Beautiful Shifts

Living Abroad & Supporting Children through Faith Transitions with BRENDA SMART

Brenda Smart is a mother of four adult children, a grandmother, a social worker, and has been married to her husband for 44 years. In today's episode Brenda shares about living around the world and the challenges and benefits of experiencing diverse cultures while raising their family, as well as serving as a mission president couple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) in Puerto Rico when a hurricane and the pandemic hit. She then shares about how three of her four sons have chosen to step away from the LDS church and how she has learned to support them and others in religious, faith and life transitions. She shares how coming to this perspective was difficult at times and how she was able to come to a place of acceptance and love and make this mindset shift, the benefits this has brought to her relationships with her children and others, and advice for those in similar situations. 
 
We loved talking with Brenda and getting to experience her fun, loving, genuine personality and learn about her life experiences and valuable perspectives. Thank you so much Brenda for being on the podcast!
 
Brenda is on Instagram @b_smart.
 
Thank you for listening!
 
Find and follow Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook (Beautiful Shifts) for guest photos and descriptions, episode video clips and more. Thank you for your support!  

Loosing Sibling to Cancer & Giving Back to Families Affected by Cancer with LEVI & JACKIE CULLEY

Today we are joined by Levi Culley and his mom Jackie Culley as Levi shares his perspective of what it was like having his older brother Riley diagnosed with cancer when he was a young teen. Levi shares his experience including spending time with his brother through his last days, lessons he learned, and valuable advice on what we can do to support others in similar situations.
 
Jackie was one of our first guests on our podcast (Season 1, episode 4) where she shares her touching and powerful story about Riley's battle with cancer and the charity Christmas for Cancer Families she runs in his memory. It is one of our most listened to episodes and we highly recommend listening and hearing her story. This year Levi has become very involved in Christmas For Cancer Families and in this episode they share about the upcoming gala being held to raise funds and how others can get involved. 
 
Find more information about the Gala and how to get involved and donate on Instagram @christmasforcancerfamilies and christmasforcancerfamilies.org. 
 
Levi is an entrepreneur and the owner of Invictus Floor Coatings and The PentHive Group. Find Levi on Instagram @l_e_v_i_c_u_l_l_e_y. 
Jackie is the owner of Jackie Culley Design and the Founder of Christmas for Cancer Families. Find Jackie on Instagram @jackieculley. 
 
Thanks so much to both Levi and Jackie for taking time to be on the podcast and sharing their experiences. 
 
Thank you for listening! 
 
Find Beautiful Shifts and follow the show on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook - Beautiful Shifts Podcast. 
 

Surviving a Spinal Injury & Knowing What You’re Made of with DAN & MICHELLE WADSWORTH

In August of 2022 Dan sustained a critical injury to his spine resulting in becoming paraplegic. In today's interview we have the opportunity to talk with Dan and his wife Michelle, who are also our close neighbors and friends, about what this experience has been like. Dan and Michelle share their experience from the day of the accident through recovery and adapting to this new normal from both of their perspectives. They share important life lessons they've gained along the way such as learning that we can adapt to almost any situation, growing stronger because of the mountains you've had to climb, and knowing what you're made of. 
 
Dan and Michelle have been married for 24 years and are parents of four children. They are inspiring individuals and a beautiful couple, and we know you'll love hearing their story and the insights they have to share. Thank you so much Dan and Michelle for coming on the podcast! 
 
You can reach out to Michelle through Instagram @michellehwadsworth or Facebook - Michelle Heaton Wadsworth. 
 
Thank you for listening!
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook - Beautiful Shifts Podcast. 

Becoming a Foster Parent, Supporting Teens & Founding Common Thread with RACHEL GARRETT

Rachel Garrett is a former high school teacher, licensed foster parent, certified CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), and founder and Executive Director of Common Thread - a nonprofit dedicated to building community and strengthening teens who are experiencing adversity in their lives. Today we get to talk with Rachel about what led her to becoming a foster parent, what that experience has been like, and how pursuing a master's degree in psychology, child & adolescent development works into her story. She shares how being a foster parent led to founding Common Thread, what the organization does and how others can help. We also talk with Rachel about productive ways we can interact with and support our teens as parents and the teens in our communities. 
 
We learned so much from Rachel and loved getting to know her and learning about the amazing impact she is having as a foster parent and in the community, and ways we can apply the experience and knowledge she has in our lives. Thank you, Rachel for coming on the podcast! 
 
Find Rachel on Instagram @rachgarrett
 
Find Common Thread on Instagram @commonthread_community and online www.commonthreadut.com and find more info on how you can get involved in their events, supporting a teen, becoming a CASA, and more. 
 
Thank you for listening!
 
Find and follow Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook. 

Healing Your Trauma and Cycle-Breaking with Therapist CINDY CHIA

Cindy Chia is a prominent therapist in Utah and the founder of Aspire Psychological. In today's episode she shares what led to pursuing a degree in psychology and becoming a trauma therapist with a "non-BS approach to healing." We discuss recognizing trauma and the process toward healing, understanding gaslighting, and the power of cycle-breaking. Cindy shares how her personal experience and trauma led to this career and wanting to help others. She also shares about her multicultural background growing up in Malaysia and moving to Australia for college, then to Oklahoma, and settling in Utah. Cindy was a delight to talk with and we thoroughly enjoyed the conversation! Thank you so much Cindy for taking the time to be on Beautiful Shifts and for sharing your wisdom with us! 
 
