Beautiful Shifts

Carla Swensen-Haslam: Law graduate advocates for asylum seekers at the US/Mexican border, and simple ways we can help the vulnerable in our communities

Carla, a dual citizen of Columbia and the U.S., shares how after playing college soccer at BYU and for the U20 Columbian National team, she had to discover her identity beyond soccer. She shares about being a professional soccer announcer for REAL Salt Lake and deciding to go to Law School to further her passion of learning about public policy and immigration law. As a practicing lawyer she recently had her first child and talks about the transition to motherhood.   
 
Carla shares about her experience advocating for asylum seekers at the US/Mexican border. We discuss the TEDx talk she gave earlier this year - Credible Fear: Stories of asylum seekers coming to the US (link below). Carla went from wanting to advocate for the vulnerable but not knowing how, to learning how to implement advocacy and sharing with others how to do the same. She shares simple and actionable ways we can get involved in helping the underprivileged in our communities. 
 
Watch Carla's TEDx talk here
 
Find Carla on Instagram @haslam.house 
 
Thanks so much to Carla for taking the time to talk with us! We loved the conversation and learned so much. And thank you for listening!   
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast.  

Emily Nelson: High Fitness Co-Creator/Owner on starting a group fitness phenomenon, and her passion for encouraging self love and body positvity

Emily shares her story of starting High Fitness with her Co-Creator Amber, igniting a group fitness phenomenon that has over a million participants annually through in person and online classes, and 4000 instructors. Emily's love for teaching fitness classes and dance choreography is what started her path to High Fitness, and her passion for her participants well-being both mentally and physically is the driving force behind all she does. Emily shares some of the shifts she's experienced as she's gone down the unexpected path of being an entrepreneur and business owner, including balancing it all as a working mom, working alongside her husband, and running the business with her best friend Amber, who lives in Canada and comes from a different cultural background. Emily's goal is for each High participant to feel loved and accepted for who they are and to find fitness that brings them joy.
 
Emily is a wife and mother of three, KSL STUDIO 5 fitness contributor, fitness instructor, snowboarder, cookie and sweat set lover. She currently teaches and runs HIGH Fitness from Bountiful, Utah and travels North America educating and inspiring others to fall in love with fitness and drop the emotional weight. 
 
Find Emily on Instagram @highfitnessemily
Find High Fitness online at highfitness.com and on Instagram @high.fitness
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast. 
Thanks so much for listening! 
 

Lindsey Munns: Parenting adopted twins with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and gaining understanding for others with nuerological conditions

Lindsey shares her story of seeing signs of neurological and developmental differences in her adopted twin boys from a young age, which led to their diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Lindsey shares her experience of acceptance, adaptation, and tools she has learned as we discuss the challenges of parenting children with neurological disabilities. She talks about extending grace to ourselves as parents and understanding to others as these conditions are much more prominent than most of us realize.
 
Lindsey is a wife and mom of four, and an active parent advocate of FASD. She received her TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) Practitioner's license from Texas Christian University and has a degree in Community Policy and Consumer Studies from the University of Utah. She has a home hobby farm which has been healing and a form of therapy for her children. She is also the creator of FASD Fur Fighters. In her free time she enjoys reading and being around the water!
 
Find Lindsey and her hobby farm on Instagram @wildonwhippoorwill and @lkamunns
 
Find FASD Fur Fighters on Instagram @fasdfurfighters and www.fasdfurfighters.org
 
Lindsey is also raising awareness about FASD on Instagram @fasd.Florida
 
Thanks you Lindsey, this was such an important, informative and meaningful conversation!
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and Instgram @beautifulshifts_podcast

Whitney Garn: First year college student trains for and runs the New York City Marathon

Whitney shares how she previously had no experience or interest in long distance running, but when the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run the New York City Marathon with her dad came about she decided to go for it. She shares the challenges of training while moving away to college, combating self doubt, and the mindsets she learned and perspectives she gained through running and doing hard things.
 
She takes us to the day of the marathon where she describes the incredible energy and unity of the race from the runners to the fans to the city as a whole. Whitney is Shantil's daughter so we get her perspective throughout, making this an extra fun episode!
 
Whitney is 18 years old and currently a student at Utah State University. A lifelong soccer player and 6A state soccer champ her senior year of high school, she graduated this year and began marathon training during the time she was transitioning to college. She loves all things music, sports, and outdoors, and has a love and talent for videography/photography. More recently she is also now a runner! 
 
Whitney is on Instagram @whitneygarn and Tik Tok @whitneygarn.
She has a videography business creating videos for weddings, parties, and other special events @whitneyjaefilmz. Contact her with videography questions/needs!
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast. Thanks for listening!
 
 

Gratitude & Podcast Highlights

With Thanksgiving around the corner we discuss some thoughts on gratitude, including the benefits of gratitude, the importance of it when life is hard, and what some of our favorite authors have said about it.
 
Speaking of gratitude, we're so grateful for our guests that have been on the podcast so far! We give a short highlight of each and hope new listeners will go back and listen to our previous episodes as they've each been so inspiring in their own way.
 
