want to have your own radio show?” As a Stage Three cancer survivor Marie had experience as a speaker for the American Cancer Society, but absolutely no radio experience. She walked in faith not by sight, knowing that God was calling her to promote her positive message: "Never doubt the true potential you have in the life that God has given you. You are strong, capable, intelligent, beautiful, and most importantly, not alone." Born in West Africa, Marie is powerhouse who will empower you to not take “no” for an answer and to be tenacious in prayer and hope. She survived life-threatening cancer and some difficult challenges and she shares how faith will help anyone get past life’s trials. Marie reflects, “I was fighting cancer, and I lost my job and my home. I thought, ‘Wow, what else can happen to me?’ I was tested to the limit and I had a good cry. I prayed, “I promise you, Lord. If you let me live, I’ll tell the world about you.” Marie believes we’ve been given the test we’re fighting through for a reason. Marie is a dynamic motivational speaker that desires to inspire others to accomplish extraordinary things. Marie believes we should all go ahead and ask God for big things. Marie affirms, “During life’s challenges keep your faith and trust. If you don’t believe, how do you expect God to give you what you’re asking for?”

Have you ever wondered why faith and coffee go together? Brenda and Shelley talk to globally-minded and engaging “coffee expert,” professor, PhD and connoisseur Dr. Lori Unruh Snyder about why coffee and faith are intertwined and the rich history of the coffee bean. An Associate Professor at NC State (Crop and Soil Science Department) Dr. Lori has traveled to coffee farms in Peru, Jamaica, Colombia, Honduras and Costa Rica, and she’s sampled all of the best coffee beans on the planet! Dr. Lori believes, “the soul of coffee is centered in the faith of the coffee grower” and she shares an ancient story about a goat herder who found “red berries" for the monks in the monastery and they noticed their prayer time was extended that night. Dr. Lori reflects, "All of the coffee farms I have traveled to internationally have small tabernacles on the side of the mountain with Virgin Mary where the coffee farmers stop to pray. All of our meetings start with a cup of coffee and a prayer. I’ve spent more time praying on coffee farms than I have anywhere else in the world." Dr. Lori who enjoys her organic black coffee “farm to cup” discusses the importance of sustainable impact coffee farming and the groundbreaking work of her friend, Tony Salas, founder of Shared-X (www.shared-x.com). She turns Brenda and Shelley onto their new favorite specialty organic roaster, One Village Coffee (onevillagecoffee.com) We’re hooked on the heavenly Medium Roast, chocolate, hazelnut and berry blend! One Village Coffee is responsibly sourced and grown, a socially and environmentally conscious Founding B Corporation (great coffee, great mission!) Dr. Lori helps us channel our inner barista with all of the latest coffee hacks and trending recipes, and we talk French Press, Chemex, Pour-over (good-bye clunky Mr. Coffee Maker!) and trending alternative milks (oat milk barista blend foams the best). Brenda and Shelley will jumpstart your prayer life with a new daily ten minute challenge #levelupprayerlife; one of the steps include caffeine! Commit this scripture to memory 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come” and step back and watch your life transform. You won’t want to miss this feel-good #faith and #coffee episode!

Designer Elizabeth Lamont is a warm-hearted energetic "highly functioning creative," passionate about design, nature and travel. Famous for her coastal living style, Elizabeth has made a name for herself designing multi-million dollar homes in Malibu for clients like Maria Shriver and Whoopie Goldberg. Elizabeth started her world-renowned store Room at the Beach over 20 years ago on Montana Avenue in Brentwood, California. It was a huge success and she now has stores in Malibu and the Pacific Palisades (elizabethlamont.com) Elizabeth explains, “I'm a forward thinker. I constantly read books and magazines, and pore over Instagram. I try to think about what’s the next trend and how are people living their lives. I want to know what you want." Elizabeth shares her cutting-edge design philosophy and her simple “house refresh hacks” to transform our homes for spring. She supports and champions women-owned businesses at her world famous store Room at the Beach with celebrity book signings and design, cooking and floral arranging classes. Elizabeth shares her story of faith and resilience during her divorce, raising two young children and the death of her parents when she had to start over. Elizabeth reveals, “I was really alone and I was very frightened. I was determined that I wasn’t going to go down, and with the strength of God and the support of my friends I built my business back up again. I was raised Catholic and I still say 'The Lord’s Prayer' and the 'Hail Mary' every day." Elizabeth's incredible “faith crew” includes close friend journalist and author Maria Shriver and actress, producer and author Roma Downey. Elizabeth gushes, “Maria is so inspirational on every level. Many of us have been knocked down by life and our faith and friendship helped us pick ourselves up and start over again. You have to make the time to be a girlfriend.” What is the secret to her power circle's success? Elizabeth reflects, "Their attention to detail and strong work ethic is awe-inspiring.” With the focus on home, Elizabeth’s days are full. Elizabeth laughs, “What’s in my cup today? Black English tea, honey and lots of faith."

