The Uplifters

Welcome to our first-ever bonus episode of The Uplifters Podcast!

In last week’s heartbreaking and hope-rich episode featuring Lia De Feo, she shared about the impact of a wonderful organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep which helped her and her family heal from the loss of their first two children. In this week’s special bonus episode, you’ll hear from Ali Furtwangler a photographer from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep who joined the organization to help give back to others after the loss of her first child.

In her story you’ll hear:

* How Ali navigated the emotional challenges of losing her infant son

* How her experience losing Zachary led her to find purpose and healing

* Why it’s important to have open conversations about loss and grief

* Why connecting with others who have gone through similar experiences is crucial in a healing journey

* The transformative power of volunteering and giving back

* How her work has created a legacy for her son’s short life

Emotionally demanding work like Ali’s requires active self-care.

It's easy to forget about caring for yourself or how your choices can impact your partner. For me, venting to my husband has been the best way to care for myself. Staying bottled up does me no favors. When I have a particularly hard day or something ridiculous happens, we will find the good or funny in the situation. I also think our pets provide a lot of love for those tough days. As an Uplifter, self-care is crucial, and these moments of connection help maintain my emotional well-being.

-Ali

Ali is a photographer and the Director of IT at Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, where she also volunteers as an affiliated photographer and digital retouch artist in order to provide remembrance portraits for families who have to say goodbye to their babies too soon. She lives in the Seattle, Washington area with her husband of 15 years, 3 lively littles, 3 dogs, and 7 pet rats. There's never a dull moment in her household.

Check out Lia's episode for another story of finding hope, peace, and purpose through loss.

Please Join me, our amazing Uplifters Ambassadors, and guests of the podcast on May 17 at our first live event!

It will be a chance to:

* Connect with inspiring women and our past guests from the show

* Learn about financial, physical, and emotional wellness from women who are experts and Uplifters

* Make actionable plans for yourself to keep rising higher

You’ll leave feeling energized, inspired, tuned into your internal compass, and ready to do big things! Truly, it's going to be the best day ever! 

Check out the agenda and get info on tickets HERE.  Our special early-access ticket offer ends on 1/31/24!

The Uplifters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I hope that my story will provide hope to people out there who need it, and peace to those who are accepting a life that isn’t what they envisioned.

Lia: I always wanted to be a mother. I always had a maternal instinct. I always wanted to raise a child.

Aransas: What did you imagine the journey to motherhood would be?

Lia: The journey to motherhood would begin with falling madly in love with a man who would be an amazing partner and father. And that would happen a lot sooner than it actually did. I understood that becoming pregnant might be more challenging for me. But I thought the challenge would be in getting pregnant and that once I was pregnant, the vision was that pregnancy was going to be wonderful. It was gonna be this beautiful experience. We tried for quite a long time on our own, and then we did IUI. And I thought it was gonna be smooth sailing from there. It wasn't.

Nothing about activist, author, and mother-through-surrogacy, Lia De Feo’s, journey to motherhood was what she expected. Her story is marked by extraordinary heartbreak over and over again, but it’s also a story of the transformative power of community, sharing our truth, and finding purpose through pain.

Please listen and share Lia’s story with the people who need to hear it.

Listen to Lia’s extraordinary story right here in your email, where you’ll also receive full transcripts (edited and condensed for clarity). But please also subscribe directly to The Uplifters on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Substack, or YouTube, or follow our TikTok for uplifting daily videos. Just click one of those links to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

If you want more conversations like this one, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Producing a weekly podcast requires a significant investment of time and resources from several talented people. Paid subscriptions make all of our work possible!

Thank you so much for being here! Let’s keep rising higher, together, 💓 Aransas

"I hope that my story will provide hope and peace to those who are accepting a life that isn’t what they envisioned."

Lia: I always wanted to be a mother. I always had a maternal instinct. I always wanted to raise a child.

