She Handled It! with Arwen Becker

At the age of 40, Kristen Brokaw was told by her doctor that she could potentially lose her vision when she found out that she had unknowingly exposed herself to toxic mold. With permanent scarring and vision loss, she didn't just learn to see the world differently–she also found her mission.

After her diagnosis, Kristen used her decades of experience in nutraceutical medicine sales to launch Elite Masters of Medicine - a mastermind where she helps clinicians design their ideal practices. She helps doctors make sure that they don't sacrifice themselves to serve others, helping patients and clinicians alike experience the best possible outcomes.

Today, Arwen and Kristen talk about the power of intuition, how trauma can change the course of our lives for the better, and why it's so easy for people to care for everyone but themselves.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Katy Perry - Roar

Pearls of Wisdom

• Nobody knows what you want, but if you want it, you'll figure it out.
• How understanding yourself and getting things out of the way allows you to reach new heights.
• Why the old adage "You are what you eat" is actually true.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/20

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

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You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

When she was 23 years old, Fahren Johnson learned that she was born of rape to a mother who was institutionalized with severe paranoid schizophrenia. Her mother's condition resulted in Fahren being a ward to the state with no contact to her biological family. From there, she bounced from home to home in the foster care system which eventually led to her being molested at a young age.

Years later, as she put the pieces together of her own story, Fahren learned that her adoptive mother Helen - who was her anchor and a pillar in the community - had also been a victim of sexual abuse. It wasn't long before she started to understand her fears and became focused on putting an end to generational trauma from defining who she is or who she could become.

Now, Fahren is a Senior Program Officer with the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. She's a speaker, musician, an author, and is passionate about anything related to community and youth development. She is currently overseeing the amazing Whole Child initiative which promotes long-term development and success to all children. She's a mother of four and grandmother of three, and has had an incredible marriage to her best friend of over 25 years.

In today's conversation, Fahren and Arwen talk about the importance of faith as an anchor and not being defined by your past, but using it to rewrite your story in the present and the future.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

This Way To Love – Fahren Johnson

Pearls of Wisdom

• How mentorship helps young people connect with caring adults and provides them with much-needed support.
• The power of being someone who can speak to someone's life experience and help call things forward for them.
• The power of being anchored and rooted in your source.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/19

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

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Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

In 2009, when the Becker's 4-year-old cat, Lewis, was attacked leaving him with a broken jaw, the entire family faced a very difficult decision; find a way to fund a $5,000 bill in the midst of the greatest financial difficulty of their lives and with no guarantees, or put him to sleep. The commitment and determination of their 12-year-old led the way to the seemingly irrational decision to go ahead with surgery. But Lewis wasn't just a cat, he was the connection to a life ended prematurely from cancer.

If you're an animal lover then you'll probably agree that our pets are also members of the family. And when faced with the most difficult decisions of pet ownership, it's never easy to know what to do when every option is difficult. Especially when your financial situation is in turmoil.

In this episode, Arwen shares some heartbreaking events about the lives of her family pets during some of the most stressful moments of her life. You'll see how her family, including her children, helped Arwen and her husband to make the best decision for their family.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

It's Not Over - Danny Gokey

Pearls of Wisdom

• Let your children be involved in major decisions, especially the decisions that will have an impact on them.
• Don't be afraid to make choices that some people wouldn't agree with.
• Be careful of the assumptions that you make when you only see one frame or scene of the movie, and not the entire feature. See the full picture.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/18

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

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• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

One day around the age of seven, an extended family member told Jen Du Plessis, "You're going to be just like your father, you're going to be worthless, you're going to be poor, you're going to be an alcoholic...you'll really basically amount to nothing." And just two short year later, she walked in the house as her dad held a shotgun to her mom's head, cocked, loaded, ready to go. And it wouldn't be the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but that is the day Jen declared she would not be like them.

Now, Jen is America's mortgage mastery mentor. She helps sales professionals who feel overwhelmed and stressed out because they're trying to multiply their results and find the courage to say yes to their personal lives. During 15 of her 37 years in the mortgage industry, Jen has been listed among the top 1% of loan officers nationwide, spent three years in the top 200 of nationally ranked originators, and has funded over $1 billion in mortgage loans. She's recognized as an influencer in our industry, as a best-selling author, and a top podcast host. She's also shared the stage with such icons as Darren Hardy and Tony Robbins. Jen believes that when you work on purpose, you can play with passion.

