Little Waves Project - Stories That Inspire

"The power comes from within." - Sonya Hausafus Sonya and I reflect on our self growth and learnings over the last year through our mindfulness leadership training program.

Hi Little Waves. It's been a while - I had an interview planned that fell through so this is just a solo check in to share what is going on with me, why I haven't published in a while, and some learnings from a recent training I completed. Thank you for listening.

“We are not just islands living in our own ecosystem, we are connected.” - Rebecca Guidera We Spoke About: Rebecca’s journey to becoming a yoga teacher and psychotherapist What it is like for Rebecca to be a healer during such a challenging time The benefits of yoga Meeting yourself and others with compassion What the words “presence” and “embodied” mean for Rebecca as she continues to show up as a healer in all of these different places The strength of the ego and the importance of recognizing it The shame spiral and how to pull yourself up The inspiration people and connection can bring

“Courage is choosing to act despite our fears, deciding that something else is more important than what we are afraid of.” - Kaci Sintek Kaci Sintek bravely shares her struggle with breast cancer since her diagnosis at the beginning of the pandemic. Her journey is one of pain, fear, courage, gratitude, vulnerability, and community. Kaci values her strong faith, connection with others, and sharing her story along with the stories of others in an attempt to bring these human struggles to light and help those who are going through similar challenges. She is the founder of American Honey where her mission is to share women’s powerful stories of faith and build a community that celebrates and supports each other as they walk through life’s greatest challenges.

“I always try to see the best in a person.” - Kunlong Cousin Kunlong Cousin is a climber-turned-ultra runner who has lived in Boulder, CO for the last 20 years. He generously brings his story to us in hopes of sharing himself to help others do the same. We talk about what it was like for Kunlong to lose his mother and the influence that she still has on his life today. Kunlong shares about an act of racism and traumatic encounter he had while running in Boulder recently. It was his reaction to this event that shows the power of love over hate and the impact that Kunlong’s practices have had on his life. Kunlong’s good character shines through in the way he can meet people where they are and recognize their humanity. He reminds us to find our community, say thank you, and show love to all people.

"Growth is uncomfortable." - BriAnne Ramsay BriAnne Ramsay is the Founder & CEO of Rocky Mountain Cannabis Consulting (RMCC), a women-owned and operated cannabis compliance consulting firm that supports the legal cannabis industry. BriAnne is an Ohio native that is passionate about plant medicine and helping others flourish out of their comfort zones. Illuminating the intensity of a quickly changing industry, BriAnne’s amount of experience speaks volumes. It is obvious that BriAnne also has a love for this challenging industry and believes in the power of the healing plant Cannabis.

“What kind of changes would we be able to make if we all had the courage to be ourselves” - Kim Kelley Kim is the Cofounder and CEO of Pepelwerk, a company with a mission to make sense of the working world for the next generation. Kim wants to give the next generation a thoughtful, meaningful path to get work, keep work, and stay relevant as the future of work changes. The vision is that that mission can be done in the simple way using technology, ethical data practices, and advanced AI. After a career of streamlining systems and processes for HR , Kim watched her own kids find discouragement when playing the sales and marketing game of job hunting. Since then, Kim has dedicated her life to redesigning and implementing a new hiring process so that people are hired for their natural human abilities to ensure they are the right fit for the job. Now is a time more than ever that we need services and software, like Pepelwork, to find the right fit and alleviate the process flaws on both the employer and employee sides.

"It's all about how you step into your day." - Jen Towle Jen, like many people, has had life experiences like growing up in an intense household, marriage, becoming a mother, finding herself, losing a parent, and parenting. It is what Jen has done in response to her life experiences that makes her so wise and powerful to listen to. Jen has learned to lean into life’s difficulties rather than hiding, avoiding, running from, or numbing. She is courageous as she shows up for herself every single day using practices, tools, and learnings that help her stay steady through life’s pain and challenges. Jen values nature’s teachers because they remind us that we are all connected. I hope you feel her wisdom as she speaks from her heart, in an embodied way, to share some of the things that have helped her on her journey.

“Find those practices that get you out of your head and into your body.” -Kim Foss As the host of the Little Waves Project podcast, I am humbled to be reminded again what it is like to speak your truth in the moment regardless of what others will think, feel, or say. Taylor White Moffitt, from episode one, interviews me so that I can tell you a little more about my story, why I created the Little Waves Project, and what my learnings have been in this life recently. I think I will let this episode speak for itself. Thanks for listening!!

"Your work is never done." - Erin Antoville Erin comes with an open heart and an appetite to share the things that have helped her on her journey to where she is today. Erin opens up about the challenging times she had as a young girl dealing with the divorce of her parents and losing her mom. Her wisdom speaks when she explains that “everyone is carrying an invisible backpack,” a phase used to illuminate how you can never know what someone is dealing with just by looking at them. I love Erin’s story because it shows you how fostering the connection with yourself can allow you to thrive in life.

