There's a story prompt I teach called,  "Trials to Triumph"... and this month's spotlight feature certainly fits that storyline. 

I first met Shannon Rafalowski when she attended our very first Storytelling Symposium in Dallas, Texas. 

I could sense immediately her story was raw and fresh. She was at the very beginning stage of healing from a 35+ year battle with an eating disorder and body image issues. 

She had just finished up her life coaching certification and was searching for a way to share her story in hopes of helping others. 

That was in May of 2019. 

Over the past 2 years, I've had a front row seat as Shannon has unraveled and rebuilt her life from the ground up.

This work isn't for the faint of heart, but it's worth it when you are able to look back on your story and see how beneficial it can be to share it with others. 

These days, Shannon pours her energy into her Tush Tribe Community, where she is helping women recover from their own perfectionist tendencies and rebuilding thei...

Denice Chenault is one of the most powerful women in network marketing. But she will also be the first one to tell you that she never thought of herself as a sales person, let alone imagined she could build a meaningful career people tend to associate with selling.

On today’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast, we go beyond the basics of network marketing and look at the heart of it through the eyes of Denice. From thinking of it initially as just a source of income, to understanding the real foundation a great career in this industry actually stands on, Denice takes us on her journey that goes back more than 22 years.

Our conversation is an enlightening one, so join us as we talk about:

• Denice’s back story and why she really got into network marketing all those years ago
• Appreciating how this industry provides equal opportunity for everybody — regardless of background — to become abundant
• How network marketing has taken her from being the shy girl from Colorado to becoming a
...

We all have money stories. Yet this topic is one that most of us shy away from and are even discouraged from discussing. Whether it’s from being told that it’s not polite to talk about money, or we’re too ashamed to discuss our own financial status, we do not talk about wealth as much as we should.

But more than just the amount that’s sitting in your bank account (although this matters quite a lot!), true wealth depends on the mindset we have about money and our relationship with it, and letting ourselves open up to the infinite abundance that is our birthright.

Today, my dear friend and money mentor Alexandra Taketa shares with us how our money stories can either stop us from reaching our full wealth potential, or allow us to attract the unlimited and abundant life of our dreams.

So listen in as Alexandra and I discuss:

• Her own money story rooted from childhood, and the work she did (and still continues to do!) to shift from a state of lack into the reality of a full, rich lif
...

Inspirational author Shannon L. Alder said: “There is no perfection, only beautiful versions of brokenness.”

That’s the truth. All of us have gone through heartbreak at some point, experienced difficult moments, and had dark days we thought would never end. And while our individual life stories may be woven uniquely, we ultimately have the same story elements and patterns such as love lost and found, birth and death, abuse and healing — and the same emotions that come with these experiences.

For first time author Kimberly Smith, life has been a series of traumatic events. When she finally decided to write these down in her book Beautifully Broken: Forged through Fire, Up from Ashes, telling her story freed her from the negative hold her experiences had on her, and gave her the power to heal not just her own heart, but also touch other women’s lives.

In this episode, Kim and I talk about:

• When she first realized she wanted to tell her story, and the hang-ups she had to work thro
...

When you hear the words, “Today is a GIFT”, what does it mean to you? Does it strike a chord with you or stirs something in your soul?

If there’s anything that 2020 taught us, it is that truly, every day is a gift. “Tomorrow is not promised” might be a cliché, but it is a reality that should teach us one thing: there’s no better time than today to take action and be the best version of ourselves, and to live our best lives now.

I invite you to listen to today’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast as I share with you:

• My love for acronyms and what W.A.I.T. really means
• What I feel is the major difference between men and women when it comes to facing the unknown, taking on challenges, and making decisions
• Why taking that first step and taking action toward your goals and dreams are the hardest things to do, but also the most important and rewarding
• My goal to make women realize their worth, and to elevate and highlight their stories

To W.A.I.T. is no longer an option. Ever t...

We’re all familiar with the old adage: “Laughter is the best medicine”. But how does humor actually tie in with healing trauma that we go through at some point in our lives?

Today’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast introduces us to Pasha Marlowe — life and laughter coach, and holistic personal trainer. As Pasha shares with me, she started out like any other marriage and family therapist who uses traditional methods for treatment. But a personal, traumatic experience led her to search for and apply all sorts of tools to bring about healing, and ultimately make the mindful decision to use humor as part of the process.

So join me and Pasha as we discuss:

• Her work as a therapist and health coach, and how a major shift in her family’s life became the springboard for her to use comedy, laughter and humor to promote healing
• What her coaching used to be like, versus how it looks now that she is working with the lens of humor
• Being open to transformation — even to the extent of chan
...

The only thing that's constant ... is change. And no one is more familiar with change than my good friend — certified life and leadership coach Deb Cummins Stellato. As the Princess of Pivots, Deb is a lover of change, having gone through major shifts in her life that have defined who she is.

Change means letting go of something familiar and can therefore be a scary thing. But Deb has embraced change, saying that “success means leaning in to being courageous and being open”.

I invite you to join us as we talk about:

•   The two devastating events in her life and the grief process she went through, eventually leading her to begin her podcast
•   How she wanted her podcast to be raw and authentic, and how she used storytelling to build the audience for it
•   The necessity of taking risks and accepting life changes, which also meant letting go of the concept of perfection
•   Impostor syndrome and how it can stop you from moving forward and pursuing your dream
•   How saying NO can actu
...

In just a couple of days, a new year will begin. And with everything that has happened in 2020, it just begs the question: what do we want this coming year to be like? If we were free to imagine the best life for ourselves this 2021 and even beyond, would it feel unlimited?

The internal exercise I share with you on today’s episode for choosing your word of the year is meant to be an intentional practice. It asks for a deep examination of what happened this past year, and calls for a bold vision of what you want your life to look like in the next 6 to 12 months.

So grab your pen and paper and get ready for meaningful reflections as I share with you: 

• My 5-step exercise for coming up with your word of the year, that has really become a goal-achieving machine for me and can work in the same way for you
• How your word can impact not only your goals and the way you see yourself, but more importantly, how you make decisions as the person you already see yourself becoming
• What it mean
...

We’ve all been there: days when our creativity just flows so naturally -- even magically! -- and we are so inspired that the ideas come one after the other without any effort.

Then one day, it all disappears. We lose the enthusiasm to create anything, we feel uninspired, and we don’t know how to get back into our groove again.

This is the ebb and flow of creativity and yes, my friends, I say “we” because I’ve been through this process, too. In fact, I felt like I was pulling from a dry well as I thought of what I wanted to talk about this week on the Podcast. And if you ask what helped me get out of the rut, then I invite you to tune in as I share with you how I unclogged my drain and let the creativity flow freely again.

In this episode, I fill you in on:

• The 7 go-to exercises I practice to recharge my creative juices
• The book by Julia Cameron that has helped me and many others on their journey to meaningful and creative journaling
• The time in my career I felt completely was
...