Beyond Who I Was

Laureen Quick: Beyond Who I Was

Loss and transition stripped away the labels Laureen once lived by, leaving her in unfamiliar emotional territory. What emerged from that space wasn’t immediate clarity, but an invitation to hear a voice she’d long ignored—her own.

Bio

Laureen Quick is a navigator, coach, writer, and speaker for women 50+ navigating seasons of change, reinvention, and renewal. With an MBA and a background in adult learning and leadership, Laureen brings a steady, thoughtful approach to moments when an old identity no longer fits and rushing forward would mean leaving oneself behind.

She is the host of The Next Chapter Summit, a virtual gathering created to offer women a witnessed, unhurried space to orient themselves during life transitions, and the creator of Brilliant Beyond 50, a weekly e-newsletter exploring identity, self-trust, and what becomes possible in the second half of life. Laureen also hosts the Unscripted & Unstoppable podcast and writes the Your Next Chapter blog, where she blends insight, lived experience, and poetic clarity.

Known for her calm authority and relational depth, Laureen helps women stop fixing themselves and start listening for what is quietly emerging — so they can move forward with honesty, steadiness, and self-trust.

Topics

  • Identity beyond roles
  • Widowhood and self-redefinition
  • Navigating life after children leave home
  • The emotional impact of “quiet loss”
  • Learning to sit with emptiness
  • Joy as a compass for decision-making
  • Late-life self-discovery
  • Creativity as emotional processing
  • Self-worth independent of achievement
  • Listening to inner guidance

Guiding Questions

  • What changed for you when the roles you identified with began to fall away?
  • How did the experience of loss differ when it happened gradually instead of all at once?
  • What was it like to sit in the emptiness rather than rush to fill it?
  • When did you first realize you needed to listen to yourself differently?
  • How did joy become a guiding principle in your life?
  • What surprised you most about who you became during this season?
  • How did physical adventure play a role in your emotional healing?
  • What has poetry given you that nothing else could?
  • Why do you think so many people tie their worth to what they do?
  • What would you tell someone who feels invisible after a major life transition?

Interested in this guest’s story?

The Accidental Entrepreneur

Ben Albert: The Accidental Entrepreneur

From corporate burnout and numbing routines to an unexpected creative outlet, Ben’s story begins with deep dissatisfaction and uncertainty. The pandemic removed his safety net and quietly pushed him into a path he never intended — but couldn’t ignore.

Bio

Hey friend! What’s up!?

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐰…

1️⃣ 𝐖𝐞𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.𝐜𝐨𝐦 | Free community where heart‑centered leaders gain Visibility · Connection · Growth. Perfect for entrepreneurs, sales pros, and marketers. We host a discussion forum, complimentary trainings, networking events, and an inner-circle mastermind for #GrowGettersONLY

2️⃣ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦 | Top‑ranked podcast endorsed by Mark Schaefer, James Altucher, Jordan Harbinger, Hala Taha, Alex Sanfilippo, Mark Bowden, Chris Van Vliet, Amberly Lago, Lisa Song Sutton, Cal Fussman, and more… each episode crafted to help you amplify your impact.

3️⃣ 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 | Want fresh, actionable insights for your audience? I’ve shared stages with the American Marketing Association, Traffic & Conversion Summit, Podfest, universities, podcasts, and virtual communities.

Learn more: 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.𝐜𝐨𝐦/𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

—–

P.S I also partner with thought leaders to help w/ their podcast production, distribution, and marketing. We don’t advertise or accept just anyone. Personal recommendations and self-selected talent only.

Topics

  • Corporate burnout and silent suffering
  • Mental health in high-performing environments
  • The danger of “performative” self-improvement
  • Pandemic identity crises
  • Disintegration vs. adding new habits
  • Addiction, coping mechanisms, and avoidance
  • Channeling obsessive tendencies productively
  • Accidental entrepreneurship
  • Podcasting as a personal growth tool
  • Building meaningful mentorship through conversation

Guiding Questions

  • What did your life look like right before everything started to break down?
  • How did the pandemic amplify what was already not working for you?
  • You’ve said there wasn’t one big wake-up moment — what made that realization harder?
  • What were the habits you thought were helping but actually weren’t?
  • Why did removing behaviors matter more than adding new ones?
  • How did podcasting become a replacement rather than just a hobby?
  • What shifted when you stopped numbing and started paying attention?
  • How did your identity change when corporate success disappeared overnight?
  • What role did curiosity and obsession play in rebuilding your life?
  • How has treating conversations as mentorship changed your trajectory?

