MEET THE WRITERS
APRIL
April is a native Californian who graduated from United States International University with honors. She is 54 years old and happily divorced. April is a voracious reader and enjoys all water sports including body surfing and snorkeling. She has 2 daughters, ages 27 & 23 who are her favorite people in the world.
CATHY
As a leading producer and sales consultant, Cathy focuses is bringing innovative and creative benefit solutions to employers. Cathy’s background includes extensive work with insurance carriers as well as business leaders.
Cathy has two degrees. The second one is a degree in “Outside Activities.” Cathy enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing. She is also an amazing photographer! Cathy is married and has four grown kids.
JULIE
Born in southern California. Her passion for helping 50+ women stems from her own experience in managing through divorce, death of loved ones, and losing her job at 51.
Julie is a sales management, operations, and marketing professional with positions in consumer package goods, hospitality, and non-profit industries. She is passionate about life-long learning, volunteerism, and her relationships with family and friends.
Julie’s daughters- Dani and Jamie- are her inspiration to do and be better every day.
CATHERINE
Catherine was a Registered Dental Assistant for 15 years and has been a stay at home mom for 22 years. She enjoys helping others learn to live with Fibromyalgia. Catherine has a small, home based sewing business and is in the process of expanding in anticipation of being an empty nester. Besides sewing and creating her own designs, Catherine enjoys crafting, needlework, reading, and gardening. She and her husband have been married 24 years and have a son in the military and a brand new daughter-in-law, a son in college, and a daughter about to graduate from high school.
JAMIE
Jamie has been a creative professional in the skateboarding and snowboarding industries since the 80's. With jobs ranging from marketing, and graphic and product design, to being art director for Transworld Snowboarding Magazine, she has spent years creating commercially appealing imagery. Currently, as a freelance designer, she hopes to spend more time on her personal, less commercial imagery.
In 2016, Jamie also took her love of art and beauty to a different palette and became a registered esthetician, where she loves to share procedures and treatments that are just as much about the mind and the spirit as they are about the body. Jamie believes that what you put into your body, is as important as what you put on it.
Jamie lives in southern California with her husband and daughter, and has her work displayed on Etsy and at Distinction Gallery in Escondido, CA.
LAURIE
Laurie is a mom, wife, daughter, sister and friend – not always in that order. Laurie was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2001, after earning her Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Previously, she worked for ten years in the retail banking industry as a Project Manager after earning a Bachelor of Science degree from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Laurie is passionate about education, travel, family and friends – again, not always in that order!
DEBRA
Debra is 56 and resides in Florida. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Physical Education, a Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology, and a Doctorate of Philosophy- Health Sciences.
She has taught Business and Physical Education at Cocoa High School, Cocoa, Florida for 32 years.
Additionally, she is currently teaching CPR and First Aid, and Prevention and Care of Athletic injuries. Her resume includes being an Assistant Athletic Director and an Athletic trainer, along with coaching volleyball, basketball, and cross country.
Debra had a massage therapy business for 20 years named Heartrest Health Center. Two hands healing a broken heart was her logo. She is an eclectic massage therapist that has learned different modalities. The last set of patients that she worked with had cancer, where she learned so much as a massage therapist through her patient’s illnesses. Another modality that she learned in massage therapy was how to rehab and became a personal trainer.
Debra is also a Valentus Independent Representative. She educates people about nutritional organic beverages that help you to lose weight. She is in the Professional Women of Valentus Group.
Besides being a lifelong learner, Debra’s hobbies include reading, running, swimming, walking the beach, and playing softball. She also loves to watch any type of sport.
DIANE
Diane is a Southern CA native and currently lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and their two Miniature Pinscher dogs, Madeline and Shelby and their Scottish-Fold cat, Winnifred.
With a degree in Marketing, it wasn’t until later in life that Diane found her true joy and true passion in life when at 53, she started her own global online business as an Independent Consultant within a company called Arbonne. With Arbonne, she has the opportunity to share with others how to live a clean, healthy lifestyle using skincare, make-up, body care and nutritional products which are all pure, safe and beneficial. And for those who are interested, Diane shares how Arbonne allows you to create a life of time freedom and choice; a way to earn a living that is both rewarding and fun. The culture of Arbonne embraces diversity and thrives through mutual respect and support of each other for the success of all; it is truly a one-of-a-kind culture.
For 37 years, Arbonne has developed PURE products with botanically based ingredients in scientifically tested formulas. That means they combine the BEST of science and nature to create product formulas that deliver incredible results. Products are 100% vegan with no animal, or animal-by-products, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, non-gmo, kosher, cruelty-free, and toxin-free. With a heritage of Swiss formulations and manufactured to the highest European standards here in North America, Arbonne truly is where purity meets performance. She runs a holistic health & wellness company who believes health and beauty starts from the inside out.
Diane can be reached at: www.dianetange.arbonne.com
@dianebaggtange on Facebook & Instagram
AMY
Hi, I’m Amy!
I teach people how to live joy-filled, peaceful, and resilient lives. Are you interested in positive personal growth? Then hang out with me and we’ll explore ways to reduce stress and anxiety while cultivating acceptance and compassion for self and others.
