Epic Exchanges

Today we feature another children’s book author and welcome Shari Lillico to Epic Exchanges  Shari is a Best Selling Author, speaker, coach, and intuitive healer who has become a beacon of inspiration for those who have felt the need to hide their true selves. From her own experience of being a daydreaming child to becoming free of societal expectations her message is clear: You can find and do what you love, and you can do it your way by being you. Exchange Quotes: “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” – Dr. Seuss “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson   Exchange Links: www.sharilillico.com Shari on Facebook Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com

This week our guest is Kelly Neff, a certified coach, speaker, trainer, and DISC Behavioral Consultant with the Maxwell Leadership Team. She is also a certified Enneagram - Motions of the Soul Practitioner. Kelly believes that consistent personal growth and a positive support system are two vital keys to success. She believes these two keys, in addition to her faith, have been the foundation that has helped her survive, revive, and even thrive after tragically losing her oldest son to suicide and her husband to cancer. Exchange Quotes: “Redemption is not living as though it didn’t happen, it’s living differently because it did happen.” - Randy Creamer “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Victor Frankl “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer Exchange Links: www.kellyneffspeaks.com @kellyneffspeaks on Facebook and Instagram Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysnideraut

At the end of August, I was one of the featured speakers at the Purposeful You online summit. My topic was that we have one life to live today. And my presentation was, as expected, about how important our stories are – but even more crucial, is that we never know just how much time we have to capture those stories – our own, those of our grandparents and parents and other significant mentors in our lives, and those of our families. Here is that presentation. Exchange Quotes: “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” – Philip Pullman “Through the art of storytelling, we can preserve our heritage, educate future generations, and inspire change.” – Philipp Humm Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com  

This week our guest is Jennifer McFarland Jennifer has been a TFT Tapping practitioner for 10 years and is also an international speaker, author of “The Monarch & The Manager”. She works with women with ADHD and shows them how to vanquish the fear, shame, and loss that comes from inconsistent actions. Exchange Quotes: “You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” - Louise Hay “Ask yourself what is really important, then have the courage to build your life around your answer.” – Unknown Exchange Links: www.monarchdawn.com Jennifer McFarland on LinkedIn Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com

Today we feature another children’s book author and welcome Shahin Najak to Epic Exchanges Shahin Najak is a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Coach for parents, teachers and caregivers. Her passion lies in supporting adults and children, particularly parents and teenagers, in bringing back joy and connection and building better relationships using mindfulness skills proven to increase self-esteem and self-acceptance. She is the author of the mindfulness book for children, “Ariya Makes Friends with RAIN”, which includes a parents' guide on using the acronym RAIN to work through our big feelings as adults and guide our children through their big feelings.  Exchange Quotes: “You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” – Pema Chodron “We use mindfulness to observe the way we cling to pleasant experiences and push away unpleasant ones.” ― Sharon Salzberg   Exchange Links: www.mindful-changes.com Shahin and Mindful Changes on Instagram and Facebook Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on In

This week our guest is Markku Kostamo Markku Kostamo currently serves as Director of Development with Sanctuary Mental Health. Markku has served in the non-profit sector for over twenty years and is passionate about seeing organizations grow and develop in executing their mission and impact. Exchange Quotes: “Sometimes it takes an overwhelming breakdown to have an undeniable breakthrough.” – Nicky James “And like a tree, we grow from the ground up. Leaves will fall, and branches will break, but even in those moments, it still provides beauty to this world. So do not give up on all that you are and all that you could be for where you are and what you feel at this moment. Our strength and beauty still exist even when we cannot see them” – Hannah Blum Exchange Links: www.kaci.io www.sanctuary mentalhealth.org Markku Kostamo on Instagram and LinkedIn Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com

Today I’m happy to welcome Rosemary Holbrook. Rosemary is a yoga teacher, recovering addict, entrepreneur, researcher, adventurer, and experience collector. She is studying to be a yoga therapist and is a certified Vedic astrologer. When she’s not immersing herself in the work of helping others heal from trauma and cultivate resilience in their lives, relationships or businesses, she can probably be found snuggling with her partner or two children, playing in the woods somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. Exchange Quotes: “Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain Exchange Links: www.yogiscopes.com Yogiscopes on Facebook Follow Rosemary on Insight Timer Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com

Today I’m happy to welcome Mark Nendick. Mark is a certified personal trainer and a nutrition and lifestyle coach who lives in Merritt, British Columbia. In 2010, overweight and riddled with anxiety, Mark knew there had to be a better way to live and feel, and this is where his own health and wellness journey began. Today, he, through his company PFN Coaching, supports others to achieve their lifestyle goals and find their own path to wellness.   Exchange Quotes: “I don’t stop when I’m tired, I stop when I’m done.” – David Goggins “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot Exchange Links: www.marknendick.com https://linktr.ee/mark_nendick Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com

This week we introduce a new feature to Epic Exchanges.  Once a month we will be welcoming a children’s book author to share their book and story with us. To kick things off, we are joined by Allison Parry, author of “Emmie the Empath and the Kintsugi Vase”   Exchange Quotes: “The planet does not need more successful people, but it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of every kind.” – David Orr “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde Exchange Links: www.empathmom.ca @empathmom_  on Instagram Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram and YouTube www.kellysniderauthor.com

