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As a 6-year-old, I remember deciding I’m not going to be fearful; I’m going to be furious. -Jodi Tolman

When your childhood is fractured by emotional abuse and the threat of violence, it’s easy to lack confidence and lose your way as an adult.  For Jodi Tolman, there have been plenty of mistakes and regrets, but there have also been incredible triumphs in her life.   Her secret weapon?  resiliency!  Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jodi adored her mother and feared her father, who she describes as “an angry man who would reach for his belt.” The youngest of three children, she recalls making herself small and invisible so that she could hide beneath the dining room buffet cabinet when things got loud and scary at her house.  Says Jodi:   “I thought my mother could save me.  My safety was in her arms. “ An unstoppable force of nature,  Jodi has experienced 27 different career iterations.  Looking back, she regrets her decision to drop out of college one month before graduation at the University of Ohio, but Jodi wanted to be a singer, just like her mother.   In this interview, she shares her experiences as a singing waitress at the Improv in Los Angeles and New York, where she worked alongside Jay Leno and Robin Williams.   A seasoned voice-over talent, business-to-business pro, and sales consultant,  Jodi also spent 15 years working with senior citizens as they transitioned from their homes to senior living communities.  Married three times, Jodi is the proud mother of three children:  one born naturally, one by adoption, and one by a donor egg.   These days, she talks to parents in the throws of infertility, answering their questions and sharing her story.  Say Jodi:  “Parenting comes from the doing, not from the pregnancy”  Her memoir One from Each Column is planned for release in 2025.  A sought-after public speaker, Jodi’s keynote address, “Triumph Over Trauma: Inspiring Belief That Life-Long Dreams Can Still Come True, “ includes her radical theory about childhood abuse.   #childhoodtrauma #resilience #fertility #adoption  

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A concussion is a broken brain. And it doesn’t have to be just a hit to the head. It is an impact on your body that moves up to your brain. -Lynne Becker

Welcome to part 2 of a concussion story every mom, dad, coach, caregiver, and healthcare professional needs to hear. The single mother of two, Lynne Becker’s daughters were both athletes, but when her daughter Natalie was hit at point-blank range with a soccer ball, she got the phone call no parent wants to receive. Natalie was knocked unconscious. The athletic trainer reported that she couldn’t speak or remember her name. This jarring hit to the 17-year-old’s head would unfold in a journey that lasted over 4 years and included 26 brain bleeds, changes to her personality, and the need for homeschooling. In this interview, Lynne shares that her expertise as a biostatistician and an epidemiologist was a secret weapon that would lead to unlocking the many mysteries of how traumatic brain injuries or TBIs are reported and observed. While caring for Natalie full-time, Lynne lost her job but was soon recruited by the Department of Defense and tasked with building a real-world, brain injury database for Special Operations teams. As she began compiling data on Seals and Green Berets, she asked herself: “What is the common denominator? What makes the injury of a 30-year-old Green Beret in a bomb blast similar to a 17-year-old girl injured by a hit to the side of the head with a soccer ball?” Thanks to Lynne’s work with the DOD, she learned about the use of bio-neuro-feedback for the treatment of TBI, and in just 5 sessions, Natalie stopped napping every day and was even able to complete her college degree. Born and raised in a little “whistle-stop” town in upstate New York, Lynne is the founder of powerofpatients.com, where she is devoted to helping those with brain injuries actively engage in their health and well-being. #concussion #TBI #thestorybehindhersuccess

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Listen to me. My daughter walks into walls. She sleeps 20 hours a day. -Lynne Becker

Back in the day, if 2 athletes smashed into one another, coaches would keep them in the game. Not anymore. Traumatic brain injuries, known as TBI, are serious business, and if you doubt this fact, just listen to this interview with Lynne Becker. A biostatistician and epidemiologist with an MS in public health, Lynne has spent her entire career analyzing charts and graphs, looking for clues that lead to better medical outcomes for patients. The single mother of two girls, she got a phone call from her younger daughter’s boarding school hours after Natalie was hit in the head intentionally with a soccer ball by a male student at point-blank range. The force of the blow knocked the 17-year-old unconscious. The athletic trainer told Lynne: “Your daughter can’t talk. She doesn’t know her name or what day it is.” It was at this moment that Lynne’s momma bear instincts, combined with a lifetime of amassing medical information, came into play. Lynne takes us through her constant frustration with her daughter’s school administrators, the school nurse, multiple hospitals, interns, doctors, and neurologists who missed 28 brain bleeds. “Concussion is a broken brain says Lynne, and the patient is never the same.” In fact, it took nearly 4+ years for her daughter to reclaim any normalcy in her young life. Fueled by the power of mother love, Lynne began gathering vital research so that patients and doctors could understand more about concussions. As the creator of powerofpatients.com, this unstoppable mother is a champion for patients, caregivers, and providers with the first patient-led brain injury data warehouse. For a dose of powerful storytelling and vital information on #concussion, just hit that download button.

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Be true to yourself. Know who you are as a person because people will try to break you. If you have a strong sense of self-esteem, you will be successful. -Megan McShane

In the spotlight: Megan McShane. She spent 13 years working for global coaching sensation Tony Robbins and years later, developed the concept for Your Best Life Now www.yblnow.com with two business partners. Designed to bring together four key parts of a person’s life, Your Best Life Now is a results-driven, membership-based mastermind community focused on what Megan calls “the wheel of life”: faith, family, fitness, and finance for entrepreneurs. While most coaching models are based on the individual, Your Best Life Now is focused on inclusivity. Says Megan: “You want to grow with the people around you, and if you are not growing together, it causes strain in a relationship. With our coaching, it’s all about the whole.” Members of Your Best Life Now receive a year’s worth of business coaching and personal coaching, plus 3 empowering live events per year. Born and raised near the Canadian border in the small town of Ogdensburg, New York, Megan is the daughter of a legendary NCAA hockey coach and a labor & delivery nurse. When her Dad’s coaching gig took the family from St. Lawrence University to Providence College, the family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, with Megan playing sports year-round, including girl’s ice hockey. Also a certified yoga instructor, Megan is a true believer in the power of positive thinking. “It’s really easy to see the negative, but it is just as easy to see the good. Mindset is everything. We live in a world that’s go, go, go, but it is in the quiet moments that creativity comes to life.” For a 20 minute glimpse into living your best life now, just hit that download button. #mindset #empowerment #coaching #thestorybehindhersuccess