Real Talk With Ru

Evolving is an event created by The Mandala Foundation.

The vision of this event is to educate, inspire and motivate women by giving you tools and strategies to create a healthy mind and healthy habits!

Today in part two, I speak to two women n the panel.  

Heidi Huiskamp Collins:

Just a little over a year and a half ago, at the age of 53, Heidi took a risk by choosing to leave her comfortable finance job, and start her own Investment and Financial business.

ONLY 14% of women who are financial advisers. Not only is Heidi a small business owner, who is striving to educate women on their finances, but she serves on a number of boards, and volunteers her time with a number of charitable organizations.

Sarah Stevens:

After a decade long career in corporate healthcare administration, Sarah decided to realign her professional pursuits with work that more accurately reflected her sense of purpose. Combining her extensive background in operational leadership with her passion for creative endeavors, She began work as a business coach and consultant, focusing primarily on startups and small businesses. Over the past two and half years, she has had the privilege of leading clients - both big and small - as they turn their dreams into a reality, and in the process, She has discovered that purpose-driven work doesn't feel much like work at all.

Founder of the Beautifull Project:

The Beautifull Project is a storytelling initiative launched in January of 2017. The Project aims to invite women to reclaim space, to use their voice, and to find purpose past the cultural expectations about body and beauty.. 

During the first year, The Project produced a blog, a podcast, and a virtual community - a chorus of courage - that is a daily invitation for women to belong in the world with substance and strength.

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Evolving is an event created by The Mandala Foundation.

The vision of this event is to educate, inspire and motivate women by giving you tools and strategies to create a healthy mind and healthy habits!

Today in part one, I speak to two women on the panel.

Katie Thompson: Founder of The Market: Journey to Joy

In October 2018 Katie told her husband and her closest friends that 2019 was going to be "her year". It was going to be the year that she made something extraordinary happen and she wouldn't take no for an answer or ride an easy street. At that time, she didn't really know what that meant or what She wanted. She tossed around what it could mean... get back to running road races and logging miles, maybe go back to school (because She loved learning yet loathed that bill), ... do something unexpected. They ended the conversation with her not really knowing.

In just a few short months, Katie signed a lease to rent 4,000 sq ft of space and go on a journey in January 2019. She started reaching out, making contacts, talking and talking and talking. She knew what she was after... the most magnificent collaboration of makers, crafters and curators to bring the Quad Cities a unique shopping experience.

Jasmine Bozeman: Author of "The Degree Experience"

Heidi has her Series 7 and Series 66 securities licenses and started the Wealth Management Division at Blackhawk Bank where she served as a financial advisor and Manager of the Trust and Investment Departments. Heidi holds a masters degree at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin/Madison where she was Valedictorian and President of her class.

In May 2017; and at the young age of 54, Heidi started Huiskamp Collins Investments, LLC. 

Maitreyi Shrikhande is a freshman at Davenport Central High School and is interested in health science careers. She is a cellist in the Quad City Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and an active tennis player. At school, Maitreyi participates in Girls Learn International and the Athletic Leadership Program.

Maitreyi has had a strong passion for volunteering ever since elementary school and believes that volunteerism fosters educational growth outside the classroom as well as social awareness.

Cassaundra Dunbridge is the Lead 2 year old Preschool Teacher at Rivermont Collegiate.  Dunbridge is also a Children's Book and magazine genre Illustrator.

Cassaundra enjoys engaging the minds of little learners, and the concepts of "learning through play" and Reggio/Project Approach. She describes, "The terrific Twos are full of possibility and eager learners".

The Only 2-Year-Old through 12th Grade Private College Preparatory School in the Quad Cities. Rivermont Collegiate is a private, nonsectarian, independent, multicultural, college preparatory school offering a nurturing, caring and safe environment where students develop intellect, character, and creativity. Located in Bettendorf, Iowa, Rivermont has students that come from many Quad City area communities. Rivermont Collegiate strives to prepare students who are grounded in the basics, yet able to think analytically and creatively, to confidently and enthusiastically meet the opportunities and challenges of the 21st Century. Graduates move on to the country's finest colleges and universities.

