Just when she thought that 2021 had presented enough challenges to deal with, Arwen’s left arm started going numb. In addition to finding out that both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer, and supporting them as best she could, now Arwen needed medical attention as well. After several hours of testing, the E.R. doctors thought Arwen had a blood clot or was potentially suffering from a heart attack before discovering that she had developed a rare condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. A...
Oct 26, 2021•41 min•Ep. 50
In just eighteen months, Angela Henderson lost four very important people in her life. On Christmas Day, her grandmother died. On Mother’s Day, she lost her brother, and on the following New Year’s Day, a father-figure in her life had also passed away. And two weeks later, one of her close friends was killed on a highway when a piece of a boat flew through his windshield and struck him in the head. Having gone through that much loss and tragedy in such a short period of time would be too much fo...
Aug 31, 2021•35 min•Ep. 49
In late February, Arwen’s 80-year-old father fell down the stairs. When he saw the doctor to find out what kind of damage had been done, they learned he’d fractured part of his neck–and also discovered he had metastasized cancer. Later that very same day, her mother found out that she had breast cancer. They say that bad things come in threes, but sometimes, it’s even more than that. Especially in a year that already has many challenges that are beyond our control. So what do you do when everyth...
Aug 17, 2021•43 min•Ep. 48
In the corporate world, Katie McDonald was trapped in an endless, unwinnable race. She was selling advertising to huge corporations and in 45 national publications, but she was selling her soul in the process. She wasn’t sleeping. She stayed up all night thinking about the next sale, what she could do differently, all the ways she was failing, and why nothing would ever be enough. The more she pushed, the more her body acted up–and eventually, she couldn’t pretend anymore. When Katie left corpor...
Aug 03, 2021•52 min•Ep. 47
Through divorce, Sheryl Hickerson learned the hard way that a man is not a financial plan. After 25 years of marriage, and standing outside a Michael’s Craft store, with her two grandson’s hands in her own, her husband called to tell her the big news, “I don't want to be married to you anymore.” Sheryl is the founder of Females & Finance, a 3000-strong private membership dedicated to fostering recruitment, training, and advancement of women in financial services and financial technology role...
Jul 20, 2021•30 min•Ep. 46
While walking down the cart path on a golf course, LPGA instructor Kathleen Klawitter was struck in the head by an errant speeding golf ball. In her words, “It felt like a railroad tie had driven straight through my skull and out my left eye socket.” The pain was so excruciating that it felt like a bowling ball had landed on her head and shimmied through her whole body. She had to relearn how to speak, read, write, and drive. She used her own body, mind, and spirit modalities to reprogram her br...
Jul 06, 2021•37 min•Ep. 45
After 24-year-old Jessica Conness told her then-husband that rent was three months behind, he picked her up and threw her through the glass dining room table. When child protective services arrived later that day, they told her that the next time the police were called, they would take custody of her infant daughter. She knew at that moment, for her daughter’s sake, she had to break the cycle of domestic abuse she had been suffering for years. In her first marriage, Jessica suffered verbal and p...
Jun 22, 2021•39 min•Ep. 44
When Tina Mitchell was 5 years old, she often played violin at the local market with her younger sister to help her parents keep the roof over their head. And when her father would come home drunk, her mother would take them down to the train station for the night and pretend to go on a trip with them to escape from the trauma at home. From her father’s issues with addiction, to his suicide attempt when she was 12 years old, and then dealing with her own addiction issues and the death of her dau...
Jun 08, 2021•44 min•Ep. 43
When life is collapsing in on you, yet your personal and professional lives are intertwined, how do you persevere? After 17 years of working together, Arwen and her husband made the decision to sell half of their business and she was going to work for someone else. Arwen saw the sale as an opportunity to lift a huge financial burden off her shoulders, but the impact on their lives, their kids, and their employees was simply too much for her to bear. At the last possible minute, she backed out of...
May 25, 2021•37 min•Ep. 42
When Barb Provost’s mom came home from her fourth grade parent-teacher conference, she relayed the teachers’ feedback, “You’re not as smart as the rest of the children, but you’re going to make it.” After hearing this, Barb realized that even if she didn’t fit in now, she knew that her skills and knowledge would be valuable later. There wasn’t something “wrong” with her then and she certainly isn’t wrong now. Barb is a 25-year veteran of the Chicago business industry. She holds multiple master’s...
