Welcome to Transformation Talk. Every Thursday for a year, starting in September 2012, I’ll post an interview with someone who is a force for good in the world. These men and women have either deepened their passion or found their calling after experiencing a loss, trauma or diagnosis.

I want to broaden the conversation around grief and its transformative power. My hope is that in their words you’ll find echoes of your story. In their inspired actions, you’ll see yourself and your immense possibility.

*Special Request: The technology of Skype is amazing and imperfect. Please listen with your heart and forgive the occasional blips on the screen.

Today is the 50th and final interview in the year-long series. Holy wow! I can hardly believe it. What a year it has been. I had no idea what I was taking on when I had the idea for this in the summer of 2012. I’ll be posting some thoughts on the whole process soon, but right now I’d like to introduce Christina Rasmussen of Second Firsts.

Christina’s husband died of colon cancer, leaving her a young widow with two little girls. Her experiences after this profound loss eventually led her to found Second Firsts, a warm and wonderful community where she shares her Re-entry Model for living after loss. Her first book, Second Firsts: Live, Laugh and Love Again will be hitting bookstores this fall. Today she shares her powerful story of loss and transformation. I’ve long been a fan of Christina’s writing and work, and am thrilled to have her here in the final Transformation Talk interview.

Bio and link to download the audio version are below. Running time is 38 minutes. If you’re receiving this via email, click through the title to view the video.

Right-click or Control-click here to download the audio version.

From her website, Second Firsts:

As the founder of Second Firsts, Christina Rasmussen spends her time speaking, coaching and helping thousands of people to rebuild, reclaim and re-launch their whole lives — using the most powerful tool for personal reinvention: the human mind. Before creating Second Firsts, Christina worked as a therapist + crisis intervention specialist. But after losing her husband to colon cancer, Christina experienced the agony of sudden loss, firsthand. With two daughters in tow, she began the tender process of transforming her tragedy into a new career, a renewed sense of purpose, and a life of joy + laughter. Second Firsts was born. But as she points out: “This has never been about my story. This is about the work of Re-Entry. It’s about choosing to dance, laugh, love + live again.”

Christina’s first book — Second Firsts: Live, laugh and love Again — will be released by Hay House in the fall of 2013. She’ll also open the doors to her new action oriented non profit social network — The Life Starters — in early 2014.

“If you’re lost. . . if you’re gone. . . if you can barely absorb the words on this screen. . . I want you to hold this truth in your heart: when it’s your time to go, you won’t wish you’d spent more time grieving — you’ll wish you’d spent more time living.” Connect with Christina — and 77,000+ Second Firsts fans — on Facebook and 20,000 followers on Twitter.

Welcome to Transformation Talk. Every Thursday for a year, starting in September 2012, I’ll post an interview with someone who is a force for good in the world. These men and women have either deepened their passion or found their calling after experiencing a loss, trauma or diagnosis.

I want to broaden the conversation around grief and its transformative power. My hope is that in their words you’ll find echoes of your story. In their inspired actions, you’ll see yourself and your immense possibility.

*Special Request: The technology of Skype is amazing and imperfect. Please listen with your heart and forgive the occasional blips on the screen.

Today’s interview is with jewelry artist Natasha Wozniak of Natasha Wozniak Designs. When I first met Natasha last year, I was struck by how unique her work is. Then I read the story of how she came to work with metal and I knew she needed to be a part of this series. Natasha talks about some of the major turning points in her life – her father’s death when she was 13, her two years of studying and making statues in Nepal, and living in New York on and after 9/11.

Bio and link to download the audio version are below. Running time is 30 minutes. If you’re receiving this via email, click through the title to view the video.

Right-click or Control-click here to download the audio version.

Here is Natasha, in her own words:

Welcome to Transformation Talk. Every Thursday for a year, starting in September 2012, I’ll post an interview with someone who is a force for good in the world. These men and women have either deepened their passion or found their calling after experiencing a loss, trauma or diagnosis.

I want to broaden the conversation around grief and its transformative power. My hope is that in their words you’ll find echoes of your story. In their inspired actions, you’ll see yourself and your immense possibility.

*Special Request: The technology of Skype is amazing and imperfect. Please listen with your heart and forgive the occasional blips on the screen.

Today’s interview is with intimacy coach and founder of the Hot Love Revolution, Michele Lisenbury Christensen.  After becoming a mother, she realized she couldn’t stay in her marriage if the level of physical intimacy remained the same, but she also didn’t want to leave her husband and the father of her child. So she set out on a quest to make “monogamy the hottest place on earth”.

This is from her website and I think it explains the revolution beautifully:

“Your body, your mind, and your spirit all suffer when you settle for lukewarm love.  And what an insult to the amazing person you married, to have a less-than-amazing connection between you?!  When the two of you tap Hot Love, it’s like a (safe!) nuclear reactor: you light up not only your bodies and hearts, but your careers, your parenting, your creativity, and your social activism. Intimacy is the most potent source of human power there is.  You can harness it to create anything.”
~ Michele Lisenbury Christensen

A quick note: there are adult topics of conversation in this interview. It’s not for little ears, or the workplace (unless you have headphones).

Bio and link to download the audio version are below. Running time is 40 minutes. If you’re receiving this via email, click through the title to view the video.

Right-click or Control-click here to download the audio version.

Michele Lisenbury Christensen instigates everyday sensuality using yoga, brain science, and candid tales of personal trials and triumphs.  In the past 15 years, she’s co-crafted a playful smokin’ 12+ year marriage, had two happy kids, and been a trusted advisor to more than 2000 couples, business owners, and high-level corporate leaders around the world.  She helps men masterfully handle their partners,  women open to receive, and couples create lasting love and renewable passion.

Toe-curling pleasure on a daily basis gives Michele the rocket-fuel to serve and scintillate her clients and her readers at www.hotloverevolution.com.  Visit now to take the free Hot Love Check-Up and learn what’s limiting the intimacy and pleasure in your relationship.

Welcome to Transformation Talk. Every Thursday for a year, starting in September 2012, I’ll post an interview with someone who is a force for good in the world. These men and women have either deepened their passion or found their calling after experiencing a loss, trauma or diagnosis.

I want to broaden the conversation around grief and its transformative power. My hope is that in their words you’ll find echoes of your story. In their inspired actions, you’ll see yourself and your immense possibility.

*Special Request: The technology of Skype is amazing and imperfect. Please listen with your heart and forgive the occasional blips (or barks) on the screen.

Today’s interview is with stone sculptor Molly Greist. Her work with stone began when digging up a massive stone in her yard felt like what she had to do after the sudden death of her 10 month old son in 1989. Today she talks eloquently about how working with stone taught her about life and death, led her to gratitude and became a beautiful metaphor for living with grief.

Bio and link to download the audio version are below. Running time is 37 minutes. If you’re receiving this via email, click through the title to view the video.


Right-click or Control-click here to download the audio version.

Molly Greist began carving stone in 1989, after the loss of her 10-month-old son, Peter, in an automobile accident. Her son’s name, Peter, means rock, and this connection proved to be of powerful significance in Molly’s journeying through grief and loss. Inspired by the stone work and devout faith of stone sculptor, James W. Washington Jr., Molly was drawn to carving stone for strength and healing. She began trusting her process, feeling that there was a force greater than her self working with her. With hammer in one hand and chisel in the other, Molly began chipping her way out of the pain and darkness of grief.

Find her at http://mollygreist.com/

P.S. Here’s a photo from walking the labyrinth that Molly drew.