Conversations On Life, Work, And Love

This week coaches Bonnie and Remi have a heartfelt conversation with Jill E. Schultz about shame. Specifically, the shame attached to being molested as a child and the behaviors that manifest because of it. Jill is on a mission to bring this conversation to light and help people shed their shame. The ladies discuss what goes into healing and how common it is to be molested as a child. This is a taboo conversation that we all need to be having.

Jill is the author of: Liberated—Releasing the Dark Cloud of Shame

This week coaches Bonnie and Remi had a great chat with Stephanie McLaughlin about her Forty Drinks Project. At the age of 40 she endeavored to have 40 drinks with 40 friends. This experience changed her life and changed how she perceived herself. It helped her identify her top character strengths and a flawed view of herself. The discussion continued to include the midlife unraveling for women. Stephanie recommends everyone does something like this as it is a profound experience and a gift that you can give yourself.

Sara Alvarado joins coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs for a messy conversation on losing a loved one to Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is known as the long goodbye. You lose your loved one twice, once to the disease and again to death. Pre-planning is key to this disease. It will provide your support team so much peace with the process. And just know whatever emotions you are feeling is ok. It's a roller coaster.

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs have a chat with author and coach Katrina McGhee about how to take a career break. Katrina takes us through her 20-month career break journey. She explains the process of how to go about planning for a career break starting with creating a purpose statement and then figuring out your budget. She advises that it takes about 3 months to reset and get your mind ready for the next chapter. Katrina explains how to embrace and explain the break when you are ready to head back to work.

Katrina's book: Taking a Career Break for Dummies is available on Amazon

Coaches Remi Gibbs and Bonnie Blackstone chat with Miriam Rachel about her story, extreme people-pleasing and setting boundaries. Miriam is an author, podcast host, and Tarot card reader. The conversation twists into the mystic and becomes very fascinating.

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs talk with Jacki James. Jacki shares the story of her son Peyton's experience with bullying. Bullying that was so bad, that he eventually took his life. It's a soul-crushing story that's led to a legacy in the form of Kindness Matters. Words have power and you can't take them back. We can all be a little kinder to one another...pass it on.

Follow Kindness Matters here:

This week Coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs chat with Joy Stone who is an Anxiety Coach, Positive Psychology Practitioner, and Yoga Psychology Practitioner. Joy teaches that anxiety is focused on yesterday and tomorrow with the present moment being where peace resides. Most of us lose sight of our true selves and have to work at reconnecting. This is best found through meditation. Your brain is an evidence-finding machine, not fact-finding. What you already think, believe, and feel is your story—even if it's not. Nothing is missing in you. Forgive yourself for any misunderstandings.

More about Joy:

This week Bonnie and Remi have a very enlightening chat with Spiritual Director Rev. Christine Davies about engaging with your spiritual self and dealing with grief and loss with others and with yourself. There are so many golden nuggets in this episode! They cover:

• How to listen and talk with others dealing with grief
• Having difficult conversations about planning for death
• The long good-bye through dementia and Alzheimer's
• Taking care of yourself when dealing with personal grief
• The importance of connecting with self, others and all that is
• And simple rituals you can incorporate into your life to connect with your spiritual self.

Book:

The Rabbit Listened—how to comfort and heal the people in your life by carefully, lovingly, and gently listening.

Resource:

Today coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs chat with holistic nutritionist, Karen Salinas. The ladies discuss the importance of eating fruits and veggies ideally organic, getting your fiber, moving your body and getting in some breathing time daily. They even talk about healthy poop! Yep, we did!

Contact Karen Salinas:

Coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss a year of being podcast hosts. The overall themes that kept presenting themselves were to surrender and build your connections. Based on high listenership, we need more shows on addiction especially from the loved one's perspective as there aren't many resources for us. We want to hear more stories and continue to grow our community. Thanks for spending your time with us!

This week coaches Bonnie and Remi discuss setting New Year's resolutions...eh...goals or intentions. Make sure to understand your why! Make them realistic and achievable. Make a plan with steps to follow. Do the planning before you get started so you can run with it. And get an accountability partner...a coach! Make 2024 your year!

Coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss how to manage your stress and prioritize your self-care during the holidays. Start with making an honest assessment of your situation, physically, emotionally, and financially. Protect your peace and make good choices for yourself. Own your holidays and don't be afraid to speak your truth. Set your boundaries and find your joy!