Brenda and Shelley take a deep dive into the world of college football with high energy ground-breaking sportscaster and motivational speaker, Rachel Baribeau. After seventeen years of her successful sportscasting career Rachel recognized there was a problem when the game she loved was becoming unrecognizable with negative news stories dominating the game. In 2016 Rachel penned a revealing personal essay “College Football is Breaking My Heart” for Gridiron Now and pivoted from her successful sportscasting career to helping college athletes with her new movement “Changing the Narrative,” a nonprofit which promotes mental health and inspires people to build a positive legacy for others. Sportscasting can be a tough business for women, but Rachel Baribeau is changing the game and taking back the headlines for good. Rachel’s middle name is “Joy,” and for a good reason. Rachel will empower you to find the best version of yourself and lift your spirit. She challenges all of us to become "Kings and Queens of our every day lives,” and Rachel jokes that she herself is a “Queen under construction.” Rachel’s personal experience of domestic violence was triggered when she saw a coach give one of his players a lenient punishment after being caught on camera striking a woman. Rachel explains, “God made me a 'do-something girl.' When I see a problem, when I see someone hurting or something wrong, I run to trouble instead of running away from trouble.” Rachel challenges college athletes, "Who are you off of the field? Does being a King or Queen in your everyday life require you to be perfect? No, but you know right from wrong, and once you know, you go right your wrongs. You serve, you give, you lead. Some athletes tell me, ‘I’m not a leader, I’m not a big rah-rah person.’ I tell them you are a leader because you have to lead yourself. You’re a leader of one!” Rachel shares about the devastating conversation she had with a college athlete who weeped and told her he was angry and in trouble on his team because no one knew that his mother had suffered a sexual assault in their housing complex, and he was so angry because there were people who were in earshot who could have helped his mother, but no one stepped forward. Rachel reflects, “I told the player that we had to tell his coach because his coach could help him. The coach later told me "I’m so glad you shared this with me because I was about to kick him off the team.” Rachel’s “Changing the Narrative” movement has saved and changed countless lives and reached forty schools, law enforcement, border patrol, and churches. Rachel smiles, “This work brings me so much joy, more than seventeen years of being on camera ever could."

The warm and inquisitive Zibby Owens, host of the award-winning literary podcast “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books” launches her new celebrated book “Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology," a collection of profound, honest, touching and often hilarious essays by some of the best-selling authors working today, which, of course, include Zibby. Dubbed the “Oprah of Books in New York,” Zibby is one of the world’s leading book influencers and the busy mother of four children. We’re all struggling to juggle everything on our plate in 2021, and Zibby’s quarantine anthology gives us insight into everything that moms don’t have time to do from working out, eating, to having sex, to even breathing. Original essays by the preeminent authors of our time include Alli Frank, “How David Sedaris is Helping Me Get By,” Liz Astorf “Moms Don’t Have Time to Cry,” Gretchen Rubin, “Read More Books,” Chris Bohjalian, “The Short Stories I Found in the Sweater Box,” Claire Gibson, “How To Have Sex with a Germaphobe,” and Rachel Levy Lesser, “Breaking Up with My Kids." If you think this book is just about moms, think again. Zibby shares, “So many of the essays are just about life. All of the things we don’t have time to do make life worth living at the end of the day.” All proceeds from her anthology benefit the Susan Felice Owens Program for Covid-19 Vaccine Research at Mount Sinai Health System. In July, Zibby tragically lost her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law to Covid-19 within six weeks of each other. Zibby reflects, “All of us are going through really tough times right now. I feel more comfortable sharing it, especially in my writing. I’ve never been one to hide. I’ve suffered a ton of loss in my life starting at age twenty-five when I lost my college roommate to 9/11. I take great comfort in the people, even strangers, who have appeared to try to help me. Sometimes it’s not even the people that you know best; it’s the woman on Instagram in Spain who says the right thing and checks in on me daily. I’ve tried to be that person for other people.” We talk to the big-hearted Zibby about everything from authors, books, publishing, how to deal with grief after losing someone to Covid, to finding love and life after divorce, parenting, and faith. Zibby explains the origin of her award-winning literary podcast: "I’ve been a writer and a big reader my whole life. I have four children. I had been writing parenting essays and my husband said, ‘You really should collect all of those essays and make them into a book.’ And I said, ‘Moms don’t have time to read books!’ A friend suggested I start a podcast. I thought, 'What’s a podcast?' I went home and I tried to find the podcast button and I did some research. I knew two authors, so I thought, I’ll just interview them, and I’ve been interviewing authors non-stop for the last three years. It combines everything I love to do." Zibby Owens will get you reading in 2021; she recommends all of the top books! To attend Zibby’s virtual book launch + fundraiser for “Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology” February 16th at 7P (EST) buy tickets at zibbyowens.com.