Interested in this guest’s story?

Finding My Niche

Monica Katona: Finding My Niche

After years of working jobs that never quite fit, Monica found herself searching for a remote career that felt both meaningful and sustainable. It wasn’t until she reflected on a lifelong fascination with other cultures that a clear direction finally emerged.

Bio

Hello! I’m Monica and I’m a native English speaker born in Seattle, Washington, and I lived in Washington state for the major part of my life. During my earlier years I had worked several ordinary jobs, just to get by.

My education background was in computer and data communication. I had no idea of my future career or where my true success would lie. For years I had worked ordinary jobs, whatever I could get, just to get by. My vision for being a technical specialist of some sort had then dissipated. Then years later, my dad decided to retire and we all moved to the beautiful state of Montana. Since relocating, I had been looking for work-from-home jobs and had run the whole gamut, but then I circled back and reflected on how excited I always felt when meeting people from other countries! It’s as if I had a nationality fetish, as far back as my teen years ! I loved reaching out to make friends from diverse cultures, even across the miles, and I still do to this day.

At one time in the past I lived a few doors down from a family who temporarily immigrated from Jordan. They were related to my next door neighbor. We, including my mother, quickly developed a friendship with this Jordanian family—actually the mom was from Syria— and we had so much fun and laughter about each other’s language nuances, but knowing them as friends was an unforgettable experience for me!

Moving forward, and in lieu of my remote work pursuit, I was facing a challenge that reshaped my career change decision: the challenge was finding my niche, what really resonated with me. So I did some research and found out that online tutoring or teaching was a good and satisfying way to earn money, and that learning English, as in ESL, was indeed in great demand. Suddenly a big “lightbulb” lit up! I felt inspired and decided to pursue language teaching: English as a second language. So, I became TESOL-certified in 2021 and I have been teaching one on one classes online for about 4 years—whatever opportunity I could land! I specialize in English grammar, speaking, listening, reading, and writing. I also love to help students with role plays, conversation, proper sentence structure, and pronunciation. For my purposes in this venture, I decided to start my own teaching business. I am currently seeking and hoping to work with adult English learners in the workforce who need to improve their skills, as well as expats to the U.S. preferably, or other English speaking countries. So that’s where I’m at right now!

Topics

  • Discovering your niche later in life
  • Career pivots without a clear roadmap
  • Building a remote business from scratch
  • Teaching English as a second language online
  • Turning lifelong interests into income
  • Navigating scams in the remote-work world
  • Cultural connection as a career advantage
  • From employment to entrepreneurship
  • Finding alignment over chasing opportunities
  • Working globally while living locally

Guiding Questions

  • What made you realize the jobs you were taking didn’t really fit you?
  • When did you first notice your fascination with other cultures?
  • How did relocating change how you thought about your career?
  • What challenges did you face when looking for legitimate remote work?
  • Why did teaching English suddenly feel like a natural fit?
  • What doubts came up when you decided to pursue certification?
  • How did starting online one-on-one teaching change your confidence?
  • What surprised you most about working with international students?
  • How did your idea of “success” shift through this process?
  • What would you say to someone still searching for their niche?

Interested in this guest’s story?

Choosing Him First

Diane Faulkner: Choosing Him First

At the height of her corporate career, Diane faced a decision no leadership role had prepared her for: walk away or abandon her father in crisis. With no legal protection and no clear path forward, she chose responsibility—and stepped into total uncertainty.

