Beautiful Shifts

Women’s History Month & Women We Look Up To

Women's History Month Bonus! Today we talk about the line up of awesome women and topics we have coming up this month and some thoughts on Women's History Month. Then we take turns sharing about a few women we each look up to and why. It was so fun to get to discuss this topic and these women and their influences on history, society, and in our lives. 
 
Thanks for listening! Happy Women's History Month! 
 
Connect with us on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and Facebook for photos and info on upcoming guests, quotes and reels from interviews, and other fun podcast content!  
 
 

Elise Jones: Choosing joy while living with heart failure, emotional health and resilience, and living by the mantra ”share your heart”

Elise was diagnosed with atrial septal defect in 2009, had open heart surgery in 2016, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2021. She also had lung resection surgery this past November. As she shares her story we learn that although her ongoing heart health difficulties have brought about many ups and downs and physical and emotional challenges, Elise has chosen to focus on joy, gratitude, and doing the things she loves. We discuss learning to trust yourself and listen to your intuition when it comes to health and other areas of life, building friendships and serving others through disaster, and how beautiful things can manifest from hard things. We also get to hear how Elise and her family fulfilled one of her lifelong dreams of hiking to the base camp of Mount Everest in 2017!
 
Elise is a married mother of two daughters in college. She is a yoga therapist, yoga alliance teacher and trainer, certified in several genres in yoga and fitness, and has been teaching fitness classes for 19 years. She's also a roller skating fitness certified instructor and teaches it in different locations around Utah (so fun!). She is the founder of Utah Yoga and Wellness where she hosts wellness retreats, and is a semi-retired river guide.
 
Elise is a delightful and inspiring person and is truly living by her mantra "share your heart." Thank you so much to Elise for being on our podcast, we absolutely loved talking and connecting and can't wait to go to one of her skating classes!
 
Find Elise on Instagram @elisejonesyoga where she shares about emotional health and resilience, choosing joy, and is such an uplifting account to follow.
Learn about her wellness retreats at utahyogaandwellness.com and on Instagram @utahyogaandwellness

Mason Sawyer & Sam Josie: Best friends through unimaginable loss of wife, son, daughter, brother & nephew in car accident & rare dwarfism condition share 10Ninety Rule, stoicism & more

On July 25, 2021, Mason's family was involved in a fatal car accident that took the lives of his wife Kortni, son Riggins, daughter Franki, brother Race, and nephew Rider. Mason is now solely focused on raising his son, Blue, who survived the car accident, and his mission to help teach others the 10/90 Principle. 
 
Sam has a rare form of Dwarfism called Ellis-Van-Crevled Syndrome that affects bone growth and development and causes various abnormalities. Sam stopped growing at age 17 and stands at 5'1. With over 17 surgeries on various bones in his body, Sam has had to learn to adapt to his situation, rise above the negativity, and find ways to succeed. 
 
Mason and Sam have been friends since high school and join us today to share more about their stories and life transitions including starting their podcast The 10Ninety Rule, the concept of stoicism, and their mission to share lessons learned by using the 10/90 Principle - that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent what you make of it. 
 
These two are amazing, great guys all around and listening to their stories you will laugh, cry, and do it all over again. Thank you so much, Mason and Sam, for coming on our podcast - we enjoyed every minute talking with you and are honored you shared your stories with us. 
 
Find Mason and Sam and their podcast 10Ninety Rule on Instagram @10ninetyrule and on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 

Tonia Tewell: Holding out HELP for those coming out of polygamist cultures

Tonia Tewell, founder of Holding out HELP - a non-profit helping people out of polygamy/religious extremist sects - shares her story of growing up in an unstable home, which led to being taken in by her school principal and his wife at age 12, offering Tonia and her siblings safety and unconditional love for the first time. Later in life Tonia moved to the Salt Lake City, Utah area with her husband, began having children, and soon after was diagnosed with stage four cancer. She resolved that if she survived she would serve those coming from broken backgrounds who needed help and unconditional love, just as she had as a young girl.
 
The cancer went into remission and in 2007 Tonia's passion for those who come from a polygamist background grew after taking in a family from the local AUB/Allred polygamist community. In 2008, she launched a non-profit organization called Holding out H.E.L.P. (Helping, Encouraging and Loving Polygamists). Her desire is to encourage and give hope to those who chose to leave polygamist cultures providing them resources, support and love. In her free time Tonia loves the outdoors, bible study, dates with her daughters and crime shows. 
 
