C25-20. Travel is in Zach Smith’s DNA.

May 19, 2025May 18, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Zachary Bonaventure Smith. On air from May 20th

My “why” comes from nearly 20 years of deep learning, personal growth, and navigating the highs and lows of both life and business. I now feel ready—and called—to share parts of my story. What I offer is my awareness, my inner compass guiding me to the next best choice, and the wisdom that comes only through lived experience. I believe in the power of sharing, not as answers, but as reminders—that in our own lives, the journey never really ends. The hardships, the detours, the moments that shake us—they’re not obstacles to avoid, but experiences to be lived through and learned from.

Trusting yourself is the path to personal growth and authentically expressing your unique gifts. If you have a point of view, you owe it to yourself to follow through and live in congruence. Narratives are constantly swirling around, and it’s a test to avoid wasting your time and energy following them. We all have an internal compass that, if ignored, choice after choice, year after year, eventually this world will start to feel and ultimately become overwhelming. I have learned how to navigate by making lots of mistakes but also by testing how important trusting our own light is, even in the face of one of the most challenging and complicated industries aligned and steady actions, step by step can lead you up the mountain…where you realize there is yet another mountain and another mountain. Understanding where you find yourself in the process and ultimately having a LOT of patience is a critical and timeless skill to fall back on.

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When I’m not thinking about making travel easier and more transformative for everyone, I’m usually wrangling my two little kids to finish their food, pick up their messes, and to spend more time coloring! My wife and I love being parents and the challenges of keeping our kids IRL as much as possible. Travel is in the DNA of our relationship, as we met on a JetBlue flight from Seattle to New York. As we like to say, it’s been one really long date ever since!

Born in Eugene, Oregon, I was raised by idealist parents who, after growing up in Chicago, embraced the back-to-the-land movement of the ’70s. My parents are still together, and I have two younger brothers.

After graduating from college, I embarked on a one-way journey to Oaxaca, Mexico, which sparked a transformative adventure through Central America. Along the way, a series of serendipitous encounters drew me into the world of tourism, and, remarkably, I ended up launching a business with the very first person I shared my vision with.

Adult life: Lived in Costa Rica (4+ yrs), Seattle (9+ yrs), Los Angeles (6+ yrs)

My Free Giveaway: $100 Travel Credit. Referral Link

https://www.anywhere.com/selfdiscoverywisdom

https://www.anywhere.com

b@anywhere.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anywhereincceo

https://instagram.com/anywhere

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All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniors anthology and help to bring this book to awareness.

SCL25-19. Cathy Holt & Unstoppable Women

May 12, 2025May 11, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Sisterhood of Common Sense Love with Sara Troy and her guest Cathy Holt, on air from May 13th

Unstoppable Women: Owning Our Voices and Leading Change

This is more than a book—it’s a movement. Unstoppable Women is a bold call to action for women ready to lead with authenticity, challenge systemic barriers, and create meaningful change on their own terms. Packed with powerful stories, practical tools, and Cathy Holt’s signature L.E.A.D.S.™ framework, it’s a guide for every woman who’s ever felt underestimated, unheard, or out of place in traditional leadership spaces. Whether you’re leading in your career, community, or personal life, this book will help you rise with purpose, confidence, and intention.

It’s for every woman who’s ever been told to tone it down.

For the ones who’ve stayed quiet when they knew they had something powerful to say.
For the leaders ready to make real change, but on their own terms.

If you’ve ever felt like your voice didn’t matter, or your leadership didn’t quite “fit the mold” this book was written for you.

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Cathy Holt is the joyful mother of a gifted daughter leader, an internationally renowned speaker, a bestselling author, and a lifelong advocate for women’s rights. Her book, Unstoppable Women: Owning Our Voices, Leading Change, is dedicated to empowering women as leaders and change-makers.

Cathy has spent over 35 years advancing gender equality through university courses in Women and Gender Studies, and political, policy, and advocacy work, including collaborations with the United Nations and global NGOs. As the co-founder of DEI Consultants, she champions Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices to foster belonging and drive transformative change.

Through her coaching business, Cathy guides women through her L.E.A.D.S. framework to recognize their innate strengths, amplify their voices, and strategically lead with authenticity and impact.

Cathy has appeared on dozens of podcasts and UN panels to promote women as leaders and open spaces for their voices to be heard.

AMAZON

CATHY IS ALSO AN AUTHOR OF THE MISSION ACCEPTED 262 WOMEN, FIND THE BOOK HERE AND HEAR MANY OF THE AUTHORS IN THIS BOOK ON PODCASTS WITH SARA.

GO HERE

www.cathyholt.com

cathy@catherine-holt.com.

https://www.facebook.com/kzcarlson

www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-carlson-

www.instagram.com/kathleencarlson2023

https://www.straightupsuccess.com

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25-19. Discovering your Courage

May 12, 2025May 11, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Sara’s View of Life with Sara Troy, on air from May 13th

This week, I’m diving into the powerful themes of courage, strength, resilience, and the human spirit’s unyielding capacity to rise. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing extraordinary individuals who have faced trauma, violence, and unimaginable hardships—yet emerged with greater clarity, purpose, and strength. One such guest is Brenda Coffey, whose story is not only cinematic but a testament to raw survival and unshakable will. Her journey, like many others I’ve shared, reminded me of my own past times when I faced violence, rejection, and struggled to find my place as a dyslexic empath in a world that didn’t understand me.