Aransas: What did you imagine the journey to motherhood would be?

Lia: The journey to motherhood would begin with falling madly in love with a man who would be an amazing partner and father. And that would happen a lot sooner than it actually did. I understood that becoming pregnant might be more challenging for me. But I thought the challenge would be in getting pregnant and that once I was pregnant, the vision was that pregnancy was going to be wonderful. It was gonna be this beautiful experience. We tried for quite a long time on our own, and then we did IUI. And I thought it was gonna be smooth sailing from there. It wasn't.

Nothing about activist, author, and mother-through-surrogacy, Lia De Feo’s, journey to motherhood was what she expected. Her story is marked by extraordinary heartbreak over and over again, but it’s also a story of the transformative power of community, sharing our truth, and finding purpose through pain.

Please listen and share Lia’s story with the people who need to hear it.

*Connect with The Uplifters and Aransas Savas:*

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aransas_savas/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_uplifters_podcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theuplifterspodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aransas

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theuplifterspodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aransassavas/

*For more uplifting content, resources, and community support, visit www.theuplifterspodcast.com

It’s that time of year when we reassess what’s working, ask ourselves what we want more and less of, set intentions for the year ahead, and wonder if this year will actually be different than last, all while quietly hoping that this is the year that will be.

Some of the things we do at this time of year can be really helpful. Many of them are counterproductive and defeating. After 20 years in the goal-getting industry, I feel a big responsibility this time of year to challenge the mental models that help us and those that don’t tend to work so well.

So, I called in one of my funniest new friends, Robin Hopkins, an actor, writer, host of Well…Adjusting Podcast, and the gal behind the Substack page Sh!t I Learned From My Crappy Childhood where you can find stories about parenting, finances, taking care of yourself, and other life stuff.

In the latest episode of The Uplifters Podcast, we talk about mindset tricks and traps, including:

* Why resolutions don’t work

* Why we get so fired up to set resolutions to speed up at this time of year- even if it’s a time better suited to slowing down

* How to take advantage of sparks of motivation and fire them up

* How to work toward goals we want, but that are out of our control

* The magical difference a little supportive accountability can make in our goal-getting

Could you use an extra boost this year? Robin and I think it would be fun to crew up this year to help us all stay truer to our goals, celebrate tiny progress that we might miss otherwise, and cheer each other on. Want to join us? Complete the form linked below to share your goal and we will reach out with next steps.

Then join my dear friend, the wonderful life and relationship coach Susannah Ludwig and me on 1/24 for a free, guided workshop to name and claim your goals for 2024!

It’s that time of year when we reassess what’s working, ask ourselves what we want more and less of, set intentions for the year ahead, and wonder if this year will actually be different than last, all while quietly hoping that this is the year that will be.

Some of the things we do at this time of year can be really helpful. Many of them are counterproductive and defeating. After 20 years in the goal-getting industry, I feel a big responsibility this time of year to challenge the mental models that help us and those that don’t tend to work so well.

So, I called in one of my funniest new friends, Robin Hopkins, an actor, writer, host of Well…Adjusting Podcast, and the gal behind the Substack page

Sh!t I Learned From My Crappy Childhood

where you can find stories about parenting, finances, taking care of yourself, and other life stuff. In the latest episode of The Uplifters Podcast, we talk about mindset tricks and traps, including:

• Why resolutions don’t work
• Why we get so fired up to set resolutions to speed up at this time of year- even if it’s a time better suited to slowing down
• How to take advantage of sparks of motivation and fire them up
• How to work toward goals we want, but that are out of our control
• The magical difference a little supportive accountability can make in our goal-getting
• 
  

Could you use an extra boost this year? Robin and I think it would be fun to crew up this year to help us all stay truer to our goals, celebrate tiny progress that we might miss otherwise, and cheer each other on. Want to join us? Complete the form linked here and let us know!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0eMRizIWdf3urG2wJHG34w5Lv-svPF9y07-MO7AlfMhzn0A/viewform?usp=sf_link

*Connect with Aransas Savas:*

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aransas_savas/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_uplifters_podcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theuplifterspodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aransas

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theuplifterspodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aransassavas/

*For more uplifting content, resources, and community support, visit www.theuplifterspodcast.com

“I love service and time with people. So you add service to time with people and I'm there for it. But, with a person who's not gonna honor those as my love languages, it can bleed into this idea of becoming a friend’s accidental personal assistant.”