Bio

Diane Faulkner is an author, speaker, and executive HR advisor serving small businesses across Florida. With over 40 years of experience in employment law compliance, she helps business owners navigate federal and state labor regulations without maintaining full HR departments. Diane earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Michigan State University, where she focused on industrial/organizational psychology and labor law—the foundation of her career. She earned her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification with a perfect score in 1998 and maintains it through continuous professional education in employment law.

Topics

  • Starting over without a safety net
  • Career disruption and forced reinvention
  • Navigating layoffs and uncertainty
  • Moving without guarantees
  • Caregiving vs. career advancement
  • Leaving corporate leadership behind
  • Building a consulting business from scratch
  • Becoming a writer unexpectedly
  • Learning to ask to be paid
  • Redefining professional success

Guiding Questions

  • What went through your mind when the job offer was rescinded the day before you moved?
  • How did it feel starting over in a state where you knew no one?
  • What pattern did you notice as layoffs kept repeating in your career?
  • How did caring for your father force another reinvention?
  • What made you decide to start your own consulting business?
  • How did writing unexpectedly become your main career path?
  • What was it like going from zero speaking experience to large stages?
  • When did you realize your career no longer needed to look “traditional”?
  • What did asking to be paid teach you about your own value?
  • How has rebuilding multiple times changed how you handle uncertainty now?

Interested in this guest’s story?

Returning to Truth

Juli Madacey:

Returning to Truth

Juli followed the “safe” path she was given, even as her health quietly deteriorated. It wasn’t until she chose to invest in herself—without guarantees—that everything began to shift.

Bio

Juli Madacey is the Co-Founder of Fabulous Beyond 40, where she and her business partner, James Ellis, inspire women over 40 to navigate a healthier menopause journey so they can get their sparkle back and feel like themselves again.

Juli is a Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, Master Health Coach, Menopause Coaching Specialist, and Certified Personal Trainer dedicated to empowering women in their health journeys. With a deep understanding of the unique challenges women face, Juli combines her expertise with a compassionate, client-centered approach.

Juli’s path to becoming a health coach stemmed from her personal struggles with weight and health. Disenchanted with one-size-fits-all diets and misleading health advice, she embarked on a quest for knowledge. This journey led her to holistic methods that embrace the complexity of individual health, moving beyond mere weight loss to a comprehensive understanding of well-being.

At the heart of Juli’s philosophy is the belief that mindset is a powerful catalyst for physical transformation. Through small, manageable daily practices, she guides her clients in redefining their relationship with their bodies and food. Her approach is not about quick fixes, but sustainable, personal health journeys.

Known for her humour and empathy, Juli’s clients often describe her as their “Personal GPS” — a testament to her skill in navigating the intricate pathways of health and wellness. She believes in making health a joyous journey, not a rigid goal.

Juli’s question to you: “What kind of life do you want to live?” She invites you to explore this with her, as you journey towards a healthier, happier you.

You can connect with Juli through her website, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, and on Instagram

Topics

  • Early exposure to holistic health
  • Watching a parent heal outside conventional medicine
  • Losing intuition under societal expectations
  • Paying for success with declining health
  • Misdiagnosis and being dismissed by doctors
  • PCOS, migraines, and chronic symptoms
  • The cost of ignoring your body
  • Choosing self-advocacy in healthcare
  • Transitioning from corporate life to wellness
  • Reclaiming a calling later in life

Guiding Questions

  • What did witnessing your mother’s healing teach you—even before you realized it?
  • How did that early experience influence you, even as you moved away from holistic health?
  • What was happening in your body that finally made you stop ignoring the signs?
  • How did it feel to be told repeatedly that “everything was normal” when it wasn’t?
  • What made you decide to spend money on care that wasn’t covered by insurance?
  • How quickly did things change once you felt truly listened to?
  • What beliefs did you have to unlearn about your own abilities and intelligence?
  • How did helping coworkers with health questions shift your sense of purpose?
  • What role did encouragement from others play in your transition?
  • Why do you think so many people delay choosing their health until they’re forced to?

Interested in this guest’s story?

Love in a Drawer

Patricia Hodges: Love in a Drawer

In a moment of surrender rather than certainty, Patricia encountered something that changed her inner world before anything else changed around her. The impact of that moment continues to define her life and calling.