Tonia's story of overcoming difficult life situations, providing help to the most vulnerable, and paying forward kindness and love. A big thank you to Tonia for sharing her story with us! We loved talking with her and know you will love her too! 
 
Find Holding out HELP online at http://holdingouthelp.org where you can learn more about the services they provide to those coming out of polygamist sects and how you can get involved and help. Also, sign up to attend their upcoming Silent Auction & Benefit Dinner on March 10 in Draper which includes live music, guest speakers, and meeting the cast of Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey. 
 
Find/follow Holding out HELP on Instagram @holdingouthelp
And on Holding out HELP on Facebook 

Janet Mumford: Surviving a skydiving accident, learning patience and resilience through adversity, and life lessons on rebuilding and getting through hard things

Janet shares her story of how her life almost came to a halt one day that will forever be defined as life before and after her skydiving accident, in the fall of 2020. Experiencing debilitating injuries, her natural determination combined with lessons she had learned prior to the accident through therapy and working on mental health and inner strength helped greatly in her path to healing. She shares many takeaways that can be applied to getting through hard things in life and learning from setbacks, such as how growth comes in small steps, finding something to hold onto, trusting ourselves, and how our human minds and bodies are truly amazing.
 
Janet is a 43 year old mom of two adult kids, full time dental hygienist and a part time online health and fitness coach. She explains that learning patience and resilience through adversity while trying to gain back what you once had is a challenge, but those exact things motivated her as she rebuilt and grew more than she ever thought possible. 
 
Thanks so much to Janet for sharing her story with us and being an amazing example of strength and resilience. It's inspiring to hear and see all she has overcome and to see where she is today! 
 
Find Janet on Instagram @janetmumford23 where you can see more of her amazing recovery and reach out to her about her health & fitness coach/certified nutritionist business. 
You can also find her on Facebook - Janet Mumford
 
Thank you for listening! You can follow Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook. 

John & Brooke Buck: Adventures as a couple in Major League Baseball career, navigating baseball life and family life, supporting each other’s dreams, and prioritizing relationship and love that lasts

Today we get to hear from John and Brooke Buck - our first couple interview! They are genuine, fun and have a great love story, and we are so glad it worked out to release this on Valentines Day.
 
John and Brooke share how they were high school sweethearts and got married as John was pursuing playing professional baseball. John's career as a baseball catcher led to adventures moving around the U.S. playing many years in the minor leagues and 12 years for major league teams including the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Pittsburg Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and the Angels of Anaheim. They share about the ups and downs of starting a family including fertility treatments and the premature birth of their twin boys, and enjoying and embracing new places and experiences. Eventually John chose to retire and later supported and encouraged Brooke in her goal of going back to school to become a nurse. Brooke is now a NICU nurse at Primary Children's Hospital. 
 
John and Brooke are a fun, positive couple and have great takeaways about life and cultivating lasting relationships. They currently live in Bluffdale, Utah, with their three boys. Brooke loves being a nurse working with premature babies, and John enjoys coaching youth sports teams and hosting a baseball podcast, Behind the Dish @behind.thedish, along with other projects.
 
Thank you so much to John and Brooke for being on the podcast. We love their story and are grateful we got to hear and share it! 
 

Holly Wever: Loss, acceptance, and value of connection - Sister’s addiction and eventual overdose leads to forming nonprofit Second Chance 5K, learning and sharing valuable life perspectives

Today we are grateful to hear from Holly, who is thoughtful, wise, and has many great perspectives and life lessons on going through difficult things. 
 
Holly shares the experience of having her younger sister, Kristi, struggle with drug addiction for many years, which led to an accidental heroin overdose. Through sadness, regret, and acceptance, Holly became inspired and motivated to start a cause in Kristi's memory to raise awareness and funds for those in addiction recovery. Holly shares what she has learned about the importance of connection, empathy, and listening to understand, as well as the concepts of impermanence and equanimity, and that our cracks and imperfect lives are an opportunity to let light in. Holly loves teaching and practicing yoga, eating Nutella, and spending time with her four kids and husband, Tod.
 