Today, Jen joins the podcast to talk about overcoming major feelings of worthlessness, escaping toxic situations, and how she became someone who inspires thousands of people every year to become better versions of who they are.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Dare You to Move - Switchfoot

Pearls of Wisdom

• Determine what your true core values are and apply them to your everyday life.
• No one else can change your mindset, you have to put in the work on your own.
• The only things that we can control is ourselves and how we respond to adversity.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/17

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

After growing up with an alcoholic father, Debbie Page was told in college "If you have alcoholism in your family, you're going to be attracted to that in a partner." Being a very level-headed woman, whose father got sober when she was 16, she thought that was ridiculous, until she met her gregarious, fun-loving future husband in her early 20s. That began nearly 20 years of justification, lies, shame, rehab, financial infidelity and eventually divorce. An eventual understanding of the term codependency.

Debbie is a certified money coach and an internationally recognized and award-winning entrepreneur, business coach, and advocate for women's economic independence. She is recognized as a leading authority on cash flow and profitability for women in business. For over two decades, Debbie has worked with women and money and has acquired, scaled, and sold two businesses of her own. Her clients achieve stunning success with profitability because of her commitment to accountability, execution, and the systems and processes to create sustainable and scalable businesses.

Debbie met Arwen when she was looking for a very specific kind of business coach: a woman who specializes in working with other women. Today, Debbie joins the podcast for a frank conversation about how she survived a destructive marriage, constant deception, and her decision to leave - all while running multiple highly successful businesses and being a major figure in her industry.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

U2 - Beautiful Day

Pearls of Wisdom

• Whatever it is that is a challenge for you right now, you will get through.
• Your biggest responsibility is being fully responsible for yourself.
• Survival isn't always one day at a time - it literally is moment by moment.
• Build your network early so that it's there when you need it.
• Why the words "Go for it" have so much meaning in Debbie's life.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/16

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

Marcella Allison was told that a "glorified bookkeeper with an English degree" does not become a venture capitalist after she enthusiastically approached the guest speaker in her MBA class. He continued to tell her that since she didn't get her MBA from Harvard, didn't have a 4.0, wasn't captain of the lacrosse team, this was never going to happen. Everything of this stereotypical profile she didn't fit. But she refused to let some arrogant man determine her path or worth.

Through tenacity, grit, due diligence and a willingness to seek advice from people she knew (and who those individuals knew), Marcella found the right women to provide her direction, information and a clear roadmap that would land her multiple VC employment offers at the same time.

Marcella is the CEO of Copy Harvest and the founder of the Titanides Mentoring Collective, an organization dedicated to promoting female entrepreneurs, marketers and copywriters. As a copywriter, she currently works with some of the top direct companies in the industry. Her clients include the Motley Fool, Money Map Press, Metabolic Living and more. Her copy has generated over 100 million in sales for financial trading services, alternative health supplements and information products.

Today, Marcella joins the podcast to share her story of how she never took no for an answer and overcame many challenges to become a successful VC in a male dominated business world.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Respect - Aretha Franklin

9 to 5 - Dolly Parton

Pearls of Wisdom

• How you should never let any man tell you what you can and cannot do, in business and in life.
• Whenever you're faced with a big decision, always do your due diligence.
• The importance of reaching out to your women-only networks when learning new skills or changing careers.
• Why employees and freelancers are assets and not liabilities who deserve to be paid first.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/15

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

Randy's youth was forever changed when his mom was diagnosed with progressive Multiple Sclerosis when she was just 26. It was the accident that she experienced early in her diagnosis that permanently relinquished her to a wheelchair and thrust him into a place of caregiver while he was still in elementary school. Yet it was her consistent faith that left a lasting mark on his life.

Randy is a retirement planning professional, an author, and the founder and co-owner of Becker Retirement Group. He started in the financial industry at the age of 22 and has been doing this for over 33 years. Watching his mom battle multiple sclerosis over the course of 30 years and seeing the financial impact her diagnosis had on his father and their family inspired him to help his clients thrive and protect themselves from the potential devastation of health care costs, voluntary layoffs, and major market corrections.

