A Podcast to inspire and motivate women in midlife! Let's Calm the Chaos in our lives so we can go after our purpose and passion!
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It was a total pleasure to speak with Deborah. She’s a wonderful and well-informed interviewer who drew out the ideas from my book through her insightful questions that would most help women in mid-life. The resulting interview was informative and fun.
About:
Jennifer and I discuss her book, Why Bother! Discover the Desire for What’s Next. Since it’s the end of the year, it’s the perfect time to stop, notice and celebrate the arising of the desire within yourself! This desire is what gives us the juice, courage, and inspiration to get over the fears that we often feel when we come to this place in our lives. Let’s take the time today to flip that question, Why bother into something positive! In my interview, we discuss the six steps of why bother!
JENNIFER LOUDEN is a personal growth pioneer who helped launch the concept of self-care with her first bestseller, The Woman’s Comfort Book. Since then, she’s written six additional books on wellbeing and whole living, including The Woman’s Retreat Book and The Life Organizer, with close to a million copies of her books in print in nine languages. Jennifer has spoken around the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and has written a national magazine column for a Martha Stewart magazine. Plus, she’s been profiled or quoted in dozens of major magazines; two of Brené Brown’s books, Daring Greatly and Dare to Lead; and has appeared on hundreds of TVprograms, radio shows, and podcasts—even on Oprah. Jennifer has been teaching women’s retreats since 1992 and creating vibrant on-line communities and innovative learning experiences since 1999. She writes weekly to her email list of 20,000 and hosts an online paid community of over 600 members. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.
What You’ll Learn
How to go from Despair to the Desire for wanting more!
Steps to Why Bother
- Leave Behind- Examine the excuses we make!
- Ease In- Get the fire going. You matter and what you want matters! Take the time to turn towards yourself
- Settle In and Find the Stillness. At our core is peace and well-being. Unless we sit in the stillness we don’t know or hear what we want.
- Desire- Life is speaking to you. Allow yourself to feel that desire
- Become by Doing- You begin to experiment
- Be Seen- Be seen as your whole self
The Oasis Group with Jennifer
Jennifer’s Challenge for the listeners!
Links:
Jennifer Louden Website here
Connect with Deborah Voll
Take The Midlife Quiz
Passion and Purpose Digital Workbook
Book Your Spot for the Free 60 minute Clarity Session here
About:
Katharine Chestnut is the founder and CCO of Alkaloid Networks, a coworking space she founded in 2015. Over the past two decades, Katharine has navigated the realm of self-care, studying multiple wellness disciplines to support her own personal growth. Her new book, Inner Affirmations, is a testament to her practice of personal self-care and the kind of growth that comes from a mindful journaling routine.
Katharine’s journey started twenty years ago when she was introduced to her mentor, Sue Meyers who in her own right was a million-dollar realtor turned spiritual guide. Sue was teaching weekend workshops in the area and Katharine decided to attend. The focus at the workshop was on non-dominant handwriting.
When Katharine was introduced to this practice in the workshop, she was asked to write down her answers to a series of questions and you would write the answers with your dominant hand. Then 30 minutes later you would answer the same question but with your non-dominant hand and get a completely different answer!
After the workshop, Katharine did her research and found that using your non-dominant hand, helps you to slow down and be more mindful in your writing. You have to be very thoughtful about creating what you are writing as it’s not coming that easy! Because you are being more mindful and you have to slow down, your ego gets out of the way.
This may sound a bit strange, but when you’re using your dominant hand, you are writing what you should be feeling and thinking. This makes sense because your ego and logic are driving you. When you switch to the other side, your ego short-circuits a bit and quiets down so it can become authentic and what is true for you at your core.
When Katharine would analyze the answers to her questions with both hands, she was stunned. It really did resonate with her and the differences and similarities in her journaling. But the differences that she journaled were far more of the essence of what was true at her core.
Since that day, Katharine has been practicing non-dominant journaling as her main focus of practice!
Katharine offers every Monday morning at 9:30 am EASTERN on Insight Timer a weekly practice where you can participate. Check it out!
Years later while Katharine was journaling, she wrote down a word/ phrase that she wanted to continue to think about throughout the day so she wrote it on a piece of paper and stuck it in her pocket so she could look at it throughout the day. She wanted to refer back to it so she could come back to a place of calm and grounded throughout the day. Katharine would pull it out throughout the day, take a deep breath, and be able to go back into that space of calm that she desired. It was then that she started doing it more and after time she would be pulling out of her pocket these little affirmations!
It was those little slips of paper, often referred to Katharine as her “love notes to self” that became her book! Even to this day, she still writes down an affirmation and puts it in her pocket because it helps her to heal and focus on what’s true in her life.
If you go to Katherine’s website you can see her daily inner affirmation which you can write down for yourself and stick in your pocket!
