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Kristen Brown

Do you love the holidays? Or perhaps you are dreading them because of some traumatic event. Either way the holidays are a stressful time. Kristen Brown is our favorite expert for stress relief any time of year.

Kristen tells us that the chemicals produced by holiday stress can impact our body’s systems and literally make us sick. Dr. Nancy and Kristen talk about how the pressures of gift giving, the violence of Black Friday and relentless media hype have transformed the holidays into a toxic influence for many. To regain control, Kristen suggests making a life map. Chart the parts you love and the parts you hate, then give yourself permission to build on the former and find ways to avoid the latter.

Holiday food is its own stressor, loaded with sugars and fats. To counteract that, she says you don’t have to go on a diet or run a marathon. Instead, she urges you to monitor what you eat and move around more to remain healthy.

Kristen says that research shows that experiential gifts like a book, movie tickets or the gift of time have greater perceived value, are remembered longer and are increasingly popular. Happily, each chapter in her book offers suggestions to cope with a different stress-producing aspect of your life.

Check out her website, www. happyhoureffect.com, for blogs, videos and other information about why and how you need to reduce stress. And check out her book The Happy Hour Effect: Twelve Secrets to Minimize Stress and Maximize Life which became an Amazon Best Seller the first day it hit the shelves. It’s an experiential gift that can help someone you love throughout the New Year.
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Lori Campbell

Great news! “Chronic disease and disability are not a consequence of aging,” says Gerontologist Lori Campbell. “In fact, they can be delayed or prevented. Science backs this up.” Her research for her book, Awaken Your Age-Potential, shows that all the things we need to live vibrant healthy lives are within our control. You can learn the skills and make the right choices.

Lori interviewed role models of all ages including ordinary people – like you and me – who started businesses or non-profit organizations in their 70s. These people didn’t let society or other people stand in their way. They just believed in their potential and you can, too. What your mind believes, your body will follow.

Listen to a woman who views aging as a gift of knowledge and wisdom to treasure. Make a “bucket list” and use it to propel you in following your passion and accomplishing your goals.

Take the quiz on Lori’s website to discover your own age-potential. And take advantage of her two-for-one offer for listeners of WomenSpeak Conversations with Smart Amazing Women. Share the gift of potential with a friend this holiday season.

Listen now to find out how your body changes every two years and how becoming a “maverick” thinker can transform your life.

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Diane Sieg, RN, CYT, CSP

If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. After 23 years as an emergency room nurse, Diane Sieg learned that from seeing people who were completely out of touch with their bodies. She became a coach, a yoga teacher, an author and an inspirational speaker to help people change their way of life from chaos to calm.

Her most recent book, 30 Days to Grace, is a practical guide to achieving your ultimate goals. She advises us to spend quiet time each morning, even 5 minutes, focusing on the one thing in our lives that most troubles us.Through this simple technique we can reach a calm, centered place that focuses our energy on changing the issue.

Diane says that the first priority for most people is their health. Too often we don’t face the health issue until our body gets our attention by making us sick. This forces us (at last) to stop taking care of everyone else and to care for ourselves.

Diane gives an overview on her website of her “Intention Wheel,” which provides a sample path from chaos to calm. She and Dr. Nancy discuss how this works and why starting each day with focused positive intention can transform how you feel, your relationships with others and ultimately every aspect of your life.

Listen to learn more and find out why Diane says that she guarantees you will change your life if you practice the exercises in 30 Days to Grace; The Practice Guide to Achieve Your Ultimate Goals
for just 30 days.

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Jennice Vilhauer, Ph.D.

Women are biologically more vulnerable to depression than men because of hormonal events like pregnancy and menopause. Plus, we are socially vulnerable with more stressors, like poverty and childhood abuse, says Dr. Jennice Vilhauer. Jennice directs The Well Mind Institute in Beverly Hills, serves on the medical staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and is an assistant clinical professor at UCLA.

She developed a new treatment called, Future Directed Therapy® for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder, which is twice as prevalent in women as in men. Future Directed Therapy® teaches people skills that help them focus on the future they want rather than the past that makes their future seem hopeless.

Jennice’s life and career was turned upside-down by 9/11, which occurred during her early training in New York City. Her research had focused on past events as a cause for depression. But 9/11 clearly showed that a sudden traumatic event can start a downward spiral and radically change our view of the future.

