AUTHOR

GV25-26. Dr Josh McConkey on Fatherhood

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Our Global Veterans with Sara Troy and her guest Dr Josh McConkey, on air from July 1st

It is critical to highlight a growing crisis that’s often underreported and often ignored: the decline of strong, engaged fatherhood, and its impact on the future of our nation.

Dr. Josh McConkey, candidate for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, combat veteran, emergency physician, author, and dad of three kids, argues that restoring fatherhood is essential to reverse rising youth anxiety, fractured families, and weakened communities. His new book, ‘Be the Weight Behind the Spear, calls on men to re-embrace their role as present, purposeful fathers and leaders, both at home and in society.

Dr. McConkey brings a unique, boots-on-the-ground perspective. With experience leading soldiers in war zones and caring for patients on the front lines, Dr. McConkey is uniquely suited to provide a perspective on resilience and leadership. He’s seen what happens when young people lack guidance, and the impact when military dads come home from the battlefield to raise kids with discipline, resilience, and heart. He believes America’s healing starts with men who lead their families with strength, honor, and emotional presence. “Fatherhood is not optional — it’s foundational,” believes Dr. McConkey.

Be the Weight Behind the Spear is more than a book—it’s a mission to restore character, courage, and conviction in today’s fathers, sons, and mentors.

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Military dads have a unique perspective on leadership that extends far beyond the battlefield. Their experiences teach us valuable lessons about leading with integrity, purpose, and calm under pressure — qualities that are just as vital at home as they are in combat. Communities can play a powerful role in supporting and inspiring men to show up with courage and compassion, creating spaces where vulnerability and strength walk hand in hand. By embracing practical steps to rekindle the American spirit of fatherhood — from active presence to emotional resilience — we strengthen not just our families, but the very fabric of our nation. There is a deep and undeniable link between fatherhood and national resilience; when fathers are empowered, connected, and engaged, the ripple effect is felt across generations. The battlefield may be far away, but the mission at home is just as vital, and the lessons learned in the service can guide us all toward stronger, more loving families.

Dr. McConkey’s credentials include:

  • Commander, 459th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base
  • Combat flight surgeon with 340+ flight hours (90 in combat zones)
  • Author of the award-winning book “Be the Weight Behind the Spear,” recently nominated for a Pulitzer Prize
  • Founder of The Weight Behind the Spear Foundation
  • Recently announced candidate for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina

AMAZON

https://www.weightbehindthespear.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-mcconkey-md

https://www.youtube.com/channel

https://www.instagram.com/joshmcconkeymd

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C25-17. Ivana Chubbuck. “Power of the Actor”.

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Ivana Chubbuck, on air from April 29th

Renowned acting teacher and bestselling author Ivana Chubbuck. The updated edition of her book, THE POWER OF THE ACTOR(Avery/Penguin Random House), was published on April 29th. Ivana speaks to anyone who is serious about overcoming hurdles, hardships, and inner demons to achieve their goals. Ivana will share with your listeners tools and exercises to turn conflicts, traumas, insecurities, fears and shame into positive forces to fuel achievement, with a focus on winning.

What do Halle Berry, Beyoncé, Gal Gadot, Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone, Eva Mendes and Shia LaBeouf have in common besides fame and fortune? They can all credit a significant part of their skills to acting teacher Ivana Chubbuck.

THE POWER OF THE ACTOR is a revolutionary guide that unlocks the secrets of her transformative Chubbuck Technique. In addition to star-studded stories, The Power of the Actor offers a panoramic map for anyone serious about professional transformation. Her dynamic 12-step approach shows, actors, writers and directors how to unlock emotional depth and create performances that ring with authenticity. It’s also for anyone who is serious about overcoming hurdles, hardships, and inner demons to achieve their goals. 

Drawing on psychology, behavioural science, cultural anthropology and examples of real-life heroes, Ivana takes the search for rich inner emotional information to the next level by focusing on winning. Ivana teaches people how to access their emotions to not just feel them, but also use them with dimension and power. 

