Claim OwnershipEmbrace Your Strengths
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Barbara Culwell sits downs with individuals to hear how they are on the path to living out their God given purpose as they are understanding and developing their Top 5 CliftonStrengths. You will be encouraged to hear how you are matters in your work and relationships. Join Barbara as she helps you navigate how to find more joy and purpose in your life as you hear other’s stories of embracing their strengths!
203 Episodes
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Erica's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Belief, Communication, Context, Responsibility and Restorative
Erica brings a unique blend of life experience, faith, and heart to every stage of life. Transitioning from actuarial analyst to missionary wife, then 16 years homeschooling, and now a mom of amazing UT Austin College kiddos, she has learned to navigate life’s changes with confidence and grace. Guided by Belief, Responsibility, and a Restorative mindset, her love for God, people, and cats shapes how she approaches every challenge and opportunity.
Link to take the CliftonStrengths Assessment
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Karina's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Relator, Harmony, Empathy, Belief and Responsibility
Karina Venable lives in Austin, Texas with her husband David and their three beautiful children, who are each gifts, given from the Father through adoption. Karina has been a teacher in various capacities throughout the years, including homeschooling her children for seven years. She loves to study scripture and write about what the Lord is teaching her, and she recently had the honor of co-authoring a Bible study on 1 Peter for Providence Church. Karina loves to read aloud good stories with her family and friends. Even more so, she loves to listen to the stories of loved ones, especially over delicious coffee.
Link to take the CliftonStrengths Assessment
Coaching and Workshops with Barbara Culwell
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Texas A&M's Bridge's Staff Team Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Learner, Connectedness, Includer, Communication & Woo
Barbara shares insights about a recent workshop for the Bridges Staff Team at Texas A&M. Each person brings their unique strengths. She talks about some of the insights she observed with the group of five .
Link to take the CliftonStrengths Assessment
Coaching and Workshops with Barbara Culwell
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James" Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Learner, Intellection, Developer, Context, & Input
Julie's Top 5 Cliftonstrengths are: Strategic, Input, Relator, Belief & Arranger
James and Julie are both native Texans and have been married 35 years. They have been on staff with ReachGlobal (mission agency of the Evangelical Free Church of America) for 31 years. They lived and served in Kyiv, Ukraine for 15 years and Budapest, Hungary for 15 years. In August 2025 they relocated back to the USA and live in Austin, Texas. They have two wonderful children, Will (married to Courtney and father of our first grandchild) has lived in Warsaw, Poland for three years serving with International Justice Mission; and Katia (married to Luke) lives in Chicago, Illinois and is in her second year of nursing school. Julie and James both love serving in their local church (wherever they are) and are especially drawn to developing the younger generations in their walks with Jesus.
Link to take the CliftonStrengths Assessment
Coaching and Workshops with Barbara Culwell
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Interested in Barbara's Cookbook
Barbara's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are HARMONY, ADAPTABILITY, EMPATHY, CONNECTEDNESS & MAXIMIZER
In this episode Barbara tells about a creative group that she is a part of and how fueling her creativity overflows in to her love for hospitality. Knowing and using her strengths are integral in what happens at home around her table with friends and family.
Link to take the CliftonStrengths Assessment
Coaching and Workshops with Barbara Culwell
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Interested in Barbara's Cookbook
Dawn's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Activator, Woo, Empathy, Connecetness and Restorative
Dawn lives in Dallas. TX. She recently made the move to East-West ministries from Cru where she helps mobilize the next generation to go to the spiritual darkest places of the world. She enjoys all things outdoors, a good cup of coffee with good conversation.
Prayer in the Night: For those who Work, or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren is one of the books that has ministered to her in her journey.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Barbara's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Harmony, Adaptabilty, Empathy, Connectedness and Maximizer
Maximizer is one of Barbara's top strengths and as she thinks about 2026 it gives her some intentionality in areas of her life that she wants to maximize!
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Barbara and Gerry celebrate 200 episodes of Embrace Your Strengths! Gerry is EYS's biggest fan! She shares a bit about how knowing her strengths "saved her marriage" and also living out her strengths daily gives her joy and passion as she meets with folks and loves to share the life giving hope of knowing Jesus!
You can hear more about her story on Episode 61.
Barbara talks about the history of EYS and the joy she gets from connecting with people and encouraging them to live wholeheartedly in their strength areas.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
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Josue's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Restoraive Connectedness, Woo, Communication and Context
Nicole's Top 5 Clfitonstrengths are: Maximizer, Empathy, Harmony, Futuristic and Developer
Nicole and Daniel (Mambo) make their home in Denver, Colorado, though they originally from Wisconsin and Mexico City. Nicole is a dedicated career coach who thrives on helping people discover their purpose and professional direction. Daniel works as a financial broker helping people to understand how the financial industry works so they can develop their own investment strategies.
