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Amy Minyard first landed in LIGHTbeamers Community lost and confused about what to do with her story. It was burning a hole inside of her, and once she figured out how to use it, a whole new Amy was born.

I invite you to listen as I share Amy's story.

This girl has a story! Amy Minyard has overcome so much in her life -- a single mom who's victory over abuse, abandonment, and obesity is a testament to the power of a woman determined to rise.

She first appeared in the LIGHTbeamers Community about 3 years ago with a heap of a story, but had no clue what to do with it.

3 Years later, she shares her story with ease and is on a mission to teach other women the power of Self Love!!!

I thought I’d share a bit of my story with you — as I am always encouraging you to share your story with your audience.

I realize not all of my listeners/followers really know who I am; you might not know the backstory on why I’m so passionate about storytelling and helping others find their story.

My journey began inside a CBS Television newsroom in Texas… where I was working the absolute worst hours ever trying to cut my teeth in the world of Journalism. I hopped around the southeast to a few different TV stations in the early years of my career — each step trying to land a better job with better pay and better hours.

While I loved those early years -- I learned so much about broadcasting, storytelling, journalism -- I also discovered I was completely in the wrong industry.

I did NOT love network news: The high-stakes pressure of gaining ratings; the rush to beat others stations to the story; the hovering over a police scanner waiting for...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

I see this over and over again — people say things like, “Oh, I could never share my story publicly”, or “I could never speak in front of an audience.”

Maybe you say this to yourself…. and count yourself as one of those people. You’ve already convinced yourself you’ll never be able to tell your story to an audience because the fear is just too big, too enormous to overcome.

What’s happening here is you are putting the emphasis on your PERFORMANCE.

Thoughts like, “What if I stumble or mess up” and “Will people even like me?” create a judgement framework from which you are operating. You are making the story all about you. This creates a lot of pressure, and Your fear of sharing publicly will only increase. It’s a vicious cycle.

Instead, what I encourage people to do is...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device!

I’m coming off a huge weekend high, as I launched and hosted my first LIVE event in Dallas Texas on Saturday — the first Storytelling Symposium to empower women.

4 other Speakers joined me for the half-day workshop, as we poured into the audience our best advice, tips, and inspiration to help them step more fully into their own story — and use it to shine a light into the world.

I shared with the audience a vision I had recently while meditating at a women’s retreat I attended last month.

The meditation had me imagining a golden light shining down on top of me. I immediately saw this light in my minds eye, and could see myself as a dark shadow under this golden light.

And in that moment, I heard a click — and it was as if I turned on a flashlight. Suddenly, the dark shadow was gone and below that big golden...

Last week on the blog & Alexa Flash Briefing, I shared the story of Neighbor's Table after having heard about their organization through my Pastor. He shared their mission in one of his sermons as he preached on the Commandment of "Love Thy Neighbor".

I was so taken with Sarah's story, I left church that day and googled her and her 'love mission'.

I quickly shot off an impromptu email, gushing about how much I admired her story, and requesting an interview. 

I knew I would be in the Dallas area the following weekend, would it be possible to stop by and chat with her.... at the table?

As luck would have it, Sarah was available and said YES to my interview request. 

I stopped by her house in downtown Dallas, and after a quick welcome and introduction, we stepped into her backyard to sit down for this Facebook Live interview. 

What unfolded was nothing short of magical and inspiring.

Sarah shared how her entire business is founded on the power of Storytelling, and to this...

Listen to our daily blog-casts on Amazon. Enable our "What's Your Story" daily flash briefing and listen using your Alexa device! 

One of my goals with LIGHTbeamers, is to bring you great stories from time to time, as I discover other women in the world who are up to some pretty amazing things.

This weekend, I learned about Sarah Harmeyer of Dallas Texas. Sarah is what she likes to call “a people gatherer.”

She says her favorite thing in the world is to gather around a table and celebrate with others. So, Sarah asked her Dad to build her a farm table that would seat 20 people, and because there wasn’t room for this inside her house, she set the table up outside in her backyard.

She decided to invite her neighbors over for a potluck dinner, to fill her table and create an opportunity to get to know the people living all around her. 

She created a post on the community social media app, NextDoor, and invited anyone in the neighborhood who wanted to...

For more than 20 years now, I’ve been interviewing people as part of my work as a video producer, writer, and journalist. I always consider it a great privilege and honor when people accept my invitation for the interview, and proceed to answer the questions I ask…

Ultimately, this leads to them sharing their story with me — and there’s always this magical moment that happens at some point inside the interview… it’s like a chime that goes off in my head…. a little bell rings to signal that moment when we’ve hit our target. I’ve uncovered a golden piece of their story.

This happened yesterday when I was interviewing my guest on the Bright Light’s Storytelling Series—  a weekly Facebook Live interview I do on Thursdays.

I was interviewing Lucy Brummett, a writer and blogger who went from being riddled with insecurity and self-doubt…. to stepping out as a writer & bloggers to be seen and heard....

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It's #TransformationalTuesday, and I am sharing a piece of inspirational wisdom…. because I think we all need it from time to time.

I can’t take credit for this one; this story was shared with me by a spiritual teacher, Maru Iabichela, who teaches all about the power of our own minds to create all that which we desire.

She shared a story of a group of farmers who were praying over their land that had suffered a tragic drought. The entire community was at risk because the land was no longer bearing crops — barren, desolate, and parched.

A group of spiritual leaders gathered to pray, when one of the farmers asked why were they not praying for rain.

To which they replied — "You don’t need to pray for rain, you need to pray for green pastures." 

When we are experiencing a drought in our own life, we often make the...