Find Cindy on Instagram @cindymchia where she shares helpful mental health and healing tips
 
Find Cindy's clinic Aspire Psychological on Instagram @aspirepsychutah and online at aspirepsychutah.com
 
Follow Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook at Beautiful Shifts for updates on the show, guests, upcoming episodes, etc. 
 
Thank you for listening! 

Positive Parenting Shifts with BROOKE ROMNEY

Today we have our first guest interview of the season with Brooke Romney! We're so excited to have Brooke with us to help kick of Season Two. Brooke shares what led her to writing about parenting and her books to where she is today running a large online community of support and connection for parents of teens and tweens that is valuable to so many. Brooke shares some insightful and doable things we can incorporate into parenting to have positive shifts in our interactions and relationships with our teens and tweens, and really children of any age. 
 
We are so grateful and honored Brooke came on our podcast and feel like her perspective and advice has already been so helpful to us and know it will be to you as well! Thank you, Brooke!
 
And thanks so much for listening!
 
You can find us on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook at Beautiful Shifts Podcast. 

SEASON TWO KICKOFF

Season Two is here! This week we chat about what we've been up to since wrapping up Season One, our goals and direction for the podcast, upcoming guests, and more. We're so excited for our upcoming guests conversations as they share stories of Beautiful Shifts, and to discuss what we can learn from each other through sharing life transitions and experiences. 
Thanks so much for listening and for all your support during Season One and going into Season Two! We're so grateful to be able to share this journey with you. 

SEASON ONE WRAP UP! A season of connecting, sharing, and finding beauty

Our last episode of the season! Today we have fun chatting about what the experience of starting this podcast has been like and recapping the season. We talk about the different life transition categories we had throughout the season and give some thoughts on each of our amazing guests and their stories.
 
We're so grateful for all our guests who took the time to come on our podcast this season - thank you!! We can't wait for next season and the interviews we have in the works!
 
We also want to say a big THANK YOU to all who have listened! We appreciate your support so much and are so grateful you have made time to listen, and hope these stories have been as inspiring and meaningful to you has they have been to us. 
 
We hope you all have a wonderful summer and we'll be back with new episodes/season two in the fall!
 
 

Jeffrey & Bryce: Growing up with dads - Gay couple from Utah raising twins through gift of surrogacy share life experiences

Jeffrey and Bryce are a gay couple living in the suburbs of Salt Lake City raising their four-year-old twins, Ridge and Rue. They run the Instagram account @growingupwithdads and are the cutest family, and we're so excited to share their episode with you as we are about to enter Pride month! 
 
In today's episode Jeffrey and Bryce share about growing up, how they met, coming out, and becoming parents through the gift of surrogacy. They also share what it was like growing up in the LDS religion/culture, their paths to accepting themselves, what it's like having a visible presence online, and more. 
 
Jeffrey and Bryce own a real estate brokerage, Pride & Property Realty. They created @growupwithdads with the intent to provide hope and inspiration to LGBT youth and be an example they feel was lacking when they were growing up gay. When they aren't working or wrangling kids, they enjoy working out together, swimming, or most of all traveling the world with and without their kids. 
 
This was such a fun, honest conversation and we're grateful we got to talk with them and hear about their experiences and thoughtful perspectives. Thank you so much, Jeffrey and Bryce, for being on Beautiful Shifts!
 
Thank you for listening! 
 

Marina Baginsky Lowe: Building bridges and finding common ground, saying yes, and stepping outside comfort zone

Marina joins us today to share about multiple transitions in her life including living abroad at various times, going to law school, finding herself without both parents at the age of 40, working many years for the ACLU and recently moving to Equality Utah. She shares about advocating for legislation and policy in Utah working to build bridges across party lines, and explains about a recent bill she was involved in passing. We loved her perspective on listening to understand and finding common ground. She shares about many places she has lived and her thoughts on stepping outside of our comfort zones and taking advantage of opportunities. 
 
Marina is a wife and mother of two daughters, ages 12 and 14. She is an advocate and lobbyist focused on civil liberties issues, currently representing Equality Utah as well as other nonprofits on issues such as LGBT rights and reproductive freedom. Over the years she has successfully drafted and passed numerous bills in the Utah State Legislature on topics from bail and policing reform to prison and jail conditions to strengthening 4th amendment protections in the face of new and emerging technologies. Marina was born in Oxford, England, grew up in Northern California, and before graduating from the University of California Hastings College of the Law, spent two years working in marketing at Hewlett-Packard in Grenoble, France.
 
Marina was so much fun to talk with and we loved hearing about her unique experiences and perspective and learning about the impactful work she is doing. Thank you so much, Marina, for taking the time to come on our podcast!
 
Learn more about the work Marina is doing at Equality Utah @equalityutah.
 
Thank you for listening! 
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast.