This episode is a continuation (Part 2) of my interview with Marie Burns, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the topic of money mindset and management, making this episode and the previous one must-listen conversations for anyone looking to take charge of their financial future. (To listen to Part 1, CLICK HERE.)

In this episode, Marie emphasizes the importance of having all your financial documents updated and organized, and she sheds light on how this simple yet crucial step can have a significant impact on your financial well-being.

We talk about:

• The essential steps for getting your financial house in order and the significance of financial planning for the future.
• The things you don’t get told before you die that can end up being a nightmare for your loved ones.
• The beneficiary mistake that many make.
• A practical three-step change strategy for transforming your life when it comes to money.

By the time you’ve finis...

Today’s guest is Marie Burns, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) with nearly 20 years of experience in the financial industry. Marie's journey has taken her through various roles, from a bank setting to working at Vanguard, and now as the founder of her independent advisory practice in Phoenix.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, she is actively involved in promoting financial awareness and literacy, serving as a volunteer ambassador and board member for The Financial Awareness Foundation and as a board member for the Senior Advocacy Group of Ahwatukee. 

Our conversation ended up being so in-depth and enlightening that I didn’t want to stop so we kept talking and turned it into two podcast episodes. This is Part 1 where we go in-depth about money mindset with topics like: 

• Money mindset: Understanding how our attitudes and behaviors about spending and saving money are rooted in past experiences.
• Marie’s and Laurie’s personal experiences as examples for how our c...

As I've become more fascinated with how the brain works and what makes people do the things they do that continue to keep them stuck and unhappy, I've come across a shocking statistic:

98% of the Earth's population is not self-actualized, which means that only 2% of people are living authentic to who they truly are! This is according to Abraham Maslow, who is one of the founders of humanistic psychology and the famous hierarchy of needs.

And the worst part is they don't even know it!!!

A good analogy I've found to explain what it's like when someone is not living from their most authentic version is that they are wearing a mask.

Makes sense, right?

On Halloween we don costumes to be a certain character for fun yet we don't even realize that we could be doing that all of the other 364 days in the year too! Isn't this a perfect topic for this Halloween week?!

So listen in and hear what behaviors and ways of being might be indicators that you could still be wearing a mask, even t...

Today’s guests are Second Half SPARK School students, Kim Diede and Karen Hill who, when I first met them, were in very different places in their life but the transformations they experienced from the work they did with me in the school have been similar because now they are both sparked, living life on their terms and waking up happy and fulfilled with the right things on their to-do lists.

Kim and Karen are two great examples of women who have discovered the secret to igniting their spark in their second half. With unwavering commitment, these two have pushed beyond their fears and found newfound confidence, which has opened up exciting possibilities. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• Each one’s leap of faith to take action towards positive change.
• The energetic field we create that can attract our desires and dreams.
• The value of meeting women who are in the same situation and the reward of connections made from having a supportive community.
• Things they look forward to do...

Today’s special guest is Theresa Lease, an expert breathwork coach. Theresa's journey from the unexpected derailment of her 20-year marriage to her transformation into a life coach, breathwork practitioner, and energy healer is a testament to the power of resilience and the pursuit of curiosity.

Theresa shares her life story, delving into the depression she experienced during that challenging period and how she discovered a lifeline in the writings of Martha Beck, which inspired her to embark on the journey of becoming a life coach. Theresa's passion for helping women find joy and vitality in their lives is deeply rooted in her own transformative experience.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Divorce and the impact of ending a long-term marriage and figuring out what’s next
• How she got interested in Breathwork and her motivation for becoming a certified practitioner
• How breathwork helps in processing emotions and gaining clarity
• Breakthroughs and outcomes that clients have experie...

Today I have a special guest who agreed to come on the podcast to share the incredible journey she’s had since she signed up for a free training workshop I did earlier this year. Meet Laura Volz, who after that workshop made, what she calls, the very “scary” decision to join the Second Half SPARK School and go deep in the self-exploration, subconscious brain rewiring, and vision-setting work we do there.

That decision has changed the trajectory of her life in ways she could not have even imagined back at the beginning of 2023. In fact, she wrote me an email in just 3 months after she joined and here’s an excerpt: 

“When I watched your free workshops on Facebook, I was at the end of my rope.  I felt like you were talking directly to me. I knew there had to be more for me. But What?? How do I find it??  How do I know??  

I decided to sign up for your Sparked Second Half School. I don't usually do this kind of thing. I didn't know what to expect and It was very scary.  I decided tha...

Today’s guest, Penny Richardson, one of my Second Half SPARK School students, is a great example of how you can drastically change your life no matter how old you are. She shares her transformative journey towards self-discovery and growth and opens up about the pivotal realization that she was hindering her own progress and blaming external factors for her lack of action.

She also reflected on her tendencies to seek validation from others and discussed the moment she recognized the importance of prioritizing her relationship with herself and her faith.

In this episode, Penny shares:

• The pivotal moment where she realized she was holding herself back and blaming external factors for her inaction.
• How she discovered the ability to change her negative mindset into a positive, empowering one, and the impact that had on her actions and lifestyle.
• Her breakthroughs from what she learned in the Second Half SPARK School
• How the changes within her influenced her relationships, especi...

Are you feeling stuck in mud? Like you can't budge in the direction of positive change, even though you're not happy with where you are in life?

Well if that's you, you are likely what I call a "Scared Settler," someone who chooses to settle for the life she isn't happy in because she is more scared of change, of the unknown that she is fearing will be worse - not better.

Because the truth is, she sees other people who have it much worse so she continues to talk herself into staying in the mediocre life she's living, with zero passion or purpose about what she does every day.

She is far from excited about what's on her To Do list, which zaps all of her energy, so she escapes into non-productive, time-wasting activities, like scrolling social media. She ignores these feelings and instead continues going about her days doing the same things she did yesterday that will never get her out of the rut she's in.

And if she's over 50, she is probably blaming menopause for that lack of en...

Today’s guest, Mary Carroll Moore is a multi-talented, Amazon-bestselling author. Mary's journey is nothing short of remarkable as she has worn many hats throughout her life, from being a chef and cooking-school owner to a celebrated cookbook author and syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times. 

Following a breast cancer diagnosis at age 50, Mary made a transformative decision to pursue her lifelong dream of writing fiction. She went back to school and got her Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing  from Goddard College and published her first novel at age 55. And her book was nominated for a PEN/Faulkner award!

In this episode, Mary shares:

• the inspiration behind her latest book
• her transition from a successful and lucrative food journalism career to writing fiction
• how her cancer diagnosis gave her the courage to follow a long-desired dream 

To hear how Mary is embracing this second half of life is awe-inspiring, as she talks about her latest pursuit of yet anot...

Unfortunately, most of us fall into the latter two categories of Dream Delayers or Non-Dreamers. But we all began life as Dream Doers and we can get back into dreaming very easily.

But in order to do that, you must understand the importance of having dreams. You need to know that it's ok to want more. As long as it is what YOU desire and excites you.

Don't make the mistake of going after someone else's dreams for you which is a mistake many of us make. We get into the wrong jobs because our parents dreamed of jobs that would make them proud. And we want that for them so and we think that will make us happy but we get there and BOOM! We realize we don't have any passion for that work.

That is just one simple example of why you need to dream. Dream about work that will drive you with deep passion and purpose. And imagine what that would look like...

To do that, carve out time to think about what you love to do in your spare time. Maybe there's something there that could be turned ...