Bio

As an inspirational guide and author, I use my journey to uplift and inspire women of faith to explore a deeper connection with God. My mission is to empower women to break free from life’s monotony and rekindle their sense of purpose and joy.

My background in Education, Psychology, and Bible has helped women for over 40 years to navigate their spiritual journey with confidence and hope. I have written a 4-book series, Love in a Drawer, as a written encouragement.

Under Heaven Podcast highlights these women of purpose and our Great God. Book, podcasts, and courses are housed under the ministry: Looking Up 24. web: https://www.lookingup24.org/

Topics

  • Faith discovered in desperation
  • Growing up with early loss
  • Searching for love and belonging
  • Spiritual transformation without certainty
  • Peace that doesn’t depend on circumstances
  • Navigating rejection within religious spaces
  • Finding purpose after ministry disappointment
  • Living with chronic illness and faith
  • Developing spiritual boldness over time
  • Mentoring women into deeper faith

Guiding Questions

  • What led you to cry out to God that night, even though you weren’t sure He existed?
  • Can you describe what it felt like when you opened that drawer and found the Bible?
  • Why do you think that moment changed you internally before anything else changed?
  • How did your understanding of love shift after that experience?
  • What was it like watching your husband make the same spiritual decision independently?
  • How did rejection within church leadership affect your faith journey?
  • What kept you from spiraling for long when ministry doors closed?
  • How has chronic pain shaped your spiritual resilience?
  • When did you notice yourself becoming bolder about your faith?
  • How does your current ministry reflect the transformation you experienced?

Interested in this guest’s story?

Reinvention Required

Diane Faulkner: Reinvention Required

Diane uprooted her life for a job that disappeared the day before she moved—leaving her in a new state with no income and no connections. What followed was a series of unexpected restarts that forced her to redefine success again and again.

Bio

Diane Faulkner is an author, speaker, and executive HR advisor serving small businesses across Florida. With over 40 years of experience in employment law compliance, she helps business owners navigate federal and state labor regulations without maintaining full HR departments. Diane earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Michigan State University, where she focused on industrial/organizational psychology and labor law—the foundation of her career. She earned her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification with a perfect score in 1998 and maintains it through continuous professional education in employment law.

Topics

  • Starting over without a safety net
  • Career disruption and forced reinvention
  • Navigating layoffs and uncertainty
  • Moving without guarantees
  • Caregiving vs. career advancement
  • Leaving corporate leadership behind
  • Building a consulting business from scratch
  • Becoming a writer unexpectedly
  • Learning to ask to be paid
  • Redefining professional success

Guiding Questions

  • What went through your mind when the job offer was rescinded the day before you moved?
  • How did it feel starting over in a state where you knew no one?
  • What pattern did you notice as layoffs kept repeating in your career?
  • How did caring for your father force another reinvention?
  • What made you decide to start your own consulting business?
  • How did writing unexpectedly become your main career path?
  • What was it like going from zero speaking experience to large stages?
  • When did you realize your career no longer needed to look “traditional”?
  • What did asking to be paid teach you about your own value?
  • How has rebuilding multiple times changed how you handle uncertainty now?

Interested in this guest’s story?

The Silent Trauma

Susan Finazzo: The Silent Trauma

What Susan once labeled as a “hard birth” slowly revealed itself as something far more serious. This story follows her journey from silence and confusion to understanding the systemic failures that leave so many women carrying invisible wounds.

Bio

Susan Barrett Finazzo is a trauma-informed childbirth educator, virtual doula, faith-based counselor, and founder of My Baby Lady, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to rewriting the birth story for America’s parents — one Zoom room, one conversation, one prepared family at a time.

For more than a decade, Susan has supported parents through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with a calm presence, compassionate teaching style, and the kind of practical wisdom that only comes from witnessing birth in all its beauty and all its brutality. Her work was born out of her own deeply traumatic birth experiences — including delivering a 13-lb baby — and the moment she realized she was called to become the educator she never had.

