My guest today is Kamini Wood.

Kamini is a certified life coach and best-selling author, who is passionate about empowering individuals to reclaim their self-worth and become resilient leaders of their own lives. As the CEO and Founder of Live Joy Your Way, Kamini works with high-achieving adults and teens, helping them navigate self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and the pressures of external validation. Through her specialized coaching programs, Kamini focuses on emotional resilience, self-compassion, and the power of living authentically.

Her journey, shaped by her experiences as a first-generation American and a mother of five, informs her work with clients to help them break free from the limitations of people-pleasing and self-judgment. Kamini's mission is simple but profound: to guide others in recognizing their innate worth and to foster self-leadership from a place of inner strength and clarity.

In our conversation today, Kamini shares pieces of her own journey that has led her to do the hard internal work that is foundational to a joy-filled life!

Kamini, thank you for this thoughtful and wise conversation. Thank you for sharing pieces of your own story, your growth, your mistakes, your insights, your wisdom! I’ve been reflecting on our conversation and am a better person for it!

To learn more about Kamini and her work check out the links below:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsauthenticme/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaminiwood
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/itsauthenticme/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsauthenticme/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSVaEISjpaXsCdQGbE2lpUw
• Website: https://www.kaminiwood.com/

Make Life Less Difficult

My guest today is Lorca Smetana.

Lorca is a resilience expert, teacher, and speaker with a deep passion for helping individuals and communities rise from trauma and challenges. Lorca’s unique approach combines her personal experience surviving disaster and loss at the young age of 16, with years of teaching and coaching, focusing on resilience, grief, and the emotional landscapes of leadership. With a background that spans wilderness survival, emergency response, and personal coaching, Lorca offers insight and tools that empower people to transform their toughest moments into profound growth.

I’m thrilled to have Lorca on the podcast today to share her story, expertise, and the ways she’s helping people not only survive but thrive through life’s most difficult challenges.

Lorca and I were connected through the kind introduction of Kim Brundage – thank you Kim!

Lorca lives in Bozeman, Montana, and alongside the beautiful work of resilience training that she does, she also has a sustainable farm where she and her husband raise two free-range children, homing pigeons, dogs, Icelandic sheep, and a diversity of other birds and creatures for sustenance, humility and delight.

Lorca, thank you for this inspiring conversation. Thank you for sharing these pieces of your story. Thank you for sharing the journey of grief, choosing love, choosing life. You embody the tools that you lovingly teach others in a beautiful way!

To learn more about Lorca and her work, please see the links below:

• Lorca's Website: https://www.lorcasmetana.com/
• Lorca's Blogs: https://www.lorcasmetana.com/blog
• Lorca's TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/bA4s-0D9AK8?si=UbFa0RQPEI27TS0L

Make Life Less Difficult

My guest today is Silvia Iaia.

Silvia is an executive coach and an incredibly inspiring woman. We first met through her husband, Felipe, and the world of real estate investing.

Silvia is the founder of Be Executive, the co-founder and executive director of Growing Assetz and Notes for Growth.

Originally from southern Italy, Silvia has lived in many places around the world, including her current home of Santiago, Chile. My connection and friendship with both Silvia and her husband is truly international, as we have spent time together in beautiful Santiago, as well as Chattanooga, Tennessee, and virtually.

Silvia approaches her life and work with passion and intention. You’ll hear this throughout our conversation today.

Silvia, thank you SO much for sharing these pieces of your beautiful journey and life. Thank you for sharing the learning and growth and discoveries you have made along the way and continue to make. I can’t wait until our next conversation!

If you would be interested in learning more about Silvia or the work she’s doing in the world, please check out the links below!

• Connect with Silvia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iaiasilvia/
• Growing Assets
• Notes for Growth

Hurricane Relief Efforts: The following list was shared by Daneen Akers who is local to Asheville, NC, and a personal friend and amazing advocate (Read more about Daneen here):

• Rural Organizing And Resilience
• Wild Abundance Disaster Relief Fund
• Manna Foodbank
• Beloved Asheville
• Friends of the Hot Springs Library
• Community Housing Coalition in Madison County

Make Life Less Difficult

My guest today is Alicia Ford.

Alicia is a seasoned US diplomat with more than 17 years at the U.S. Department of State. She has experience serving domestically and overseas in over a dozen different consular and management roles. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has lived in Honduras, Peru, Barbados, Türkiye, Romania, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Alicia is also the Editor, Curator, and Co-Author of Diplomats, a book about US women serving as diplomats around the world. In this book, each contributor shares her unique approach to living this dynamic lifestyle – career, family life, personal ambition, and life goals. The book also serves as a guide for careers in International Affairs and Diplomacy for anyone seeking a global career. One of Alicia’s motives for publishing this book was to help people and this directly aligns with her current role as a US Diplomat.

What was happening behinds the scenes of this recording is a great example of the resiliency of diplomats because Alicia was managing a crisis before, during, AND after our conversation on a Saturday morning.

Alicia, thank you so much for this conversation. Thank you for the work you do in service to the United States of America. And thank you for your passion for telling the stories of amazing women in the world of diplomacy!

You’ll find links below to Alicia’s book and resources.

The views expressed in this interview are in Alicia’s personal capacity and are not necessarily those of the U.S. Government.

Read Alicia's book: Diplomats: Experiences of Women Serving at U.S. Embassies Around the World

Instagram: @Diplomatsthebook

Sign up for the Newsletter: https://forms.gle/yfLMUF17rkAh5PXi9

Alicia and her husband in the New York Times

Find the Oasis: Sports Complex, Barbados

Make Life Less Difficult

My guest today is Nane Bittencourt.

