Alex Perry has an infectious personality -- cheerful and spirited -- she is the kind of positive warrior everyone would like to have in their life. I'm guessing that's why she's so great at her job teaching people how to craft and share their stories through public speaking. After starting her career working with individuals who were unable to speak -- either from birth or a condition -- as a speech therapist, she transitioned to started her own business, PS with Alex. Alex says: My basic underlying belief is that we all have a message to share and we owe it to those that an't speak to speak well. I got a taste of her skills last summer, when we met for coffee to discuss a few ideas for speaking I was doing for my upcoming … [Read more...]
Love Your Neighbor: Shannan Martin’s Messy, Beautiful Life
Today's episode of "Worth Your Time" is a real treat. I was honored when writer Shannan Martin agreed to speak with me, after becoming a HUGE fan of her writing. Her two books -- both incredible and worth buying -- are "Falling Free: Rescued From the Life I Always Wanted" and "The Ministry of Ordinary Places" will convict you to your core the moment you crack them open. Shannan's story of building the life she wanted, complete with monetary security, good jobs, a great home, neighborhood and friends was turned upside down when she her husband Corey tuned into God's call on their lives. Shannan says: It's worth looking at the world through the lens of Jesus, that we can see beauty in hard places and we can see interruptions as … [Read more...]
You’re Not Crazy: That’s the Creative Process at Work
Several weeks ago, I interviewed my friend Lynn Downey, an actress in California. We got into the nitty gritty of what it means to be creatives -- she as an actress, I as a writer. That's when I got the epiphany: The creative process is very personal, sometimes mundane and always necessary to complete your best work. When you hear the term "creative process," you may think of an artist swiping brushes of gold across a canvas, or a writer banging on a keyboard as an idea is transferred from brain to document. But those are just the culminating moments. It's all the other little idiosyncrasies -- the things we hate that we do -- that actually give a full picture of the process. The creative process is far more than doing the thing. … [Read more...]
Trust Your Gut: Creative Life Lessons with Michelle Cordero
The day I started this podcast, I knew I'd eventually interview my best friend, Michelle Cordero. She is kind, courageous and resilient, having overcome a childhood filled with domestic violence, depression and a broken home -- I've always wondered how she managed not to dwell on the things that could have held her back. Today she shares what she's learned from her past, from the recent death of a close friend of cancer and how parenting her high-energy and uniquely sweet little boy, who is 5, taught her how to trust her gut even when teachers and experts told her something different. Spoiler alert: Her gut was right. Michelle says this of her challenging few years raising a rambunctious boy: "Trust your gut. You know your … [Read more...]