The uplifting and faith-filled Tobi Tobin is a Los Angeles based luxury lifestyle expert whose work has graced the cover of Architectural Digest and earned her the AIA award. Tobi designs environments for some of the most powerful and influential people in Hollywood as well as abroad. Tobi injects fifteen years of experience into the public eye by launching her Tobi Tobin Luxury Collection that consists of organic candles, chocolates and fragrances (tobitobin.com 30% discount for Valentine’s Day code: GIFT OF LOVE) Tobi fell in love with European living during her early travels as a model and her beautiful fragrances tell the story of her exotic travels around the world. Tobi explains, “I need organic all natural products and fragrances that are not synthesized. My story and how my products and lifestyle brand developed is because of the products that I needed in my life. I was dissatisfied with the products that were out there and I dove into creating products I could use for myself. I thought just by pure passion that if I needed it, somebody else needs it and wants it the same way. I continue to make decisions for my brand based on what feels good to me, what I want, and probably what everybody else wants too.” Tobi is an intuitive entrepreneur who checks in with her spirit daily to make her life and business decisions. Tobi constantly asks herself, “What am I doing for my friends? My family? My customers? It all starts with listening. Some of the best advice I ever received was to ask yourself ‘is this going to hurt me or heal me?’ when you make decisions. ‘Is where I’m living hurting or healing me? Is the relationship I’m in hurting or healing me?’ If you continue to ask yourself this question, it will completely transform your life." Tobi is the ultimate overcomer, full of resilience and fatih. She reflects, “Everything starts with my Christian faith. I’m not going anywhere without it. I need somebody to save me, a friend and a Savior."

Malibu locals and the pillars and heroes of Mending Kids, Executive Director Isabelle Fox and reporter and media personality Dorthy Lucey (formerly co-host of “Good Day LA”) share entertaining and heartwarming stories of how Mending Kids transformed their lives and helped children around the world receive transformational surgeries to live normal and fun childhoods. Mending Kids is an inspiring non-profit organization that provides life-saving surgical care to children worldwide in over sixty-four countries and at home in Los Angeles, often operating on the complex medical cases that other organizations have given up on. “We like to elevate the bar of what’s possible,” states Isabelle Fox. Malibu has been the heart of Mending Kids. Isabelle, who started as a volunteer on a medical mission to an orphanage in China, has been on an upwards of forty missions. By the end of her first mission she was hooked. Isabelle shares, “The time I got a whiff of what it was like to feel a sense of purpose, I desperately wanted to hold onto that feeling, because it was like oxygen." Board member and reporter Dorothy Lucey was a Host Mom to12-year-old Sandrita from El Salvador and she says, “it was maybe the best three months of my life.” Isabelle and Dorothy share their life-altering and often humorous medical missions traveling together in Panama, Ethiopia, Cambodia, and Peru. Dorothy admits, “Sometimes there are big mosquitoes, we've slept in hammocks under a villager’s house, and we’ve gifted a family in Ethiopia with a goat. Often there is no water, electricity or reception. But there is nothing like the highs and lows of a mission." Mending Kids hosts exciting star-studded fundraisers which include Wine 30, Goat Yoga, MASKrAid (Kaia Gerber, Courtney Cox and Julia Louis Dreyfus designed masks) and Gene Simmons and Johnny Depp jamming on the stage to “Rock and Roll All Nite." Dorothy reflects, “It is my privilege to know some of these children. I have played with these kids and prayed with their parents. People say missions are life-changing. Mending Kids might not change your life, but it will change your heart.” For more information on Mending Kids visit https://www.mendingkids.org.

