Becoming Your Best Version Maria Leonard Olsen

Penny Lane is a writer, wife and mother with an insatiable passion for life and books. Her latest book is Redeemed, A Memoir of a Stolen Childhood, a rise-from-the-ashes hero’s story of overcoming abuse, trauma, and unbearable odds, of being waylaid by both family and religion’s promise of love, and harnessing the resilience to find the way home.

Redeemed offers a rare window into Eastern European immigrant culture and reads like a page-turning thriller. Especially relevant today, a time when marginalized people are increasingly finding a voice, this memoir will serve as an inspiration to women everywhere, encouraging them to overcome their obstacles and go after their dreams.

As Penny says, "Someone once said: 'An easy life is hardly worth writing about.' So true. I am not who you see. You may see a confident, exuberant woman, but underneath that tenacity, energy, and ambition is a young girl trying to make good as we say in New York. 

I am not what you see. Although all my friends are all smart, accomplished, and successful like me, I feel the impostor in the group. Although I have come so far...I always fear failing more than I enjoy my successes. 

Although I love life, in many ways I am still that girl but also so much more. I have become a wife, a mother, a professional, a student, a traveler, a volunteer, a congregant, a friend. 

I was halfway through my life before I dared talking about my family secrets. I learned that many people shared similar lives. Hearing those stories helped me feel less strange, less 'other,' more 'normal' as if that were remotely possible. They helped me heal.​

I wrote the memoir of my escape, empowerment and triumph in hope that I might help others heal. If I can repair the world or provide an ounce of solace to someone else, then my experiences will have been worthwhile. I hope I can do that for you."

Kirkus Reviews calls her book, "Articulate, emotional prose brings readers into the author’s struggle to reclaim her inner strength and begin a new life (“I felt a power…a strength in my physical being. My soul shifted. I would never stand down to him, or anyone, ever again”).”

Penny describes in this episode how she grew up in fear and thereafter lived a life based in fear until she got help. She found a new way of living by obtaining therapy and feeling validated by others, including by those she met via Al Anon, where she was surrounded by other survivors. She earned her college degree in her 30s and refused to allow the painful life she lived in her childhood hold her back anymore.

Originally from Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, where she felt like a "closet Jew," since the religion spoke to her even as a child, Penny converted to Judaism in 2016 and found a spiritual home. She loves being outdoors-cycling, hiking, traveling, and connecting to and inspiring people. She has a BS in business and management from the University of Phoenix and an MA in industrial/organizational psychology from Golden Gate University. In her spare time, she helps underserved youth learn to read, apply to college, and find jobs once they graduate, and in food pantries and other non-profits near her home in Mill Valley, California.

Find out more about her work and follow her:

https://www.pennylanewriter.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pennylanewriter 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pennylane_writer/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@writerpennylane 


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Junie Moon, CEO of Midlife Love Out Loud, allowed her naked middle-aged body to be painted by an internationally renowned artist--and filmed for a documentary--which served as a metaphor for doing the work to free oneself from the stories that may hold us back from living with access to each of our own full and unique expressions. She is a Global Love mentor, best-selling author, women's empowerment leader, and certified Shadow Work® Coach, has supported thousands of women over the past 30 years to claim what is their birthright: The freedom to be and love themselves without apology. When women experience this freedom to love themselves without apology, they attract life-long Next Level Love and experience an extraordinary second half of life. 

Junie is dedicated to guiding women in midlife on a transformative journey towards self-discovery and empowerment. Through heart-centered coaching and mindset techniques, she helps her clients cultivate a deep sense of self-love and confidence. Her approach goes beyond traditional dating advice, focusing instead on inner alignment and personal growth. By embracing this precious stage of life with confidence and authenticity, women discover a newfound sense of authenticity and magnetize their ideal partners with ease. Junie's mission is to help women to experience Next Level Love by first nurturing the love within themselves.

In this episode, Junie walks about how she used to be a "walking ball of fear," but that she used shadow work to move past self-limiting beliefs and societal and familial conditioning. She now helps clients stop self-sabotaging behavior, update the narratives by which they lived in the past, and instead to have "healthy swords" by their sides so that they can safely speak their truth. She advises listeners not to "compare and despair," but to look forward with clarity, reminding us that examining the reasons for our resistance "is where the magic happens."

