Ann Quasman's WomanTalkLive A more conscious conversation

This Week on WomanTalk Live: “What YOU Can Do to Tackle Our Nation’s Leading Killer of Women” with Shannon Winakur, M.D. and Debbie Phelps

Shannon Winakur, M.D. and Debbie Phelps

On this weekend when we celebrate moms of all ages, other women who are mother figures to many of us, and our daughters, sisters, friends… it seems important to take a look at the #1 killer of women – heart disease – and, just what we can do for ourselves and each other to promote and live with healthy hearts.

For some reason, many of us have missed the message.  Just take a look at these stats:

• Coronary artery disease kills almost 200,000 U.S. women each year in comparison to roughly 40,000 deaths from breast cancer.

• When included with stroke, heart failure, and high blood pressure, these diseases kill one woman every minute in the U.S.

• Only a minority of women view heart disease as a threat.

Because women’s symptoms may be different from men’s – and because women can be more likely to write the symptoms off as signs of “stress” – the disease can go unrecognized and untreated.  Ultimately, this can be incapacitating or deadly.

Joining me this week to talk about what we need to do as women and for the women we care about when it comes to heart awareness and care, are two women who are passionate about heart health:

Shannon Winakur, M.D., is a cardiologist with the Maryland Cardiovascular Specialists at Saint Agnes Hospital and the Medical Director of the Women’s Heart Center at Saint Agnes.  As a female cardiologist, she is naturally drawn to educating women about their hearts and empowering them to take better care of themselves.

Debbie Phelps is one busy woman.  She is the newly appointed Director for The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public Schools.  In addition, she’s the mother of competitive athletes, an educator, an author, a speaker, a community activist, and a volunteer.  When it comes to heart health, she knows the facts and figures… that one woman dies every minute from heart disease.  That’s why she makes the time to get a personalized heart assessment – the 60-Minute Heart Check – at the Women’s Heart Center at Saint Agnes.

Tune in this week to find out from both Dr. Winakur and Debbie Phelps how you and the special women you love can keep yourselves in circulation.

Don’t wait for the symptoms.  You might not even notice them.  Do something now for you, the people you love, and all of the people who love you.

Saturday, May 11th, from 6:07-7:00 pm ET on Talkradio 680 WCBM Baltimore or “Listen Live” online 

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Gwen Cooper           Andrea Hylen

Be sure to check out last week’s show – Love Saves the Day: How the Love of an Animal Can Make Us All Better Humans – when my guest co-host, Andrea Hylen, the Founder of Heal My Voice, and I talked with Gwen Cooper, the author of Love Saves the Day, about her novel of love lost and love found, and the impact pets have on our lives.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it will be in the podcast archive soon… like later today or tomorrow at the latest.  Promise.  It’s the May 4th show!

This Week on WomanTalk Live: “Love Saves the Day – How the Love of an Animal Can Make Us All Better Humans” with Gwen Cooper

   
Gwen Cooper                     Andrea Hylen, Guest Co-Host 

When five-week old Prudence meets a woman named Sarah in a deserted construction site on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, she knows she’s found the human she was meant to adopt.  For three years their lives are filled with laughter, tuna, catnaps, music, and the unchanging routines Prudence craves.

Then, one day Sarah doesn’t come home.  From Prudence’s perch on the windowsill, she sees Laura, the daughter who hardly ever comes to visit Sarah, arrive with her new husband.  They’re carrying boxes.  And, before they even get to the front door, Prudence realizes that her life has changed forever.

Poignant, insightful, and funny, Gwen Cooper’s latest novel, Love Saves the Day, is a story of hope, healing and how the love of an animal can make all of us better humans.  It’s the story of a mother and daughter divided by the turmoil of bohemian New York, and the opinionated, irrepressible feline who will become the bridge between them.

It’s a novel for anyone who’s ever lost a loved one, wondered what their cat was really thinking, or fallen asleep with a purring feline nestled in their arms.  After reading this book, I will never, ever look at Minkey and Weasel the same.

Author Gwen Cooper knows about cats.  She has a few.  She captivated readers across the country when her instant, New York Times bestselling memoir, Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat, was published three years ago.  Her touching account of rescuing and living with her blind cat, Homer, was enthusiastically embraced by readers, reviewers and animal lovers everywhere.