Katharine began to put her marketing skills to work and began creating a brand for herself and her work so that she could begin to reach more people with teachings!
We discuss how to make daily affirmations a part of your daily routine and how to write affirmations that resonate with us which are true to our inner beliefs and desires! Katharine shares that it doesn’t need to be hard to access that place of calm and knowing and if you have a pen and piece of paper, you can do it from anywhere!
Katharine shares about her Sunday evening routine which helps her to stay focused.
She asks the questions
How did my week go?
What did I plan to do?
What could have gone better?
How do I want to feed my spirit and soul this week?
From there she is more mindful about heading into the next week with an intention for herself
Katharine will be creating some new content that will be available to her community in 2022 so I invite you to go over and check out her website at the link below!
Links:
Connect with Katharine Chestnut
Order the Book: Inner Affirmations
Connect with Deborah Voll
Take The Midlife Quiz
Passion and Purpose Digital Workbook
Book Your Spot for the Free 60 minute Clarity Session here
About:
Melissa Houston is a CPA and Financial strategist for CEO’s. Melissa helps successful business owners increase their profit margins so they can keep more money in their pocket and increase their net worth! Melissa is a columnist at Forbes.com and the host of The Business Society Podcast
Melissa started her journey as a social worker and worked in that sector for five years and realized that long-term it may not be the best fit for her. She then went back to school and chose to account as it was the “responsible, reliable choice” but then realized that something was missing and that was her interaction with people! It was at that time that she decided to go out on her own and combine her social working skills with her in-depth knowledge of money! For Melissa, it’s wonderful to be able to help women entrepreneurs in every aspect of their business to ensure that they are setting their business up for financial success!
There was a period of about a decade where Melissa suppressed her feelings of wanting to go into business for herself. Suppressing and not dealing with her feelings meant they came out in other ways and self-sabotage ensued. She ended up being in a situation where she was spending money recklessly to make herself feel better about what was lacking in her life. She continues to share this season with us and the impact that it had on herself and her marriage. At that point she stopped and took a look at herself and that she was not being true to herself. Melissa learned a lot about herself during this experience which helps her assist other women in a non-judgemental approach. She’s been there and done that! Messing up and feeling shame doesn’t define who you are, it’s just part of the experience! Melissa was in her late forties when she made this pivot in her career so it’s never too late!
In our conversation we dive into, How do I even know if I need a money coach? A lot of that surrounds knowing if your business is profitable or not. So often business owners will only evaluate their business on how much money they have coming in the door. So if you don’t know if you are profitable or if you don’t have a financial plan for your business moving forward then you are a business without a direction.
The purpose of being in business is to make a profit and if you are not operating at a profit eventually you will go bankrupt. Sadly 82% of businesses fail due to being financially mismanaged. If you can understand how to manage your finances you can eliminate so much of that problem!
Let’s say you are ready to hire a financial business coach! You may be wondering what it is you need to think about? How do you know if you are picking the right team member? We dive into all those things that you will want to consider moving forward.
Melissa also shares some of the limiting beliefs she hears from her clients and how your mindset around money and your business is so important! This is a big part of her offering to be a financial expert and coach. We dive into discussing some of these beliefs and new ways of looking at yourself and your business!
We discuss so many other topics as it relates to running a business! There are lots of valuable nuggets in this podcast! Melissa also shares advice on how she works with an entrepreneur who has been in business but never paid herself! She reminds the listeners that what you are doing is not a hobby and that you need to have in your budget to pay yourself! Melissa also shares the number one mistake that women entrepreneurs make and that is not understanding your numbers.
What is the secret equation to running a successful business? Bringing in those sales and knowing how to manage your money!
Melissa offers both 1:1 Coaching and her Confident Cash Method on her website. The Confident Cash Method is a five-step framework that she takes her clients through. This process gives you a high level of understanding of your business so you can make smart and informed decisions that are going to make your business profitable.
Links:
Connect with Melissa Houston
Connect with Deborah Voll
Take The Midlife Quiz
Passion and Purpose Digital Workbook
Book Your Spot for the Free 60 minute Clarity Session here
About:
Fran Braga Meininger is a writer, author, content provider, and creator of The Years Beyond Youth.com. She writes about an era in a woman’s life that can be exciting, engaging, and vibrant despite or perhaps because of, what comes with age. Her work has been featured on Sixty and Me, Ruminate Magazine, KQED Radio, She Rose Revolution, Changing Aging, and other online and printed publications.
