The Couragemakers Podcast | Encouragement, Inspiration & Rebel Rousing For Mission Driven Doers Makers & Shakers |

This week I’m speaking to Heather Adams. Heather the founder and CEO of Choice Media & Communications, a boutique media and communications business. A self-proclaimed pop-culture junkie, Heather leads Choice’s impressive team of women as they serve preeminent voices in publishing, government, lifestyle, entertainment, business, and faith-based arenas. Heather has played an instrumental role in helping more than 100 authors land spots on The New York Times Best Sellers list. A passionate mentor to women in the communications field and beyond, Heather is tearing down old barriers with the ever-present hope that in the future, women professionals and entrepreneurs will face far fewer obstacles. Heather is a big believer in nurturing the next generation of women. She walks that women-lifting-up-other-women-walk through developing the all-women Choice team she’s built, the college women she mentors, the clients and projects she selects, and so much more.Heather lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband,

This week I’m talking to the fabulous and my now-friend Katie Vaz. Katie is an illustrator, author, and graphic designer living in Upstate New York with her husband, Joby, a puppy named Tater, and a cat named KittenFace. She is the author of the adult coloring book Don’t Worry, Eat Cake (which was featured on Canada's Biggest Bestseller List at Chapters Indigo), the book Make Yourself Cozy: A Guide for Practicing Self-Care, and more recently The Escape Manual For Introverts, which was just published on August 6, 2019 (all three by Andrews McMeel Publishing). She also designs her own line of greeting cards, prints and other stationery products, which are sold both online on Etsy and in brick and mortar shops across North America. She also works as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer with a variety of clients on branding, packaging design, and illustration projects. Katie’s work has been featured on sites like BuzzFeed, Woman’s Day, POPSUGAR, Real Simple, and HuffPost. When she’s not working, Katie lik

Hello Couragemakers! This week I’m chatting to Lucy Elliott - THE most colourful and fun chocolate bars I have ever seen. Lucy is the creative director and founder of Creighton's Chocolaterie.  She is a product designer, chocolatier and lover of all things colourful  (especially if food is involved!). From a young age, Lucy's dream was to have a career doing something she loved. At school, she came up various fun and colourful ‘products’ that she'd sell to friends and family, including a self-published cake cookbook, a range of greetings cards, band merch, jewellery… the list was endless but had one thing in common: everything was created & designed by her. Lucy lives in Leighton Buzzard with her husband, daughter and dog In today’s episode, Lucy is diving into her story, from how she has been running creative endeavour of one kind of another since being a child to how she founded Creighton’s Chocolaterie. We have so many great discussions about creativity in this episode. We dive into the power of creati

Hello Couragemakers! I couldn’t be happier to be sharing the conversation I had with today’s guest. This week I’m talking with wonderful human who is Eli Trier. Eli is a community builder for Quiet Revolutionaries. She helps introverts with big dreams to get connected and build thriving, engaged communities around their businesses, so that they can make a massive impact, find their dream clients, and make their corner of the world a better place. She specialises in creating powerful, strategic online community projects and loves every minute of her work (even the boring bits). Eli lives in the wonderful city of Copenhagen, Denmark and when she's not working you can find her curled up with a book, painting, or hanging out with her husband Lars. Eli’s runs the group program love>numbers group programme which is all about getting connected and building a network of your right people. Applications are currently open - you can find out more by visiting https://elitriercommunities.com/lovenumbers In this week’s epi

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to another episode and a Couragemakers first, because today I’m interviewing two wonderful women! And we’re diving into everything related to money, and if you’re anything like me, it might surprise you to find that you can have a hell of a lot of fun talking about money! This week I’m chatting with Martha Lawton and Alex Lemon, hosts of the podcast Squanderlust: part self-help, part comedy, part confessional, Squanderlust is a very different kind of personal finance podcast and talks about the emotional side of money, why our actions aren’t always as good as our intentions and what we can do about it. Martha Lawton is a former financial advisor is turned freelancer who helps organisations improve support for vulnerable people with money issues. She has facilitated hundreds of workshops about budgeting, borrowing and saving and helped thousands of people think more clearly about their finances. Martha loves learning recipes from around the world, spending time with her husband,

