# 118 - Turning Wounds to Wisdom | Run Your Life #98

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In today’s episode, I feel very lucky to have sat down in person with Caterina Carna, who has become a good friend of our family here in Saudi Arabia. Caterina is from a small village in southern Italy, but has lived here at KAUST in Saudi Arabia for the past 5 years. Anyone who knows Caterina knows what a kind, caring, and compassionate person she is. What makes Caterina uniquely special is her ability to connect with others in an effort to build community and give people a greater sense of belonging. The reason why I wanted to have Caterina on my podcast is to share her very inspiring journey of transformation within herself over the past year. Caterina has spoken very openly about her struggles with being overweight for most of her life. In this episode, Caterina discusses how her relationship with food impacted her health for many years, especially growing up in a small village in Italy where food was one of the major ways that people in her life connected and came together to celebrate life and friendships. What makes Caterina’s story even more special is that over the past 12 months, she has lost 100 pounds. It has been amazing to see this transformation within her and the main reason for this transformation was her ability to activate an internal strength that she never knew existed within herself. In this episode, Caterina shares how losing both her parents within ten months of one another deeply impacted her in a way that ultimately empowered her to choose life over death.Caterina knew that she needed a complete change in her life in order to confront the fact that the state of her physical health had seriously declined due to her weight. Amazingly, Caterina made a brave and bold decision to change her life and has completely dedicated herself to this greater purpose. I applaud Caterina for her ability to make herself vulnerable and for sharing her authentic self in this episode. Her story is amazing and more people need to know about it. Please connect with Caterina on Instagram and on Facebook to learn more about her story and to see for yourself the transformational journey she is now on. Caterina BioCaterina is from Guardavalle, a small village on the shores of Ionian Sea, in Calabria, Southern Italy.She has a Masters degree in Political and Social Science at the University of Bologna, Italy. She worked as the Provost personal assistant and event organizer at the Magna Graecia University in Catanzaro for almost 10 years, then, when her son was 1-month old, she and her husband moved to Genova, in the north of Italy, where her husband got a job as team leader of a research group at the Italian Institute of Technology. Spent 3 years in Genova being a mum and cooking for parties and events.They arrived at KAUST 5 years ago and fell in love with the place from day one. She works as research assistant for a Professor, who became one of her best friends and an “uncle’ to her son. She considers herself a very lucky person because she has the possibility to live in such an amazing place surrounded by people that love, support and inspire her every day.Something you should know about her: she loves lifting weights, cooking, traveling, reading and taking long walks in the nature. She is stubborn, funny, kind, hot-blooded, passionate, sensitive and even describes herself as being a little crazy!Connect with CaterinaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/caterina.carnaInstagram: @CatecarnaThemes Discussed: Purpose, Hope, Internal Strength, Life vs Death, Physical Well-Being, Weight Loss, Exercise, Relationship with Food