There’s no doubt about it, when we invest time in our young people, it pays off in so many ways.  And, my guests last week talked about the importance of giving back, what they specifically are doing , the results they’ve witnessed and what it means to them personally.

From teaching kids about fitness/nutrition/good health to preparing students for workplace success to building self-esteem in young girls and educating them about issues of sexual assault and domestic violence… each one of them is making a big difference in the lives of the young people they work with.

Not sure how you can become involved or make a difference?  Listen in to hear the heartfelt messages shared by  Alexia Clifton  – a health, fitness and wellness consultant with over 20 years of experience in the fitness industry; Kim Fabian – a Senior Vice President for Junior Achievement of Central Maryland; and, LaQuisha Hall – Mrs. Essence 2013, the founder of iEAT (Empower. Aspire. Transform.) and Queendom T.E.A. Mentoring, and the author of Positively Bodyful, a self-esteem journal for girls.

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the October 5th show.

The more things change when Congress makes or doesn’t make decisions… the smarter we need to be with our money.  And in the last quarter of the year, it just makes sense to have a good idea of the tax law changes that will be affecting you and to know what may be coming up in the New Year.

From my conversation with the WTL Wealth Expert, Leonard Raskin, the CEO of Raskin Global and Women Getting Wise on Wealth, one thing is for sure – nothing is simple anymore and everything changes from year to year.

We discussed changes in itemized deductions, the new unearned income tax, the new Medicare tax, the new capital gains tax, the new top income tax bracket and changes that same-sex married couples will be facing.

It’s becoming quite clear that one of the smartest things anyone can do is sit down and have a discussion with an advisor who can steer you in the most prudent direction for your personal situation.  It only makes sense.

If you missed the show, tune in to find out how you can be smart with your money and head into the tax season with NO surprises.

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the September 28th show.

For all of the little girls who were raised on fairy tales of happily ever after, Prince Charming, and no bumps in the road… well, now that you’re grown up and lived life a bit, you know that’s not the way life really is… especially when it comes to no bumps in the road.

As relationship counselors for over twenty years, my guests  last week, Lori and Bob Hollander of Relationships Work, know that no matter how much love there is, every relationship goes through cycles.  And, a few of those cycles can put an end to a relationship if the partners are not cycle savvy AND are not prioritizing their relationship.

Lori and Bob believe, in spite of the challenges, there is hope for couples to continue to have romance over the life of their relationship.

If you missed the show, tune in to find out how you can be smart about your relationship cycles and how you can keep the romance ALIVE!

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the September 21st show.

Whether you’re a business leader, entrepreneur, volunteer, a parent or navigating a relationship, you have to survive in a complex world.   You have to make a host of decisions every day, some of them challenging.  And, many of those decisions can be made even more difficult by all the “stuff” that’s crammed into your head – “stuff” that gets in the way.

Business consultant, Tish Squillaro, calls the “stuff” that gets in the way of making solid decisions, HeadTrash, and in the new book she co-authored with Timothy Thomas, HEADTRASH: Cleaning Out the Junk that Stands Between You and Success, the 7 demons of HeadTrash are exposed – all having an impact on you, your business or workplace environment, your employees and your family:

Fear, Insecurity, Control, Paranoia, Arrogance, Anger and Guilt

Once identified and becoming aware of your version of “HeadTrash”, then you can choose to trash that junk once and for all.

If you missed the show, tune in to find out how you can make smarter, more efficient decisions without the HeadTrash.

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the September 14th show.

After spending fourteen years of her 46 year-old life in prison at various times since the age of nineteen, Renee could have easily given up all hope.  A victim of child sexual assault and adult sexual assault, she had struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues for many years.

While incarcerated, she heard about the work being done at Marian House.  She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be welcomed there.  She didn’t feel like she would be “good enough” for the program that had turned so many women’s lives around.

When she went for her interview and stepped through the door, she made a vow to herself and to Marian House, a transitional and permanent housing program serving homeless women in Baltimore, that she was ready and committed to turn her life around.  And, she did.

Listen in to hear Renee’s powerful story and hear more about the special and powerful work being done at Marian House from Katie Allston, the Executive Director of this 31 year-old treasure and transformation maker located in Baltimore City.  And, you’ll also hear about the upcoming Marian House 5K Race to Embrace Independence on September 28^th, the annual fundraiser.  I’ll be emceeing for the 4^th year and I can promise you, it’s always a wonderful way to spend a fall, Saturday morning.

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the September 7^th show.

Most of us have grown up in a culture that defines beauty and tells women – on a daily basis through the media, through words or by looks – that their beauty matters most.  And, few women can meet the “standards” especially when you consider that some of the most beautiful women in the world are photoshopped before they appear on magazine covers or in print layout.

Often, at a very young age, we begin to become dissatisfied with our body and the way it looks, or sometimes the very women that we think are beautiful, talk about how unhappy they are with the way they look or how much they weigh.  And, the pattern of not being happy with the way we showed up in the world continues.

This past week in the Conscious Conversations Café, three amazing and very open women – Susan Bishop, Christy Little Jones and Christine Haynes – shared their stories of when they first thought of themselves as flawed, what triggered that happening, how it affected them into adulthood, and how finally, they have started to make peace with who they are and how they look.  They also talked about what we can do to give the young women coming behind us a new message.