Together, they enjoy an active and adventurous lifestyle—hiking, mountain biking, traveling, and exploring new foods. Nicole especially loves rollerblading, while both cherish spending time with family and friends. Above all, they are passionate about sharing the message of Jesus and serving others through their local church. Their lives are marked by a love for community, faith, and meaningful connection.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Heather McDowell Macleod's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Positivity, Empathy, Developer, Communication & Includer
Heather lives in Southern California with her husband, David, and their kids. Having grown up on CRU staff as the daughter of the McDowells, ministry has always been close to her heart. After six years of working directly with young adults, she recently stepped into the role of Director of Development at OC United. OC United is committed to keeping families together, preventing kids from entering foster care, and helping communities thrive through both prevention and intervention services.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Tawny's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Belief, Activator, Responsibiility, Achiever and Connectedness
Tawny has been with Cru almost 30 years having served in Baton Rouge, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colorado, and Orlando. She currently has the privilege of working with the Cru Coaching Center team as a launching specialist. Being able to help students start ministries across the U.S. and world where there currently are none is what she loves doing. She's married to Ryan and has two seniors, Sutton in high school, and Holden, at UF. Best day for her would be one at the beach with her family, eating her homemade cookies, and cheering on the LSU Tigers.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Michelle's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Harmony, Activator, Relator, individualization and Responsbility
Michelle lives in Austin Texas with her husband Austin and two girls Katherine and Margo. She attended the University of Oklahoma and worked in campus ministry post college at SMU in Dallas. Most recently she has been a part of the team at Generous Giving doing follow up for their retreats that happen all over the country. Her favorite things to do include being active and being outside (running and walking), eating good food (gluten free) and spending time with her wonderful family and friends! She also enjoys dabbling in pop culture as an outlet from mom life :)
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Lana's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Woo, Communication, Activator, Includer & Connectedness
Lana is currently living in Aix-en-Provence, a town in the South of France! She and her husband just moved there in July 2025 for an opportunity with his work, as well as a desire to be a part of God’s plan for the nations. Currently she spends her days going to French school and enjoying all of the things that France has to offer! Before moving to France, she was a business strategy consultant and then worked for Poncho, a men’s outdoor clothing company based in Austin.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Kelsey's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Positivity, Strategic, Maximizer, Ideation and Adaptability
Kelsey Linnartz is the artist and founder of LinnArtzy (yes, the name comes from her last name and a constant compliment, "you're so artsy"). She uses her top 5 strengths of Positivity, Strategic, Maximizer, Ideation, and Adaptability every day as an entrepreneur and creative.
She's a live fashion illustrator who draws guests at parties and brand events—think personalized fashion sketches created on the spot. She's worked with brands like Neiman Marcus, Alice & Olivia, Adobe, Kendra Scott, and a bunch of others, which still feels pretty surreal.
Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Kelsey studied fashion design at Texas Tech University. She launched LinnArtzy in 2020 when the world needed some extra encouragement. Now she gets to do this full-time, which is honestly a dream.
After almost 5 years in NYC, she recently moved to Charleston, where she now works out of her art studio downtown. Kelsey travels often for events and collaborations. She's all about celebrating the good moments and adding some brightness to the tough ones—mixing fashion illustration with calligraphy and a whole lot of encouragement.
You can learn about LinnArtzy here!
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Matt's Top 5 Strengths are: Adaptability, Context, Positivity, Woo & Belief
Elizabeth's Top 5 Strengths are: Harmony, Relator, Discipline, Empathy & Focus
Matt and Elizabeth live in Orlando, FL with their two sons, Caleb (2.5) and Shepherd (11 months). They met while serving in Italy with Cru, and recently moved back to the States. They now work at Cru's global headquarters, Matt in Risk Management and Elizabeth in Leadership Development and Human Resources. In their free time, they enjoy family walks, watching football, and making pancakes for breakfast. They are enjoying this season of stewarding their strengths through parenting their two boys and stepping into new ministry roles.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Kathy's Top 5 Clifonstrengths are: Woo, Belief, Competition, Learner and Focus
Kathy lives in Cedar Park, Texas, mom of four and grandmother to one. As Owner and Licensed Professional Counselor Associate, Kathy is using her strengths to help others on their emotional transformational journey. Kathy uses a new form of therapy that integrates eye stimulation to transform emotions, bringing rapid results. You can find her at kathyritzcounseling.com.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Chloe's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Input, Strategic, Responsibility, Discipline and Restorative
Chloe Larson has been teaching Latin in the School of Rhetoric at Veritas Academy in Austin, Texas, for the past five years, where she also serves as the Dean of Student Life for 5th-12th grade. A grateful alumna of Regents School of Austin (Class of 2015), Chloe went on to earn her B.A. in Integrated Marketing from Gordon College. Though her degree was in marketing, she found herself most inspired by her Liberal Arts courses—a love that continues to fuel her passion for classical Christian education.
Outside the classroom, Chloe is a member of Providence Church, where she especially enjoys serving in the nursery. In her free time, she’s usually reading a good book, out on an evening walk, or catching up with friends over coffee.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Caleb's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Competition, Arranger, Significance, Command and Achiever
Caleb currently lives with his family in Sumter, SC, and I flies F-16s at Shaw AFB. He enjoys travel, outdoor adventures, and working out.
You can follow Caleb on Instagram here
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Todd's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Positivity, Woo, Communication, Belief and Arranger
Collyn's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Intellection, Context, Harmony, Responsibility and Belief
Todd has served for 25 years with Generous Giving. Collynn has served for 10 years as a personal assistant to a wonderful local philanthropist. We have raised their five children in Orlando, FL and have gained three more as our children have married. We feel blessed to be engaged in our local community. We both find maximum joy by being involved in serving Christ and His Kingdom by investing in meaningful relationships. For relaxation we enjoy cycling, travel and any time we can spend with our growing family.
You can learn more about Generous Giving Here.
You can order Todd's Book Abundant Here.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
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Jennifer's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Communication, Activator, Woo, Belief & Connectedness
Jennifer Carson is wife to Bob for almost 30 years, mom to John and Ian and mother in law to the wonderful, Scarlett. Jennifer has been involved in ministry since college serving on staff with Cru for close to 20 years, then Gateway church in Austin. She has put down roots in their hippy dippy Brentwood Austin neighborhood loving on neighbors. When not traveling to see their adult kids in Bozeman, Montana or Greenville, SC, Bob and Jennifer enjoy hosting, entertaining and volunteering with Midtown church in central Austin.
Find out your strengths by taking the CliftonStrengths Top 5 Assessment
Workshops and Coaching with Barbara Culwell
Subscribe & Leave a Review on Embrace Your Strengths
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