Listen to this revealing and insightful conversation between Dr. Nancy and Dr. Vilhauer to hear more about depression and how Future Directed Therapy® helps people create the future they desire.

Then check out Jennice’s website to find out more and to sign up for an advance copy of her new book, Think Forward and Thrive, due for release in July, 2013.

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Maura Taylor

When disaster strikes, we’re all riveted to the TV, internet and social media. But what happens later, after the initial disaster is over and the news media stops reporting? Maura Taylor says there’s a network of case workers from Catholic Charities and other organizations who continue to help the victims rebuild their lives. It takes years and thousands of volunteers and donations, but resources must continue if we are to help communities rebuild. We must not forget the survivors in the months and years that follow.

Less than a month after the Joplin, Missouri, tornado, Maura accepted her job as Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri. As she assumed responsibility for this dedicated organization with only two paid staff people, she was faced with the casualties of the worst reported tornado since NOAA first started recording in 1950. It was a category E5 tornado with 200 mph winds, ¾ of a mile across and on the ground for 6 miles. 153 people died and this small city that was the hub for a four-state region was ripped apart. Many survived in their bathtubs or closets as their houses crumbled around them.

Today, they are still rebuilding. But Maura speaks gratefully of the more than 23,000 volunteers who have combined their skilled and unskilled labor to repair and build homes. She stresses the importance of the network of Catholic Charities throughout the United States and how those from the East Coast reached out to Southern Missouri in May of 2011.

Now Southern Missouri is reaching out to the East Coast. When asked what the victims of Hurricane Sandy need most right now, Maura says, “Cash and gift cards.” She encourages people not to send clothing or goods. Send monetary donations to organizations like Catholic Charities so they can get exactly what they need to survive. In fact, she advises people not to go there to volunteer right now unless you are a trained disaster responder. Until the electricity is up, it’s not safe for anyone and when housing is scarce, every hotel room is needed for the survivors. If you want to help, the people of Joplin still need volunteers to help rebuild.

This conversation has a lot of advice and information about how Catholic Charities works to rebuild solid families through case management: helping them acquire housing, financial assistance and services to help families of every race, religion and ethnicity. Maura says, “Strong families build strong communities.”

Listen to find out more and how you can offer help where it’s needed to benefit the survivors of Joplin and Sandy. Then check out the Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri to read more stories and donate to help the victims of Joplin and Sandy www.CatholicCharitiesUSA.org or other natural disaster.
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Jami Peebles, CTFA

Regardless of the natural disaster, one international organization is ALWAYS there. For Hurricane Sandy, the Red Cross has helped 11,000 people as of October 31, put up 250 emergency shelters, served over 25,000 meals and snacks and fielded over 2,000 disaster responders in the 16 affected states.

This week Dr. Nancy talks with her friend and fellow crisis responder, Jami Peebles, Board President of the Greater Ozarks Chapter of The American Red Cross. Jami’s volunteer work takes her away from her job as Executive Vice President at Central Trust & Investment Company, Springfield, Missouri.

Jami and Dr. Nancy met while helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Jami describes helping a woman whose doctor and hospital had both been washed away in the midst of her chemotherapy. Relocated to Springfield, Missouri with no medical records,this woman relied on the Red Cross for immediate relief, safety and security, and hope. Find out what you should do to prepare your family for an emergency and where you can find an app to learn if family members are safe and well.

Listen as these strong women share stories about volunteer crisis response work and discuss ways individuals can help victims of natural disasters. Donate to the Red Cross (91 percent of donations go directly to aid for victims). Give blood (The Red Cross provides 40% of all the blood and supplies are low because blood drives have been cancelled throughout relief areas). The Red Cross also needs volunteers to answer phones or help in many other ways. Links to many resources here.
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Susan Shapiro Barash

The answer was surprising for author and gender expert, Susan Shapiro Barash. She interviewed 200 women from all ages, ethnic and marital states for her book, The Nine Phases of Marriage: How to Make It, Break It, Keep It and 85% said that marriage was love-based and also set it as a goal. In fact, even among the 70% of women who had experienced major disappointments during marriage, they still favored being married.

Part investigation and part prescription, Susan says she wrote the book for everyone. Women thinking about marriage can preview experiences of other women before they take the leap. Women who are in the middle stages can assess their own situation and share information with their daughters. Susan offers a realistic depiction of how marriages change with the addition of children, with growth throughout our lives and with changing expectations.

This valuable discussion analyzes the elements of marriage, how negotiation plays a part and why women are leaving marriages later in life. It also reveals the role society plays in women’s expectations and how women are willing to put their advanced degrees aside to help the marriage succeed.

A major media consultant, Susan has taught gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College for 16 years. This is her 13th book on relationships. Listen to hear how women feel about marriage today, then check out more of her well-researched ideas on www.susanshapirobarash.com.
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Molly Mahoney Matthews

To succeed in business a woman needs to be “wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove,” says amazing guest Molly Mahoney Matthews.

As a single parent of two small children who had never held a real job, Molly went to school, developed a network, and found an internship. When laid off from a job she fought for severance and started a public relations company. She grew it to employ 150 people, bill over $20 million and rank 4th in Washington DC and in the top 35 in the United States. Her advice is, “Do your best at whatever job you have. If you don’t like it, work harder to get the promotion to the job you want.”

Today Molly is the CEO of The Star Fish Group, and she attributes her success to crisis. Adopting the attitude of “I’m Unsinkable” she turned each crisis into opportunity. One key bit of advice, “Take the top job.“ When asked by a college if she’d rather be Chairman of the Board or Vice-Chair, she picked Chairman, because it’s important for students to see a woman at the top.

Hear more wonderful ideas about women in leadership roles and qualities that hold women back. Young women need mentors and they need to see the subtle ways they are being kept at desks far below the C-suite. Today it’s hard to name the prejudice since it’s much less overt than in the 1980s. It’s like “death by a thousand cuts,” slicing away the power to lead, which young women must claim to be successful in business today.

Listen to this insightful conversation about women in business and in life and check out Molly’s website, I’m Unsinkable for more inspiration and insight.
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Leslie Davenport

Connecting our body, mind and spirit to promote healing is no longer regarded as a weird “voodoo” topic. Its current acceptance in mainline medical circles is largely due to the work of pioneer thinkers like Leslie Davenport. Leslie began cultivating these connections while pursuing a professional dance career. When a friend later became ill with cancer, she re-examined how these connections could be used for healing. Eventually Leslie became a psychotherapist and a founding member of the Institute for Health and Healing, which brings holistic care into the heart of conventional medicine at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Leslie and Dr. Nancy talk about how creating mental images is a natural part of being human. Usually this takes the form of worrying or fretting about something you said or did that you’d like to take back. Leslie urges people to turn that around and use their imagination to create positive change. In the clinical setting, she helps them “rehearse” for surgery, ease anxiety and relieve physical pain by asking them to describe and visualize safe places.

Her book, Healing and Transformation Through Self Guided Imagery describes the practice, shows how it works through stories of real patients and provides guidance to help the reader get started.

Listen to this conversation that demystifies the body-mind-spirit connections. These psychology professionals share stories of changes they have seen people accomplish using simple, easy-to-master skills. Then check out Leslie’s website, www.lesliedavenport.com, for free mp3s and articles that will introduce you to the power of this ancient practice.

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Kristen Brown

This is the question that Kristen Brown asks her stress management clients and audiences. Kristen became a young widow and single parent of a toddler overnight when her young husband suffered a heart attack. The sudden shock of loss forced her to re-examine her life, and she went on to achieve a master’s degree in Integral Theory and become a certified holistic health counselor.

Equipped with the credentials, learning and experience to help others, Kristen became known as “The Queen of Stress Relief.” She founded the websites WidowMommy.com, and the HappyHourEffect.com. She also became an award-winning entrepreneur and wrote her memoir, The Best Worst Thing: A Memoir
and broadcast a web TV Show.

Kristen and Dr. Nancy discuss why we are reluctant to change and the dead-end effects of staying where we are. Kristen says the number one driver of stress is fear. We are all afraid when we step out of our comfort zone, yet we must if we are going to achieve anything. Kristen says change is a good thing and encourages everyone to ask themselves, “What is the best thing that could happen and conversely, what is the worst?”

Listen to wonderful advice about dealing with stressful events in your life in this candid conversation. If you are not living the life you want completely and thoroughly, listen now. Then check out Kristen’s websites for more amazing stress reduction advice.

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