Fran retired around 59 years young and for the first few months, it was fun to have all the freedom and to be able to do what you wanted. She started to feel restless and wondered, what comes next? It was at that time that Fran went into therapy as she found it was a bigger transition than what she could manage on her own. Her therapist told her, “ this is the next stage in your life, and it’s up to you to create it! “ Fran took that message to heart and began the process of waking up every morning at 5 am and sat at her computer to write! She found that writing was very fulfilling and she was finding interest in the things it was being revealed. Most of what was being written was coming from a place that she hadn’t processed in her mind.
During encounters with friends, Fran began to share her writing and they encourage her to share her important messages with others. She then started a writer’s Facebook page where women came and enjoyed her writings. This then progressed to submitting her writings to other publications for women. Fran also has her blog and feels that she is on a great journey!
Fran shares that a helpful piece of advice she received from her therapist was, slow down, don’t be so hard on yourself, what you want will come! Say YES to a lot more things! I know when I am working with clients in the self-exploration process, I encourage them to say YES and be open to new experiences as you never know where they will lead and who you may meet!
I ask Fran about what it was like to be so vulnerable in putting her writing out in public as a lot of time, she was writing about herself! She shares how she participated in a writers group and that experience in sharing and what an impact that had on her life. The feedback she received from the group, helped her to keep moving on to the next thing! Every time she would release something it would be more personal than it was the last time. The comments that she gets back through her work are so rewarding and fulfilling and she knows from those comments that she is making a difference.
The reason why Fran gets up at 4 am to write is because she wants to share! And the number one message she wants to share with the woman over 40 is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There is a whole tribe of us out there doing the same. You just need to take one step at a time!
While we are discussing Fran’s work, I ask her about a recent article: Living Deeply, and ask her what living deeply in your life means to her. She shares that she noticed at one point, she was having a lot of superficial conversations and that her writing was deep but she wasn’t having conversations on that level. During that year, she started to be more vulnerable and have more truthful conversations with the people she trusted. When she found that people were resistant or didn’t want her to change then she let go of those relationships. For Fran, it’s part of the growing process. It’s reflection, introspection, and spending time with yourself.
I invite you all to visit Fran’s blog and become a part of her community! Her writings will inspire you and cause you to reflect on your own journey.
Links:
Connect with Fran Braga Meininger
Fran’s Article Living Deeply
Fran’s Article Wooden Spoons of Comfort
Connect with Deborah Voll
Take The Midlife Quiz
Passion and Purpose Digital Workbook
Book Your Spot for the Free 60 minute Clarity Session here
About:
Danielle Collins is THE Face Yoga Expert! With over 17 years of experience teaching to millions worldwide! Danielle believes in combining traditional techniques that have been used for thousands of years with modern scientifically proven research. Believe it or not, Face Yoga has been proven to make you look three years younger in 20 weeks as these results were conducted by dermatologists at Northwestern University! Not only does she provide the tools to her community to do this in their home but she supports her community with a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, shop, and teacher training! Danielle makes herself accessible and is a wealth of information on how to nurture your mind and body!
Danielle’s journey started 19 years ago when she had just completed university and was starting her career but began to feel very unwell and went to see a doctor. She was diagnosed with a virus called glandular fever. At that point, she was housebound and bedridden for a good part of a year. It was during that time that a doctor told her that there was nothing they could do for her. Basically, this is how you’ll live for the balance of your life! It was during this time that someone recommended yoga. This gentle method of taking care of herself kick-started her journey to a path of healing herself from the inside out.
During this period of discovering yoga and seeing the results on how she felt within her body, she called on other experts to learn meditation, positive thinking, visualization, massage therapy, and acupuncture. It was by combining a lot of these techniques together that she was able to feel healthy and strong within 18 months!
Coming through to the other side of her illness, Danielle knew that she had suffered in this so that she could share her experiences with other people. She knew that there were other people perhaps going through a similar illness or may just want to learn some simple and effective techniques to help them feel healthier and happier.
It was then that she took some training in relaxation therapy, yoga teacher training, nutrition, and face massage. Initially, she started out by teaching a lot of relaxation and yoga classes. It was then that she wanted to do something that was natural for the face. Danielle explains that at the time, there wasn’t a lot available and all the focus was strengthening our bodies from the neck down. There are 57 muscles in our face! With her knowledge about facial massage, she wanted to develop a protocol where people could do these techniques at home.
Danielle goes on to share how we can strengthen and relax certain muscles. We do have control over how we can naturally keep our skin vibrant and healthy! This is when she developed the Danielle Collins Face Yoga Method. Not only is she teaching these principles to students but she has written two books on her methods which have been translated into 12 different languages.
Danielle shares some of the feedback she has received from people who have used her face yoga method and some pretty incredible before and after pictures! But most of all their face looks vibrant and healthy. They also notice a release in the stress and tension in their face as well as a reduction of headaches and sinus issues.
We jump into how to get started and it really depends on how much time you have in your day and the type of results that you want to achieve. A great starting point is her ten-day course.