May 18, 2021•54 min•Ep. 41
On a daily basis, Tia Glover found herself defending her appearance at her boarding school when she was just 8 years old. She was surrounded by girls that weren’t of the same race or from the same background, and she always felt like she stood out like a sore thumb. It happened so often that she didn’t even know she was dealing with feelings of rejection as they took root. Now, Tia runs a full-service image and style coaching business in Washington, D.C., where she’s helped clients of all backgr...
May 11, 2021•38 min•Ep. 40
When Cody Foster was a junior in college, his mom called one morning and told him that his grandma was losing her café, and that she was going to declare bankruptcy. She was 64 years old, divorced, and was about to lose her sole source of income for the last three decades. This sent Cody on a quest to better understand money, which then led him to found Advisors Excel in Topeka, Kansas. Advisors Excel has grown from three founders to over 650 employees since 2005, working tirelessly to help the ...
May 04, 2021•55 min•Ep. 39
A fun day almost ended in tragedy when Arwen Becker’s teenage boys were pulled out to sea by a riptide on a deserted beach in Costa Rica. When her husband Randy noticed that they had drifted too far from the shore, he started furiously waiving for them to come in, completely unaware of the level of danger they were in. For a brief moment, Easton’s screams for help cut through the deafening waves and Randy knew something was terribly wrong. In an instant, he sprinted into the water and swam as fa...
Apr 27, 2021•35 min•Ep. 38
When Kymberlee Weil left the stage after her first improv performance, she told her comedy troop that she wouldn’t be back and apologized. She thought she bombed because even her best friend wasn’t laughing. When the night was over, she told her husband she was retiring from improv, and that comedy performance simply wasn’t for her. Thankfully, her best friend assured her after the show that she was hilarious and she had nothing to worry about. That night, she learned an important lesson – you c...
Apr 20, 2021•43 min•Ep. 37
While working 80+ hours each week, Kelly Lynn Adams’ body was literally breaking down. The red flags were there, but she wasn’t listening. When her body finally gave way, her doctor had no choice but to send her to the ER due to severe dehydration, fever and malnutrition. She spent the next two days in the hospital on an IV. For the next two and a half months, all she could do was sleep. She was utterly exhausted. She developed a few chronic illnesses during that time, however they turned out to...
Apr 13, 2021•34 min•Ep. 36
Rakel Chafir was 8 months pregnant with her second child and the height of her fitness and coaching career, when one morning she woke up and realized she had completely lost her voice. The vocal polyps that had emerged left her with one option for treatment during her pregnancy – no talking whatsoever, until she could have the surgery she needed several months later. Unable to work or communicate, Rakel and her family relunctantly moved to back to Florence where she would recover from surgery an...
Apr 06, 2021•45 min•Ep. 35
At 10 years old, Arwen Becker was thrilled to have the very rare opportunity to jump off the high dive after swimming practice. As she waited on the top step for her teammate to jump, she lost her footing and fell onto the concrete 15 feet below. The entire swimming class screamed in horror at her crumpled up body lying on the floor. In the middle of the chaos, Arwen was amazed to discover that she didn’t break her leg or hit her head. However, she quickly realized by what she saw, that her wris...
Mar 30, 2021•29 min•Ep. 34
On the day that 40-year-old Wendy Posillico was ready to undergo her in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure, she was stunned when the doctor asked if she had considered finding an egg donor. Heartbroken and devastated by his doubt in the viability of her own eggs, she asked his top RN, “Why am I doing this if he doesn’t think I can do it?” Thankfully, the nurse gave Wendy some great advice and simply said, “Don’t listen to him.” That advice turned out to be monumental as it led to her biggest an...
Mar 23, 2021•53 min•Ep. 33
After losing his 15-year-old daughter to suicide, Eric Hodgdon found himself screaming, “Oh my god, Zoi, I’m so sorry. I cannot believe that I did not help you in some way.” Suddenly, it felt as if Zoi was sitting next to him. She said, “Dad, cut it out. I’m okay.” He froze, said, “Oh, my god. She’s right. She is okay now.” You would never know that Eric has walked through a massive, devastating life experience – or that it was this trauma that set him on a path to where he is and what he does t...
Mar 16, 2021•35 min•Ep. 32
When Kelsey Chapman was diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), she understood that her feelings wouldn’t go away just because she wanted them to. She needed to work ruthlessly to address this problem and set extreme boundaries. Why? Without them, she’d go back to feeling every wall in her house before going to bed and actively living in irrational fears. Kelsey is an author, podcaster, and personal cheerleader to women building their dream lives and businesses. She launched her own ...