Junie has been seen on News 12 New Jersey, Blog Talk Radio, Authority Magazine, Thrive Global and in the Newark International with her film Shed the Shame that she produced and in which she starred. In it, she allows her naked body to be painted by a world-famous body painter. Of all the things she has done, she is perhaps the proudest of this mini-documentary on body image and body shame. It allowed her to shed the shame about her own body image. This experience led her to write the international bestselling author of Loving the Whole Package: Shed the Shame and Live Life Out Loud, a book that helps readers claim all of themselves through healthy discernment. Junie also is an international award-winning speaker and host of the successful Midlife Love Out Loud podcast. Junie has shared the stage with Sheri Winston, John Gray, Marci Shimoff and other ground-breaking thought leaders of our time in the realm of love in relationships. 

Learn more about Junie at Midlifeloveoutloud.com and follow her at the sites below. Check out her website's relationship ready quiz that will help you determine your "love avatar" so that you can discover your superpower, as well as your growth edge.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/midlifeloveoutloud

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/midlifeloveoutloud

Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/love-coach-junie-moon-995262a/

Youtube 

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeLoveOutLoud

Twitter 

https://twitter.com/coachjuniemoon

Podcast 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/midlife-love-out-loud-podcast/id1477913318


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Lisa Woodruff, along with 87% of Americans, believes that organization is a learnable skill. Yet less than 18% of those same Americans feel they are organized. Through Organize 365®’s courses, Lisa aims to teach Americans young and old the skill of organizing and unlocking their time for what they are uniquely created to do.

Under Lisa’s direction, Organize 365 has conducted academic research, establishing the definitions of housework, home organization, and the weight of paper in the American home. This ongoing research is making the invisible work at home visible to all. Now in pursuit of her PhD, Lisa is moving our collective experience into the field of academia.

She is the author of four books, including "How ADHD Affects Home Organization" and "The Paper Solution." Lisa’s understanding of the lived female American experience has helped her to articulate why women are overwhelmed, tired, and what to do about it! Through The Sunday Basket®, Lisa helps externalize the routine tasks that take up the executive functioning capacity of our brains; freeing us up to think and create again!

In this episode, we discuss:

--The Sunday Basket is a system for moving household administrative tasks from reactive to proactive, allowing you to reclaim your time, determine your priorities, and pursue your passions.
--A basic household operating system that saves users five hours every week.
--Practical strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter and living a productive and organized life.
--Are you really organized? You may be surprised to learn that you can be more organized and productive with a few simple changes in your daily routine.

Lisa, a former teacher, set up a school to learn her systems for making people's lives easier. She even set up a community app for users, so that people can work with others and not feel alone in their organizational pursuits.

I could relate to so many of Lisa's views on modern life, and appreciate how she does not espouse an all or nothing system, but rather breaking projects down into manageable chunks. I especially enjoyed her views on "planned neglect" of some tasks to allow for time to do other things, i.e., what we are uniquely created to do.

Learn more and follow Lisa's work:

http://organize365.com/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisawoodruff/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Organize365/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/organize365/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/organize365


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Ashton Applewhite is at the forefront of the emerging movement to raise awareness of ageism and make age a criterion for diversity. An internationally recognized expert on ageism, Ashton is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism and a co-founder of the Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse. She speaks widely at venues that have included the United Nations and delivered an inspirational talk on ageism (one of the best TED Talks I have ever heard) on the TED mainstage. In 2022, the United Nations named Ashton one of the Healthy Aging 50: fifty leaders transforming the world to be a better place to grow older.

In this episode, Ashton shares strategies to combat ageism, how to address it within ourselves and to advocate for change. She acknowledges the intersectionality of prejudices and biases, and helps us all expand our perspectives.

Learn more at the links below about this extraordinary activist, author and speaker who is changing the dialogue on age. Consider joining one of the anti-ageism and consciousness raising gatherings Ashton spearheads, including weekly discussion groups and the first in-person event focused on ageism and how to undo it, August 17-19, in Montreal, which is called Summer School 2024. See OldSchool.info/events for more info.


This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism⁠⁠TED talk: Let’s End Ageism⁠⁠

thischairrocks.com⁠ (website personal site)⁠

oldschool.info (anti-ageism clearinghouse with many excellent resources)

⁠⁠yoisthisageist.com⁠ ⁠

facebook.com/ThisChairRocks 

⁠@thischairrocks


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Michelle Jacoby has successfully coached and matched hundreds of happily married couples. She is a certified matchmaker, dating and relationship coach, and the owner of DC Matchmaking, a boutique matchmaking and coaching company for commitment-minded singles in the Washington, DC area that was founded in 2009. DC Matchmaking is a discreet, upscale matchmaking company for successful commitment-minded singles in DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Michelle is a leader in the matchmaking industry. She was voted Best Matchmaker in the US at the 2017 iDate Awards and awarded finalist for Best Matchmaker and/or Best Dating Coach in the industry in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020. Michelle has been featured in The Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, Huffington Post, and on WUSA Channel 9, News Channel 8 – Let’s Talk Live, WJLA Good Morning Washington, NBC Washington, ABC, FOX, Newsy, NPR, and more. Her articles have appeared in Self, Washington Life Magazine, YourTango.com, ThoughtCatalog.com, The Mind’s Journal, Yahoo, EHarmony Advice, and many more.

