With Love and Aloha - A Life Coaching Podcast

As I approach my one-year anniversary of photographing Kīlauea, I've been reflecting on everything this journey has taught me. One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that nature, and life itself, often offer us the most beautiful moments when we least expect them 🌋💕

We spend so much time making plans, setting goals, and imagining how life should unfold. But sometimes, the most meaningful experiences are the ones we never could have planned for.

In this week's episode, we talk about making room for the unexpected, embracing curiosity and exploration, and how opening ourselves up to new experiences can create more opportunities for beautiful, unplanned moments ✨

And this doesn't mean living life without a plan! It's about staying focused on your main quest while being open to the unexpected side quests, adventures, and opportunities that might come your way along the journey 🌈

Make your plans. Chase your dreams. But don't forget to leave a little room for life to surprise you ✨

Who is your biggest cheerleader? ❤️📣

In this episode, we talk about the importance of having a strong support system 🫶🏼 However, at the end of the day, the biggest and loudest cheerleader for your dreams and goals... should be you 💕✨

The truth is, no one will ever care more about your dreams or understand your vision quite like you do 💭 Not everyone will be your cheerleader, but that doesn't mean your dreams aren't worth pursuing or that others know what's best for you ❤️

Sometimes, people even need to see your dreams coming to life before they can fully understand your vision and come around to supporting it 🌱💫

While having the right people in your corner can make all the difference, your greatest source of encouragement should come from your own inner voice and inner strength ❤️ Learn to trust yourself, celebrate your progress, and pursue the things that matter to you — not just what others expect or want for you 🌈🌻

Because at the end of the day, this is your life, your journey, and your dreams 🌎💖 Surround yourself with people who lift you up, but never forget that the most important person who needs to believe in you is you 🦋

Keep believing, keep growing, and never stop cheering yourself on 📣🌺✨

#cheerleader #healthandwellness #podcast #selfgrowth #lifecoach

Today is a special episode of the podcast…because I just reached Episode 100! 🎙️✨💯 What a milestone 🤍🌺 And it feels like the perfect episode to speak about something deeply meaningful to me and a journey that has been truly transformative this year 🫶🏼

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month 🤍🕊️ So in this episode, we talk about managing and healing from grief—and specifically, the complicated layers of miscarriage grief.

This episode is meant to help anyone who may have experienced a miscarriage, knows someone who has, or simply wants to better understand what it may feel like 🤍

As many of you know, last year I lost a baby boy 💙 I recorded an episode during that time last year that was understandably much heavier. Today, I’m in a better place in my healing journey 🌈 and in this episode I share some of the practices that helped me heal—like prioritizing my hobbies 📸, immersing myself in nature 🌋🌊, keeping my circle close to those who understand me and my experience 🤍, and simply giving myself permission to grieve 🌈

I also reflect on recently being able to support someone experiencing a loss of her own 🤍🕊️ and how meaningful it felt to be for her who I needed a year ago 🫶🏼

To every woman who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss: I see you 🤍🕊️ And to everyone, I hope this is a reminder that there may be people in your life who have experienced this and simply haven’t spoken about it. We should always be kind because we never truly know what someone has been through 🤍

#pregnancylossawarenessmonth #grief #selfcare #healthandwellness

Happy October 🎃 Today’s episode was inspired by an exercise my cousin shared with me called 10–10–10, which I thought was a beautiful practice for renewal, reflection, and realignment ✨

10 things you’re ready to release 🍂

In this episode, we explore what each of these means—reflecting on what has become too heavy and what we’re ready to release, recognizing and honoring ourselves and the experiences that have shaped who we are today, and intentionally making space for what we want in our next chapter 🌺

While ten of each may sound like a lot, that’s actually the point. The first few answers may come easily, but continuing to ten encourages us to look beyond the surface and reflect more deeply 💭

Join me for a thoughtful conversation about releasing what no longer needs to lead you, honoring the person who carried you here, and calling forward the life you’re becoming 🧡

Did you know we make an estimated 35,000 decisions every day? 💭

Some are tiny, some have the potential to make our lives a little easier or move us forward, and every once in a while, we come to a fork in the road 🛣️ where choosing one path means letting go of another.

As a perfectionist, I had a tendency to want to make the “right” decision every time. ✨ It took me most of my 20s to learn that life is imperfect—and that no matter which road we choose, the outcomes we encounter along the way can become either gifts or lessons. Sometimes, they’re both 🤍

In this episode, we talk about decision-making and how to make the best choices we can to optimize our lives with the information we have at the time. I reflect on a whirlwind month—from chasing Kīlauea 🌋, who has kept us guessing about what gifts she’ll give, to San Francisco 🌉, where certain things lined up and others didn’t. I talk about the decisions, tradeoffs, and second-guessing that came with all of it.

Sometimes we get the outcome we hoped for. Sometimes we wonder what would have happened if we had taken the other road.

But once we’ve chosen, maybe the most important thing isn’t continuing to look back at the road we didn’t take. It’s focusing on the road ahead 🛣️✨—and remembering that there will always be another decision, another opportunity, and another chance to move our lives in the direction we want them to go 🤍🌺

#selfgrowth #selfimprovement #healthandwellness #podcast

As I was thinking about my priorities for the rest of the year, I realized there are certain things I will always want to make time for—because I know I’ll never look back and regret doing them.

In this episode, I’m sharing six things I think are worth making room for, no matter how busy life gets:

📸 Take the picture — Capture the people, places, ordinary days, and extraordinary moments you’ll someday want to remember.