Once upon a time I was a massage therapist at a large corporation. In many cases stress was the underlying cause of people’s discomfort. I realized I could help people more by teaching them how to reduce stress and increase joy than by spending an hour massaging their muscles.
My meditation practice began 20+ years ago with a Taoist meditation teacher. Then I learned about and completed the teacher training program for Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT), an 8-week compassion meditation course developed at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion, Altruism, Research and Education. Ultimately I blended my Taoist background with the pragmatic and structural elements of the CCT program and developed a curriculum called Cultivating Mindful Compassion.
To learn more about me and what I’m up to visit www.amypatteecolvin.com. You can also find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Insight Timer, and YouTube. Or, pick up a copy of my Amazon Bestselling book Cultivating Compassion: Simple Everyday Practices for Cultivating Peace of Mind and Resilience.
CORAL
Coral has a passion for people and travel, curious always to explore beautiful nature and different cultures. She has lived and worked in California, Hawaii, Colorado, Nebraska, Florida and most recently Alaska. Coral works as a speech therapist serving clients of all ages challenged with cognitive and communication issues. Coral is most appreciative for her girlfriends who understand both her love for travel and her desire to keep friendships strong in heart sometimes across the many miles.
KATHLEEN
Prior to studying the ‘inner’ core and pelvic floor, Kathleen spent over 35 years focusing on the ‘outer’ core as an International Fitness and Pilates Expert. She has also won Aerobic Championships and Bodybuilding Contests.
Originally from Los Angeles, she has lived all over the world and has owned and managed multiple fitness facilities.
In 2009, Kathleen was selected to mentor privately with World renown Dr.Theresa Nesbitt OBGYN and Women's wellness Specialist to study and develop a Revolutionary Scientific Breakthrough system for women's health; addressing leaking urine issues, back pain, better sex and how to have a smaller waist.. without pills, pads, surgery Kegels or crunches or maniac workouts.
It’s a ‘work in’ program for our lady parts.
Today Kathleen joins a handpick team of experts worldwide led by Dr. Theresa, as she embarks on this new frontier for women's health.
Kathleen is the host of the upcoming show ‘No Pause Menopause’ on WBTVN.TV Women's Tv Network starting early 2018. She is creator of The Corset And The Coat online ECourse and Author the book "7 Secrets to a Sexy Silhouette".
JOAN
Joan is a boxer loving empty nester practicing cardiology in Los Angeles area for 20 years. She is also a proud grandma and horse owner as well!
GWEN
Gwen is 55 and resides in Iowa. She has been an accounting professional for 30 years. She has been married for 21 years. She has two sons, one in college and the other soon to finish high school. Her joy in life comes from being a wife, mother and friend.
MARY
Mary worked as a Registered Nurse for 35 years and is now enjoying retirement. During her career she worked in many different areas of the Hospital, but the majority of time was spent in the Emergency Room and with cardiac patients. Nursing fulfilled her need to give back. She loved being a nurse, it was a perfect fit for her.
Mary has been married to her husband for 37 years. They were high school sweethearts. They have 2 children who are grown, married and have given them 3 adorable grandkids.
Mary enjoys gardening, hiking, golf, yoga, and pickleball. In Mary’s words- “I thank God that my family is healthy, lives close by, and is growing. When my husband and I travel, it is usually to a golf destination, which we both enjoy. I love the mountains and try to get up to our mountain house as much as I can. I try every day to meditate on God’s word and to pray.” Mary also volunteers twice a month at Sunday school and is coleader for a women’s book group at her church.
JOANNA
Joanna grew up in a small town in Utah. After a year of college, she went to Santa Monica, California for a 2-week vacation to stay with her sister and family. Forty plus years later, she is still in California.
Joanna married, had three fabulous children, lived in a custom-built home overlooking the ocean, and then divorced when her oldest was 5 ½. Joanna returned to college, got her teaching degree, and moved to Encinitas. They struggled financially but loved where they lived. All three children put themselves through U.C. Schools, and have remained wonderful, honest, and loving. Joanna has five precious grandchildren; two in Portland, and three in Sweden. She adores being a grandma!
Joanna met the love of her love at age 50, and married Mont after a 3-year long distance relationship. Mont died in 2011, and Joanna retired shortly afterwards. “Even though I was 67, I have often thought I made too hasty of a decision; I lost my husband, my children all lived far from me, and didn’t have enough to keep me occupied’” said Joanna in the aftermath.
Today Joanna has wonderful friends, travels often to see family, sings with a senior citizen group, and does a bit of acting in local theatre. Joanna also tutors in reading and writing, plays cards and Mahjongg, and has energy for more!
LISA
Lisa waited tables in a truck stop and has been the manager of a truck stop. With just her high school diploma, she is proud to have started as a janitor and worked her way up in two of Nevada’s school districts to end her career as the Assistant to the Superintendent and Board of Trustees.
Lisa has been married for 41 years to her wonderful husband. They have two beautiful daughters and six wonderful grandchildren.
Lisa says, “I am at a place in my life where my time is my own and I can indulge in learning about and trying all the things that catch my interest. I spend my days loving the wonder and beauty that life holds and by starting from scratch and constantly practicing, sometimes I surprise myself with what I have learned and created. I love sharing my passion with others”.