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IVANA CHUBBUCK is the creator of the widely adopted Chubbuck Technique, an acting method taught in universities and in accredited studios all over the world. Her students — Halle Berry, Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Gal Gadot, Sylvester Stallone, Eva Mendes and Shia LaBeouf, among thousands, have gone on to win major awards, including Oscars, Emmys and Tonys. She lives in Los Angeles, where she runs the Ivana Chubbuck Studio. Her daughter, Claire Chubbuck, an award-winning filmmaker and Chubbuck teacher, is the legacy for furthering Ivana’s mission of empowerment through the arts. 

The Power of the Actor Book Jacket.jpg

AMAZON

 https://www.ivanachubbuck.com

https://www.youtube.com/c/IvanaChubbuckOfficial

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C25-17. Nick Marshall “Try Again”

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Nick Marshall, on air from April 29th

Nick Marshall, New York City-based writer, actor, director, producer and author of the new book, Try Again: An Ex-Con’s Path from Prison to Prosperity. This is about the struggle, hope (both loss of and holding on to), grit and perseverance. It’s a story about working hard and trying again, even when we feel the odds are stacked against us — and about the desire to be a person of humility and integrity. 

Nick’s journey back into society has been anything but easy. With a criminal record shadowing his every step, finding steady work and forming new relationships meant constantly confronting and disclosing his past. Despite these barriers, he poured himself into the hospitality industry, relentlessly climbing the ranks until he found himself at the center of New York City’s elite nightlife, working at iconic clubs like Avenue, The Darby, 1OAK, and Up&Down. But the path from suburban New Jersey kid to state prison inmate sentenced for armed robbery taught him hard, humbling lessons. Immersed in the glitz of A-list celebrity culture, Nick eventually lost himself in the illusion, costing him not only his career but his mental health and sense of stability. Through it all, his grounding force has always been storytelling, reading, and writing became his anchors, offering clarity amid chaos. Now pursuing his lifelong dream of being an artist, actor, director, and writer, Nick channels his pain into purpose. He co-founded The Collective NY, a not-for-profit theatre and film company dedicated to the authentic creative expression. His directorial debut, A Long Road, currently in pre-production, reflects his journey, a testament to the resilience, redemption, and the long path to healing. Nick continues to face challenges tied to PTSD, anxiety, OCD, and addiction, but through art, he finds strength, meaning, and a connection.

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Nick Marshall’s story is one of grit, reinvention, and the price of chasing dreams. At just 21, he walked out of prison after serving three years for armed robbery, carrying the weight of his past and the uncertainty of a future as an ex-con. Though he had a steady job, a roof over his head, and the basics for survival, something deeper called to him, his need to create, to express, to be more than his record.

Willing to risk stability for purpose, Nick started at the bottom of the hospitality industry, eventually climbing his way into New York City’s high-end nightlife. From bartending to brand ambassador, he moved through the velvet ropes of celebrity-studded clubs like Avenue, The Darby, 1OAK, and Up&Down. Surrounded by fame, luxury, and endless access, Nick looked like he had made it. But beneath the surface, the fast life took its toll on his mental health, his identity, and the very dream that started it all.

Try Again: An Ex-Con’s Path from Prison to Prosperity is Nick’s raw, inspiring account of rebuilding a life against the odds. It’s about losing everything, more than once, and still choosing to rise. Today, he’s a writer, actor, director, and co-founder of The Collective NY, a not-for-profit theater and film company where he brings stories to life—his own and others’. His journey isn’t just for those who’ve been incarcerated, it’s for anyone who’s ever had to start over, question their worth, or fight to become who they were always meant to be. He is currently in pre-production for his first directorial feature, A Long Road, based on his experience as an ex-convict trying to reintegrate into society, and a scripted series based on his experience in a New Jersey state prison. Try Again is his first book. 

AMAZON

ALSO BUY HERE

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-marshall

https://www.instagram.com/thenickmarshall

https://vivaeditions.com/book

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NA25-15. Ian Fee,s Wild Ride to Sobriety

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

Nature of Addictions with Sara Troy and her guest Ian Fee, on air from April 16th

My wild ride to sobriety, from Drunken oblivion to profound clarity.

“I was the life of the party when I was drunk, and I’m still the life of the party today.” —Ian Fee

Buying into the myth of the “work hard, play harder” mentality, Ian Fee immersed himself in a culture that celebrated excessive drinking. But as the days turned into years, alcohol became more than just a means of entertainment and high finance; it became a destructive force that eroded his personal relationships, wreaked havoc on his body, and clouded his judgment.