Thanks so much for listening! 
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook & Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast

Richard Ostler: Embracing LGBTQ individuals while serving as a LDS bishop and creating more understanding, inclusion and love

Richard shares how when serving as a LDS bishop in a YSA (young single adult) congregation with LGBTQ members he had a strong spiritual experience leading him to set aside past assumptions and do better. He committed to listening, learning from, and loving these individuals and others with unique roads. Richard discusses creating safe spaces in our homes and church communities, mitigating shame, being open and curious, and ministering as Jesus would. 
 
Richard speaks in church settings about how to fully embrace LGBTQ individuals, see their gifts and contributions, and better understand their unique road. He is the host of the Listen, Learn & Love podcast which provides a platform for Latter-day Saints to share stories on many topics. Richard is the author of two books - Listen Learn & Love: Embracing LGBTQ Latter-day Saints, and Listen Learn & Love: Improving Latter-day Saint Culture - both available at Deseret Book and Amazon. He is also the author of two Ensign Articles. 
 
In addition to serving as a LDS bishop, he has served as a stake young men’s president, high counselor, ward mission leader, and currently serves as a temple worker. Richard has a BS from the University of Utah and an MBA from Brigham Young University, and is a small business owner. He and his wife Sheila live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and have six children and three grandchildren.
 
Visit Richard online at listenlearnandlove.org & papaostler.comFind him on Instagram @papa_ostler & Facebook: Richard OstlerPodcast: Listen Learn & Love Podcast with Richard Ostler
 
 

Jessica Chase: Female entrepreneur and mom of three shares on starting her business and keeping a healthy mindset through life shifts

Jessica shares some challenging involuntary shifts that happened earlier in her life leading to the recent voluntary shift of starting her own business. As a female entrepreneur and mom of three she bravely went out on her own around the time Covid hit. Jessica radiates positivity and passion, sharing thoughts on keeping a productive and healthy mindset, which can be applied to many areas of life. 
Jessica is a business owner of an agency called Above The Fold that specializes in programmatic advertising, helping advertisers run highly targeted ads across all forms of technology. She has an undergraduate degree and MBA from Westminster College and has worked in advertising for 18 years. Jessica loves the study of religion, meditation, and is a big fan of reggae music and the the themes that run through it - positivity, peace, unity and love. 
You can find her company online at getabovethefold.com and on instagram @getabovethefold.
Jessica can be found on Linked In (Jessica Chase) and on instagram @__jesschase
Book recommendations from Jessica:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey
Brene Brown and her books

Carrie Butler: Surviving and overcoming a deep addiction to prescription drugs - a life of ashes restored to beauty, even better than before

Carrie shares her story of surviving and overcoming a deep addiction to prescription drugs. While her story is one of great loss it is also one of incredible strength and resilience. Carrie exemplifies turning weaknesses into strengths, accepting that we aren’t meant to be perfect, and that through our flaws we can connect and heal together. As a survivor of the opioid epidemic she aims to help others gain hope, healing and understanding for themselves, friends and loved ones. 
Carrie is a mother of four and a grandmother. She is a licensed Realtor and Director of Growth at Keller Williams Home Hub. Carrie can be found on Facebook (Carrie Butler) and Instagram @carrie.butler.76. You can also reach out to her over email. She would love to help others connect with support and resources for addiction and recovery carrie.butler@kw.com.

Jackie Culley: A mother’s story of supporting her son through battling cancer, and the Christmas charity for cancer families she organized in his memory

Jackie shares how her son Riley, at age 17, was diagnosed with cancer, and the years following where he fought the illness with Jackie loving and supporting him each step of the way. Jackie's story is touching and powerful as she shares with us lessons she has learned through her experiences.
Six years ago Jackie, with Riley's help and natural eagerness to help others in need, organized a charity to give back to families affected by cancer at Christmas time. In loving memory of Riley, Jackie has grown the organization over the years, now known as Christmas for Cancer Families. Earlier this year it became an official non-profit organization. This will be their sixth year giving back to families affected by cancer organizing home makeovers, sub for Santas, and sending families on vacations.
Jackie is an interior designer and the owner of Jackie Culley Design. She has taught group fitness for 20 years and opened her own yoga studio in 2016. Jackie is the owner and founder of Christmas for Cancer Families and plans to continue to expand the organization's reach.
Get involved in giving back and supporting Jackie and Christmas for Cancer Families: www.christmasforcancerfamilies.org
Find Jackie on instagram @jackieculley & @christmasforcancerfamilies
Book recommendations from Jackie:
Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
The Choice, Dr. Edith Eva Eger
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
Letting Go, David R. Hawkins
 

Kami Banks: Nutrition and triathlon coach on grief, healing and carrying on a legacy - How the bittersweet passing of her mom led to helping others reach beyond their comfort zone

Kami shares the experience of learning her mom, the healthiest person she knew, was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Loosing her mom was bittersweet as it led Kami to focus on carrying on her memory and the things she had taught her. Kami began to share her voice with others in a way her mom no longer could. 
Kami is a high-level athlete and has competed in the Ironman world championship in Kona, Hawaii. She is a certified triathlon, life and weight coach, and shares how our challenges can help us grow into the people we want to become, and much more.
Find Kami online http://linktr.ee/kamibanks
On Instagram @kamibankscoaching
Kelsey's chocolates www.kelsiskitchen.com