We love to highlight strong women of faith and resilience like the beautiful and inspirational Terri Havens, the President and co-founder with her husband John of the world-renowned resort Cal-A-Vie Health Spa (cal-a-vie.com) located in the flower-filled hills north of San Diego, California. January is a month of wellness and “reset” for all of us, and who couldn’t use a dose of Vitamin C and positivity? Cal-A-Vie was voted number one Destination Health Spa by Travel Leisure magazine and attracts stellar guests such as Michelle Obama, Gwynth Paltrow and Oprah Winfrey. A free spirit with passion for creativity, Terri is a forward thinker who thinks out of the box. Terri grew up in New Orleans and she’s well known for her famous Southern hospitality and her exquisite taste which was inspired by her love of Mardi Gras. She’s a lover of European history; she travels with her family to France every year which explains why Cal-A-Vie looks like it belongs in the 17th Century French Countryside. Terri and her husband are both history buffs who have filled the resort with historical pieces and antiques from Europe. Terri shares, “Every little detail is taken care of because when you’re in a place of beauty, you feel good. Anyone who comes to Cal-A-Vie for ten weeks or more gets an orange tree planted in their name. We have over two hundred trees planted in guests’ names. One time I saw a car pull up and the car door opened with the most gorgeous leg stepping out. It was Gwynth Paltrow. She’s a total natural beauty; it was wonderful to meet her. She walks the walk which is why she looks so good." When Terri and John's guests asked for something more “spiritual,” they found a 400 year old chapel that was dismantled in France and reassembled at Cal-A-Vie. Terri is also the author of the sought after best-selling cookbook: "Beautiful Living: Cooking the Cal-A-Vie Health Spa Way” featuring over one hundred of the five-star retreat’s delicious and healthy recipes like chocolate mousse made with cacao powder and avocado. One of the wellness practices Cal-A-Vie recommends is kicking off a new health program with a liver detox. Terri explains, “One of the best things you can do is to start off with a liver detox. It’s not hard, because you’re not going to not eat. You’re just going to detox your liver. Your liver is in charge of getting rid of toxins and harmful things from your body, so when you’re stressed, not sleeping or eating unhealthy food, your liver backs up which causes you to gain weight. Try a liver detox for four days." Terri is involved in many charities and philanthropic causes around the country, and most importantly, she’s the proud mother to three wonderful children. Terri believes, “Faith in God is what allows us to have stability in the middle of instability. My faith has gotten me through everything. We can choose to worry or choose to have faith." (Matthew 6:27-30)

Elizabeth Svatek is a writer, podcaster, blogger @onefabulousmom and the founder of “Warrior Moms,” an online community of moms supporting, learning and laughing together. Liz believes "women are not born warriors. WE BECOME THEM.” She's a ferocious ball of energy, a force of nature, very alpha, and so darn likable. Brenda and Shelley take Liz’s comical “What Kind of Pandemic Mom Are You?” with hilarious results (text “WARRIOR” to 33777 if you want to take Liz’s quiz!) Liz is leading a self-care movement for moms to put themselves back on the list. Liz was inspired to start her “Conversations with Warrior Women” Podcast after the loss of her beloved grandmother whose life didn’t turn out like she had planned. “I decided that I was going to make things happen. I’m not going to sit here and waste what God has given me and pretend like it’s not a talent or gift. I want to interview women leaping for greatness, both personally and professionally, so that they can inspire other women who will realize, ‘I can keep going.’ Women who’ve survived unbelievable pain and suffering with setbacks such as career changes, divorces, and long-term illnesses. I’ve learned that I’m never going to run out of ‘warrior women’ to interview. We’re wired to do hard things." Liz is perfect for our “Overcomer” series as she spent twelve days in the Children’s Hospital over the Christmas holidays helping her eleven-year-old daughter battle a serious illness. “When you’re going through something like that, there’s no second thing. It’s just the first. First things first, second things never. There’s this false notion that we’re supposed to multi-task our way through tragedy. I’ve learned to always accept help because you’re blessing that other person."