Mar 09, 2021•52 min•Ep. 31
One Sunday morning while travelling to church, Arwen’s path crossed with another that desperately needed help. She noticed a tiny animal in the middle of the road and immediately knew what she had to do. With her love for animals, a degree in zoology and several years of experience at a wildlife rehabilitation center, Burg - the burgundy colored baby rock dove - couldn’t have been in better hands. Arwen cared for Burg like he was a family pet until he was healthy enough to be on his own. He spen...
Mar 02, 2021•16 min•Ep. 30
As she weighed in at 84 pounds, new mother and wife, Kelly Haney was too sick for life-saving ulcerative colitis surgery. After being in the hospital for weeks at a time, fighting for her life, the large doses of immunosuppressant drugs helped stabilize her enough to go home, but this 29-year-old would not accept that she would have to be on these drugs for the rest of her life. Recovery wasn’t easy, but Kelly got fanatical about her health and determined to live a medication-free life. Through ...
Feb 23, 2021•44 min•Ep. 29
Tick bites at summer camp led 12-year-old Molly Dare Hillenbrand’s entire body to be ravaged with a severe case of Lyme Disease. She lived in debilitating pain for a year, barely able to speak at times, and trying several medications until the doctors eventually began treating her intravenously. This treatment meant she would spend most of her time in middle school toting around an IV pole. And while she did eventually recover, she is still living with the lasting effects to this day. Yet now, M...
Feb 16, 2021•34 min•Ep. 28
When Kara Jones’ daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, she sat curled up in the fetal position the entire night, cried and prayed. They had no money to pay for treatment, limited knowledge of what might work, and had no choice but to put their faith in God. Over the 2.5 years, they spent 138 days living at Seattle Children’s Hospital as Hunter Rose went through five rounds of intensive chemo, 12 rounds of radiation, and six rounds of immunotherapy. And while there are still challeng...
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 27
When Arwen realized she wasn’t able to fix her son’s ADD and Autism diagnosis with proper food, therapy, effort, time, pity or accommodations she felt like a failure. Realizing she had no real control over the situation, she broke down and soon found herself suffering from severe, debilitating insomnia. As months passed by, the situation only worsened as she was terrified to drive and had doubts that she’d ever feel normal again. As she spun out of control and had to seek medical intervention fo...
Feb 02, 2021•32 min•Ep. 26
When Cathy Sikorski became caregiver for both her two-year-old daughter and her 92-year-old grandmother, she felt like she’d become trapped in an alternate universe. If her daughter took a snack from the dog’s dish one morning, her grandmother would do the exact same thing, then say, “Well, she’s doing it.” Cathy has been a practicing and consulting elder law attorney for over 30 years, with a special focus in financial and legal preparation in the aging crisis. She’s the author of Showering Wit...
Jan 26, 2021•42 min•Ep. 25
Kristal Klear never asked for the severe abuse she suffered at the hands of multiple people growing up, people she looked to for love and protection. That gave way to domestic abuse as an adult. After breaking free from all of that, Kristal does not identify as a victim. With her faith and determination, she made it through, and now she helps others to do the same. Kristal is the author of Shattered Glass, the host of the Kristal Klear Podcast, and the CEO of the Rock Paper Scissors Foundation, ...
Jan 19, 2021•41 min•Ep. 24
Coming down from her first panic attack, Kelsey Erickson knew something was wrong. She thought she’d landed her dream job, but the physical feelings of discomfort she was ignoring proved correct. Her whole body was telling her that something wasn’t right. On the outside, she appeared to be successful. But she wasn’t finding purpose in her career and working long hours while burning the candle at both ends was quickly driving her towards burnout. Now, she’s a career and life coach for high potent...
Jan 12, 2021•42 min•Ep. 23
48 hours after coming home with her newborn, Arwen thought she nearly killed him. As sleep deprivation was increasing, and in her weary-eyed stupor, she accidentally left the space heater on at maximum heat in the baby's room. By the time she realized what happened, the temperature in the room was over 100 degrees and her son was lethargic and barely responsive. The guilt was overwhelming and the doubts began to creep into her mind that she was not fit for motherhood. That same guilt would retur...
Jan 05, 2021•18 min•Ep. 22
While pregnant with her firstborn son, lifelong workaholic Dr. Linda Travelute was diagnosed with preeclampsia - a life-threatening condition caused by high blood pressure that can lead to the death of both mother and child. Even as she was about to give birth, her nurses were begging her to stop working, but she simply couldn’t let go. Now, she is on a mission to ensure that no one attempting to be Superwoman hurts their relationships or their health. Dr. Linda is a Certified Temperament Analys...
Dec 22, 2020•37 min•Ep. 21
