Dr. Don McDonald has spent 17 years in the health and wellness industry as a chiropractor. It was from his position at the adjusting table that he noticed a common frustration developing into a major stressor in the lives of many patients. He identified it as ‘the Underdog Curse,’ and his chiropractic patients seemed unable to break out of it. It stopped people from living their best lives, and often stripped them of true happiness.
Ivy LaClair always thought of herself as a shy person, but when she joined her college Student Activities Council, she quickly had to learn how to put herself “out there.” A couple of years later she became president of the Council and had “a goosebump moment” when she realized who she had become. Co-founder of the personal development company, Motivational Millennial, Ivy is an expert on change, transformation and millennial success.
Ellen Antonelli was at a ballet with her parents at the age of 10 and witnessed a dance that portrayed inexplicable violence against women. It both angered and puzzled her. Her mother could not answer her questions about what she felt. In hindsight, she realizes how this moment has driven her career and passion for more than a quarter of a century. Her life’s work has been about empowering students and women and speaking out against violence and oppression.
Craig Ballantyne helps people get more done, make more money, and still get home on time for dinner. He offers five templates for creating rules of life that can be personalized. They act like the operating system for our lives. His templates are built on a foundation of Five Pillars of Success, which encompass time-tested principles such as professional accountability and a "Big Deadline." A co-owner of EarlyToRise.com, he is also the creator of the home workout system, Turbulence Training.
Seth Buechley experienced towering success in building a cellular network. He saw and experienced towering success in building a cellular network. He saw the upside, then the downside, of ambition. His Golden Touch became a reverse Midas Touch for a while. He tells how gratitude and humility turned him around.
Amel Derragui headed to a meeting on her university campus in France to brush up on her English-speaking skills. She soon realized she had stumbled into a meeting for recruiting students to sell encyclopedias in the U.S. Was this the “something exciting” she had been looking for? Today she is a business and marketing coach and the founder of Tandem Nomads, an entrepreneurship platform designed to empower expat partners and help global nomads turn their challenges into successful portable businesses.
Debby Stone, after 16 years practicing law, is an executive coach and keynote speaker and the author of "The Art of Self-Promotion: Tell Your Story, Transform Your Career." “In a Twitter, soundbite world, attention spans are short. Telling your story and doing it in a confident, authentic and graceful way is the key difference between the people who make it to where they want to be and those who struggle to move forward.”
Swati Lodha was born to loving—and enlightened—parents in a traditional culture in Rajasthan, India. She realized how fortunate she was to be encouraged to think for herself. As a college student, she heard a speaker talk about paradigm shifts, and in a split-second she knew what her career would be. With a doctorate in Women Entrepreneurship, she is the founder of Life Lemonade, a training organization for life transformation, women empowerment, leadership and parenting.
Paul Lamar Hunter had a good job at Chrysler. When he heard the plant was closing. At age 40, he wondered where he would go next. Then, his union rep gave him some great news that totally changed the outlook for him and his entire extended family. Paul beat the odds against poor kids being less likely to obtain a college education. As the 19th child out of 21 natural children, he became the first in his family to graduate from college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Upper Iowa University in 2012.
Dr. Tom Tavantzis offers his expert view of the power of knowing your talent early in life – through high school, college and beyond. Research shows personality and natural abilities are largely formed by age three. These key traits are hard-wired at birth. Self-knowledge gained while young can guide choices about education, career and life planning best suited to natural abilities.
Delano Lewis, a former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, rose from segregation-era Kansas to prominence in government, business, and the not-for-profit world. His bestselling memoir, “It All Begins with Self,” affirms his belief in the value of family, education, hard work, perseverance, mentors and supporters. His trailblazing career includes top positions at National Public Radio and the Peace Corps.
Kristina Rhoades learned early in life that her wheelchair did not have to hold her back. The spinal cord injury sustained in her infancy challenged her to discover her gifts and share them as coach, mom, leader and advocate. “We aren't told enough, by people we believe, that we can follow our passions, that we can have a career that blends with life, and we can do things that we love. It’s so important, and it’s something we need to model for our children.”
Simon Crowe is a master in the field of personal growth, who specializes in connecting the successful with their deepest purpose. As a qualified coach for over 12 years, he has guidAdd new Ad ‹ Discover Your Talent Podcast — WordPress ed hundreds of courageous individuals in achieving greater self-expression and fulfillment and experiencing deeper meaning in their lives. He works exclusively with high-performing, self-starters who have mastered conventional success and who are hungry to reappraise their life in honor of their unique gifts.