When Rachel Everson Fink was in her 20s healing from anorexia and an abusive relationship, she discovered the power to change her health through meditation, yoga, quality food, qi gong, and Intention Based Field Resonance Testing.

Like so many Uplifters, Rachel Everson Fink loves to give and serve, and she feels things deeply. And like so many of us, she’s learned the hard way that without consistent boundaries, she can lose herself in caring for others.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* The steps Rachel took to learn how to care for herself

* How she teaches her patients to become self-healers

* The difference between emotional transparency and emotional vulnerability (Somebody call Brené Brown because Rachel’s insight on this kinda blew my mind.)

* What it means to be an overfunctioner and what to do about it

* Ways to let go of what was never really yours to carry

* And as a special bonus, Rachel will guide us through two of the most powerful practices she uses with her clients

Rachel was nominated for The Uplifters Podcast by Jaclyn Dupont. Join Rachel, Jaclyn, me, and a bunch of other inspiring women in NYC on May 17 for Uplifters Live. You can learn all about it HERE.

The Uplifters is a self-funded publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

When Rachel Everson Fink was in her 20s healing from anorexia and an abusive relationship, she discovered the power to change her health through meditation, yoga, quality food, qi gong, and Intention Based Field Resonance Testing.

Like so many Uplifters, Rachel Everson Fink loves to give and serve, and she feels things deeply. And like so many of us, she’s learned the hard way that without consistent boundaries, she can lose herself in caring for others.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The steps Rachel took to learn how to care for herself
• How she teaches her patients to become self-healers
• The difference between emotional transparency and emotional vulnerability (Somebody please send Brené Brown because I need to talk to her about this. Rachel’s insight kinda blew my mind.)
• What it means to be an overfunctioner and what to do about it
• Ways to let go of what was never really yours to carry
• And as a special bonus, Rachel will guide us through two of the most powerful practices she uses with her clients

Rachel was nominated for The Uplifters Podcast by Jaclyn Dupont. Join Rachel, Jaclyn, me, and a bunch of other inspiring women in NYC on May 17 for Uplifters Live. You can learn all about it HERE.

*Connect with Aransas Savas:*

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aransas_savas/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_uplifters_podcast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theuplifterspodcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aransas

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theuplifterspodcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aransassavas/

*For more uplifting content, resources, and community support, visit www.theuplifterspodcast.com

Happy New Year, Uplifters!

This big, beautiful, interconnected world of ours can sometimes feel irrevocably broken. If things are going to get better, it will be because Uplifters started tiny fires of change that spread throughout their communities and moved throughout the world. It’s why Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde’s father told her as a little girl, “You can't fix the world, but you can fix this block.”

Dr. Arteaga-Landaverde is the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, one of the nation’s largest, and most lauded, public hospitals. She's the first woman of color and the first Latina in this role. Under her leadership, it became the first public hospital ever named to US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list. More than that, she’s led a transformation of healthcare outcomes in one of the poorest and most diverse districts in the nation.

But, before becoming its leader, this hospital was the place where she witnessed the death of her beloved father due to their inability to access quality healthcare as recent immigrants, and where eventually Helen fought for her own life in the early days of the pandemic.

Please listen to her extraordinary story to hear:

* How a patient experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and addiction ultimately saved three other lives, thanks to the generous care of the uplifting team under Helen’s leadership.

* The challenges and sacrifices that come with being a CEO, mother, and community leader.

