Kay Smith-Blum, a former fashionista, chaired Seattle’s first marketing campaign as a downtown business owner. She served as Seattle School Board President, a publicly elected position, between 2009 and 2013. An avid gardener, Smith-Blum founded Environmental Endeavors, the first greenhouse program in Seattle Public Elementary Schools. A fan of mid-20th-century history, Smith-Blum has penned two other manuscripts set in Texas, but the recent upheaval over leaking waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear site compelled Smith-Blum, to write the little-known story in a way that would educate and entertain readers. A meticulous researcher, she is redefining historical fiction with her debut novel, TANGLES, named Book of the Year by the Literary Global Book Awards, Best Debut Fiction by the American Writing Awards, Best Historical Mystery/Suspense by the American Fiction Awards 2025 Book Fest, and Best Regional Fiction/West in 2025 by the National Indie Excellence Awards.. It was also awarded the bronze medal in the Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Adult Book 2024. Smith-Blum’s published short works may be found in multiple literary journals. A companion short story to TANGLES  is included in the 2024 award-winning anthology, Feisty Deeds which Smith-Blum co-edited. Named the Western WA Woman Business Owner of 2013, Smith-Blum has lived in Washington State for four decades. A sunrise writer, she works out her writer’s block in her sons’ gardens and the nearest lap pool. For more info see  https://www.kaysmith-blum.com

Dr. Marline C. Duroseau, known as “Dr. Mar,” is a financial leadership executive, fertility health advocate, and resilience expert. As Managing Director of HR & Leadership Development at Brandon Hall Group, she gained national attention for her TEDx Raleigh talk, “The Secret Battle Behind Powerful Women Leaders,” highlighting the hidden struggles of women in leadership and the power of vulnerability.

A dynamic speaker and author, Dr. Mar has been featured at the Women in Leadership Shaping Tomorrow event and was a finalist for Author of the Year at the International Impact Book Awards. Her memoir, It'll Happen By 30, chronicles her infertility journey, the loss of her daughter Angel, and her path to healing. She also authored two children’s books and co‑authored The Impact Leaders with Kevin Harrington.

Dr. Mar hosts the annual You Are My Angel Maternal Wellness Event and continues to share her expertise through podcasts, media features, and national speaking engagements.

Meet Brittany Rogars—speaker, author, entrepreneur, and creator of the Pivot With Purpose Playbook. Her mission? To help women and professionals break free from burnout, rewrite their stories, and build lives rooted in purpose.

Raised in a family impacted by addiction, Brittany learned early how powerful cycles can be—and how transformational it is to break them. In 2019, the sudden loss of her best friend to addiction became a defining moment. In her friend’s memory, Brittany launched a handcrafted soap company that donated to addiction recovery efforts.

Brittany’s story is one of grit and growth: from gas station clerk to CEO, from soap maker to dental consultant, from surviving to thriving. When she lost her sense of smell, she didn’t crumble—she pivoted, launching SKF Practice Solutions to help dental teams operate with more clarity and ease. Today, she empowers others to transform pain into purpose with humor, heart, and no-BS strategies that make real change inevitable.

Roberta Ravella is a speaker, strategist, and founder of The Joy Experiment™, a framework designed to help women align their energy, values, and business growth without sacrificing themselves in the process. With a background in trust-based marketing and energetic alignment, Roberta brings two decades of experience helping entrepreneurs shift from hustle and overwhelm into clarity, ease, and resonance. Her workshops and writing invite ambitious women to build joyful, values-driven businesses that feel as good as they look.

My book link is https://a.co/d/hNr2lvc

Open for Business: How To Build A Business You Love Without The Hustle And Grind

Anne Butler Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine
writer, teacher, author, and amateur sports official. She worked for five TV stations, including
ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award-winning
SportsCenter. She finished her on-camera broadcasting career with a two-year stint as the
studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery was a freelance and/or staff reporter for
six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces. Her novels
include Your Forgotten Sons, The Castle, A Light in the Desert, Wild Horses on the Salt, The
Scent of Rain, and Wolf Catcher. Montgomery taught journalism and communications skills in a
Title I high school for 20 years and was an amateur sports official for four decades, a time
during which she called baseball, ice hockey, soccer, and basketball games and served as a high
school football referee and crew chief. Montgomery is a foster mom to three sons and a
daughter. When she can, she indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, and playing
her guitar. She splits her time between Phoenix, Arizona and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 Josh Case is an energy consultant, entrepreneur, and former executive at ENGIE, a Global Fortune 500 company. After years of high performance and nonstop pressure, he burned out and fell into addiction—an experience that ultimately sent him to rehab three times. Through that journey, Josh confronted deep-rooted issues including codependency, past trauma, and the difference between genuine self-esteem and external attention seeking. Armed with those lessons and a renewed commitment to living life on life’s terms—not his own—Josh was able to stop drinking and begin rebuilding his life with clarity, purpose, and humility. Josh is now the creator of Sober.Buzz, a platform dedicated to “Spreading the Good BUZZ” by raising awareness and helping destigmatize addiction and recovery. Through Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube, Sober.Buzz reaches more than 90,000 followers across at least 43 countries, connecting people to hope, support, and honest conversations about sobriety. Today, Josh continues to share his story openly as he helps others navigate their own paths to recovery—proving that resilience, vulnerability, and community can change everything. 

Ann Dowsett Johnston is the bestselling author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, which broke the story on the pinking of the alcohol market and the closing gender gap on risky drinking. An award-winning journalist, Ann spent close to 30 years at Maclean’s magazine, moving on to her role as Vice-Principal of McGill University. In her sixties, Ann enrolled at Smith College, and became a psychotherapist. As well, she teaches her popular online memoir course called Writing Your Recovery. A prominent advocate for mental health and addiction services, she has won many awards, including an honorary doctorate of laws from Queen’s University.