Erik Weihenmayer was shattered when at 14 a genetic illness left him totally blind. But, in 2001 Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Since then he completed the Seven Summits. Erik’s latest book, “No Barriers,” is an inspirational story about kayaking the entire 277 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Erik’s triumphs fueled his aspiration to help others shatter barriers in their lives. His motto is “What’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way.”
Kim Ades was 15 years into building a family and a business with her husband. When her marriage dissolved, so did her shares in the company. A tool she used to deal with her loss—“it was like my oxygen”—is now the core of her thriving business. She is the president and founder of Frame of Mind Coaching and JournalEngine™ Software. She is recognized as one of North America’s foremost experts on performance through thought mastery.
Brian Kurtz, a serial direct marketer for the past 35+ years, says he never met a medium he didn't like. He spent the first 34 years of his career helping Boardroom Inc. become a state-of-the-art direct marketing and publishing company and is now sharing and teaching all he learned doing that. His expert message today: Marketing isn’t everything. It’s the ONLY thing.
Linda Singh was thrown out of her home at 16, through no fault of her own. A high school dropout, working at a pretzel shop to survive, a display table in the mall for the U.S. Army caught her eye. That led to a conversation that changed the trajectory of her life. She became a Major General in the Army and now is helping people of all ages discover their inner strengths, passions and talents and match them to careers that will make them happy.
Steve H. Lawton, after careening into a tree at 45 miles per hour and suffering a major brain injury, believes every interaction with another person is a bonus that might never have happened. “It's a powerful way to live.” He is the author of “Head First! A Crash Course in Positivity,” a story about how his attitude literally saved his life from a near fatal skiing accident. Steve helps others by sharing his story and practical advice on how to create a positive mindset, lead with positivity, and achieve better outcomes for individuals and organizations.
John David Mann and some friends started their own high school when in their teens. It was quite successful for a number of years. He is now an award-winning author whose books have sold more than two million copies, including the bestselling classic “The Go-Giver.” His book “Take the Lead” was named by Tom Peters and the Washington Post “Best Leadership Book of 2011.” His latest book, a culinary parable, is called, “THE RECIPE.”
When Marcelle and her husband decided he should accept a job as a foreign service officer in Uzbekistan, she knew she’d have to give up the job she loved. What she needed now was a “Portable Career” that could travel wherever her husband was posted. After 10 years of strategic communications consulting, Marcelle Yeager changed course to enable people to get to the next level of their careers. She recently co-founded ServingTalent, the first recruiting agency for military and foreign service spouses.
Lynn Marie Morski, MD, Esq. had recently co-founded a health tech startup on medical tourism. “All of my cylinders were firing at the same time. But the sinking feeling in my stomach told me something wasn’t right.” She faced the hardest “quit” of her life. Her goal is to de-stigmatize quitting and illustrate what a useful tool it can be. Through her Quitting by Design website, she helps people carve out successful lives through strategic quitting. She is a physician and an adjunct professor of health law.
Shellee Howard is the owner and president of College Ready and a Certified Educational Planner. She has a son who graduated from Harvard in 2016–debt free! She has traveled around the world helping students plan for their “perfect match” college. She knows what it takes to compete for entry into Ivy League schools to small town colleges. She believes that no two students are the same, and that each has a gift/talent and a passion that will set him or her apart from their competition.
Amy Smalarz had been in a consulting position she enjoyed for 10 years. One day the staff was called together and told that their division president had just been fired. It was the nudge she needed to step out on her own. She quickly discovered she had a lot to learn. As a women’s empowerment coach, author, podcaster and freelance writer, she now provides women the information and experience that helps them uncover and rediscover their truest, best selves, and bring that to everything they do in life.
Lindsay Kinder returned from France filled with a knowledge of cuisine from farm to table. But she did not yet know how she would use it. She needed time. Would she be lulled back into the comfort of a 9-to-five job? She had left a stable career in life insurance to pursue her lifelong dream of learning to cook in France. She spent six months backpacking solo on a quest to discover where great food comes from, and what to do with it. She now lives in San Francisco, teaching sold out French macaroon workshops, private cheffing and dreaming up new recipes for her blog Food-La-La.
Steve Robertson is the CEO of Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs, an organization specializing in youth-to-adult programming that turns curiosity into passion and skill. He is a fan of the Gen Zs “because they are innovative, thoughtful, collaborative and motivated.” Generation Z is already impacting every facet of life: the workplace, how businesses present and sell products, and even what products businesses present and sell. In Steve’s opinion, “It is probably going be the greatest generation we’ve seen.”