In Wild Ride to Sobriety, Fee tells a remarkable tale of a man who found the courage and determination to face the skeletons in his closet and achieve healing and personal growth. From therapy and self-reflection to embracing vulnerability and restoration, he made a conscious choice to benefit from the gift of sobriety without sacrificing the enjoyment of life.

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I wrote a book to make a positive impact on others to be a better husband, mother, son, daughter, business owner, and friend. My experience of thinking booze was my superpower building my business, while neglecting my family coupled with 2 failed marriages. I found sobriety 7 years ago, and boy was it a game changer for life, Business, Relationships and most importantly, ME. I have lost 80lbs, found health and wellness as my new addiction, and aim to be a better person every day.  I live every day to make a positive impact on people and bring epic positive Energy to the people around me.  My new superpower is to share my story and make an impact on others on the benefits of sobriety, health, mindset, stack baby wins, nothing good came out of drinking NOTHING. The power of looking inward and forgiving your younger self, believing in your current self and creating your future self.

I’m a fellow Canadian. I was born in New Westminster, then moved to Bellingham till I was 12.

AMAZON

ianwfee@hotmail.com

Phone: 2065713068

makeitgreat.me

www.linkedin.com/in/ian-fee-

www.facebook.com/people/Make-It-Great

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AK25-15. Janna Brooke Wallack “Naked Girl” Novel

Self Discovery Wisdom Podcast

An Author’s Kiss with Sara Troy and her guest Janna Brooke Wallack, on air from April 15th

“Naked Girl is a story of the enduring power of love in a family of lunatics,” says Janna Brooke Wallack of her debut novel, a poignant piece of literary fiction. Though not autobiographical, it reads like a memoir. Wallack’s enduring voice and fresh vision evoke the storytelling of masterful novelists like Ann Patchett, Kristin Hannah, and Zadie Smith. Naked Girl is a captivating and moving story that explores the dysfunction of a family, the struggles of ‘fitting in’ and the power of hope, humor, and imperfect love. 

Growing up motherless in 1980s Miami Beach, Sienna and her little brother, Siddhartha get by with their charismatic and capricious father, Jackson Jones. When a small windfall relocates them to a condemned mansion on the water, the siblings are forbidden traditional schooling and left to live off the land. As Jackson uses their new home to create a communal cult, the siblings are forced to raise themselves in a carefree, chaotic oasis. Living amidst the vagrant seekers who take up residence in Jackson’s utopia, Sienna and Siddhartha strive to protect their unconventional family.

Janna Brooke Wallack writes with warmth, compassion and comic brilliance in Naked Girl, an enthralling debut novel brimming with the adventure, resilience, humor and heartbreak of growing up on the fringe of decency and longing for the unattainable comfort of home.

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Janna Brooke Wallack’s debut novel, Naked Girl, has been named a semifinalist for the 2024 Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize in fiction. She also received recognition from Book Viral’s Golden Quill, Book Reader’s Association Group’s BRAG Medallion, and a silver medal in the Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY Award for Literary/Contemporary Fiction.

Her stories have been published or shortlisted by literary publications such as Hobart, Upstreet, Glimmer Train Press, American Literary Review, and many more. Her short story “Campaigning” was a finalist for the Lascaux Prize in Short Fiction. This novel’s prologue, “Five Pictures” was a finalist for Glimmer Train Press’s Short Story Award for New Writers, and her story “Cat and Rose” received a Pushcart nomination by The MacGuffin.

In addition to her writing career, she’s worked as a grant writer, a substance abuse prevention counselor, a wetlands manual editor, a theatre production assistant, and an actress.  After spending a couple of years in Hong Kong, she moved to Hoboken, NJ. She raised five children and moved to Stone Ridge in the Catskills of New York, where she ran a permaculture gentleman’s farm.

“In Wallack’s novel, a brother and sister survive a shocking upbringing of drugs, cults, and neglect.… “An endearing and fascinating perspective on a uniquely volatile and dangerous childhood.” —Kirkus Reviews

AMAZON

https://jannabrookewallack.com

www.facebook.com/jannabrooke.cohen

www.instagram.com/jannakowan

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