“I wanted to create a space where people can connect with others who are as curious as they are” - Breanne Kiefner This episode left me feeling enlightened, like I had grown from hearing a new perspective. Breanne brings so much wisdom from her experiences into our conversation. Because she was instantly able to drop into the present moment, I found it easy to talk with her about her learnings as a mother, business owner, and more. Breanne is the creator and owner of Root Adventures, a company that designs trips and online experiences that allow all types of people to connect with nature, people, and become their best selves. She speaks to some of the challenges of owning a travel company during the pandemic and also gives us a sneak peak into the exciting virtual programs she is designing to make sure she can help as many people as possible connect during this challenging time. I so appreciated her honesty about what it was like to become a mother, deal with mental illness and work through challenges with her partner. We can all take a page out of Breanne's book as we strive to show up as our true selves, to make sure we can live as our best selves.

“Everyone deserves to be heard.”  - Cole Egger This episode is a perfect example of how a little wave can turn into a tidal wave. Cole Egger comes to us as the Co-Founder and CEO of Listeners On Call, a company that focuses on providing a platform for human connections based on shared experiences. Cole shows up to tell us about his mission with Listeners On Call as well as his personal experiences that led him to starting this company. I think Listeners On Call is going to make a massive ripple effect, changing the game for mental health awareness and providing quick support for people who are struggling to find it today.

"You don’t need someone else to validate you." - Megan Louise Megan is such a bright light amongst so much darkness in the world. Transparent about her experiences growing up with ABS, she shares about her struggles with anxiety, depression, and body image. Megan advocates for mental health and disability awareness so that future generations can grow up knowing that humans come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors and should be treated equally. Despite her fears, Megan gets energy and finds more self love by sharing her story and helping others accept themselves as they are.

“I lead others in the way that I want to be led.” -Shafqat Islam Shaf is someone who leads with extreme transparency and vulnerability. He is a shining example of someone who regularly builds trust by being genuine and honest. Shaf believes that he has a responsibility as a CEO to his company and his community. He has launched multiple projects over the years to help his community. We talk about his project he started and continues to execute for front line workers during COVID in NYC. He sheds light on his journey through many countries and how he landed in New York with his family. We speak about the role that fear plays in our lives as we pursue the unknown. Shaf is a special person with an incredible amount of humility and motivation to learn, adapt, and act.

“There is no greater rate of return when you invest in nourishing your body.” - Esther Remington Esther brings a holistic approach to life. I find her so comforting to listen to as she speaks from her heart and reveals her journey to living a healthier life, free of the toxic things that have effected her in the past. Esther lives her life with purpose as she works towards her passion of helping others and herself through nutrition for the mind, body, and soul. She is already creating a ripple effect by living her truth and taking care of herself so that she can show up fully in her life.

“Don’t always put the learning labor on the people who hold the knowledge.”- Carter Stepanovsky How do I describe this episode? Words come to mind like; rich, vulnerable, enlightening, honest, and personal. Carter has an ability to stay present and speak from an honest, authentic place about their experiences, challenges, discoveries, and requests. We talk about staying curious and not making things personal to take advantage of learning moments and grow as a human. This skill applies to many situations in life. While challenging to take your ego out of it, the advantages of learning, growing, and connecting are everlasting and create opportunities for you and all humans.

“Positive Legacy’s intention is to integrate music and service to benefit people and the environment.” - Kristen Sommer-Swager On this episode, we got to hear from, Kristen Sommer-Swager, who truly believes in the power of music to unite people from all different backgrounds. She is the Executive Director of Positive Legacy, which is a not for profit organization, utilizing music as a platform to improve the world’s environmental and humanitarian conditions. Kristen is also the COO of Symbiotic Event Services, an event management company who does production for events like ESPN’s X Games in Aspen just to name one. I enjoyed a deeper look at what happens behind the scenes at music events as well as what they are doing to survive this time of uncertainty for the industry.

"Flow states are the most meaningful moments of our lives." - Jeremy Jensen Jeremy is the creator of the Adventurepreneur podcast and cofounder of Outwild, which is a community and event-series for people who want to create more outdoor, value-driven lifestyles. Jeremy is an outdoor sports athlete and speaks to the topic of flow states, which he describes as the most meaningful moments of our lives. I really loved this conversation because Jeremy is so genuine in everything he does. His journey is one that, I think, many of us can relate to. He speaks to a time in his life when he was lost and unsure of what to do next. Taking an honest look at what he was afraid of allowed him to move forward in a way that made him feel alive. We talk a lot about how hard and important it is to acknowledge your fear and doubt but move forward anyway.   Jeremy gets into the concept of Flow States, these moments we all have where we actually feel alive, perform at our best, and where time seems to slow down. He speaks a little to the neuroscience of flow and how we can actually actively induce these states by being present so that we can have more meaningful lives. 

“Self compassion delivers everything self improvement promised us.” - Taylor White Moffitt This first episode was more like a tidal wave than a little wave! Taylor comes to us with loads of experience. She’s been a psychotherapist for 25+ years and a yoga teacher, leading transformational retreats for the over 10 years. Within the first 5 minutes you can tell that Taylor is comfortable in her own skin. She shares her journey to where she is today as well as her wisdom from working with over 1000 people who are all going through what she calls “the human experience.” I absolutely love Taylor because she is so fantastic at relating to all types of humans and makes her message easy to understand.

This is a quick introduction episode to give you an idea of what this podcast is about as well as a little more about my story as the creator of the Little Waves Project.  Three episodes will be released on June 24th at 10:00 AM MST!!! Learn more on