Nane is a leadership coach with a mission to empower leaders to achieve their full potential. Nane is originally from Brazil and now lives in the US. With over eight years of coaching leaders in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, she helps clients unleash their full potential to drive their careers, seeing their work as a meaningful part of their lives rather than just a job and strategizing accordingly.

Nane is dedicated to empowering leaders to provide clear, empathetic, and innovative guidance in today's interconnected world. I find inspiration in my understanding of culture that goes beyond borders.

She’s been interested in living and working internationally for most of her life and has intentionally pursued these dreams, bringing them to fruition.

Nane and I met through the Georgetown Institute for Transformational Leadership Alumni Network, most specifically because she was intrigued about a Story Slam that I was hosting at the Network’s annual conference.

Along with agreeing to tell a story at the story slam, Nane also agreed to come on my podcast and share pieces of her journey.

We talk today about the challenges of moving to a new country, learning to find and express oneself in new languages and new cultures, and strategies to find an anchor in the midst of these transitions.

Nane, thank you for sharing these pieces of your story. Thank you for sharing the vulnerable reality of facing your fears, stepping into the unknowns, asking for help, and bravely stretching yourself. You are courageous, wise, and inspiring and I’m so glad we’ve gotten connected!


Connect with Nana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nanebittencourt/

Make Life Less Difficult

My guest today is Vinay Kumar.

Vinay is an executive coach who partners with executive to accelerate their growth from the inside out. He’s also the co-author of Language and the Pursuit of Leadership Excellent: How Extraordinary Leaders Build Relationships, Shape Culture and Drive Breakthrough Results. His book is required reading in MBA programs and Leadership Development and Leadership Coaching Programs at several major universities and beyond.

Rising from humble beginnings, and growing up in a multicultural family, his 35+ years of experience includes Fortune 100, federal government, small business, and consulting. Vinay successfully spearheaded and led a privately held business before becoming a leadership coach, author, and speaker.

Vinay has extensive experience with an array of roles including leadership, management, project management, business development, marketing, client services, training, and operations. Vinay brings a calm and warm presence, deep wisdom, deep listening, and keen insights into how to achieve breakthrough results.

I’ve known of Vinay and been impacted by his work for several years and it is thanks for Joan Fletcher (who was on episode 164) that we got connected directly for this conversation.

Vinay shares pieces of his journey of learning the cost of reactivity and choosing responses rather than being subject to that reactivity. Learning that we have a story and having the conscious awareness of that story, so the story doesn’t have us is another piece of the conversation and inspiration from Vinay.

Vinay, thank you for this beautiful conversation. Your thoughtful reflections, your stories of growth and development, and your wise perspectives are so inspirational. I know you have already touched so many people in this world and am honored to share this conversation so a few more people can be touched by you!

There are links below to Vinay’s book, website, and contact information.

• Book: Language and the Pursuit of Leadership Excellent: How Extraordinary Leaders Build Relationships, Shape Culture and Drive Breakthrough Results
• Website: https://leadingforbreakthroughs.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinaykumar1/

Make Life Less Difficult

My guest today is Istvan Rab.

Istvan is a leader and consultant at a global management consulting firm, working with clients across the globe on strategy and innovation topics. While his interests and his job took him to many places in the world, for most of his life he had lived in Europe and had only recently moved to Vancouver, Canada – where he and his family are ‘starting new’, from building new friendships to rediscovering new-old passions in life.

Istvan and I met at mutual work events and his energy, humor, and expertise make a wonderful blend. As I heard bits and pieces of his story, I knew I would like to hear more and invited him to come on the podcast.

In our conversation Istvan shares about having a daughter with special needs, finding the upsides of the unknown, and managing international relocations.

Istvan, thank you for saying yes to this conversation! Thank you for sharing these insights into your journey, your discoveries, your reflections, and your wisdom.

Make Life Less Difficult

Before I introduce my guest today, I want to take a moment to recognize this as the three-year anniversary of the Make Life Less Difficult podcast! What an amazing journey it has been! This started as an experiment and has grown into an incredible passion project for me.

The conversations here fill my heart and soul and I hope they do the same for those who listen – whether you listen to just one or many of them! Every person who has joined me here shares vulnerable pieces of themselves, their story, their reflections, and their wisdom. Most of my guests begin with the sense that their stories aren’t interesting, and they don’t have any wisdom, but 100% of the time, their stories are amazing and their wisdom is profound.

I love meeting people and having these conversations and I’m honored to have listeners in 128 countries around the world according to Buzzsprout statistics!

I have a list of people who I want to have on my podcast and am humbled that that list only grows over time! I’d love to discover ways to invest even more time into this podcast and these conversations, so we’ll see what the future holds!

In the meantime, thank you for being part of the journey! Today’s conversation is a fantastic example of the amazing people in the world and how they make a difference just by being true to themselves and their path of life and discovery.

My guest today is Shawnette Rochelle.

Shawnette is a certified executive coach, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, and an insatiable world traveler. She has more than 20 years of experience leading and coaching high-performance individuals, teams, and organizations in both peacetime and wartime.

Shawnette describes herself as always being deeply invested in helping others drive change, even as a kid. She has a passion for supporting those who are challenging the prevailing norms.

In our conversation, Shawnette shares how true leadership begins with leading ourselves. She began learning this lesson early in life at West Point Military Academy. Another piece of our conversation that stands out is what Shawnette calls the acceptance mindset. I’ll let her share more about this, but this aligns so much with my philosophy of making life less difficult.

Shawnette, thank you for sharing these pieces of your journey and story. Thank you for sharing your reflections, your moments of awareness and growth, and wisdom. I’m so grateful to have had this chance to connect with you!

If you would like to learn more about Shawnette and her work, you’ll find links below.

Shawnette's Website: https://excellenceunbounded.com/

Connect on LinkedIn

Make Life Less Difficult