In this episode, we embark on a sojourn to the breathtaking Mendocino coast, dramatic cliffs, whispering redwoods, and the understated luxury of  eco-elegance of the Stanford Inn By The Sea: Historic Farm and Eco-Resort. Here, amidst nature’s grandeur, we discover a sanctuary of sustainability, a haven where impeccable hospitality intertwines with a deep reverence for the earth.

Join Margaret McSweeney as she engages in intimate conversation with Jeff and Joan Stanford, the visionary proprietors who have woven their passion for environmental stewardship into the very fabric of this remarkable eco-resort. Uncover the story behind the inn’s unique philosophy, a philosophy so deeply rooted in its lush, organic gardens that it is often whispered to be “a garden with an inn attached.” We’ll stroll through these verdant expanses, where the bounty of nature provides the inspiration for the culinary masterpieces crafted at the acclaimed Ravens Restaurant.

Prepare to be “Wow’ed” just as Margaret was exploring the artistry behind Ravens’ dazzling and delectable vegan cuisine whose ingredients primarily come straight from the on-property garden. From innovative creations that redefine plant-based dining to irresistible desserts, we’ll delve into the secrets of the Ravens “origin story”, menu and the unwavering commitment to showcasing the region’s finest, freshest ingredients. Beyond the culinary delights, we will immerse ourselves in the program offerings at the wellness center and embark on a journey of joy.

Many thanks to Jeff and Joan Stanford and the staff at Stanford Inn by the Sea for their gracious hospitality at this 100 percent pet friendly property. And thank you to Chalkboard Communications for this opportunity.

This is a photo Margaret took at Stanford Inn. Even the cat takes a moment to Savor the Day!

The book is a very engaging story of adventure, suspense, and romance. The story begins as the main character, sixteen-year-old Jacques Laurent, conquers the Fitz Roy mountain with his uncle, Ignacio. Ignacio’s father and Jacques’ grandfather are brothers and were junior officers in the Red Army. They emigrated from Russia to France in the late fifties, to escape from one of Stalin’s purges. Jacques’ grandfather remained in France, while Ignacio’s father went on to Argentina to become a wealthy owner of two estancias. Born in France, Jacques spends his summers on his bachelor uncle’s cattle ranches in the provinces of La Pampa and Patagonia where they both share a deep love of horses, cattle, and the mountain ranges around them. 

Jacque is a graduate of France’s most prestigious college, the École Polythecnique. Upon graduation, however, he receives an offer that will change his life forever. He will soon find himself on a rescue mission in Nicaragua, taking him to the jungles of the Amazon, the underbelly of Paris and Istanbul, and to the rubble of Aleppo in Syria. This is the story of Jacques’ loves and extraordinary adventures deeply rooted in the spectacular mountain ranges of Argentina.

The reader will be immersed in the all of the environments, adventures, difficulties faced by Jacques.

I am a butterfly by day and night …

I say, am free alright, at times may not

I may not fly but climb on my belly 

I like to be free and fly away …

I’ve stages: eggs, larva

Chrysalis (pupa), 

A complete metamorphosis 

Am, I a butterfly yet?

I lay eggs … I hatch onto a larva

I emerge into tiny of caterpillars

Am now, onto my belly …

Really am, crawling onto a leave 

Am experiencing life?

Now, what it is?

From, how many of times?

What I’ve to tell my prospective views?

Am I enjoying youth?

You do the math, how many lives I provide?

I never die …as I, come back to life

Unless you killed me!

By placing a bullet …

Straight aimed in me, in my heart 

Thus, I die and bust like a torpedo 

 Head-to-collision in Los Estados Unidos 

Butterflies are God’s creation 

It is Him, flying by …

Listen very carefully 

He is in colors, He multiplies 

He just went by 

It’s His ways in a small way 

To let you know 

He weightless 

There and everywhere 

It’s His private jet

As no one cares …

He has endless beauty 

He even brings this life back 

In case you missed 

His first …

He keeps telling us

Look, I keeping giving you chance to wake up 

Despite all that …

We continuously dismiss Him

Why is that?

If we can only stop for few seconds 

If you noticed …

All butterflies are never the same 

They always stop quite often by your side

They want onto notice it’s could, if many shapes, 

      and colors …. and so, on 

So, before you go by your business trip

Make it your business not just wake up

Put on your best suit … better yet and 

Instead wear a jumpsuit, swimsuit perhaps 

       To accomplish all of your pursuits 

Without thin and/or irregular body shapes

This butterfly doesn’t care your shape

It only wants to be admired close not from afar 

It has a very short life … onto a newer one 

     Yes, a new life 

A capillary, it emerges to butterfly, how? 