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to another fabulous episode of The Couragemakers Podcast! The week I’m so excited to chat with Mai-kee Tsang. Mai-kee is a Launch Strategist, Copywriter, Podcast Host & Coach who helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs to build their authority in business, and discover their Brand DNA so that they can thrive when they launch their signature courses. Outside of her 1-1 client work, she hosts The Quiet Rebels Podcast which is a dedicated space to help her listeners to create the courage to own their voice, message, and worth in both life and business - without having to be the loudest person in the room. And when she’s not in work, you can find her trying to solve the Rubik's cube and resisting the call of her freezer to dig into Salted Caramel Ice cream. In this week’s episode we’re really diving into the world of people-pleasing, shrugging off what other people expect of us and finding your intuition. Mai-kee shares her the journey of from struggling with what she wanted to be w

Hello Couragemakers! This week I’m speaking with the delightful Nikki Newbauer and this week is all about hope: a topic that I think is more important than ever in a world that sometimes feels like it’s falling apart. Nikki is a hopeful humanitarian and founder of Little Hope Notes: an initiative that is spreading kindness, one note at a time. Nikki is passionate about loving others and spreading hope to strangers through her writing. She lives with her husband and uniquely wonderful five year old daughter in Virginia and can be often found hiking in Shenandoah National Park, coffee shop hopping, and looking for nearby creeks to play in, and are always on the lookout for tacos! In today’s episode, Nikki is sharing the story behind little hope notes, her mental health journey and how writing has made a profound difference in her life. We dive into how Nikki keeps her hope alive, how random acts of kindness have made a huge difference in Nikki’s life, perfectionism and how social media can be used for good. We

Hello hello my Courgemaker family! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to share with you today’s episode - it seriously gives me LIFE! This week I’m talking with Wellbotics founder Dr. Pam Davis. Wellbotics delivers pop up makerspaces to cancer care communities and other safe spaces, using instructional robots to leverage Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math, and Mindfulness to increase problem-solving skills, communication, and cooperation amongst children facing family trauma. Since her first seizure at ten years old Pam has spent a lifetime thinking “with and about [her] brain.” That interest expanded to include interests in Mindfulness, Neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence. With a passion for academic research Pam earned her doctorate degree in Instructional Media and Technology from Columbia University and in 2016 Pam combined her interests, passion and profound gratitude to those who helped her in her own battle with breast cancer by developing and offering Wellbotics to childre

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to another episode of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week I’m absolutely delighted to be chatting with Elise. Elise Rorick is the creative magic behind Lusicovi Creative. Elise is an Enchantment Artist, Book Designer + Photographer (including underwater photography) Writer, Philosopher, and Creator of The Starlight Journal, and the upcoming Starlight Collective and Create Journal. Capturing wonder and creating enchantment are her specialties and she is a giant nerd, fascinated by stories, the sea, the stars, and exploring questions like “why are we here?” and “where did we come from?”  Elise’s artwork is always literary inspired with a bohemian feel, and is usually a combination of painting, photography, and historical research. She believes that both fantasy art and fantasy writing are incredibly important, because they allow us to explore very real problems in a safe space. Above all, she believes in the value of art to inspire and challenge us, children and adults alike. Sh

Hello Couragemakers! I am officially back, every single Monday, and I couldn't be happier with the conversation I’m returning with! This week I’m chatting to the warm, the lovely, the fabulous storyteller and the woman I wish lived across the street from me, Deborah Fingerlow. Deborah is a writer/weaver/artist, smitten with conversation and connections. At heart a beagle-whisperer, she works with soul-centered folks to help share their stories in a unique partnership built on mutual respect. You can catch up with her on the street, beagle at her side, strolling through farmers’ markets, constantly on the lookout for new adventures and conversations. You can perhaps find her more easily at deborahfingerlow.com, or stop by and say hello on Instagram @deborahfingerlow. In this week’s episode, Deborah shares her journey from being a quiet and shy person to a person who loves going out and being in the world and connecting with strangers. She shares how the experience of having a son with life threatening allergie

