About Progress

Latest Episodes:

AP 004: Courtney Rich || Reaching for success while powering through depression and anxiety Nov 30, 2016

Show notes

Courtney Rich is so wise.

Sure, she is also a major success as a media consultant, blogger, cake queen, entrepreneur, and a mother, too! But I think on top of alllll the gifts that Courtney has to offer the world, her wisdom is the best.

What's extra inspiring about Courtney is that she is willing to share the lessons she has hard-earned with others. Courtney is wonderfully open about her struggles as an adult with battling depression and anxiety. People who don't personally know Courtney might be surprised with the struggles she talks about in this episode, as she is so warm and happy. But this go-getter is constantly staying optimistic, productive, and focused as a learned method to deal with the deep sadness that she has to routinely face.

What can you take from this interview?

You can learn from Courtney's passionate spirit. She pursues things--not without fear--but with a full heart. She is a go-getter to the core, despite having so many reasons not to be.

You can be encouraged. Courtney is a champion of others. She learned to compare herself to no one but Courtney, and because of that she doesn't compete with others' successes, but instead cheers them on.

You can be strengthened. Through her years of battling depression and anxiety, Courtney says she can look back and now tell herself, "You are stronger than you thought you were." Courtney's inner strength is driven by a healthy dose of self-acceptance, as she embraces these hard parts of her life and does what is within her power to prevent her bouts of depression and anxiety, but also better face them when they do arise.

You can borrow Courtney's tools she uses to battle these demons, some of which include plenty of daily routines, list-making, self-care, and pursuing passions that give her purpose and fulfillment. Oh, and learning how to say "no." And most importantly, the underlying motivation of her life to live in a way that inspires her own children to live happy, meaningful lives.

Finally, you can borrow the mantra Courtney left us with, "I am capable."

Please see www.aboutprogress.com for more!

Song credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

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AP 003: Jaimee Davis || From amateur athlete to Ironman, one step at a time Nov 23, 2016

Show notes

Let me tell you something about Jaimee: she is a total rockstar.

A few years ago, Jaimee was an amateur athlete who caught the running bug first, and then the triathlon bug. After completing a sprint triathlon, she set a goal to participate in the IRONMAN World Championships, held in Kona, Hawaii. Only the most elect of athletes are accepted: they have to win first place in their age group of another full IRONMAN competition. (Oh, and that entails a 2.4 mile swim, 100 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run.) Jaimee decided this was something she could achieve in four years.

She did it in two.

This involved a tremendous amount of grit, sacrifice, dedication, and . . . self-doubt. When you decide to not only become an IRONMAN, but to win one, you also decide to make small goals to reach for every single day, in every swim, run, and bike ride. And the thing I love the most about Jaimee? She says that the majority of the time, she didn't reach her target goals. But she didn't let that stop her. She surrounded herself with people who believed in her, and didn't listen to the ones who tried to tell her otherwise.

Jaimee says she is not a perfectionist, which is something that most definitely separates her from her fellow Ironman competitors. In fact, she says her flexibility and the positive view she keeps of herself made up the very key to her success. If she had only been satisfied with perfection, then she would have quit a thousand times. Instead, Jaimee let her vision of herself achieving her goal drive her past those days where every workout didn't pan out as planned. Each step mattered to her, and each step--and misstep--drove her to that envisioned success as she crossed the finish line at the IRONMAN World Championships.

To see pictures and a video of Jaimee crossing the Kona finish line, please see www.aboutprogress.com

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AP 002: Kim Christenson ll Saying Yes to the Right Dreams at the Right Times Nov 16, 2016

Show notes

Kim Christenson is one of the most talented women I know: she is a passionate writer, journalist, novelist, "namer," actress, voice-over artist, yoga instructor, social media queen, and mother to three young children. She radiates such light and positivity! Kim carefully uses her time spent on the internet to build up others and encourage them to be brave, evident in her incredible interviews of women who are shooting for the stars in her Dream Big Series.

We talk about Kim's growing up years as one of many children in a blended family, and how she learned from a young age the great importance in finding passions to reach for that help you feel of value. Kim is a dreamer and she seems to fearlessly go after one thing to the next; but it might surprise you some of the hard lessons she had to learn, including her regret over letting perfectionism and the trap of comparison stagnate her pursuits.

Kim also speaks about some failures she has faced, as well as some tough choices she had to make about when to let go of one dream in order to make room for another. From her, we learn that there is wisdom in evaluating what you are capable of doing, but then daring to say no to many things so you can more fully say yes to the pursuits that are of the greatest value in your life.

Finally, Kim shares what it looks like to dream big, and it involves taking one little step at a time. (This is for all you paralyzed dreamers out there!)

You can find Kim at her wonderful, real, I'm-with-you blog, Talk Wordy to Me, and her Instagram account of the same name, here.

Song credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

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AP 001: Heather Fujikawa ll Choosing to live joyfully and productively amidst years of health struggles and infertility Nov 09, 2016

Show notes

I know I could not ask for a better person to be my first guest of my podcast. If you know Heather Fujikawa, then you love, love, love her. Pure and simple.

Everything Heather touches is made golden! Alongside her twin sister, Heidi, Heather is a successful entrepreneur, writer, and interior designer. With her built-in-business-partner, Heather created an incredible jewelry business (True Birds), published a beautiful children's book (Fairy Birds), and is now officially delving into her interior design business and online shop. Heather is always working on something, including herself! Right now, she is also working on adding twin brothers for her toddler son.

Heather is loving, genuine, joyful, and encouraging. She is a champion for all those around her. Behind this cheery disposition though, was a purposeful decision Heather made to choose happiness amidst the many health struggles she faced the past ten years, including thyroid cancer and six years of infertility. These burden-filled years taught her to make balance and self-care a high priority every day, amidst all of her incredible passion-fueled projects. Related, Heather and her sister also made the tough decision to step back from their opportunity-rich fashion accessory business in order to pursue their greater desire to write children's books.

Heather intently prioritizes what is most important to her for each day, does the best she can for those areas, and lets the rest of it go. We have so much to learn from her!

Additional Show Notes:

See blog for links to

Heather's book

Heather's website (and be sure to check out her shop)

Song credit: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

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AP 000: Introduction Nov 06, 2016

Show notes

In this episode our host,Monica Packer, introduces herself and tells some background of her story as a recovering perfectionist, turned apathetic dreamer, and now a balanced achiever. Monica also speaks to her hopes behind starting this podcast.

Music cred: "Sweet Promise" by Nicolai Heidlas

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