Larvae stage, butterfly lays eggs 

Onto leave (milkweed) …

Eating, eating and more eating of leaves …

      Pupa stage, clings onto a stem of leave

From a Chrysalis …

As takes a ride, on Chrysler mini car 

Inside the chrysalis l, the butterfly 

Thus, confirms firming adult butterfly 

With full wings ready to fly

Has master time …

Glad to feel free earned, its degree 

It’s freedom time! In pupa and adulthood …

It is not by chance has two lives … 

Cat has nine and we’ve one!

Through miracle or not … 

God is inside …

Whether, you like or not

You have to try to find God, inside of you

He lives in your mind, heart and soul 

Where is here now?

Can you find Him?

Can you seek Him? 

They say, a cat 

Has nine lives 

We one …

Perhaps, we than a cat, if we good enough 

To coming all, God asked for tasks … 

do just that, to be good 

Aim to be good 

Be more than good 

In Christmas time …

You see a butterfly …

In your mind, picture or in your dream 

Know, it’s Him in colors and all free …

As you unwrap your Xmas gifts 

This time, do not cramp on to it or return it

If, it was given to you with love 

If you didn’t like your gift 

Know, it was wrapped with love 

It was wrap by a butterfly 

That once’ s lived …

Became a caterpillar  

In order to move on …

How do you free a butterfly? 

As he says:

How do you always free me?

By only giving me …

Endless love

Is that a lot to ask? Know, know and know … 

Please am begging you to know that! 

I meant it, from my microscopic bits of a pieces 

Witty heart, know that … is not, so hard 

Do just that 

Learn to love 

Love, love, love, love 

Feeling it …

Keep it …

Do not let it go 

Do not exit …

Just watch a butterfly

Go by …

He is all love 

God lives in it

He’s God … He’s all free 

Minerva A. Garcia, your Poet

“Focus on doing the right things instead of a bunch of things.” – Mike Krieger. Today, we are shifting gears and not discussing business and careers.  Instead, my guest and I will discuss what you need to know to navigate the college admissions process successfully. 

As a parent who has been through the entire college process and experience, I wish I had known my guest a decade ago. I hope that my parents, who are constantly fighting with their kids to get the college admission process done and done correctly, I hope that you get some answers on how to make it easier on you and your kids!

Check out our conversation here!

About Karen Marks:  Karen is the President and Founder of North Star Admissions Consulting. Since 2012, she has helped clients get into their dream colleges and graduate schools, with more than 70 million in scholarships. Before founding North Star, Karen served on Dartmouth’s undergraduate admissions committee and was the Dartmouth Associate Director of Admissions at the Tuck School of Business. She is an attorney and a graduate of Cornell University.

How to Get In Touch With Karen Marks: 

Stalk me online! LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/conniewhitman

Subscribe to the Enlightenment of Change podcast on your favorite podcast streaming service or YouTube.  New episodes are posted every week. Listen to Connie dive into new sales and business topics or problems you may have.  

In this episode, Unlock Your True Potential with David Meltzer, we sit down with David Meltzer, Chairman of the Napoleon Hill Institute and former CEO of the legendary Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment agency— the inspiration behind the movie Jerry Maguire. A globally recognized entrepreneur, investor, and business coach, David has been honored as Variety Magazine’s Sports Humanitarian of the Year and awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

David’s mission? To empower over 1 billion people to live happier, more fulfilled lives by delivering one key element—VALUE. As Executive Producer of 2 Minute Drill and Office Hours on Apple TV, and Elevator Pitch, Entrepreneur’s #1 digital business show, he continues to inspire millions with his insights on success and fulfillment.

We dive deep into:

David’s wisdom and experience are game-changing, offering practical steps to help you achieve both professional and personal excellence.

Check out our video chat here!

How to Connect with David Meltzer:
Email: [email protected] 
Text: (949) 298-2905. 

How do you create the future you desire and deserve? It’s all about alignment!

Creating your magnificent future isn’t just about imagining or dreaming. It’s also about aligning your daily decisions with your desires in a way that feels natural, exciting, and totally intuitive.

Master motivator and empowerment entrepreneur Gina Maier Vincent created her Exquisite Alignment Blueprint to support high-achieving, success-oriented individuals like you to break away from adherence to external authorities and expectations, center their purpose and gifts, lean into their “more,” and create a life that feels delicious, elegant, and magical every single day.

To Learn More Visit:  https://exquisitelyaligned.com/book/

For more information, email [email protected] or visit https://exquisitelyaligned.com.