Today, she blends evidence-based education, trauma-informed advocacy, and spiritual grounding to help parents enter birth with confidence instead of fear. She’s the creator of Ready, Set, Baby! — a free community presentation and a signature 3-part childbirth education masterclass — and the facilitator of Parent Wellness Circles, supporting emotional, mental, spiritual, and relational wellness for parents and caregivers.

Susan also provides faith-based counseling through Compassion Christian Counseling, where she specializes in supporting single mothers, blended families, parents navigating trauma, and couples adjusting to life with a new baby. She is known for her warmth, humor, ability to hold sacred space, and her gift for helping people feel seen — often within minutes.

Her nonprofit, My Baby Lady, is expanding into a national model of virtual support with the upcoming release of two books:

  • Book 1: My Baby Lady: Rewriting the Birth Story for America’s Parents — Exposing the Most Dangerous Place to Give Birth. A powerful mix of memoir, birth stories, data, and a call to action to fix the U.S. maternal health crisis.
  • Book 2: The Rise of the Virtual Doula — A Guide to Compassionate Virtual Doula Support.

Based on her 12-week certification curriculum, designed to train doulas nationwide in evidence-based, trauma-informed virtual care.

As a speaker and podcast guest, Susan brings storytelling, heart, lived experience, and straight-to-the-point education. She talks openly about birth trauma, maternal mental health, faith and healing, breaking generational cycles, and how we can radically change outcomes with better communication, preparation, and support.

Her mission is simple:

Help parents feel prepared, supported, and empowered — and build a world where birth trauma is the exception, not the expectation.

Susan lives in Florida with her husband, Paul, their pets, Scotch, Bailey, Annie and Buddy.

Topics

  • Birth trauma and its long-term effects
  • Loss of agency during medical procedures
  • Trauma without language or validation
  • Parenting through unresolved fear
  • The role of education in childbirth
  • Systemic failures in maternal care
  • Why women don’t talk about birth trauma
  • Reclaiming power after medical trauma
  • Supporting women through informed choice
  • Turning personal trauma into advocacy

Guiding Questions

  • How did you originally describe your birth experience—and how has that changed?
  • What made you realize years later that your childbirth was traumatic?
  • How did the lack of information and consent affect you emotionally?
  • What impact did that experience have on your parenting?
  • Why do you think so many women minimize or silence their birth trauma?
  • What role does education play in preventing traumatic birth experiences?
  • How did becoming a doula change how you viewed your own story?
  • What patterns do you see in women who come to you after traumatic births?
  • Why is the U.S. maternal care system failing so many women?
  • What does healing look like when the trauma was systemic, not personal?

Interested in this guest’s story?

Choosing the Four

Connie Rose: Choosing the Four

After losing her son during a moment when the world itself shut down, Connie found her grief manifesting physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Her journey reveals what happens when survival alone is no longer enough.

Bio

Connie Rose, M.Ed., NLP Master Coach & Frequency Wellness Expert

Connie Rose is a visionary NLP Master Coach, Frequency Wellness Expert, and Founder of Own Your Life, LLC, where she helps people make their brain—and their frequency—their greatest ally. She is also the creator of Frequency of Me™, a groundbreaking system that blends Human Design, Gene Keys, Astrology, Archetypal energy, and your soul’s Tikkun to decode your Divine Design—your unique energetic blueprint for life, relationships, and business.

But Connie’s work isn’t just professional—it’s born from lived experience, resilience, and a profound rebirth.

In 2020, after the heartbreaking passing of her beloved son, Nicholas, Connie’s health collapsed. She found herself in a wheelchair, overwhelmed by physical pain, emotional trauma, and the deepest grief a mother can endure. Traditional approaches offered little relief, and she wondered if she would ever reclaim her strength, mobility, or hope.

Everything changed the day she was introduced to frequency wellness through the AO Scanner by Solex.

What began as curiosity became her pathway back to life. Through daily frequency optimization, emotional balancing, brain-body recalibration, and deep energetic alignment, Connie experienced a transformation nothing short of miraculous. Within months, she no longer needed a wheelchair. Her body strengthened. Her vitality returned. Her spirit awakened.

