Challenge Categories
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Kenny Fahey, Environmental Expert | Simplify
I am committed to environmental work. I love the outdoors because I believe in the elegance of good stewardship. This ethic solidified in me while living in Maine, waking up at dawn to surf the summer and winter waves. There are few times that I feel more alive than on the rugged coastline playing in the natural world. As a dual degree MBA and MS candidate, I am working to wield the power of business for a sustainable future.- Live with less.
- Live splendidly.
- Bike everywhere.
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Lindsay McLoughlin, Professional Organizer | Simplify
Simple is simply sweeter. Clearing the clutter out of your life allows you to gain a fresh perspective, have more time, and save money. As a professional organizer, I help people bring their physical space and mental state back into optimal working order.
A Neat Experience (a.k.a. organizing session) proves that the grass is always neater on the other side. No mess is too big. I want to share my professional and personal knowledge with you so that you can create and maintain organizing systems in your home, your office, and other areas of your life. I wish you peace, love, and neatness!
- “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” —William Morris
- Have a place for everything.
- Be conscious of what you own and ask yourself “do I need or want this?” before you make any purchase or bring something new into your space.
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Rebecca Parrish, MS | Spark
Relationships are an important part of supporting our wellness, which is why I chose to become a marriage and family therapist, life coach, and dedicated yoga practitioner. I help others to take advantage of their relationships, sharing tools and techniques that create stronger connections.
I see wellness as a lifestyle and healing as a focus of life’s journey. Through my own experience of healing I have learned the path is complex and includes a holistic bio-psycho-social-spiritual and relational perspective. Without nurturing our differing parts, the whole self isn’t addressed. Everything connects and is affected by everything and everyone else, and wellness is a balance that supports all these needs. With a little curiosity, everyone has the capacity to heal on their own unique path.
- Don’t underestimate the power of connection with yourself and others!
- Know you’re worth it! Don’t forget your own needs.
- Be curious! There are always other options or solutions, even if you feel stuck in the moment.
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Kayleigh Pleas, MAPP, Positive Psychology and Wellness Coach | Soul
My deep understanding and appreciation of the human capacity for balance, peace, and joy emerged from a lifetime struggling with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Despite every effort to find relief from doctors and gastroenterologists, who wanted to prescribe antidepressant medication, it was not until I learned to calm my racing mind—through breath, awareness, and self-care—that I brought peace to my manic intestines, and in the process, my life as a whole.
We live in an age of perpetual motion, and many are either unaware, or as was the case for me, do not want to acknowledge that our frantic speed of life, motivated by the belief that we are in some way lacking or “not enough,” has a serious impact on our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Originally I was looking for a quick fix to my digestion issues, but what I found was that I desperately needed a detour; I needed to reexamine how I was relating to myself and cultivate a way of living that restored harmony in my life, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I feel so blessed to have reached the place I am today—dedicated to the research and application of the tools we all need to reach our potential. Initiating and sustaining lifestyle change requires so much more than knowing what to do; it requires developing a greater vision for yourself, recognizing and utilizing your strengths, and celebrating the beautiful person you are. As a wellness and coach, I draw on scientifically proven methods from positive psychology, nutritional science, neuropsychology, and integrative medicine to address the entirety of the human person. When you take the best possible care of yourself, the universe has a funny way of reciprocating!
My three pieces of advice:
- Develop a mindfulness practice—the untrained mind succumbs to distraction. The capacity to focus one’s attention is the gateway to transformation.
- Connect with your deeply held values every day—we cannot show up to live the lives we want to live until we can articulate what we care about most.
- Practice self-compassion. Turn toward your weaknesses and challenges with the care and concern you would extend to a good friend. Harsh self-criticism undermines even our most earnest attempts to change.