Stay Connected with us:
Website: https://exquisitelyaligned.com/
Instagram:  @exquisitelyaligned  
Facebook:  Exquisitely Aligned  
LinkedIn:  Gina Maier Vincent
X:  @ExquisitelyGMV
YouTube: Exquisitely Aligned
Experts & Authors TV: Exquisitely Aligned

Hashtags: #DavidMeltzer #SuccessMindset #Gratitude #FindingYourFrequency #LifeOfSignificance #EntrepreneurLife #PeakPerformance #NapoleonHill #PersonalGrowth #BusinessCoach #ElevateYourLife

Our guest today is someone who spends his career and his life helping people to make the best of their living and working and their financial and spiritual lives. Dr. NOAH ST. JOHN calls himself  “The Father of AFFORMATIONS®” And also he is what he calls “The Mental Health Coach to the Stars.”  His most recent book is  The 7-Figure Life – How to Leverage the Four Focus Factors for More Wealth and Happiness. So his book is really about achieving more balance in your life between work and spiritual matters. And it’s time for all of us to learn how to better do that, don’t you think? Roberta thinks this book is a wonderful, thoughtful, easy read, even for people who are not stars! It’s full of simple, practical tips to help us all to live our own best lives. This is Noah St. John’s third visit with us on Seek Reality. You can learn how to get his new book for free for a limited time at 7FigureExpertBook.com . Noah’s website is  BreakthroughwithNoah.com.

Check our video chat here:

Connie’s motivational quote for today is by – Oprah Winfrey, “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” I network a lot and meet a ton of new people each week. I feel like no matter the networking platform, there seems to be more and more conversations around mindset, skillset, and get off your asset. I love the idea of using these three frames of reference. 

First, I have done a bunch of internal work on myself, building a healthy mindset and yes it takes effort but so worth it. Second, the skill set, I consider myself a lifelong learner, because I feel like if I don’t keep learning and growing myself and my skills, I will start to shrivel up and die…lol! That was very dramatic! The last one, “get off your asset,” is my favorite. All the inner work, learning, and change we create in our life is nothing if we can’t put it into practice and use these changes to form the life we desire. Applying all three is how we can literally create magic in our lives by creating actual, tangible results through that application!

Check out our conversation here!

About Sallie Wagner:
Sallie Wagner.  Sallie is a speaker, author, lawyer, real estate broker and instructor, and life coach.    Your What’s Next Strategist and Life Alchemist, Sallie incorporates outcome-based techniques such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming), and trauma-aware modalities, to help you get concrete results, as you ditch those unwanted behaviors and habits, fears, and phobias, limiting beliefs and decisions, that keep you from living your best life. Sallie’s signature coaching program is REBOOT Your Thinking: How to Install and Uninstall Mind Apps.  

How to Get in Touch With Sallie Wagner:

Stalk me online!
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/conniewhitman

Download Free Communication Style Assessment:  www.whitmanassoc.com/csa

Subscribe and listen to Enlightenment of Change podcast on your favorite podcast streaming service or on YouTube.  New episodes post everyweek – listen to Connie dive into new sales and business topics or problems you may have in your business.  

“The sale most often goes to the most interested party.” – Steve Chandler. Being interested and curious about what our clients need today and in the future is critical to our sales success. So, how do we show that we care, are curious, and are interested in helping our ideal client? One way is to use resources available to us to spotlight our genius, experience, and level of care. One resource that I see either underused or not used correctly is LinkedIn. 

It’s a powerful resource; too many people use it, and it comes across as icky and pushy.  

Check out our conversation here!

About Indrek Põldvee:
Indrek is recognized as an Estonian LinkedIn guru with a wealth of experience in sales, marketing, and coaching. His journey and expertise are not just limited to his success but also include transforming businesses through LinkedIn strategies. 

How to Get In Touch with Indrek Põldvee:

Stalk me online! LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/conniewhitman

Subscribe to the Changing the Sales Game Podcast on your favorite podcast streaming service or YouTube.  New episodes post every week – listen to Connie dive into new sales and business topics or problems you may have in your business.

The Crone and Sage are entering the Times of Candlemas and as an Extra have shared their Ingress Ritual celebration. The Ingress ritual invites an Element to work with them for the Season and Candlemas is associated with the Element of Fire and the Times of Creativity and Inspiration.

Welcome to Mindful Guided Journaling, a space where creativity meets mindfulness! Inspired by a YouTube video on guided journaling, I wanted to create an engaging journaling activity for my students. When I asked them, “What do you think about journaling?” They said, “Journaling is about writing your thoughts and feelings.” —Their responses were eye-opening. In mindful guided journaling, the goal is to help unlock creativity, thoughts, and emotions. Remember that mindfulness uses our five senses to observe our surroundings and emotions without judgment. In this podcast, I will share ideas on how to boost a non-judgmental perspective when we make mistakes. My students often want to start over, thinking their first attempt isn’t good enough. I encourage them to see this as a rough draft—an evolving creative spark. Instead of stopping, we can embrace the process, letting ideas flow and grow.

This podcast will explore how mindful journaling can boost creativity, self-reflection, and personal growth. Get ready to dive in, embrace imperfections, and turn every page into a new opportunity. Let’s begin!

Check out our video about it here!