I turn train-dodging, lemonade experts into fairy godmothers.

My mission and passion is supporting women as they gather the broken pieces of their lives to become a guiding light for others wrestling situations they once survived.

These women aren't Cinderella. Instead, when help never arrived, they became their own fairy godmother. Strong. Brave. Wise. And magical in their own way. I show them how to wear their wings proudly.

I teach these beautiful women about the things they can discover in the long-hidden details of their story. Then we redeem those parts and set their wisdom free. When they are ready, they can use their story to encourage others. We spread hope that transforms.

I'm one of those women who has lived a thousand lives. As a survivor with a heart to help and support others, I try to give back because I know what it feels like to be stuck and alone with no answers. My story is messy but I've always felt compelled to help others find their path, mission, and calling to redeem the pain in their lives. I knew it was my destiny at seventeen years old but I had no idea how to accomplish it, or create the life I wanted to live.

I was so excited to graduate with my Doctor of Naturopathy degree in 1994. I thought I finally had the tools to make a difference in the lives of those, like me, who had been disappointed by traditional medicine. As I consulted clients, I was perplexed to find many had mindsets and habits that caused or aggravated the illnesses that brought them to my office. I wasn't prepared for that. I needed a way to dive deeper and help them understand. I learned the hard way that having another conversation about what to eat for dinner wouldn't work.

When I transitioned to magazine editor in 1998, I found myself in a different kind of consultant role. Women came to me for advice and insight on how to make their words mean something. At many of my editorial critiques and sessions, I did more listening and encouraging than editing. After awhile, I realized how many writers bleed words onto the page from deep unrest in their souls. Well, at least the ones that found me.

Although I stopped health consultations long before 2001, I discovered my missing piece that year: life coaching. I knew the tools I stumbled upon would give me the ability to step back and show others how to look at their life as a whole being. It was so simple! I had missed it.

In 2003, a heavenly nudge started a chain reaction in my life. God began to answer decade-old prayer requests but I didn't understand what I was seeing. All I felt was the pain and despair of change. The next ten years would be a tornado of events that ripped down the very foundation of everything I believed about my life and everyone in it. It would be my faith and the principles I learned in my professional life that kept me going.

So what happened? Two cross-country moves in two years. The loss of a fifteen year friendship. My mother required critical brain surgery in spite of life-threatening complications. An auto accident left me with permanent brain damage and stole my ability to write. My father-in-law died and my mother-in-law with Alzheimer's came to live with our family. At one of the lowest points in my life, my ex-husband showed me who he really was and it was not the godly Christian scholar he led me to believe. By 2013, I was decimated emotionally and on my way to divorce after twenty-two years of marriage.

The last decade has been all about learning what I needed to know to recover from the first forty years of my life. I devoted a big part to healing, doing what it took to write again, searching for tools and gaining skills to coach more effectively, and last but not least, transforming into the me I've always been but wasn't allowed to become. It's been a journey. Eventually, I decided to combine my love of writing, coaching, and integrated mind-body healing to work with women who lived through hell and are still struggling on some level, but still want to inspire others with their story.

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I feel immortal in Internet years because I watched it evolve before my eyes. I dove into online entrepreneurship in 1998. From building and maintaining websites to copywriting, graphic design, and crafting business plans, I've tackled every aspect. I have a laundry list of lessons from that era of my life.

As an author and editor, my writing expertise is nonfiction. I excel at developmental editing which I can use to help you craft a book, business, course, or coaching program. I've also done quite a bit of ghostwriting to show clients how to improve their content.

I created and published an online magazine for over 12 years. In addition to writing several soon-to-be-published works, I also helped develop and edit five nonfiction manuscripts since 2019, as well as three fiction works. Although it's currently out of print due to circumstances beyond my control, I launched my first book as a publisher in August 2021.

With daughters passionate about writing healthy romance, they stretch my skills. I've never been one to write fiction, but I learn so much about storytelling from them that I always pay attention. Our brainstorming sessions, where we tackle plot holes, character development, and maddening little details that make or break a story, are some of my favorite times. You can get a peek into the process we use and behind-the-scenes mischief on our podcast: Transform Your Story.

My middle daughter and co-host, Melinda, has an eye for relationships and uses it to offer developmental editing for romance writers. You can find out more about her and the programs at www.wordswithmel.com

My youngest, Ariana, is a writer and artist honing her skills, and deciding what the future holds while she completes her first novel. She is a regular guest. You can find her art on Instagram at @evonyaelyn

A holistic what?

I consider myself a holistic life coach because I use naturopathic principles in my work.

The foundations of naturopathic medicine teach if we provide the body with the right combination of rest, hydration, nutrition, movement, and a growth mindset, in many cases, it will heal itself of organic illness with little to no emergency intervention. A problem can be physical, mental, or spiritual, but usually, it's some combination of the three. Finding the origin is critical because, even in traditional medicine, if you pursue solutions for the wrong problem, you'll end up with no change or additional issues.

Writers and content creators struggle in the same mind-body-spirit kind of way. Only the symptoms are different. My focus is teaching clients to dig deeper and uncover the root issues that keep them stuck in their story.

I wrestled to make sense of my situation for years. I helped client after client as a health consultant, but felt like a failure because I couldn't identify my own health issues. I tried everything I could get my hands on. I learned a lot, but nothing seemed to fix the problems I had. It wasn't until a pastor pointed out the abusive behaviors he witnessed in my ex-husband that I was finally able to realized why.

After I left that toxic marriage, I began to understand my ability to step back and see the bigger picture in the stories others shared with me. Then I understood why I hadn't been able to do it for myself. Now as a coach, I use what I've learned to target questions that help those I work with discover the what, how, and oh my lurking in their shadows. Then I use a blended approach to support them as they create simple plans with realistic steps that will transform their story.

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As I pursued my life coach training, I began to understand the patterns I saw in clients and writers through the years. The people who came to me for health consulting in the 1990s struggled because they appeared to be stuck in a fixed mindset. I couldn't get some of them to understand how thoughts and habits can radically affect our physical bodies, or the necessity of being open to try new things. Later, I noticed similar behaviors in the writers I worked with at my magazine.

Then there were times a client agreed they needed change, but repeatedly failed to make those changes after committing to them. I began to wonder why. Nothing I learned prepared me to support or motivate them. And it didn't feel right just to encouraged them to keep trying until they found the thing that helped.

Years later, I became well acquainted with my own issues regarding change and mindset after a permanent brain injury. I still had vision and goals and want-to, I just couldn't force myself to implement what I needed to accomplish them. I didn't know what happened and couldn't fix it with stubborn persistence and sheer willpower. I finally came to realize how neurodivergence, covert abuse, and trauma affect our ability to transform the frustrating parts of our life.

I still work with the whole client, but my approach is targeted for the issues that plague content creators who struggle to identify their message and connect with their audience. Sometimes it isn't the mechanics of storytelling or building a platform that hinders writers. The things that keep women from sharing their story are more about not understanding what really happened to them and using the wrong approach to get things done. That's where my holistic training kicks in. I step back, help clients look at the bigger picture, and then give them the tools to dig deep and get the answers they need. Sometimes it means encouraging them to find a licensed mental health provider to help with their homework.