Randy is also Arwen's husband. They have been married for 16 years, worked together for 20 and have three sons together. Today, Randy joins the podcast to look back on his experience and how it shaped him into the man he is today. As the first man on this podcast, he's here to share the incredible story of how the adversity his mother faced impacted and ricocheted into his life.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Josh Groban - You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)

Pearls of Wisdom

• How Randy's mother taught him that it always starts with a smile.
• What Randy learned from how his mom always operated with faith and with work.
• Why you should always persevere and never give up.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/14

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

It's one thing to lose your parent, it is another to lose your mom, dad and father-in-law in a span of 2 years, while dealing with your own health challenge. Megan Jones found herself fighting through the fallout of her mom's dementia diagnosis, and her father's hidden battle with metastasized lung cancer, the same cancer that would take her father-in-law just a few months later, all while struggling through the war raging within her own body. This was a fight unlike anything she had ever faced in her entire life.

Megan is the founder and president of Jones Advisory Group. She's a financial advisor in Topeka, Kansas, a prominent public speaker in the Kansas City and Topeka areas, and the host of a weekly television and radio show, Money Matters with Megan.

Today, Megan joins the podcast to share the story of how she navigated this profound loss with the help of a powerful support system, the practical things that made all the difference, and what she sees as the most important financial advice she can give right now.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror

Pearls of Wisdom

• Why the biggest thing for Megan was really being present with her parents.
• How surviving her mother's illness showed Megan a love that helped her learn both what she wants and doesn't want out of life.
• How to create activities for people going through serious illness, remind them of who you are and how much you love them, and keep them active.
• Why toilet paper and bottled water are the best gifts you can give when someone passes away.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/13

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

For many years, performer and singer Kerstin O'Shields found herself privately dealing with abuse at home, all the while living a very public life. About five years into the marriage, when she asked for help from family, the message was disheartening, "You're married, you need to go fix your marriage. It's not about you." Even law enforcement believed the lies that her ex-husband was telling them. Questions would mount; when do I count? How am I not part of that equation? Why is my safety not being taken seriously?

After years studying body language and performance, she realized she was betraying her body's own message of what acceptable treatment was and what she was allowing in her own life. She knew better. As much as she wanted to get him help, she was doing it at her own detriment. When he moved from threats to killing the cat to abusing her oldest daughter, she knew she had to leave no matter what the cost.

That eventual decision led her on a path to create the Body Language Strategy Academy where she teaches individuals about personal safety, body confidence and how to truly be proud of the story their body tells the world around them.

Today, in light of Domestic Violence Awareness Month Kerstin joins the podcast to share her story about leaving an abusive relationship, finding her purpose, and building her business empire.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Little Mix - Salute

En Vogue - Yesterday

Pearls of Wisdom

• Why you're never stuck, no matter what the situation.
• Keep moving. The more you move, the more opportunities you're going to find.
• It's not about showing up perfect - it's about stepping into your purpose.
• Why it's important to dive into your purpose.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/12

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!

After 24-year-old Jessica Conness told her then-husband that rent was three months behind, he picked her up and threw her through the glass dining room table. When child protective services arrived later that day, they told her that the next time the police were called, they would take custody of her infant daughter. She knew at that moment, for her daughter's sake, she had to break the cycle of domestic abuse she had been suffering for years.

In her first marriage, Jessica suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her then-husband, but it took time to end the relationship and leave for good. Since then, she's gone on to happily remarry, build a beautiful family, and live life on her terms.

Today, Jessica joins the podcast to tell the story of how she escaped that abusive relationship, how she rebuilt her self-worth, and what she learned over the course of her harrowing five-year journey.

Overcomer Playlist Recommendation

Phillip Phillips - Tell Me a Story

Pearls of Wisdom

• There is power when you acknowledge there is life after abuse
• Why abuse breaks people down - and how counseling helps rebuild.
• How recovering from abuse helped Jessica realize what she really wanted from life, and that she could achieve it on her own terms.

Show Notes

To get access to the full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned, visit LifeWithArwen.com/11

Get The Book!

• She Handled It, So Can You!: An Inspiring and Empowering Financial Guide for Women

Connect with Arwen Becker

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Rate & Review

If you enjoyed today's episode of She Handled It, hit the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts, (or wherever you listen) so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device.

You can also help by providing an honest rating & review over on Apple Podcasts. Reviews go a long way in helping us build awareness so that we can impact even more people. THANK YOU!