Bonnie's 6-week, personally curated Holiday Survival Plan - is designed to get you through the holiday stress and anxiety.

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours! Please enjoy this encore presentation of Lessons In Gratitude.

Life can often come at you hard somedays! We know the benefits of living in a state of mindfulness and acceptance. But, what about those days when you just can't seem to find it within? 

Join hosts Bonnie and Remi on this week's episode for a deep dive into "Gratitude". What does it mean? What are the benefits? And, how do I create a daily gratitude practice? From the smallest enjoyment - a quiet morning, good coffee, comfortable bed, to the greatest appreciation - a loving partner, good friends, a job you love... learn to recognize them and reflect upon them to find joy, purpose, abundance and appreciation everyday!

References:

Emmanuel Dagher, The Core Work Method)

Martin Seligman , Authentic Happiness

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss manifesting the life you want.

Steps:

1. Step out of victim mentality

2. Clearly define what you want

3. Sit in gratitude

4. Inspired Action

5. Surrender

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs had a great conversation with financial coach Judy Easley-Marshall. The discussion centered around what to do with your finances when retirement is on the horizon. Most of us aren't rich and we weren't taught how to save for retirement, because our parents didn't generally have to with pensions. Judy's top suggestions are to start with your debt, max out your 401K to the match point from your employer and/or invest in a Roth IRA, invest in mutual funds, and get a side hustle if you need extra funds to pay off debt or contribute to your savings. We have to be real with ourselves about our financial situation, stop being afraid, and build a strategy to get us where we need to go. And lastly, make sure to celebrate your successes!

Judy's book recommendation on the topic:

50+ Ways to Make Extra Money or Keep More of the Money You Have by Jen Nash

To work with Judy:

In this episode, hosts Remi Gibbs and Bonnie Blackstone chat with a special guest, Alexis Cardenas. It took a health crisis for Alexis to stop, surrender, and open up to her life's higher calling. Today, she is a thriving entrepreneur, living her passion and purpose as an Herbalist specializing in creating customized blends that address the whole person - body, mind, and spirit. She candidly shares her journey and what it means to be an example to her young daughters of a woman who is living in alignment with her true self.

Herbin Wellness Apothecary + Tea Bar, 801 E Tyler Ave, Harlingen, TX, United States

alexis@herbinwellness.com

Coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss how to start loving yourself regardless of what you see in the mirror. Remi shares her story of being hit by a car when she was seven years old, living with the scars, and learning to accept her appearance. She provides steps to help others be able to see themselves in a positive light. It all starts with acceptance.

Reach coaches Remi and Bonnie:

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs talk with Megan Mary from Women's Dream Analysis. We discuss how understanding our dreams is a self-care practice for understanding our internal guide. Megan says it's important to unearth your dreams and decode them to uncover their significant meanings. Your mood before, during, and after a dream is significant in interpreting a dream. We also discuss how to become lucid in a dream and how to better recall your dreams. If you are curious about your dreams, tune in!

Contact and learn more about Megan Mary:

This week hosts Remi Gibbs and Bonnie Blackstone chat with Dr. Kristin Wild about how to overcome auto-immune disorders. Dr. Kristin advised that 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder, so learning how to combat them is imperative. We must take care of our bodies through nutrition and movement and our mind through our thoughts and emotions as well as develop our spiritual selves and examine our environments. She says we first need to start with the science, then move into the psychology of what's going on with us.

One of her favorite tricks is to teach our brains to look for "this or better". Tune in to hear more!

Contact Dr. Kristin:

In this episode, Bonnie and Remi take a trip down memory lane in anticipation of Bonnie's upcoming 40th High School Class Reunion. Join in the fun and nostalgia as they chat, unscripted, about the anxiety and excitement, the swift passage of time, music, movies, books and boys, and the bonds of friendships through the years.

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs talk with the Confident Body Coach, Lizzie Merritt. Lizzie teaches women how to be happy while they are on their diet journey vs. waiting to be happy until they lose weight. The coaches discuss ways to shift your mindset from negative to neutral and how to show gratitude for your body. Lizzie encourages people to engage their 5 senses while on their weight loss journey, think about the things that they love connected to those senses, and practice them. She also suggests writing yourself a positive note daily to carry with you that helps shift your negative self-regard.

