The Pursuit of Happiness

Clinical Therapist, Holly Essler, joins me once again on the podcast, but this time to dive deeper into the grieving process and how it's different for everybody. She arms us with the proper tools to navigate grieving and to better understand what we are going through when grieving or when someone we know is. We discuss the five stages in detail and what people really need when grieving the loss of a loved one, a pet or something very important and personal to them. Holly once again does a fantastic job of normalizing not just grieving, but mental health in general, as she did back on episode 11.  Follow Holly: On Instagram @empoweringyou.therapy Empoweringyoutherapy.com

American Olympic Swimmer, 2017 5k World Champion, Ashley Twichell, joins me on this episode to discuss her lifelong journey into representing Team USA in the 2020 Olympics. It was absolutely fascinating to go behind the scenes in the life of a premiere athlete, discussing her workout routine, nutrition and her mindset when competing on the world's biggest stages. She is master at her craft. The best of the best. And I can't give her enough praise for all of the work she puts in when no one is watching. She is an inspiration to us all and so his her story on reaching the Olympic Games.  Follow Ashley Twichell on Instagram @atwall616   Team USA Profile

Army veterans turned entreprenuers, Megan Militello and Lacey Ernandes, join me on this episode to discuss their inspiring life journey, leading them to create their business with a mission, Elevated Oats. Leaving their lives in America behind, hey became close friends on the battle fields in Iraq, while also experiencing some of the worst that war has to offer. After years serving our country, they returned to their separate homes, a bit lost, dealing with PTSD and trying to find their footing in life again. A decade later, they found each other again, but this time to create a business built on passion, a wonderful mission and amazing ingredients right from Megan's hometown in Anchorage, Alaska.  Join their mission and support the business! ElevatedOats.com Follow them on Instagram ElevatedOats

Heather Snyder Ippolito joins me on this episode to talk all about the importance of good posture. Sitting at a computer desk all-day, I knew my posture was heading in the wrong direction, but I didn't realize how many things your posture affects in your daily life. Many of us are constantly deteriorating our posture with our bad habits, but Heather gives such great advice and so many tips on how to reverse course. We dove into everything from office jobs to sleep positions, mattresses and pillows as well as fitness and strengthening your core. This was such a great conversation with so many little things we can do to make our lives so much better.  Follow Heather: Instagram - Good Posture Mama TheGracefulBody.com Heather's Youtube Channel

Iceland glacier guide and NFT photographer, Ryan Newburn joins me on this episode to discuss his absolutely incredible life journey. From becoming one of the top players in the world at Yu-Gi-Oh! as a teenager, to overcoming obesity and depression, losing 140 pounds. After finally achieving his goal of weight loss and enlisting in the Navy, he was discharged due to an injury which caused another downward spiral. Soon after, he was given the idea of leaving it all behind to go to Japan. He turned that into "The Walk from Obesity", raising thousands of dollars while walking the entire length of Japan, shortly followed by walking the country of New Zealand. Along these travels, he picked up his passion for photography. He has since moved to Iceland and has been trained by one of the best photographers in the world. Ryan now owns his own glacier guide company, Ice Pic Journeys, providing guided hikes, photography tours, workshops and has become a major artist in the world of NFTs. Follow Ryan Newburn on Instagram Ryan's Glacier Company: Icepicjourneys.is Ryan's KMTV 3 News Now news clip NFTs Ryan's OpenSea NFT Collection Ryan's Superrare collection

Holistic health coach and Fat loss expert and Insanity Max:30 cast member, Shannon Buruchian joins me on this episode to discuss approaching all things health and fitness from a positive and healthy mindset. Through her own life journey, Shannon has learned how to maintain her guilt free relationship with food, while still seeing results. She breaks down food and nutrition into a simplified vision that we can all understand and benefit from. I love that she calls out the industry for pushing a message more for money than to benefit people and their health. We also discuss the true benefits of lifting, what getting "toned" actually means and how cardio might not help you achieve the goals you actually want to achieve. Follow Shannon on Instagram Check out her website Shannon's high protein recipe guide

I wanted to do a quick episode with a little update on what's been going on these last few weeks, mostly losing my grandfather at the age of 93. I needed to put the microphone down for a moment to head out of town and support the family. Unfortunately, the Pursuit of Happiness will always include very hard times, and this is one of them. We are in the grieving process, but we will come out of this and truly celebrate a life worth celebrating. The Pursuit will continue...

Award winning podcast host, author and financial advisor Joe Saul-Sehy joins me on this episode to discuss everything finances. He goes into detail on his personal story of being in debt with no money, how bad of a situation it was and the steps he took to dig himself out of it. We talk about setting up your personal IRA and 401k, where to do it and ways to invest to meet your needs and goals in the future. This episode is absolutely loaded with financial information, easy for you to understand and follow. Joe also breaks down compound interest, the differences between mutual funds and ETFs, financial advisors and fiduciaries, when to be aggressive/pull back in the market and the question we all have: "How much should I have saved by my age?" Check Out Joe's Award Winning Podcast "Stacking Benjamins" and his website at StackingBenjamins.com Go purchase his book out now - Stacked Follow his Instagram @StackingBenjaminsPodcast

As 2022 is off and running, I take a moment to reflect on the many lessons I learned in 2021, narrowing them down to my top 5 and going into details on each of them. I discuss: 1. Never settling, 2. Working where you are appreciated, 3. Celebrating the victories along the way, 4. Everyone grieves differently, and 5. Being mindful of what you put into your body.  I created my podcast so all of you can follow me along my journey of understanding life, pursuing happiness and learn from my mistakes and this episode will help you do just that. Good-bye to 2021 and hello 2022! May we learn from the past to help shape our future for the better.

Kristen and I recap our four day trip to Walt Disney World (Dec. 9-12, 2021), going over all of the highlights and amazing moments, as well as giving you detailed information on how to make your trip magical. We deep dive into each visit to all of the four major parks (Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom), which rides were our favorites, how to avoid waiting in lines, Genie + and Lightning Lanes and so much more. We had such an amazing time, but learned so much along the way, that we wanted to share everything we learned with you. As incredible as Disney World is, not everything is worth the hype, or the money, and we get into that as well. This is your one stop shop for everything Disney World and helping you plan your next trip!