My firm belief is that we all have an important story to tell, and if you’ve been in our Community long enough, you know I teach people how to share their stories and how to share them effectively.

But in last week’s episode of The Inside Story Podcast where I answered questions from members of our Community, someone asked if I can share insights on how I draw stories out of others. 

I briefly touched on the subject last week, and today, I’m giving you a rundown of some tips and strategies you can use to pull stories from other people.

In today’s episode, I cover: 

• What you need to be and what you need to do to draw stories out of others
• The two types of questions you need to ask
• How the Story Formula can help you formulate questions that will allow others to share their stories more easily with you

Practice what you learned today on the show and I guarantee it will change the way you communicate with others. This will help improve not just the...

The spirit of a 'can do' attitude will take you very far in life. This notion that 'I can do it!' and 'I'll figure it out' or 'if she can do it, so can I'  is often times more than half the battle when taking on new challenges and getting yourself out of a place you no longer want to be. 

This is the exact attitude Debbie Adams brings to the table in her work as a business coach and trainer inside her PeopleCan training and development company. 

And once you get to know her story, you can see how her own humble beginnings and challenging setbacks have paved the way for her success. For it's not the stock we come from, or the successes we have in life that truly shape our ability to do hard things. It's circle of influence we surround ourselves with and the mindset we keep when the chips are down. 

I've enjoyed learning about Debbie and her apprenticeship model of teaching and learning. Take a minute to learn from her and her success. 

APRIL: Let's start...

What do you do when you completely miss creating a plan for your podcast episode that’s set to be released in 2 days? Well, you run to your friends -- aka your Community -- and ask them for help!!

And that’s exactly what I did! Having no specific topic for this week’s episode, I decided to make it interactive by having friends ask me questions that I would answer on the show. So I turned to the LIGHTbeamers Community, told them what was happening and what I intended to do, and boy oh boy, did I get some fantastic Qs!!

So I invite you to join me today as I answer questions ranging from how to handle pressure to what’s the best thing about our family’s recent move … truly a mixed bag of nuts!!

Here are the contributors to this week’s episode, and their Qs:

• Ashley DeLuca asks: how do you handle the pressure to do all the things? (Timely? I know!!)
• Rachel Marie Nelson wants to know: why the color yellow?
• Another one from Rachel: how do you...

It’s an extra special day over here!!

Today is the official launch day of ELEVATE YOUR VOICE -- the first-ever LIGHTbeamers collaborative book!

After months of writing and working on promoting the book, this day has finally come. Along the way, I’ve featured some of the women who have written chapters for the book on this podcast, and in today’s episode, it’s my turn. I’m giving you some behind-the-scenes look at MY OWN journey: from initial talks about the project to writing my story … up until the day I held a copy of the book in my hands.

So tune in and sit with me as I share with you:

• How the project started out when I first talked to our publisher, Lannete Pottle, and its evolution into the book we are launching today
• Why it was necessary for me to create a safe space for the women joining the program
• The experience of putting my own story on paper -- and reading the first draft I wrote for the book
• The whole growth experience, and...

Community Highlights is a series I do on The Inside Story Podcast to showcase the amazing LIGHTbeamers who shine their light for others. And one of those people is Louisa Garrett, who is doing what she can to spread love and sow kindness out in the world.

But Louisa would be the first to tell you that being kind didn’t always come easy to her. In fact, 10 years ago, kindness was something she didn’t practice, and sarcasm was her norm.

So what changed?

Louisa shares her journey with me today, and I invite you to listen in as she and I talk about:

• The type of person she was before, always ready to dish out comebacks and clapbacks
• How her 15-year old niece became the voice in her head that urged her to re-think actions
• Starting her movement #MakeKindLoud with the belief that everyone is a good person at their very core
• How the events of 2020 made her dig deeper to find her real purpose in life
• Why showing up every single day matters in making an impact on someone
• Knowing...

You always hear me say that storytelling is impactful. If you want to grow your business, build community, and cultivate a great relationship with your audience, storytelling is key.

But just how critical is it for you to actually have a storytelling plan of action in place in today’s digital age? What can you do to give yourself the best chance of success when it comes to telling your story?

I'm sharing my go-to ways to infuse storytelling into the nooks and crannies of your online presence and business. Tune in today as I discuss:

• The characteristics of a good storyteller
• What you don’t want to do when it comes to sharing your story
• Five ways to become better at storytelling

If you’d like a safe place where you can begin your storytelling journey, head over to the LIGHTbeamers Community on Facebook, and take your cue from our story prompts!

You can also send me a DM on Instagram at @lightbeamers if you’d like to know more about storytelling! I'd be more...

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Do I drink too much?”, and go back and forth between saying yes and no without really understanding why, today is a good day to listen to The Inside Story Podcast.

Our guest for this episode is Kari Schwear, Founder of GrayTonic and the Question the Drink movement. She’s a former gray area drinker who struggled with understanding how and why she landed there. She shares her story of finding out what her real problem was, and how she’s now helping others who are stuck in the gray area.

There’s so much to gain from my conversation with Kari, so I invite you to listen in as we talk about:

• When her journey of questioning the drink began, and how and what she learned about the gray area
• Why having awareness and paying close attention can help you begin to have the right mindset about alcohol and your relationship with it
• Her reason for starting the business and how she’s empowering 
• How her programs Question...

Vulnerability seems like such a big, scary word. But when we allow ourselves to become vulnerable at the right moment, something magical can happen.

Deb Cummins Stellato is another one of our authors for Elevate Your Voice, the first ever LIGHTbeamers collaborative book. She considers herself the Princess of Pivots, having gone through so many changes in a span of a few short years.

Today, Deb tells us what it means to power through grief with courage, vulnerability, and acceptance.

Join me and Deb as we talk about:

• How her storytelling has evolved and what the continuum of courage is
• The invitation to write a chapter for the LIGHTbeamers collaborative book, and the fears that came with making her story public
• Her writing journey and the pain that came with reliving the grief of her mother's death
• How sharing her story has helped her heal and move forward
• The experience of becoming an author for Elevate Your Voice, and what it felt like to build a community with the other women of...

In the line of work I do, I always have women come up to me and tell me that they want to change their lives, and live in alignment with their passion and purpose. And the advice I give to them is to go all in and to focus their energy on what the outcome they want to achieve, because really, it takes 100% of your commitment to see results.

Trisha Deming did just that: she persevered and made the decision to only move forward (and not look back!) in the network marketing industry. The result? She’s living her best life today and is doing what she can to help others create the life they want.

There’s so much you can take away from our conversation, so listen in as Trisha and I talk about:

• How she was living on autopilot and no longer finding fulfillment in her business
• Experiencing failure and making the decision to not give in the face of adversity
• What has changed for her after finding success in network marketing, especially the self-development that came with not...

So many of us women -- yes, myself included -- have been conditioned to think that we should stay small and quiet, to stay behind the scenes even when we have something valuable to give to our community.

One woman is trying to change that by helping other women learn how to “say NO to things that don’t serve you and YES to things that light you on fire.” Pamela Meadows -- one of the 14 women who took up the challenge to elevate their voice and let their story be told -- is on a mission to help women create and live their best lives.

Join me and Pamela today, as she and I talk about:

• How she owned her expertise and what she did to advocate for herself in the workplace
• What she’s doing now to affect change in the company she’s with, including getting everyone to have their own Smile File!
• Her reason for joining the LIGHTbeamers Author Program and what it was like for her to go on this journey
• Her message to women about confidence, value, and self-worth,...