Now, Gwen’s heartwarming novel, Love Saves the Day, explores the myriad and complex ways animals affect our lives and open our hearts.

Also joining me in the studio as my guest co-host this week is Andrea Hylen, the founder of Heal My Voice, a non-profit organization that empowers women and girls in healing their grief, trauma and loss and encouraging them in reclaiming and finding their voices.   A friend and fellow cat lover, Andrea knows the healing that these special little creatures bring to us.

Tune in this week for our discussion about this charming story of love lost and found.

Saturday, May 4th, from 6:07-7:00 pm ET on Talkradio 680 WCBM Baltimore or “Listen Live” online 

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Bob, Ann, Lori & Tori

Be sure to check out last week’s show – 5 Secrets to Relationship Survival After Children – when I, along with my guest co-host, Tori Maith, talked with the WomanTalk Live Relationship Experts, Lori and Bob Hollander of Relationships Work, about what to be aware of when baby makes three or more.  More importantly, they share tips on how to stay engaged as a couple, keep the fires burning AND enjoy that precious bundle of love, too.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it’s in the podcast archive now.  It’s the April 27th show!

This Week on WomanTalk Live: “5 Secrets to Relationship Survival After Children” with Lori & Bob Hollander

     
Bob & Lori Hollander          Tori Maith

It’s no surprise to anyone who has them: having children has a dramatic impact on a relationship.  These bundles of joy that, sometimes, you have waited for a long time to have can turn your house and your lives upside down.  Not that you don’t love the little angels or would ever trade them in, but awareness of what does and can happen can help you and your partner keep your relationship strong.

This week, the WomanTalk Live Relationship Experts, Lori and Bob Hollander of Relationships Work, will be joining me and my Guest Co-Host, Tori Maith (my former WTL producer), to talk about relationship survival after the baby comes.  And, it just so happens that Tori is expecting her first bundle of joy in June, so she’ll be getting the scoop in advance.

We’ll cover the changes couples can expect when baby arrives:  physical (body stuff and no sleep), emotional, and sexual.  In addition, there are practical changes to consider – lifestyle and role changes including careers, finances, and division of labor.  What was once a couple, a pair…turns into a triad.

What’s a couple to do?  Can a marriage survive?

Join us this week when we cover all of the bases and discover how you can stay engaged as a couple and enjoy that precious baby, too.

Saturday, April 27th, from 6:07-7:00 pm ET on Talkradio 680 WCBM Baltimore or “Listen Live” online 

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Cynthia, Ann, Staci & Shanita

Be sure to check out last week’s show -  Changing Lives. Changing Communities. – Women Build -  when I talked with Staci Summers, Cynthia Wiggins and Shanita Modlin about what happens when women get involved with Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake Women Build.  These women think their lives will never be the same.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it’s in the podcast archive now.  It’s the April 20th show!

This Week on WomanTalk Live: “Changing Lives. Changing Communities. – Women Build” with Staci Summers, Cynthia Wiggins and Shanita Modlin

      
Staci Summers              Cynthia Wiggins            Shanita Modlin

“Home ownership provided me with stability…people came together to build my house…to make my dream of home ownership come true.”
- Cynthia Wiggins

“As Volunteer Engagement Manager, I make it a point to share with volunteer groups the aura of authenticity that fills Habitat culture. The same people I worked with as a partner family are the same people I work with now as a fellow employee.  I can boldly declare that the love, care, and compassion exuded by each employee here is real. Recognition is not a motivator; the love for the people is the engine that keeps this train moving forward.”
- Shanita Modlin

Years ago, I interviewed Bettie Youngs, the author of the award-winning book and Oprah book club selection, The House That Love Built: The Story of Millard & Linda Fuller, Founders of Habitat for Humanity & The Fuller Center for Housing.  At that time, I knew that Habitat was an incredible organization changing the lives of people all over the world.  But often, it’s not until you meet people up close and personal that something really hits home with you – and, that includes the people who are becoming new homeowners, the people whose lives have changed dramatically as a result of home ownership, and the dedicated employees and hundreds of volunteers who make it all possible.

Joining me this week are women full of passion about changing lives and communities.  All are connected to Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake:

Staci Summers -  a Women Build advisory board member who has volunteered with Habitat for nearly two decades in every city she has called home, as well as being actively involved in the Global Village program, where she spends weeks at a time building homes for the world’s poorest citizens.