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• Engaging the minds of little learners. I really enjoy the concepts of "learning through play" andReggio/Project Approach. The terrific Twos are full of possibility and eager learners.

Natalie Torres-Haddad MPA, AWA The First American Latina, Immigrant TEDx Speaker advocating on the importance of financial literacy and mental health titled "The Foreign Language of Financial Literacy".  

An International Award Winning Author in the Economics category for her first book in 2012, a bilingual podcast host of Financially Savvy in 20 minutes, a real estate investor and a workshop facilitator and International keynote speaker for Financial literacy. Her activities have been featured in the Huffington Post, LA Times, LA Business Journal and more.

A first generation College Graduate with Degrees in Finance and International Business with a Masters in public Administration and resides in Los Angeles with her husband and 2 dogs.  As of last February, her feature on 60 second docs has gone viral with over 700,000 views showcasing her story on how she focuses helping first gen college grads, immigrants and latinos to keep working towards their financial independence.

Jon Sexton serves as the Senior Vice President of Culture and Leadership Development at Vibrant Credit Union. In his role, Jon focuses on facilitating employee engagement initiatives, developing unique leadership development programs, and sustaining Vibrant's surprisingly different work culture. As a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, Sexton facilitates workshops and trainings to help team members understand how to tap into their natural talents. He also provides executive coaching for leaders to help them identify and leverage the strengths of their teams in order to ensure that staff have an opportunity to do what they do best everyday. Sexton spent over ten years in Higher Education at Grinnell College and the University of Iowa (where he earned a Masters in Student Development and a PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies) prior to being drawn to Vibrant's unique culture and the organization's stated desire to create impactful learning and development opportunities for their dynamic staff.

National trainer, spiritual director, and professor, Dr. Kit Evans-Ford is a woman who is passionate about nonviolence, God, and serving others.  She has been a trainer and activist for 14 years working relentlessly in the areas of nonviolence education and assisting people in healing from violence and abuse.

Kit is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Theology at St. Ambrose University.  Dr. Kit also splits her time as the Action Outreach Organizer for Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service where she is one of the lead organizers for Campaign Nonviolence. She has lead in organizing thousands of peace actions around the world.

She is the author of 101 Testimonies of Hope: Life Stories to Encourage Your Faith in God and A Children's Book On Bishop Richard Allen:  A Nonviolent Journey.  She is also a certified spiritual direction and the founder of Argrow's House of Healing and Hope in Davenport, Iowa. Argrow's House is a safe space where free services are offered daily for women healing from violence and abuse in the greater Quad Cities area.  Argrow's House is also a successful social enterprise where women healing from violence and abuse create beautiful bath products that provide a living wage for themselves in a safe space that celebrates who they are.

Brooke found herself in the field of hypnotherapy after deciding to utilize hypnosis to help her manage the chronic pain she suffered from for 15 years. After three sessions with her mentor, Brooke has been chronic pain free since 2013!

In April 2014, upon completing her first six months of college and becoming a Master Hypnotist, she started her own private practice in Los Angeles, Brooke Lemke Hypnosis. After graduating in September 2014, she became a Certified Hypnotherapist. In 2015, after a visit to her home state of Iowa, she made the decision to move back to be closer to family and to bring her Los Angeles private practice experience with her.

In December 2015, she accepted the first on staff certified hypnotherapist position for a health system in the state of Iowa through the Genesis Health System in the Quad Cities where she was on staff for 2 ½ years. Brooke continued with her private practice, Brooke Lemke Hypnosis, through those years.

In 2018, Brooke shifted to focusing solely on her private practice which included local clients (in office) and remote clients from all around the country (via phone and Zoom). While she only sees clients through her private practice, she continues to teach workshops at Genesis.

In January 2019, Brooke took another leap with her private practice to become an LLC, now Windisch Wellness, with goals of greater expansion.