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 121 of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week I’m so excited to share with you my conversation with Allison Colin-Thome. Allison heads up Career Off Script, where she helps young professionals find their ideal work, so they can stop waking up for just a paycheck and instead have a career that means something to them. She cuts through their confusion by helping them figure out their strengths, motivators and true needs so they can find careers they love and finally take their next steps with confidence. After a bumpy journey of her own, Allison left her career in Corporate Recruitment to pursue the work she loved. She started her business while spending time in Colombia learning Spanish and can either be found sipping Earl Grey in a midtown Toronto cafe or online at www.careeroffscript.com. In this episode we’re really diving into what it means to live a life off script and building a meaningful life. Allison shares her journey of why she started Career Off Script and r

Hello wonderful Couragemakers and welcome to episode 120 of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week it’s just me and you as I have a solo mid year review special for you today.  For today’s episode I thought it would be a great opportunity to just stop, pause and reflect for  a minute. We’re approaching the halfway through the year mark, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to take stock, see what’s working for you, what could be improved and imagine what you would like the rest of the year to be like. So grab a notepad and pen, get ready to get honest and compassionate with yourself and let’s reflect on the year so far and put some plans into place to make the next six months really work for you!   About your host, Meg Kissack + That Hummingbird Life  I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multi-passionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to another fabulous episode of The Couragemakers episode! This week I am talking to multi-passionate extraordinaire Anna Packer. Anna is as a prodigal musician, accidental psychotherapist and red-headed speed talker from a Midwestern farm town. She describes herself as endlessly curious, a professional psychology nerd by day, bootstrapping garage band tinkerer by night and kind of a scientist: living life mostly by experiment and regular infusions of hair dye and b vitamins. Alongside her day job as a psychotherapist, Anna is co-host of The Doing Scary Things Podcast and half of singer-songwriter duo Jasper + Jade with past guest Katie Snyder and runs an Ebay empire from her garage, alongside many other very cool projects, like writing a musical with her sister. In this episode Anna shares her journey of accepting herself as a multi-passionate and how to get stuff done as creative and multi-passionate person. We talk about how to give yourself permission to pursue creative proj

  Hello Couragemakers and welcome to another episode of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week’s episode is a solo show, so it’s just me and you. I thoroughly enjoy solo shows, so much so that I’ve toyed with the idea of having a separate mini daily rebel-rousing/pep talk podcast, so we’ll see! For today’s solo show, I thought we’d do things  a bit differently! If you’ve been around That Hummingbird Life a while, you’ll know that for the past four and a half years, I send a pep talk to the wonderful Couragemakers email community every Sunday. So for this week, I was feeling a good old fashioned pep talk for the podcast! And the topic?  It’s something that comes up time and time again. In my life, in the lives of every one of my coaching clients, in my friend’s lives and it’s an epidemic that really does shit on the lives of all of us creative and multi-passionate women. And that’s our own internal dreamshitter.   Resources Sunday Pep Talks!   About Couragemakers & Your host I’m Meg and I’m the host of Coura

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 117 of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week I’m chatting with Sarah Brassard. In a nutshell, Sarah helps people re-establish peace inside. For the last twenty-five years, Sarah has been guiding women from a place of struggle in life to one of grace, peace, and ease through sacred self-care. She is the author of Inside: A Guide to the Resources Within published in 2018: a book that details the self-care practices that sparked Sarah’s healing journey and inspired her work in helping women move from trauma to transformation.. Sarah lives in New Hampshire and loves helping people heal through trauma with spiritual practices. What makes her most happy is being around people that have said YES to living authentically and finding the peaceful path. In this week’s episode we’re really diving into everything self care and living a life in tune with who we are deep down. Sarah shares her journey and takes us behind the scenes of her own healing journey. We talk about being a h