Check out the podcast later today or tomorrow if you missed the show or want to share it with someone.  I’ll bet you’ll relate to something these women shared.

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the August 31st show.

This past week, Huong Nguyen, M.D., a Board Certified Endocrinologist and Mary Blanchard, RN, CDE, with the Diabetes & Endocrinology Center of the Maryland Metabolic Institute at Saint Agnes Hospital, joined me along with Gina Peters, a 57-year-old wife, mom, grandmother to eleven grandkids, and diabetic to talk about the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes in our country and what people can do to live with the disease and improve their health.

From Dr. Nguyen and Mary, who is a Certified Diabetes Educator:  it’s about recognizing the symptoms early, getting tested, and developing a plan to get blood sugar levels under control – and, making the necessary lifestyle changes that can keep diabetes from progressing and can help you live your best life with the disease.

From Gina, who has had diabetes for over fifteen years:  even though she had been taking medication for years, it took a conversation with Dr. Nguyen to finally get her attention and change her from someone who didn’t want to “know” how bad her disease was to what Mary calls, “a very motivated patient.”

Check out the podcast later this week if you missed the show or you want to share it with someone to understand how insidious the disease of diabetes really is and how good-for-you lifestyle changes can make all the difference in the world – just listen to Gina.  Taking diabetes seriously is something that should be at the top of our “stay healthy to-do list” – for not only adults, but for children, too.

The podcast will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the August 24th show.

It’s inevitable that at some point in our life, our bubble will burst.  In fact, there could be many situations in which we lose our breath, our balance, our support and our stability and wonder, “Now what?” 

My guest this past week, Linda Crill,, author of Blind Curves, had one of those big situations when at age 57, she lost her husband just about a month and a half after he was diagnosed with cancer.  Then, she followed the advice given to all widows  – she took care of herself, ate well, got plenty of rest, etc. – until she couldn’t take even hearing that advice anymore.  She needed something else.

She committed to doing something that surprised herself and everyone who knew her… she decided to take a 2500 mile Harley trip from Vancouver down the Pacific Coast.  Oh, and she had 30 days to learn how to handle that big Harley.

My guest co-host, Leslie Stein, who is a Life Enthusiast par excellence, and I loved talking with Linda about the process of reinvention and transformation after a big set back and we especially loved her advice when asked, “Suppose the women listening can’t hop on a Harley and travel 2500 miles… how do they navigate their reinvention process?” 

Check out the podcast later this week if you missed the show or you want to share it with someone.  Learning to reinvent and transform is a real gift for a more fulfilling life.

It will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the August 17^th show.

She’s not the “same” person.

My guest this past week, Becky Chambers, once weighed over 200 pounds, was severely bulimic, beset by numerous health issues since childhood, chronically depressed, and crippled in her relationships with both men and women.

Her life’s mission became to feel good and she started incorporating healthy habits and practices into her daily living.  About ten years ago, she discovered the technology of Whole Body Vibration (WBV) and that became a huge turning point for her.  Becky now radiates vibrant health and happiness.

The author of Whole Body Vibration: The Future of Good Health, Becky is considered one of the top experts in the field of WBV, and shared amazing stories and facts about this technology and how it relates to our being our healthiest selves, including:

• increasing bone density
• increasing energy
• promoting weight loss
• building muscle
• increasing libido
• regulating mood
• increasing mobility
• managing pain
• stimulating brain cells

Becky has spent the last twenty years discovering powerful new energy therapies that have led to a transformation in her own life, as well as helping many others who had given up hope, and she’s passionate about what’s possible now.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the August 10^th show.

Joining me last week in the Conscious Conversations Café were three amazing, lively and funny women who have definitely taken the road less traveled.  Each of them have used their funny bone that showed up when they were youngsters and have developed it to follow their passion of creating humor and laughter for others:

Meshelle, “The Indie-Mom of Comedy,” a stand-up comedienne and the award-winning playwright and performer of her solo show “Diary of a MILF (Mom I’d Like to Follow). She also works as an advocate for girls and women.

Michele “Wojo” Wojciechowski , an award-winning humorist, author, and writer as well as a speaker, stand-up comedienne, and improv performer. Her humor book, Next Time I Move, They’ll Carry Me Out in a Box, on a 2013 Outstanding Book Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and she loves making people laugh through her writing and performances.

Ray Diva, a stand-up comedienne who began her career at the famous Gotham Comedy Club in New York City and has been moving up every since. She is on a weekly internet talk show called “On the Flip Side”; she hosts her own Comedy Show in Baltimore, and she is also one of the host of Laffs On The Harbor which is one of the biggest Comedy Shows in the DC area which is Produced By Bob Sumner (Producer Of Def Comedy Jam & Bad Boys Of Comedy).

As writers, playwrights,  performers, standup comediennes and radio hosts – they disagree with some of the so-called critics out there who say women aren’t funny and they talked candidly about why the field of comedy has been challenging for women not only in the past, but right now.

But all of them agree on one thing for sure:  laughter and humor are the recipe for a good, healthy life.  They recommend that you take several doses of both each day and see how much better you feel going forward.

If you missed the show or you want to share it with a friend, it will be posted in the podcast archive later on this week.  It’s the August 3rd show.