Claim OwnershipMake Life Less Difficult
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"What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?" - mary anne evansThis quote summarizes my life purpose. Life isn't easy. It's complex, filled with the unexpected, and sometimes really hard. While life is full of challenges, I believe there are myriad things we can do to help make life less difficult for each other.On this podcast we'll share stories, struggles, and successes that help us know we're not alone. And knowing we're not alone is one way to make life less difficult.
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My guest today is Dr. Sudha Kumar. I was honored to meet Dr. Kumar through the kind introduction of her husband, Vinay, who has also been a guest here on the podcast. Dr. Kumar is a Board-Certified Physician with over 30 years of experience managing acute and chronic conditions. At this point in her career, she focuses on helping her patients live healthier lives by making changes in their diet, balancing hormones, exercise, and adding natural supplements while minimizing the use ...
My guest today is Chris Lebrun. Chris is a productivity coach and the creator of the Wholistic Productivity podcast, and he has one goal: to empower you to be happier and more fulfilled by achieving your professional, personal, and purpose-driven goals. Chris's work around productivity came out of his personal experience, which is why he’s so passionate about helping others. He’s spent more than 25 years helping nonprofits expand their mission through philanthropy, marketing, and commun...
My guest today is John Schuhart. John is an executive leadership coach. He spent 17 years as an Intelligence Community Senior Executive, including: Chief Financial Officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyDeputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of the Director of National IntelligenceDeputy Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Community Management StaffJohn is also the author of, New Supervisor Survival Guide, a book that explores the challenges of becomin...
My guest today is Doug Tilstra. As I introduce Doug, I’ve debated which title to share first and I think I’ll share that he’s my father-in-law! And I’m honored to share another podcast with a family member! Doug has more than 44 years of experience as a pastor, professor, mentor, coach, and university administrator. In the six years leading up to his retirement in 2023, Doug served as the vice president for Student Life at Walla Walla University. He managed the challe...
My guest today is Jessica Vogt. Jessica is a holistic leadership development coach who supports people with a foot in many worlds - culturally, professionally, or personally. She works with those who often feel like they belong everywhere and nowhere all at once. With warmth, empathy, curiosity, and a good measure of humour, Jess helps them reconnect with their voice, their worth, and their right to live life on their own terms. Drawing from her own experience as a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA)...
My guest today is Sava Riaskoff. Sava is a Performance & Wellbeing Coach, TEDxSpeaker, and Associate Professor at the ESADE MBA in Barcelona. Over the past seven years, he’s worked with leaders and next-gen talent through 1:1 coaching, in-company trainings, and immersive retreats in Europe and Patagonia. His work is deeply shaped by his own journey — from following a path that looked right on paper but left him quietly burning out, to being forced to face some of the hard questions we ten...
My guest today is Nicole Anderson. Nicole is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in driving organizational success through human-centered change management. As a Partner at The Kaler Group, her unique ability to integrate people, processes, and technology has made her a pivotal force in enhancing organizational effectiveness and fostering positive culture and employee experiences. She is known for her strategic vision, innovative problem-solving skills, and a deep u...
My guest today is Linda Hoopes. Linda helps organizations, teams, and individuals thrive in turbulence. She’s a writer and speaker on the topics of resilience, change, and employee well-being. Linda is a returning guest, having been on the podcast a couple of years ago with Kris Burbank, where they talked about their co-authored book, Embracing Another Normal: Resilience Stories and Strategies for Raising Children with Disabilities. Linda is back with me today to dig a littl...
My guest today is Elif Malmqvist. Elif is an executive coach who is currently studying cognitive neuroscience so she can better understand the why behind human emotions and connections. Elif is passionate about helping people understand neuroplasticity, specifically around understanding negative thoughts or baggage from the past and how to create more positivity and happiness through better understanding of our brains. Elif and I met many years ago through Margareta Sjolund, who has al...