Holly co-founded the nonprofit organization Second Chance 5K in 2017 with her friend Jennie Slade, who lost two sisters to overdose. Second Chance connects communities impacted by substance use disorders and celebrates second chances for those in recovery. On March 25th they will hold their 6th event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Learn more about Second Chance and how you can get involved and help below. 
@secondchance5k on Instagram
www.secondchance5k.org
 
Other organizations/resources Holly mentions in this episode: 
Shine a Light Foundation @shinealight on Instagram 
Darren Waller Foundation @darrenwaller_fdn
 
Thank you so much to Holly for taking the time to share her story with us. Also, listen to Holly's mom Karen's episode released last week (episode #17). 
 
Thank you for listening! 
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast

Karen Cushenberry: Heartbreak, resilience and hope - Early passing of husband, daughter’s accidental overdose, and MS diagnosis, continuing on with gratitude and hope

Today we get to hear from Karen, a mother of four and life-long educator, who has lived a life full of service, love, friendship and family. Karen shares with us many life transitions that unexpectedly came into her life, including her husband's health declining at a young age, becoming a caretaker and the breadwinner for her family with young children still at home, and the eventual loss of her husband several years later. After adjusting to life on her own she found love again, and soon after suffered the heartbreaking loss of one of her twin daughters to an accidental drug overdose. Later Karen was diagnosed with MS and shares how radical acceptance has gotten her through this diagnosis. 
 
Karen tells her story with openness and candor, and shares the message that whatever happens and whatever we are going through, eventually it will be okay. Friendship and showing up for each other through hard times is a theme in her story, and we loved the many examples of this throughout her life she shared. We greatly admire her resilience and ability to continually look toward gratitude and hope.
 
Thank you so much to Karen, we feel honored she shared her story with us and loved our time talking with her. Watch for Karen's daughter Holly's episode coming next week.
 
Thank you for listening!
 
Follow Beautiful Shifts on Facebook and on Instagram at beautifulshifts_podcast. 

Kim Christenson: Living with intention - Lifelong writer and stay-at-home mom on becoming an entrepreneur, pursuing a master’s, journaling and travel, writing on evolving faith, and intentional living

Kim joins us today to share about many life transitions and valuable perspectives! We talk about her moving to Australia as a teenager, going from being a stay-at-home mom to founding Loom Journals and merging with Promptly Journals, recently beginning a master's in creative writing, and the process of becoming an author. She shares thoughts on the value of journaling and how it has impacted her life, traveling, and how writing on evolving faith has benefited her spiritual journey and helped others. Kim shares how being intentional in our lives through goals and transitions helps achieve the results we want, and how cultivating an abundance mindset, including drawing on gratitude, can be extremely beneficial. 
 
Kim has been a writer her whole life and recently began teaching a creative writing course for kids she created called Write for Life. She is currently a book reviewer on Good Things Utah, has been a magazine, newspaper, and broadcast journalist, and is working on her third novel. She writes and shares book recommendations and more on her website and Instagram page Talk Wordy to Me. 
 
Thank you so much to Kim for coming on the podcast, we loved the conversation!
 
Find Kim on Instagram @talkwordytome_
And www.talkingwordy.com where you can find her writing courses, her newsletter, writing tips, and book recommendations.
 
Thank you so much for listening!
 
Find Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook here.  

Kattia Garn: Colombian-American on marrying an American and combining cultures, moving through grief, and cultivating love for life

Kattia shares her story of moving to the U.S. from Colombia, marrying her American husband, and the joys, challenges, and humor of combining cultures. She tells about growing up in Colombia and the amazing examples of service her parents were. She recently went through the transition of her father's passing and shares how she has moved through grief by focusing on gratitude and being an example of strength for her daughter. We get to hear Kattia share many beautiful perspectives on life and living it to the fullest. 
 
Kattia has a love for dance and is a Zumba instructor, running a studio of over 80 women. She tells about being involved in Zumba's national convention and other Zumba events. She is the owner and CEO of Circle M Activewear, a quality fitness clothing brand made in Colombia and available throughout the U.S. She has studied law, international relations, and fashion design. Kattia lives in Weston, Florida with her husband, Jake, and their teenage daughter, Mia.
 
Find Kattia on Instagram at @katvans17
Kattia's fitness clothing Circle M Clothing: @circlemactivewear
 
Thank you to Kattia for coming on the podcast! And thank you for listening!
 
Follow Beautiful Shifts on Instagram @beautifulshifts_podcast and on Facebook here.