I’ve spent much of my life choosing people to fix or nurture, often at the cost of my own well-being. But self-discovery has taught me that being of service does not mean sacrificing the self. I now share the tools, wisdom, and soulful guides who can help others heal, but only if they’re willing to walk the path. Through my podcast, Self Discovery Wisdom, I’ve had the honour of hearing 3,000+ stories, each a spark of transformation. Whether it’s surviving abuse, redefining self-worth, or discovering one’s true design through Human Design, numerology, or my True Colours method, each journey brings us home to ourselves. You don’t need to face life-threatening danger to be courageous; sometimes the biggest bravery lies in choosing to live your truth.

My invitation to you: trust your instincts, listen to your inner knowing, and honor your unique flavor in the grand buffet of life. And for my fellow seniors, your story still matters. If you’d like to be part of our anthology, Our Forgotten Seniors, visit OrchardOfWisdom.org. We want your voice, your truth, your legacy. Because no matter your age, your light is still meant to shine.

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AMAZON

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All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniors anthology and help to bring this book to awareness.

C25-19. Barbara Anne. The Power of Being Seen

May 12, 2025May 11, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Barbara Anee, on air from May 13th

The Power of Being Seen — Portraits as a Path to Self-Worth and Legacy

For years, I watched people, especially women, who shrank from the camera, saying they weren’t photogenic, not ready, or not enough. But behind those words were deeper stories of self-doubt, invisibility, and lost identity. My journey as a portrait artist became one of personal discovery as well: I realized that through intentional portrait experiences, I could help people see themselves in a new light, worthy, powerful, and beautifully human. I need to share this topic because being seen is not about vanity; it’s about visibility, healing, and legacy. This message is for anyone who has ever felt unseen in their personal or professional life and is ready to step into their own story with confidence and purpose.

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Barbara Anne is a portrait artist and entrepreneur whose journey began far from the camera lens. With a background in entrepreneurship, business coaching and community leadership, she spent years helping others grow their brands and voices—while quietly hiding from the spotlight herself. After a period of deep personal reflection and a growing frustration with how women, especially in business, undervalue their self-image, Barbara transformed her photography hobby into a powerful tool to change lives and never looked back. What had begun as a creative outlet quickly became a calling: to help people reclaim their sense of worth, one portrait at a time. Today, she runs Barbara Anne Photography, where she creates empowering portrait experiences that turn self-doubt into confidence and photographs into legacy artwork.

BarbaraAnne.ca

info@barbaraanne.ca

www.facebook.com/BarbaraAnnePhotography

www.instagram.com/barbaraannephotography

www.linkedin.com/company/barbaraannephotography

https://ca.pinterest.com/barbaraannephotography

https://www.tiktok.com/@Barbaradobbyn

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C25-19. Brenda Coffee, Maya Blue…

May 12, 2025May 11, 2025Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Brenda Coffee, on air from May 13th

It was a fairy tale until it wasn’t…

For a long time, that’s what successful businesswoman Brenda Coffee told herself whenever she dared to look back on her twenties and thirties. In Maya Blue: A Memoir of Survival, She Brenda opens up about the life she once lived—and all the secrecy, madness, trauma, abuse, and danger that came with it.

Brenda details her years married to Philip Ray, the genius who conceived and developed the first desktop computer terminal, followed by the microprocessor and the first personal computer. Their infamous and isolated home in San Antonio, Texas was known as the “Spy House on the Hill” for its scandalous history of harboring Nazis spies. It was in the basement of their historic home where Philip began spending every waking moment working on his self-destructive “project,” making cocaine from scratch — becoming addicted to it in the process.

Motivated by the rush and the rewards, Philip lived large and he took bold risks, and Brenda was on board with almost anything he wanted, whether it was adventurous, dangerous, sexual, or illegal.

After ten years of thrills and close calls, she began to question her blind loyalty when her husband seized on the idea of making real cocaine from scratch, and before long, their lives took a terrifying turn.

Philip Ray also created the first smokeless cigarette — Philip and Brenda were watched and threatened by the Big Six tobacco companies and/or the federal government for endangering their major revenue source. It was Brenda who coined the terms vape and vaping.

The sobering reality — after losing his battle with lung cancer, Philip left her with mountains of debt and a daunting fight to preserve the groundbreaking public company she helped him start.

Brenda embarked on a solo trip to Belize to reclaim the pieces of herself she’d surrendered to Philip, followed by a visit to the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Tikal—only to be forced into the jungle at gunpoint by the ruthless Guatemalan military. The United Nations estimates that between 1960 and 1996. 200,000 people were murdered, and 45,000 Los Desaparecido,s “the disappeared,” were killed by the Guatemalan military and the group that took her.

Her marriage to James Coffee, the man who made her feel safe, and his untimely death — he died unexpectedly on Christmas 2010 of cardiac arrest while out for a walk. She talks about grief and how his loss was the most difficult thing she’s experienced.

Brenda Coffee is also a breast cancer survivor, enduring 10 breast cancer surgeries and 8 rounds of chemotherapy.

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Brenda Coffee is a published writer, photographer, and filmmaker with a BA in journalism and film. An avid adventurer, dynamic speaker, and successful businesswoman, she was a managing consultant and former board member of a public company she sold to Big Pharma. Coffee is also a breast cancer survivor, having endured 10 surgeries and 8 rounds of chemotherapy.

She is the creator of two Top 10 websites, including 1010ParkPlace.com, home to her popular BRENDA’S BLOG, delivering straight-talk about finances, fashion, life, and relationships to the best-educated, wealthiest, most powerful demographic in history: women over 50. She resides in Texas.