On her website, you’ll be able to see the opportunity to connect and subscribe to her podcast and her products. We do discuss her newest product: The Fusion Mask. This product is natural, vegan, and organic. It won’t be harsh or react to the skin. You can use this product a couple of times per week. It’s designed to draw out impurities in the skin, hydrate, and encourage cell renewal and natural cell turnover. It helps to stimulate the natural production of collagen.
In our conversation, we discuss how face yoga can help to produce more collagen and elastin in our skin. We naturally tend to lose about 1% of collagen each year from around the age of 18. Massage is very helpful with cell turnover and renewal as it gets into the middle layer of the skin. Boosting circulation and help get fresh blood and nutrients into the areas where collagen and elastin lie. By strengthening and toning those muscles under the skin you will be providing that structure and everything will look more lifted!
Maybe today is the day for you to get curious and connect with Danielle! Perhaps give Face Yoga a try?
Links:
Connect with Danielle Collins
Danielle’s 10 day Face Yoga Course
Fusion Mask and Serum
Connect with Deborah Voll
Take The Midlife Quiz
Passion and Purpose Digital Workbook
Book Your Spot for the Free 60 minute Clarity Session here
About:
This podcast episode is the journey of my client Sky who recently completed her 8-week coaching program with me to gain the clarity and confidence she needed regarding her next career move!
Sky came to me recently unemployed and feeling confused about what to do next. She wasn’t sure if staying in her early childhood education was the best move for her and she was needing some guidance to help make that decision and gain the skills she needed to show up with confidence to be able to discuss her experience and skills during the interview process
Sky wrestled with the how-to effectively seek employment and those beliefs that “nobody was going to want me as a woman in midlife”. She also felt that she was “too old to change what she was doing”. She had a lot of negative mindset going on at the time of our first meeting!
Sometimes making that initial call to a coach can feel scary and be vulnerable with someone you don’t know very well. Sky shares how she felt after that first free sixty-minute introductory call with me. “It felt good like I was connecting with somebody who understood my situation and help tease out what I wanted and what would make me happy and fulfilled”.
It was clear after our initial conversation that Sky didn’t feel that great about herself or her situation. For her, it was like a lifeboat came along and she was going to jump on!
Sky shares what it was like to show up for the coaching each week and do the homework which combined self-exploration and career coaching. Sky loved the exercises because they showed her that what she was looking for in the future and it whatever she chose would need to be meaningful and purposeful. She also learned that she had a lot of knowledge about families and wanted to a be service to her community!
During this process, Sky created some big dreams and big goals for herself, and for her, it was helpful to have someone help break those down into small steps that she could follow so that each week she accomplished those goals!
Sky shares how she enjoyed working through the worksheets in the Passion and Purpose Workbook. She shares her favorite worksheet during the eight weeks and that the exercise made her feel like she was an investment and does have a value to provide and there are things that she wants for herself and her future! She loves going back and reading what she wrote on the exercises during the coaching process as it helps her to see how far she has come during this period!
We discuss that time in the coaching process where Sky felt that turn in her mindset and how she saw herself. That process evolved from the very first session where we tackled some of her ongoing nightmares and how to work through that process. Then she had her mirror work assignments which in the beginning she was whispering her mantra and now she is comfortable looking at herself in the mirror and believing what she is saying to herself! Even now she is continuing to remind herself in the mirror that she deserves her ideal life! This helped her keep her goals and focus while making ongoing progress.
There are many coaches out there on the internet and Sky shares why she decided to work with me through the eight-week coaching process and how she felt about our initial introduction. ( I’ll let you listen to her own words! ) So important to hear if you are looking to reach out to a coach!
It became apparent through the coaching that Sky was someone who values creativity, autonomy, and independence. She also wants to give back to her community! She wants to be someone who helps people! Sky decided to take her certification to become a life coach and will be opening her coaching business which focuses on helping families. Her business… is Clarity Parenting and her focus will be helping families with young children. A lot of what she will be offering is providing behavior guidance to families! She will also help families find the right type of childcare for their children and offer a unique perspective coming from her professional background.
Sky is confident now that she can do this and she can create her ideal lifestyle and dream career! She shares that having someone to help guide you to overcome the mindset that is holding you back is very helpful in the process. Also having a coach that can help you take a look at yourself and help you see the value in who you are for yourself and the world is helpful.
What are you waiting for? If you are feeling confused, overwhelmed or stuck in what to do next for your career journey let’s connect for your free sixty-minute session so we can get to know each other! Go grab your favorite beverage and fill out your application!
Links:
- Connect with Sky
- Connect with Deborah Voll
- Take The Midlife Quiz
- Passion and Purpose Digital Workbook
- Book Your Spot for the Free 60 minute Clarity Session here