My guest today is Jules Kuroda. Jules’s life passion is helping people get past the ideas they have of themselves to unlock more fulfillment. Our minds are wonderful and dangerous tools, she says, depending on how we wield them. Jules loves complexity and strives for simplicity and believes the world is more interesting with our paradoxes explored. Her aim is to bring more joy and understanding into the world, and I believe our conversation today will bring you both joy and new understanding ...
Welcome back to Make Life Less Difficult. My guest today is Michael Ulrich. Michael is a contemplative psychotherapist based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a background in clinical practice, systems thinking, and integral development. His work bridges traditional therapeutic modalities with emergent, self-organizing ways of relating and healing. In our conversation today, Michael and I explore the ongoing practice of presence—what it means to meet ourselves and others without needing to fix or...
My guest today is Andra Davidson. Andra is a collaboratively trained Certified Divorce Coach and mediator who created the Better Than Before Divorce™ Program to provide emotional support to men and women navigating divorce. Her clients benefit from her 25+ years of experience in crisis communications, branding, and marketing, as well as my calm strength and commitment to tangible results. She believes anyone dealing with divorce can learn to minimize conflict, communicate effectively, and pri...
My guest today is Debra Kiva. Debra is a certified grief educator and coach who works with, and is trained by, renowned grief expert, David Kessler. Debra facilitates loss groups for Kessler's online grief community, Tender Hearts, and co-facilitates loss groups for grieving complex relationships. And she supports people facing anticipatory grief, the grief of losing a loved one by long term illness/dementia, as she has deep experience in dementia and sibling loss. As an adu...
My guest today is Milena Trevisani. Before becoming a coach, Milena worked for 20 years in the corporate world, and which took her to many different countries. Along the way, she met lots of extraordinary people who opened her eyes to the possibilities that we all hold within us. During her 10 years at The New York Times as a Director of Business Development and Sales, Milena had a coach who helped her and laid the foundations for her coaching passion. While at the NYT, Mile...
My guest today is Maura Lightfoot. Maura is a leadership and culture coach with a wealth of experience and knowledge. From human resources in the Middle East to financial services management consulting in London to nonprofit organizational culture in Washington D.C., Maura’s experience equips her with a unique perspective that is both grounded and global. In our conversation today, Maura and I talk about her model of Exploration Leadership. We dive into the curiosity and bravery i...
My guest today is Mikaela Seligman. Mikaela is the Founder of the company, Lumin/Us, which offers tailored leadership coaching and education, facilitation, and organizational consulting. Mikaela brings her 30+ years of experience leading in and also coaching/consulting for mission-driven organizations and leaders. At the heart of her work, Mikaela helps leaders have impact without burnout. She’s worked her entire career to redefine outdated ideas about leadership. Everyone, ...
My guests today are Tommy Jiang and Kevin Harrington. I met Tommy and Kevin while traveling in Patagonia last year. It was one of those connections that permeate great international travel. My husband and I were at the end of our month-long excursion and got to enjoy a 35+ hour ferry ride filled with hours of great conversation with them. Learning about their passions and expertise, I told them about the podcast and invited them to come on! And now… I get to share thi...
My guest today is Steve Whearty. Steve is a certified executive coach and learning & development specialist with over 30 years of experience in leadership and learning professional roles. He began his career as a Naval Flight Officer, serving on active duty in the U.S., Italy, and Japan. Steve continued to serve as a civilian employee of the Federal Government in various roles from 2009-2022, including at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute and the Federal Executive Ins...
My guest today is Jessica Zucal. Jessica is an organization system innovator and change enabler. As a NeuroLeadership trained coach and Emotional Intelligence practitioner, she supports leaders in creating new mindsets that free them from inhibiting believe systems and helps them unlock greater leadership potential. Jessica is the Director of Organization Change & Transformation at Evans Consulting and she serves as faculty in the Georgetown University’s Organizational Development G...
My guest today is Louiza Kiritopoulos-Adams. Louiza is an organizational psychologist and an executive, leadership development, and performance coach. She has over 20 years of leadership experience across diverse industries and global markets. She’s deeply passionate about unlocking human potential to create a lasting impact at both organizational and market levels. Louiza and I met through the Georgetown University coaching program and her presence in my life has been an incredib...
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