This healing sparked her divine mission:

To help people heal, rise, and become who they were always designed to be.

Today, Connie merges her intuitive gifts with advanced neuro-linguistics, quantum frequency technology, and soul-level blueprint work. Her signature program, Frequency of Me™, guides women and entrepreneurs in aligning with their true energetic design—so they can create lives and businesses that feel natural, abundant, and divinely guided.

She empowers her clients to:

✨ Understand their Divine Design

✨ Harmonize mind, body, and emotions

✨ Break unconscious patterns

✨ Access deeper purpose and prosperity

✨ Use frequency technology to support their daily alignment

Connie’s leadership honors the legacy of her children, Hope Marie and Nicholas Jenkins, whose presence continues to guide and inspire her mission.

You can connect with Connie at ConnieRoseOfficial.com, where she helps people every day remember that you really can Own Your Life.

Topics

  • Losing a child and identity collapse
  • How grief shows up in the body
  • Navigating loss during global crisis
  • Emotional trauma and physical symptoms
  • Managing grief rather than “moving on”
  • Resilience as a muscle
  • Faith during unimaginable loss
  • Choosing meaning after tragedy
  • The difference between surviving and living
  • Supporting others through lived experience

Guiding Questions

  • What was life like immediately after your son passed?
  • How did grief begin to affect your body physically?
  • Why did moving forward feel impossible at first?
  • What does it mean to manage grief rather than heal from it?
  • How did isolation during COVID impact your grieving process?
  • Can you explain your idea of being a “two” or a “four”?
  • What helped your resilience begin to rebuild?
  • How has your faith shifted since your loss?
  • What does it look like to live with grief every day?
  • How has this experience shaped the way you help others now?

Interested in this guest’s story?

The Speaking Scar

Leslie Fiorenzo: The Speaking Scar

After years of watching capable people freeze when asked to speak, Leslie began to recognize a common pattern rooted in childhood imprinting and the brain’s need for safety. Her story reveals why fear can feel so real—even when no danger exists.

Bio

Leslie Fiorenzo is a seasoned business presentation coach with over 30 years of experience in a variety of corporate settings. As an ever-curious student of people in business, she has achieved numerous certifications and holds a master’s degree in human resource development.

Leslie has taught human resources, business, and marketing courses ss an adjunct faculty member and independent consultant. Her unique perspectives and approach are based on her professional career using the skills she now teaches. She is author of “Twenty-One Lessons to Master the Difficult Conversation”; “Find Your Voice: Conquer Your Fear & Share Your Story with Confidence” and “5 S.T.E.P.S. to Speaking Success” all available on Amazon.

She founded Business Speaking Solutions to help professionals refine their messaging, build confidence, and captivate their audiences. She believes that effective communication is a cornerstone of successful leadership and works alongside her clients to equip them with the skills needed to excel in boardrooms, networking events, and high-stakes presentations. Leslie Fiorenzo is passionate about helping others find their voice and make their mark.

Topics

  • Fear of public speaking and visibility
  • The brain’s survival response to being seen
  • Childhood imprinting and adult behavior
  • How early criticism shapes confidence
  • Neural pathways and habit formation
  • Why fear feels real even when it isn’t
  • The difference between danger and perceived threat
  • Rewiring long-held beliefs as an adult
  • Why logical reassurance doesn’t calm fear
  • Understanding anxiety through a brain-based lens

Guiding Questions

  • Why does public speaking trigger such intense fear for so many people?
  • How does the brain confuse an audience with real danger?
  • What role do childhood experiences play in adult confidence?
  • Why do certain fears feel impossible to “think” your way out of?
  • Can you explain the idea of neural pathways using the wagon rut analogy?
  • Why do early experiences have such a lasting impact on behavior?
  • What makes fear feel physical rather than emotional?
  • Why does visibility feel unsafe for some people?
  • What’s the difference between knowing you’re safe and feeling safe?
  • Why is fear often misunderstood as a personal flaw?

Interested in this guest’s story?