The Women's Well

Is there an ugly sweater in that gift bag? You’d better appreciate the Granny who knitted it for you!

In our final episode at The Well this spring: Dr. Janelle McNeal, Alyssa Erickson, and, Ruth Nelson:

Women from 19 through 53 talk about emotional boundaries: What they are, why they’re vital (and sometimes not), and how they’re so much about taking up enough space in our own lives.  And others.

”Even if I am not someone who imagines myself having fences up, I need to be very comfortable with the fact that other people really, really need and like to have fences.” ~Ruth

”I’m one who always wants to say yes...I have to tell myself at the end of the day, for my own personal energy threshold, that I need to be able to say no sometimes.  It’s not something I want to do, it’s something I have to do.” ~Alyssa

“I wholeheartedly believe that I am responsible for my own happiness— yup I’m not counting on anyone else to make me happy, that’s my job....There are times though, when I will do something for someone else that would be to the detriment of my own happiness, because of the level of love, or respect, for that person.” ~Janelle

“I’m really measuring the cost. What is it going to cost me to be a little uncomfortable doing this thing for you that I know you need, and if I can accept the cost of doing this thing, then I give it, no strings attached.” ~Lisa

Find Dr. Janelle McNeal at TrueNorthLex.com

Find Alyssa Erickson (who also designed Lisa’s fabulous logo) at KYHempsters.com

More about Lisa and The Women’s Well at:

At The Well with Margaret Verble, the author of Maud's Line, a 2016 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. 

Her new novel, Cherokee America, was released in February 2020, and has been praised in the New York Times as a gift to historical fiction lovers especially as "an essential corrective to the racially tinged myths created to justify the annihilation of indigenous cultures and the theft of native lands."

In March 2020, Cherokee America won the Spur Award for Best Traditional Western, and was shortlisted for the Reading the West Adult Fiction Award.

Margaret, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, lives in Lexington, KY.

Find Margaret at MargaretVerble.com

More about Lisa and The Women’s Well at:

At The Well, a continuing conversation about “callings,” with:

Judy Heidrich in Florida, Licensed Psychotherapist and Certified Healing Touch Practitioner

and

Beth Marcil in Hawaii, Teaching Artist and Fine Artist

How do you know when you are being "called" to something bigger than you dreamed for yourself--bigger and more important than you planned for your life?

Wisdom keeper, Donna Foster, shares the story of launching a new career in her 60's: "feeling the fear and doing it anyway."

Tune in with us, and then tune inward to notice how the YES of your own calling might be beckoning right now.

More about Lisa and The Women’s Well at:

Like every one of us who dream, plan, work, sweat, work, work, work, Asian American immigants and citizens also want “for the next generation, a better life.”

And often, their wanting and work ethic becomes a blessing for the communities in which they live. This is the very story of Jennifer Yue Barber, and her parents, who carried her home asleep after their restaurant closed nightly—with cooking burns on their hands and faces—keeping faith that their daughter would in fact have a better life while also continuing to contribute to community in her own way.

​Jennifer is an attorney--a Kentucky native--who served in the U.S. Department of State as Special Advisor to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and as a United States Delegate to the 75th United Nations General Assembly where she delivered formal statements on behalf of the U.S. government, advised on foreign policy, and negotiated with other delegations to advance United States positions in the areas of human rights and humanitarian aid.

More about Lisa and The Women’s Well at:

How do we humans do it? Managing great and mundane life questions can seem like a daunting puzzle.

Well, turns out that we’re given symbolic guideposts from nature all the time (and often a beloved dog bonus).

Barbara Techel, a certified Animal Oracle in Wisconsin, helps us see that when we look to an animal for wisdom, we’re really calling on its essence and the archetypal patterns expressed through that animal’s nature, to reflect our own strengths and vulnerabilities.

“What I started learning from my dogs, is that they’re mirroring what’s going on inside us, all the time.”

Enjoy a pause (paws...) and join us for a light-hearted conversation about life’s meaningful answers.

More about Barbara, her five books, and her one-on-one offerings, click here:

“I’m supposed to be here. This is it. Take me as I am...” ~Kendriana Price

Chaquenta Smith Neal and Kendriana Price are dynamic Black women with clear voices, vision and dedication.  They’ve been champions of diversity and inclusion in the state of Kentucky for more than a decade, and both are just over 30!

When I asked them—despite the exhaustion of personal and cultural racism trauma—if they dare now to be hopeful about the future of equality and social justice in the United States, they both said..

“Yes.”

And with wisdom that echos the most respected emotional-health advocates, they each suggested how people of every race can keep on.

You will LOVE these admirable, smart women.  Join us!

More about Lisa and The Women’s Well at:

Well guests are ordinary extraordinary women with a story, and in the telling, shine inspriation for all of us.

Though our life stories differ, we see ourselves in one another.  If she can heal from that, I can heal from this now.

Colleen Haggerty became an amputee at age 17 and was pedestalized as a heroine for resuming her life and pushing her body to its maximum limits: “Rock Climbing, skiing, kayaking, parachuting—things I never considered doing with two legs.”

But for 15 years, being “the good girl” on that heroic pedastal distanced her from processing the anger and grief of profound trauma.  That is, until after she called Harvey, the driver who hit her, to “yell at him for never apologizing.”

Then, the real healing began.  But not because he apologized...

Welcome to the Women's Well, a place to nourish your health and spirit. Our guests are ordinary extraordinary women with a story, and in the telling, they shine inspiration for us all. Our first episode will launch on March 6th, but here's a sneak preview of that interview with Colleen Haggerty to get you started.