Recommended books:

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor

Mindset by Carol Dweck

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

Where to find Coach Lizzie Merritt:

Join Coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs as they discuss being an empty nester with Bobbi Chegwyn. On this show, we discuss what empty nest grief is and how to move through it and thrive on the other side of it. Bobbi discusses how we're left with holes in our 6 core needs once our children leave the household. To repair the holes we have to go through the stages of acceptance, awareness, and action. Ultimately the action of being of service will pull you through. Bobbi would like to make talking about this emotional process more common so women can better plan for it.

More about Bobbi Chegwyn:

This week coaches Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs interview Lesa Edwards, CEO of Exclusive Career Coaching. Lesa is one of only 35 Master Resume Writers, a Certified Job Search Strategist, and an award-winning podcaster of The Exclusive Career Coach. She discusses tips on how to brand and market yourself, things to include in your resume, and how important networking is while doing your job search. She also discusses how to pivot your career, and the importance of LinkedIn. Your mindset was the most crucial job search element that came out of this conversation. You have to go into a new career search in a good place with yourself, feeling confident and in control.

How to find Lesa Edwards:

This week Bonnie and Remi talk with coach Anna Charles, the host of 90 Days Later a podcast for high-achievers seeking freedom around alcohol. Anna helps people change their relationship with alcohol so that they can gain control back of their lives. Anna says alcohol is just a liquid in a glass and it only has power if you give it to it. She says the process of gaining your control back requires learning why you drink, expecting failures and learning from them, building new habits, and most importantly being kind to yourself.

Website:

On this episode, hosts Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss living authentically; what it means, why it's important, and how to do it. We must start by taking off our masks, understanding ourselves, being honest with ourselves and others, being vulnerable, and being in constant awareness of what's important to us. It's a balance of being aligned with our values and the world that we find ourselves in.

Books:

Authenticity by Stephen Joseph

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

Tools:

Today on Conversations on Life, Work, and Love hosts Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss Self-Love, what it is, why it's important, and how to pull it forward. The most important relationship we have is with ourselves and it gets neglected. Negative self-chatter gets in the way. Learn how to overcome that chatter by flipping the switch. Get to know yourself and love the real you, not the noise that other people have labeled you with.

Book recommendation:

This week, Coaches Bonnie and Remi discuss communication skills. A lot goes into effective communication. You need to know your audience, read body language and actively listen. Timing for a conversation can be crucial to get the results you desire. To diffuse heated moments, use "I" and "feel" statements. Mirror back what you have heard. Remain calm. Use your words. And always ask for what you want. Don't assume someone else knows.

This week hosts Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs speak with The Joy Activator, Dina Sabnani. Dina is a very spiritual person who connects faith and personal responsibility through Theta Healing. She teaches individuals and groups about happiness and joy and the thought process required to bring them out of you. She says happiness is a choice and you get to choose. She also states that, what you think about, you bring about.

The Mantra:

As I think, so I feel

As I feel, so I do

As I do, so I have

Recommended books:

The 4 Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma

Contact Dina:

Today coaches Remi Gibbs and Bonnie Blackstone chat with Becky about her lack of confidence in her sales skills with her newish job. She's feeling pressure to perform because she has set big financial goals for herself in order to create residual income for her retirement as well as care for herself day-to-day. Becky identifies her challenge as having a hard time "pushing people". As Remi and Bonnie dig into this subject, Becky realizes that she is overly concerned with the big picture and that she isn't creating small goals for herself to create moments of achievement. She also realizes that she isn't putting her authentic self into the process, she's just going through the motions and hoping people will want to buy. Bonnie and Remi give Becky some words of wisdom and assign her some homework that she will be able to implement immediately.

This week, hosts Bonnie Blackstone and Remi Gibbs discuss what it means to be a GenX woman. They went rogue and off-script for the first time. If you were born between 1965 to 1980, we're talking to you. We discussed the change in the family landscape including divorce, working moms, and being latchkey kids. We discussed the pressure of carrying the torches of the women that came before us. And we discussed the life review we have in our 40's and the healing that takes place in our 50's. We talk about money, being a sarcastic bunch, and that we have to be our own advocates. Now get off our lawns!

Join us for the conversation. Hot mess or just right? Let us know.