The Human Experience

Christine had her first surgery when she was only a couple of months old. Now, well into adulthood, Christine has had over twenty surgeries for the bilateral cleft lip and palate that she was born with.

The physical difficulties were one thing, but the emotional and social fallout have caused the biggest scars. Christine spent many years feeling othered, and outcast. People refused to give her a chance, even when she was determined to prove herself.

But where others may have given up, Christine fought. She fought for herself and her position. She accomplished lifelong goals and worked to become the person she wanted to be.

These days, Christine is an advocate for the cleft lip and palate community, working with the nonprofit organization Smile Train to provide education and resources for all about cleft lip and palate.

📍 This episode was recorded in Gainesville, Florida.

Visit Christine's Facebook & Instagram

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Auntie Anne Beiler grew up in the Amish-Mennonite Community in south central Pennsylvania. It was there she met her husband, Jonas, and where they began their life together.

Walking through the insurmountable grief of losing one of her children to an accident, and then being sexually abused by a person she trusted, Anne was quite lost for a period of time.

But, as she began to talk about her grief and her shame and her guilt and her loss, she started to find freedom.

It was in the midst of this healing that she opened a pretzel stand at an Amish market. And it was that pretzel stand, or more importantly, that pretzel recipe, that would begin Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Company, changing Anne and her family’s lives forever.

📍 This episode was recorded in Texas.

Visit Anne's Website

Purchase Anne's Books

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Sometimes, it takes a traumatic event to wake us up out of the fog we're walking through. For Stephanie, that event came in the form of slamming her finger in a car door. While not the source of her trials, it did help her to see that she indeed needed a change.

The past six years have been formative, and certainly difficult, as Stephanie completely shifted her life - her marriage, her goals, her priorities, her values. The car door incident wasn't pretty, but it brought clarity.

Along this winding path, Stephanie decided to open a business called NEO (New Eyes Open) Strategic to try and help others make plans for themselves and their businesses; plans that make sense and align with their values and goals.

📍 This episode was recorded in Austin, Texas.

Stephanie's business - Neo Strategic

Stephanie's Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn

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Karen had been working intensively towards a career goal for half a decade, but when she finally made it into her "dream job", she found that it wasn't as dreamy as she thought it would be.

Having recently entered motherhood, Karen realized that what she wanted had shifted. In fact, her entire identity had shifted.

Through making tough choices, redefining success, and getting the help of her own coach, Karen was able to construct a life that fit who she had become.

These days, Karen's focus is helping other parents walk in their newly formed identities through her own coaching platform, Karen Jane DeWitt Coaching, and her podcast, Juggling Joy.

📍 This episode was recorded in Austin, Texas.

Book a free visioning session at Karen Jane DeWitt Coaching.

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Listen to the Juggling Joy Podcast

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From travel agent to traveller, from teacher to seeker, Jen has made a beautiful life from the myriad opportunities that have come her way. Never one to let something meaningful pass her by, she has seen and done more than many of us, simply by saying yes.

Jen has taught in Poland, safari'd in Tanzania, adventured in New Zealand, and most recently, is working with Roma children in Brasov, Romania. She is the embodiment of a free spirit, going wherever she is called and being willing to lend her expertise (whether it be teaching or go-karting) along the way.

📍 This episode was recorded in Brasov, Romania.

Jen is currently working with Firm Foundations Romania. For more information, see the links below:

Firm Foundations Romania Website - learn about projects and how to get involved!

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Sarah and Steffi, the co-founders of FFR, were featured in our last two episodes. Now, I sit down with all three members of FFR's leadership team Sarah, Mary & Steffi, to discuss their organization, projects, and life in Romania.

The mission of Firm Foundations Romania:

FFR believes that all people are made in the image of God and are therefore worthy of love, respect and dignity. It is because of this that we are committed to caring for and supporting the Roma community in Romania by offering access to education, tangible resources, and the Gospel.

Their vision:

Our focus is loving the unloved and providing educational opportunities to the forgotten youth of this country. Our vision is for every disadvantaged Romanian child to experience the power of God’s love in order to live life to the fullest; our hope, that they would then be influenced to serve others and be an example for the people of Romania.

📍 This episode was recorded in Brasov, Romania.

Click the links below to learn more!

Firm Foundations Romania Website - learn about projects and how to get involved!

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Steffi is the other half of the Firm Foundations Romania founding duo. Although she grew up in the Black Forest in Germany, Steffi has now spent more of her life in Romania than anywhere else. It's where she has made her home. And it's where she adopted three Romanian children after volunteering in both the state run children's orphanage and the children's hospital where she would meet and bond with all three of her kids.

📍 This episode was recorded in Stuttgart, Germany.

Firm Foundations Romania Website - learn about projects and how to get involved!

Follow FFR on Instagram

Follow FFR on Facebook

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The youngest of seven sisters, Sarah always knew that music was in her future. What she didn't know that it would take leaving home, moving to Eastern Europe, and co-founding a nonprofit in Transylvania to get there.

In 2005, Sarah began a diaper project with her best friend and business partner, Steffi Vogel (whose own episode will be released in a couple weeks!) in a children't hospital in Brasov, Romania. That seemingly small act would catapult them both into a beginning a globally recognized nonprofit, Firm Foundations Romania.

Through the years, Sarah has written songs based on her experiences living in Romania, and she performs them all over the world as she shares about their heart for the Roma children of Romania.

📍 This episode was recorded in Brasov, Romania.

Be sure to visit Sarah's website for more info.

You can listen to her music on Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify. Sarah has a new album coming out this month called Keep Going.

For any talent inquiries, please contact [email protected]

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So much of Maureen's life has been wrapped up in her career - with dance companies, theaters, museums, nonprofits, political campaign's, and more; her ventures have been varied and many.

When Maureen got COVID in March of 2020, all of that came to a screeching halt. Because she got the virus so early, Maureen unfortunately experienced the strongest strain. More than 2 years later, she's still struggling with the effects of what COVID has done to her.

Known as Long-Haulers, a small percentage of people are living with permanent changes to their lives due to COVID. These changes are physical, neurological, and certainly emotional.

📍 This episode was recorded in Media, Pennsylvania.

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Originally from the European country of Georgia, Lela has spent the last twenty years working hard to build the life she dreamed.

Formerly a journalist, now an entrepreneur and owner of multiple businesses, Lela is proud of the success that she has built for herself and her family - a legacy that will far outlive her.

Lela's story of perseverance, determination, and grace, is not unlike many stories of immigrants - leaving people and places they love to take a chance somewhere else. But it's a great reminder that while we may not have control over what happens to us, we have the ability to choose how we will react to it.

📍 This episode was recorded in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

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