* How Helen navigates self-doubt and finds strength in family, community, meditation, and therapy.

* How Helen approaches motherhood, emphasizing that while she may not fit traditional expectations, she prioritizes being present for her children in the ways that matter most to them.

* How Helen and her team navigate cultural differences as healthcare providers in the most diverse district in the US.

* What Helen hopes her children will remember her for.

You can always listen right here in your email, where you’ll also receive full transcripts (edited and condensed for clarity). But please also subscribe directly to The Uplifters on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Substack, or YouTube, or follow our TikTok for uplifting daily videos. Just click one of those links to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

If you want more conversations like this one, consider going paid. Producing a weekly podcast requires a significant investment of time and resources from several talented people. Paid subscriptions make all of our work possible!

About Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde

She has served as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, a 545-bed Level 1 Trauma and Academic Medical Center with over a million patient visits a year, since February 2021. She is the first woman of color and the first Latina to lead the hospital’s executive team. Under Helen’s leadership, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst has been recognized as one of U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Regional Hospitals” and one of the nation’s "High Performing" hospitals in 9 individual service areas, including Heart Failure, Heart Attack, Stroke, Hip Fracture, Kidney Failure, Orthopedics, Pneumonia, and COPD. Helen has also led Elmhurst Hospital’s efforts to improve clinical quality measures and patient satisfaction scores. In September 2023, The Joint Commission recognized Elmhurst as the first hospital in New York State to achieve a Health Equity Gold standard certification, based on the facility’s dedication to reducing disparities in healthcare access, outcomes, and experiences. Helen has also spearheaded the hospital’s efforts to obtain Planetree Silver Level Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care and has worked closely with the hospital’s healthcare providers as they reached major milestones such as recognition from the American Heart Association for providing outstanding care to patients with chronic disease conditions and the AACN’s Beacon Awards for excellence in providing nursing care within intensive care units. Before her role at Elmhurst, Helen served as Assistant Vice President, Queens Network and Executive Initiatives at Urban Health Plan, a network of NYC-based community health centers. In partnership with Paloma Hernandez, the President and CEO of Urban Health Plan, she founded Plaza del Sol Family Health Center in June of 2009.

This big, beautiful, interconnected world of ours can sometimes feel irrevocably broken, and like the problems that most need solving are just too darn messy to tackle. If things are ever going to be better it will be because Uplifters started tiny fires of change that spread throughout communities and moved throughout the world. It’s why Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde’s father told her as a little girl, “You can't fix the world, but you can fix this block.”

Dr. Arteaga-Landaverde is the CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, one of the nation’s largest, and most lauded, public hospitals. She's the first woman of color and the first Latina in this role. Under her leadership, it’s become the first public hospital ever named to US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list. More than that, she’s led a transformation of healthcare outcomes in one of the poorest and most diverse districts in the nation.

But, before becoming its leader, this hospital was the place where she witnessed the death of her beloved father due to their inability to access quality healthcare as recent immigrants, and eventually fought for her own life in the early days of the pandemic.

Please listen to her extraordinary story to hear:

• How a patient experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and addiction ultimately saved three other lives, thanks to the generous care of the uplifting team under Helen’s leadership.
• The challenges and sacrifices that come with being a CEO, mother, and community leader.
• How Helen navigates self-doubt and finds strength in family, community, meditation, and therapy.
• How Helen approaches motherhood, emphasizing that while she may not fit traditional expectations, she prioritizes being present for her children in the ways that matter most to them.
• How Helen and her team navigate cultural differences as healthcare providers in the most diverse district in the US.
• What Helen hopes her children will remember her for.

About Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde

She has served as CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, a 545-bed Level 1 Trauma and Academic Medical Center with over a million patient visits a year, since February 2021. She is the first woman of color and the first Latina to lead the hospital’s executive team. Under Helen’s leadership, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst has been recognized as one of U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Regional Hospitals” and one of the nation’s "High Performing" hospitals in 9 individual service areas, including Heart Failure, Heart Attack, Stroke, Hip Fracture, Kidney Failure, Orthopedics, Pneumonia, and COPD. Helen has also led Elmhurst Hospital’s efforts to improve clinical quality measures and patient satisfaction scores. In September 2023, The Joint Commission recognized Elmhurst as the first hospital in New York State to achieve a Health Equity Gold standard certification, based on the facility’s dedication to reducing disparities in healthcare access, outcomes, and experiences. Helen has also spearheaded the hospital’s efforts to obtain Planetree Silver Level Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care and has worked closely with the hospital’s healthcare providers as they reached major milestones such as recognition from the American Heart Association for providing outstanding care to patients with chronic disease conditions and the AACN’s Beacon Awards for excellence in providing nursing care within intensive care units. Before her role at Elmhurst, Helen served as Assistant Vice President, Queens Network and Executive Initiatives at Urban Health Plan, a network of NYC-based community health centers. In partnership with Paloma Hernandez, the President and CEO of Urban Health Plan, she founded Plaza del Sol Family Health Center in June of 2009.

*Connect with Aransas Savas:*

Instagram:

Get full access to The Uplifters at www.theuplifterspodcast.com/subscribe

What's limiting us is that we're not thinking big enough. We're not being creative in how we design our time. Once we do that on a deeper level, we can create what we want. Financial freedom is emotional freedom, time freedom, and location freedom: The ability to be who you were meant to be.

In today’s episode of The Uplifters Podcast, you'll meet Tai Abrams, nominated by episode 25's Kymme Williams. 

Tai is the founder and CEO of Admission Squad Prep, a test prep company that helps talented students from underserved backgrounds in New York City place into the city's most competitive high schools. She's also the author of four books, including Who Am I? An A to Z Career Guide for Teens and Teach Me How to Invest Mommy, which supports early financial literacy. 

Tai has now turned her focus to helping Uplifters create passive income portfolios so that we can fund our inner fires and enjoy personal, professional, and financial freedom.  

It is never too late to design the life of your dreams. Always remember that your best life is contained in the details. Get clear. Get specific. Get focused. Before you know it, your life can completely change as long as you take the right action.

Here are a few of the tips and resources she shares in this energizing conversation:

Calculate Your Freedom Number:

* Take a holistic approach to finance. Create a lifetime budget covering everything from family plans to retirement. Use that number to determine what it would take to retire when you want to and create a plan for financial freedom.

Diversify Your Income Portfolio:

* Explore various income streams aligned with your interests and values. Tai suggests platforms like Etsy, Amazon, and Airbnb, each offering unique opportunities depending on your risk tolerance and earnings goals.

Automate and Delegate:

* Invest in automating processes and strategic support to complement your domain expertise and maximize the time you spend working.

Venture with Values:

* While your passive income sources must align with your financial goals and current resources, you’ll ultimately get the most out of your passive income-generating activities if they align with your areas of passion and purpose.

Keep Exploring:

* Check out The Lifestyle Investor by Justin Donald

* Follow Tai: Instagram.com/IamTaiAbrams   |  Facebook.com/TaiAbrams |  twitter.com/TaiAbrams

Tai’s Uplifter Self-Care

“I have committed myself to eating foods that provide top-tier nutrition and boundless energy. I also enjoy running so I hold space for it in my life. By creating digital, passive income, I have been able to get time back to do more of the things I love.”

Support The Uplifters

You can always listen right here in your email, where you’ll also receive full transcripts (edited and condensed for clarity). But please also subscribe directly to The Uplifters on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Substack, or YouTube, or follow our TikTok for uplifting daily videos. Just click one of those links to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

If you want more conversations like this one, consider going paid. Producing a weekly podcast requires a significant investment of time and resources from several talented people. Paid subscriptions make all of our work possible!