If you search Google, you’ll find that an influencer is defined as “a person who inspires or guides the actions of others”.

Like most people I know, I have my fair share of influencers I look up to -- those who’ve inspired me and shaped the way I live my life and run my business.

On today’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast, I’m sharing with you the top 10 women I consider to be my biggest influences. They are women whose passion and authenticity I truly admire, and who have the ability to tell their stories in a way that shines such a bright light you can’t help but be drawn to them.

My top 10 list includes:

•    An early mentor and teacher
•    My influencers as a journalist
•    Women who influenced me as an entrepreneur
•    My inspirations for elevating my voice and being authentically me
•    Women coaches who have become good friends, including one who became my business partner! (I think you know who she is!)

These are the amazing women who motivate me to show up every ...

You brought the questions; now I’m giving you the answers!

For today’s episode, I asked LIGHTbeamers Community members to send me their Qs about anything under the sun … and I got asked some really good ones!

Join me today as I share with you a little bit more about me, my views, and my business as I answer the questions you’ve been wanting to ask me!

So here are the LIGHTbeamers and their questions that truly got me thinking and reflecting! 

• Author Kimberly Smith asks: where do you want to be in 10 years?
• Recent podcast guest Leanne Smith wants to know what I think about investing in myself and setting boundaries that will allow me to level up
• Jennifer Cook of Minimal and Well asks if I had limiting beliefs that held me back from achieving success (remember my money stories??) and what actually is my definition of success
• Mental health advocate Reaiah Cubero wants to find out what have been the hardest and best parts of my journey so far
• Pamela Sommers asks little girl me...

When I think of the term “Force of Happiness”, I think of only one person -- LIGHTbeamers Community member and my good friend, Leanne Smith.

Leanne brings so much sunshine into our Community and her smile and laughter can brighten any dark day, but she’ll be the first to tell you she hasn’t always been the Force of Happiness that she is today.

So what made the difference? How did Leanne leave the hard, heavy, and dark world she used to be in behind, and get to this positive place where she really wanted to be?

Join me in today’s episode as I talk to Leanne and she shares with me:

• The one word Leanne was writing at the top of her journal for years that eventually led her to our Community! 
• What it felt like living in dark times, being tied to an old version of herself and wanting to step into a new and brighter place -- and finding LIGHTbeamers at just the right time
• The transformation that happened when she looked at herself in the mirror -- this is a powerful story all by i...

In today’s world where materialism is so prevalent, how do we teach our children about money and finances? And where do we even begin teaching them about putting value on the more relevant things and choosing what’s better? 

Today’s guest on The Inside Story Podcast is David Delisle -- a successful entrepreneur, financial advisor, marketing director, and real estate investor, but most importantly, a dad. He’s been investing since he was eleven and is passionate about passing on the lessons he’s learned to teach kids how to live a rich life and create the freedom for what’s most important to them -- the Awesome Stuff.

I invite you to listen in as David and I talk about:

•    His childhood experiences that have helped shape his views about money and reading The Wealthy Barber at the age of 11!
•    Becoming an accidental author and publishing a book about financial and life lessons he wants to pass on to his kids, in a way his kids would find easy to understand
•    Being mindful and...

Clutter is defined as “a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.” But lately, with all the talk on minimalism and doing away with excess stuff, we’ve come to realize that clutter is more than just the physical and tangible things.

On today’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast, I talk to certified health and wellness coach Heather Aardema about decluttering and focusing on “finding the more in less”.

My conversation with Heather is so enlightening, and I invite you to join us as she shares:

• How she went from being a self-professed maximalist to a proud minimalist
• What minimalism means to her, and how it relates to being intentional and paying attention to the more important things
• Her decision to leave the corporate world to become a health coach, and serve those who wish to live light both physically and emotionally
• Her favorite quote from Joseph Campbell that is so, so good!! (Hint: it speaks of Stepping into your Brave!)
• How our surroundings heavily influence ...

If you’ve been looking for a way to connect with your audience, whether in business or otherwise , then you’re in for a treat!

Today, we’re talking about a story prompt that’s not only going to bring back some pretty good memories for you, but also pull out great stories from inside of you and help you engage with people through storytelling.

Join me as I share with you:

• The story prompt that’s going to carry a lot of good energy and draw people to you!
• How school, mob bosses, and pizza brought out my love for storytelling
• Two skills I’ve developed over the years that’s important to remember when doing storytelling work
• Why working through challenges and making yourself uncomfortable will let you dig out the best stories around you
• How using today’s story prompt can help you attract the right people to your brand or business

I always say: everybody has a story. And when it comes to storytelling, nothing is more engaging than sharing something that sets off positive emotio...

Have you ever been called too much of anything?

I’d be willing to bet that at some point, each one of us has been judged, labeled, and called “too much” of something by other people. And I’m pretty sure we’ve listened to what others say about us far more than we should, and actually believed their words even when we know they’re not true.

It’s no wonder we find ourselves exhausted from trying to be what everyone expects us to be, instead of being who we really are.

I invite you to tune in to this episode as I share with you:

• A LIGHTbeamers Community member’s story of how she struggled with a label that came out of a personality test
• How labels and inferences are used to keep women from amplifying their strengths
• Adjusting ourselves to suit other people’s standards
• How another person’s opinion of you is more about them than it is about you
• Allowing yourself to be authentically you and being confident that who you are is just right 

It’s so much easier to just conform to s...

How do you turn a setback into the biggest comeback of your life?

Catherine Just was only 18 years old when she decided to get sober from an addiction that almost made her give up on herself. That moment was the beginning of her new life, and an amazing artistic career that has led her work to be featured around the world, including the cover of National Geographic.

Her journey so far is nothing short of incredible, and why she’s telling her story is her way of paying it forward and giving someone else an opportunity to learn from her experience and lead a better life, especially through art.

Listen in as Catherine shares with me:

• Her backstory and how someone’s positive words saved her and changed her life forever
• The helicopter moment and what she heard in her head that made her decide to get up and ask for help
• What The 4 Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and her work with him mean to her
• Why she considers telling her story through her art, a miracle
• How her son Max has give...

Today, I am launching a new category of podcast episodes called “Community Spotlight”, featuring LIGHTbeamers Community members who are working on sharing their story to shine a light for others.

We start off with Reaiah Rose Cubero, a mental health advocate who is on a mission to help women on their journey of faith and mental health. She has been an active member of our Community for the last 2 years, learning how to tell her story to reach her audience and get her message across.

Here are some of what Reaiah and I talk about in this episode:

• Her backstory and how her anxieties began from the pressure of trying to maintain a certain image
• A vivid dream she had that led her to reach out to a friend and seek professional help
• How her art has helped her process what was going on with herself mentally, and what it feels like to use it now as a way of helping others who are on their mental health journey
• Finding out that hard conversations are easier to listen to and accept when...

Let’s face it: we find it so much easier to share our story if we can leave out those parts we think are not good enough to be told.

But when we downplay and edit out what could be the most important pieces of our story, we’re not giving our voices and our full stories a chance to be heard by those who need to hear it.

And yes, there are people who will gain inspiration and encouragement from our story, which is why it needs to be told and not edited out in a way that can diminish its significance.

Today on the podcast, I talk about self-editing and I invite you to listen in as I share:

• What self-editing means and the reasons why women do this
• How I self-edited my own story, so much so that my long-time neighbors didn’t know what I did for a living!
• What you can do to stop doing this right now and begin sharing your story in a more authentic way

Our stories are important, and sharing them can mean being the light and survival guide for someone else. Realizing this value an...