❤️ Tell someone you care about what they mean to you — Don’t assume people know what they mean to you. Tell them while you can.

🥰 Spend time with the people you love — It sounds obvious, but busy lives have a way of pushing the people who matter most further down the list.

✨ Do something you’ve always wanted to try — Stop waiting for the perfect time to explore the things that have been calling to you.

🌎 Go somewhere you’ve never been — Whether it’s across the world or an hour from home, give yourself the chance to experience somewhere new.

💪 Show up for yourself — Make your own dreams, happiness, health, and future worthy of your time and effort too.

We spend so much of our lives thinking about what we have to do. This episode is about remembering the things we’ll someday be really glad we did 🤍✨

Today I sit down with my cousin Diana to talk all about my first memoir, Episode 36: My Life-Changing Week on the Volcano 🌋📖🤍

Diana was one of the early readers of the book, so I invited her on to share her honest thoughts about the memoir, what stood out to her, and how the story resonated with her 💕

We go behind the scenes of Episode 36—what inspired me to write it, what it was like turning such a personal experience into a book, and why I ultimately decided to share this vulnerable chapter of my life. ✍️📖✨

Along the way, we dive into some of the themes at the heart of the memoir: the healing power of nature 🌿🌋, following the things that call to you 💫, pursuing your passions ❤️, and allowing unexpected experiences to change you.

As you read Episode 36, my goal is for you to feel like you’re right there with me—walking beside me on the volcano as that unforgettable week unfolded. 🌋🥾✨ But I also hope that somewhere within my story, you find space for your own reflection, healing, inspiration, and maybe even a little courage to move toward whatever is calling you next. 🤍🌈

Join us for a fun conversation about my first memoir, the story behind the story, and the experiences that inspired it 📖  I hope you enjoy this one! 🎙️✨

If you're interested in the book, you can purchase it here:

Alyssa's book is available on:

Amazon (Hardcover & Paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Episode-36-Life-Changing-Week-Volcano/dp/B0H9VJXPBN

Amazon Kindle (eBook): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HDG1PLR5?

Barnes & Noble (Hardcover & Paperback): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/episode-36-alyssa-lee/1150851575?ean=9798995090137

Signed Copies available on her website: https://www.alyssalee-photography.com/memoir-episode-36-hardcover 

#author #memoir #kilauea #volcano #bigisland

In this episode, I talk about a concept I’ve been thinking about a lot this month: how in heavy moments, we can experience conflicting feelings or energies—and they can all be valid and true 🤍✨

You can be happy, but sad about something else at the same time. You can be full of gratitude, but still be grieving something heavy. Each moment can be a mix of both.

It’s been quite a few weeks. Between the hurricane, the passing of beloved icons, and other events happening in the world, there’s been a heaviness in the collective consciousness. And at the same time, life continues to give us beautiful moments too 🌋🌈

I share some of my own experiences with this—from feeling incredibly grateful to be alive after the hurricane while also feeling sadness for our community, to witnessing a beautiful Kīlauea eruption 🌋 while receiving the news that an icon, Dolly Parton, had passed 🥹🤍

I also talk about the multicolored memory balls in Pixar’s Inside Out 🔴🟡🔵 and how sometimes our experiences aren’t just one emotion. We can feel joy and sadness. Gratitude and grief. Excitement and heaviness.

Two things can be true at once 🤍✨

Tune into this episode for a reflection on learning to name those feelings, allowing them to coexist, and navigating those moments of dueling energies without feeling like we have to choose which one is the “right” one 🫶🏼

In this episode, I talk about what’s going on with Hurricane Lala 🌧️ This was one of the worst storms we’ve experienced in Hawaiʻi in a long time — even one of the most significant storms of the century so far — and I share about my own experience through the storm, what made this hurricane season different, and what’s happening around Hawaiʻi Island now as communities recover 🌺💙

I also share some ways you can help 🤝🏼💙, along with what’s been helping me stay centered and grounded through all of it 🌿✨ — both while weathering the storm itself and navigating everything that comes afterward. We also talk about how weathering a storm can relate to some of the difficult and uncertain times we navigate in our own lives, and how recovery takes time — not only physically, but energetically too 🤍🙏🏼 After something like this, it can take time for a place and the people in it to feel settled again. 🌈

Times like these are such an important reminder to take care of ourselves 🤍, be kind to one another 🫶🏼, check in on the people around us, and help however we can 🙏🏼🌺

Sending lots of love to everyone impacted by Lala 💙 Stay safe, stay grounded, and take care of each other 🌺🫶🏼✨

#hurricanelala #lala #hawaii #bigisland #recoveryefforts

Success means something different to everyone—and what it means to you today may not be what it meant five or ten years ago.

In this episode, we explore the importance of defining success on your own terms instead of chasing someone else's version of it. From careers and relationships to personal growth, happiness, and purpose, we'll talk about why it's okay for your priorities—and your definition of success—to evolve as you do.

If you've ever felt like you're falling behind or questioned whether you're on the "right" path, this episode is a reminder that there is no one-size-fits-all definition of success. The most meaningful life is one that aligns with your own values, dreams, and heart.

Tune in to take a moment to reflect, redefine, and give yourself permission to build a life that feels authentic to you.

Mahalo for listening, I appreciate each of you that have been tuning in! 🌺🤍

If you're enjoying these episodes, please feel free to rate and follow and share :) you can also leave a review on platforms such as Apple, which I always appreciate!