With today's episode, we relaunch the podcast after more than a year on hiatus while I completed and released my book, "Your Story Your Strength."  With this relaunch, we will be featuring more guests sharing their own stories of overcoming, achievement, triumph and more. Today's guest is Brielle Cotterman, TEDx speaker, publicity expert and celebrity-maker and a survivor of domestic violence and attempted murder and an advocate for a world where intimate partner abuse is not tolerated and survivors are met with empathy.  Exchange Quotes: “There are only two ways to get people to do what you want; manipulate them or inspire them. – Brielle Cotterman “Our stories don’t have to be filled with drama and trauma in order to be impactful.” – Brielle Cotterman Exchange Links: www.briellecotterman.com @briellecotterman on Facebook and Instagram Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram www.kellysniderauthor.com

We’ve met today’s guest, Julie Allen, before when she shared her battle with eating disorders and learning to love and accept herself every day just as she is.  All about self-worth.  So it seems only natural that she is here this week to wrap up our month’s focus, by taking things a little further to discuss how our bigger choices are a reflection of our values and worth.  Exchange Quotes: “Will this leave us bitter or better?  Grieve and then decide.” – Amanda Gorman “I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. – Malala Yousafzai Exchange Links: www.maryrose.boutique @maryrose.boutique Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

Our stories hold so much power – both what we tell ourselves and what we can begin to believe about ourselves. This week’s guest, Dr. Wesley Northey, shares his story spanning the full range of the human experience, and how he found purpose at his lowest point by exploring possibility.   Exchange Quotes: “Life is a gift and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” – Tony Robbins “A shoutout to everyone who is trying right now…trying to do the right thing, trying to stay open, trying to keep going, trying to hold on, trying to let go, trying to find their flow, trying to stay afloat, trying to meet each new day, trying to find their balance, trying to love themselves, trying new things and new ways…I see you.  I’m there too.  We’re in this together.” – S.C.Lourie Exchange Links: Wesley’s website @wesleynorthey on Social Media Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

February is the month of love, most often romantic love.  This month we’re going to turn it into something a little different – a month of loving ourselves, our neighbours and communities and even loving our earth.  And it all starts with knowing our own worth and value.  Exchange Quotes: “Love yourself as if your life depends on it.  Because it does.” – Anita Moorjani “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.” - Confucius Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram Your Story Your Strength group

We are hearing more and more about intuition these days – what it is, how to recognize it and how to use it.  Today’s guest, Kim Woods, is an expert in all things business, intuition and incorporating both in our lives in order to be more purposeful in all areas.  Exchange Quotes: “Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new information society precisely because there is so much data.” – John Naisbitt “Faith is a passionate intuition.” – William Wordsworth Exchange Links: Take the quiz – www.KnowYourLifeQuiz.com Kim Woods on Facebook , Instagram, LinkedIn Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

We’ve become a culture of 30- to 60-second soundbites.  Of trying to get likes and followers and interaction.  This is not the time or place to share your story.  Please STOP.  Listen to find out why. Exchange Quotes: “We all have a story.  The difference is, do you use the story to empower yourself?  Or do you use your story to keep yourself a victim?” – Sunny Dawn Johnston “Our stories are not meant for everyone.  Hearing them is a privilege, and we should always ask ourselves this before we share: ‘Who has earned the right to hear my story?’” – Brene Brown Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

The past couple of years have been tough. And no matter how much we work on our mindset and try to stay positive, difficult things have happened.  However, if we feel that we always have to ‘look on the bright side’ that can actually do more damage to our mental health. Exchange Quotes: “Life is amazing.  And then it’s awful.  And then it’s amazing again.  And in between the amazing and awful it’s ordinary and mundane and routine.  Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful and relax and exhale during the ordinary.  That’s just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life.  And it’s breathtaking beautiful.” – L.R. Knost “Let’s not preach and let’s not fill pages with toxic positivity.  Instead, let us acknowledge the pain and troubles of life and existence.” – Vikas Pathak Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

What goes hand-in-hand with a new year?  Resolutions of course!  However they are generally not the best way to make lasting change – in fact, most new year’s resolutions are broken before sundown on January 1st!  So what’s a better way?  Listen to find out… Exchange Quotes: “The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.” – Melody Beattie “First it is an intention, then a behaviour, then a habit, then a practice, then second nature.  Then it is simply who you are.” – Brendon Burchard “When your intention is clear, so is the way.” – Alan Cohen Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

What if I told you that there is one key to more meaningful connection?  And that leads to more contentment, joy, fulfillment and even purpose?  Can you guess what it that key might be? Exchange Quotes: “Connection.  The energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” – Brene Brown “Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” – Brene Brown Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

At some point, we have all felt a little less than enough.  Or a lot less than enough.  Where does it start and how does it affect us?  That’s what we’re talking about this week. Exchange Quotes: “We have learned to live our lives trying to satisfy other people’s demands.  We have learned to live by other people’s points of view because of the fear of not being accepted and of not being good enough for someone else.” – Miguel Ruiz “You are enough.  You have always been enough.  You will always be enough.” – Etta Arlene Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook @epicexchanges on Instagram

This week’s episode is all about being tired and knowing when it’s time to give up and move on.  Exchange Quotes: “There’s a difference between quitting and knowing when you’ve had enough.” - Unknown “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”  - Vince Lombardi “Quitting is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” – Lou Holtz “When you feel like quitting, think about why you started.”  - Unknown “The temptation to quit will be the greatest just before you are about to succeed.” – Bob Parsons Exchange Links: Epic Exchanges on Facebook Your Story Your Strength Group @epicexchanges on Instagram