Cynthia Wiggins -   a Habitat homeowner since 2003, former Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake board member and an advocate.  Even Cynthia’s oldest daughter is now a Habitat homeowner.

Shanita Modlin – a fairly new Habitat homeowner who put hours of sweat and hard work into the homeowner program and in January of this year, started her new role as a Habitat staff member – the Volunteer Engagement Manager.

Join us this week on the show as we talk about the kick-off of the Women Build Program during National Women Build Week – May 4^th -12^th.  Find out “Why Women Build?”  More importantly, find out why you should join us in this life changing/community changing project this year.  I guarantee you it will change you!

Saturday, April 20th, from 6:07-7:00 pm ET on Talkradio 680 WCBM Baltimore or “Listen Live” online 

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Denise Buchman, Colleen McKenna
and Amy Price 

Be sure to check out last week’s show – When Social Media Turns Lonely – when Guest Host, Colleen McKenna of Intero Advisory, talked with her guests, Amy Price, a Professional Counselor in private practice at Wellspring Counseling, and Denise Buchman, a Social Media and Marketing Consultant, about the good, the bad and the ugly of social media – because it’s all there.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it’s in the podcast archive now.  It’s the April 13th show!

This Week on WomanTalk Live: “When Social Media Turns Lonely” with Guest Host, Colleen McKenna and Guests, Amy Price & Denise Buchman

           
Colleen                 Amy                     Denise

I’m so looking forward to stepping up to fill in for Ann on this week’s show.  My name is Colleen McKenna and I’m the principal of Intero Advisory, LLC, where I connect professionals and businesses to insight, opportunities and talent.  And, we’ve got a great show coming up…

Social media is here to stay, no doubt. Go anywhere, I mean anywhere, and you will find people online socializing. It’s our newest currency. And for many of us, it’s what we do, at least in some form, for a living. There is not a day that goes by that social does not come up in conversation whether at work or at home and I have come to see the good, bad and the ugly of social media in new ways.

This week, we are going to take a look at social media and women. If social media is social why does it so often make us feel bad, lonely and unaccepted? Are women judged differently than men on social media?

Do we know what our daughters and sons are doing, saying and posting socially? How do we know what’s happening with them in social media without invading their privacy and being a helicopter mom?

And, what about our roles as single women and mothers who are looking to potentially meet our next companion through sites like Match.com and other social dating sites?

Wow, there is enough here for hours of great conversation and insight and we’ll just go until they make us stop. So please join me and my guests, Amy Price, a Professional Counselor in private practice at Wellspring Counseling, and Denise Buchman, a Social Media and Marketing Consultant.

Amy’s passion for engaging with people in the areas that often prohibit them from living a rich and authentic life is balanced by her clear insight into today’s culture and the enormous pressures swirling around us. I have had the opportunity to talk with Amy about her experience and what she sees women facing socially. No doubt Amy’s insight will be a catalyst for our own understanding of how we, as individual women, can navigate social media.

I have known Denise for a couple of years, and we “met” through LinkedIn and Twitter and eventually met in person. Denise is an accomplished businesswoman, social media explorer and consultant, and most, importantly, a mother of two teenagers. She is really the blend of all this show is exploring and we are delighted to have her join us to talk about what she is seeing and experiencing socially in these various roles.

So please join us for what I am confident will be a spirited and thoughtful discussion that hopefully will inspire a better understanding of how we, as women, can protect the core of who we are and yet engage socially in positive ways. The more we understand  all aspects of social, the more the good, the bad and the ugly can transform into only “the good” – and social won’t feel so lonely.

Saturday, April 13th, from 6:07-7:00 pm ET on Talkradio 680 WCBM Baltimore or “Listen Live” online 

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Stacey, Ann, Brooke, Susan & Kathy

Be sure to check out last week’s show – She’s GRRRREEAAT! – when Susan Ottenritter of Raskin Global’s Women Getting Wise on Wealth, along with Kathy Kreft and Stacey Berman, members of The Baltimore Power Group, an organization for women working in the commercial real estate industry, joined me to honor and celebrate the WomanTalk Live 2013 GIRL GONE GREAT, Brooke Burghardt – an amazing young woman who is making a difference in her community and globally.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it’s in the podcast archive now.  It’s the April 6th show!