Hello Couragemakers! May is Mental Health month and this week I couldn’t be happier to be chatting to Lauren Bersaglio. Lauren Bersaglio is the founder and editor of Libero, a nonprofit peer support community and magazine championing mental health and she is someone I’ve been wanting to interview for Couragemakers for quite some time! In this episode, Lauren shares her journey of sharing her own mental health story and how that inspired the birth of Libero Network and we dive into how we can break free from the internal lies we tell ourselves. We have a great conversation about liberating yourself, how sharing your story is like a yawn, how feeding truth into your mind is the most powerful antidote to the lies and the shame surrounding success. This is such a practical episode and Lauren shares so much wisdom, from finding your own supportive community, looking after yourself while you work to make the world a brighter place, a 360 gratitude practice which I love and advice on finding a therapist. Lauren has

After a short hiatus (I explain all in this episode!), I am BACK! This week's solo show is for anyone who needs a bit of encouragement and rebel-rousing to keep going! If you're looking for connection, community and hope, come join the Couragemakers community over on Instagram. Show Notes Jo Casey's Messy Meaningful Business Project #ayearofcuriosity - Couragemakers community on Instagram About Couragemakers and your host  I’m Meg and I’m the host of Couragemakers and founder of That Hummingbird Life. I’m an INFJ creative and multi-passionate who has a bit of a notebook and post-it note obsession, loves foot-stomping country music and likes her hot chocolate with way too much chocolate. I started Couragemakers because I wanted to create a platform for passionate and unconventional women to have honest conversations and to share their stories, struggles and dreams. The intention behind this podcast is to inspire and encourage creative and mission-driven women to live a wholehearted life and follow the beat

Hello Couragemakers! This week on The Couragemakers Podcast, I’m thrilled to be chatting to previous guest Jessie Harrold! Jessie is an author, women’s mentor, coach and doula.  She does what she likes to call “women’s work,” which means she helps women bring their babies earthside, creates community and holds brave spaces for women to find themselves in, helps women reconnect with their bodies and the earth, and offers up a dose of word medicine wherever she can.  The thread that weaves all of this work together is Jessie’s unwavering commitment to helping women and mothers unearth and reclaim their connection to themselves, their power, and their sovereignty.  Jessie lives in an oceanside cottage with her little family, and is currently celebrating the release of her first book, Project Body Love: my quest to love my body and the surprising truth I found instead. It would be easier to share with you what we didn’t talk about during our conversation, as we covered so much ground. We dive into changing identi

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 113 of The Couragemakers Podcast! Today I am SO excited to share with you my conversation with Roanna van Voorst. I’ve been buzzing ever since we had our conversation and let me tell you, you are in for a treat. Roanne van Voorst is an internationally published writer, a social scientist, a podcaster and public speaker. She has conducted research all around the world on courage and successful personal leadership and now teaches people through her online trainings how to overcome fears and become more courageous, and how to create your best work and be’ productive – without stress or overwhelm. Roanne is also the host of the Writers Mastermind, through which she helps writers write and publish their books in 1 year. She is currently working on her new book: Once we ate animals. During our conversation, Roanne shares her journey, from training as a journalist, to re-training as an anthropologist and living in some of the most dangerous parts of the world with some of t

Hello Couragemakers and welcome to episode 112 of The Couragemakers Podcast! This week I’m speaking to Connie Pollock. Connie describes herself as an unapologetic wild soul adventuring across the globe to figure out what this shit is all about. Last August Connie moved to New Zealand, alone at 18, to begin adventuring our beautiful planet in all is glory and has not had time to look back since. Now 19, with a few grazed limbs and a brain full of lessons, she endeavours to document her exploration in its rawest, realest most brutal and blissful form. When Connie isn’t adventuring or trying to make a meal out of half a microwaveable rice packet, she spends her time working on the 60000 ideas and dreams she has for this life and is probably photographing something awesome, Skyping her dog or designing your soon to be favourite sustainable cloth. In this week’s episode, Connie shares all about her decision to move to New Zealand, the importance of finding your people when you’re blazing your own trail and taking