With a loving hand and an authentic voice, Michelle offers clear actionable advice so that singles are empowered to finally find healthy, happy, sustainable relationships. One tip she shared in this episode is that our goals should be to spread our warmth and kindness wherever we go so that people leave each encounter with a smile. She also maintains that "assumptions keep you single," in that those looking for possible partners should keep an open mind and get to know a person before deciding that a relationship would not in one's interest.

Michelle is offering listeners a free book she wrote called Never Waste Time on the Wrong Man Again. In this game-changing book, Michelle walks you through the exact steps she used to stop wasting time on the wrong men and finally meet her husband. Those very same strategies have helped hundreds of Michelle’s clients find love, and they’ll work for you too. "It’s not your fault, and there’s nothing wrong with you," Michelle says. "Dating is a skill that’s not intuitive, and you simply need a new, smarter strategy. This book will teach you everything you need to know to stop wasting precious time so you can finally meet the man of your dreams!" Michelle shared a few tips from her book, which were gems that apply to relationships in general, and not necessarily just those in the romantic realm. The book is available at her website at www.MichellesBook.com.

Michelle lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, Rob, and has four children. Her coaching clients come from all over the world, as it is conducted primarily online. Her matchmaking business is concentrated on the greater DC area or for those interested in moving to the DC area. And she is super talented at both sides of her business!

To learn more, go to:

https://www.dcmatchmaking.com/

Follow her on Instagram at Michelle_Jacoby.


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Tanya Willis teaches women how to make small, sustainable shifts over time to add vibrancy to their lives. She offers a one-stop on-line membership called Vibrant Living Academy, where she teaches women all the skills she learned to embrace life to its fullest. She calls this The Olympics of Life, i.e., being able to be functionally fit in your daily activities. "The journey to vibrant living is a process; it's not something you can have right away," Tanya explains in this episode.

Tanya Willis has more than 30 years of experience in the health and wellness field as a personal trainer, fitness/pilates instructor, Behaviour Change Coach, PNL1 Nutrition Coach, Pain-free Movement Specialist, Fascia Rolling, Stress, Sleep & Recovery Coach, Older Adult Health & Fitness Coach and more. Her book, Cookie Dough in the Dark, in which shares her sugar addiction challenges, has inspired many women to learn new skills to help them reduce their sugar consumption, improve their health and heal their relationship with food.

Tanya is the host of the Menopause Made Easy with Tanya podcast where she inspires women over 35 to make simple shifts to improve the quality of their lives. Tanya helps women over 35 uncover unhealthy habits that are no longer serving them with a variety of programs that she teaches online in her Vibrant Living Academy, such as the Midlife Reboot.

"I worked at an office job upon graduation of university which was not in alignment with my souls’ purpose and as a result I suffered panic attacks until I found the courage to step full time into personal training, teaching fitness/Pilates, health coaching and more and I love what I do," Tayna says. "I’m on a mission to be an inspiration to women that they don’t have to give in to the messages of aging that are prevalent in society – you can get older and be strong, healthy, and vibrant. My purpose is to help women make peace with their body, reduce their aches and pains, increase energy and vitality by sharing everything I've learned and how they can take the simple shifts consistently over time to improve the quality of their lives." She shares some of these tips, including how to design a "menopausal plate," movement and mindset tips to help listeners uplevel their wellness and vitality.

Tanya offers listeners five free hacks to cut cravings:

https://www.vibrantlivingwithtanya.com/5-Hacks-to-Cut-Cravings

Check out Tanya's Midlife Reboot, which includes the fasting and fat release program: ⁠https://www.vibrantlivingwithtanya.com/midlifereboot ⁠ 

Follow her: Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/vibrantlivingwithtanya/⁠ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanya.willis.18 

Menopause Made Easy Podcast with Tanya:

https://open.spotify.com/show/7kxh1LQ7Ol7yuoy576PbkF

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/menopause-made-easy-with-tanya/id1661982133

Contact Tanya on email: tanya@moveyourbody.ca 


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