Linda Bonnar is a successful life coach and entrepreneur.  She's also a former educator, and has built her services around both her experiences in the teaching profession, and her teenager years with mental health struggles in her hometown of Ballinasloe in County Galway in Ireland.  During those fragile, formative years of her childhood she had the misfortune of being targeted by a clique of mean-spirited schoolgirls, which made her road to today all the more difficult.

But she has used that hard journey to be of service to others, through her coaching and her business, Upstrive.    We applaud her willingness to share her life story with us, and her focus on helping others.

And she continues to work on her own mental health constantly, as we all should. We need to do a regular check-in with our feelings, she advises us strongly. We need to work hard at our own self-awareness. 

Have a listen, and you'll also learn the positive role horses have played in Linda's life.  Horses (and a pony!) have been in Linda's life, and that of her family, for ever.  And learn too of Linda's adventures as a teacher in Qatar and Dubai.

Ballinasloe, by the way, is famous for its horse fair, where, legend has it, Napoleon himself bought a horse.  

Some links of note from Linda's story:

• Upstrive
• Ballinasloe Horse Fair
• Linda's LinkedIn profile, listing her coaching qualifications and achievements.

Thanks to Purple-Planet  for the Intro/Outro music, and to FreeSound for the sound FX, and some music too!

Take a moment to learn more about the Celtic Irish American Academy. Support its work by donating (in USD $, with tax exemption benefits) here: CIAA Scholastic.

Thank you to our sponsor, the Fox Lifestyle Hospitality Group. Pay a visit to one of their great restaurants.

A special shout out to Lochlainn Harte, Imaging Manager at Newstalk Radio, for extra, top class, audio mixing.  Recently Lochlainn has worked on As I Remember It: Bertie Ahern & The Good Friday Agreement.

This is our last episode of Season Three.  We'll take a little break now.  Leave a message here and we'll let you know when we'll be back.