In this episode, we venture into Part 2 with Elana Guerra, a college admissions navigator.  We talk about what she does to assist families in maneuvering the college applications and admissions process.  Elana, as you learned in episode 17, has fought her way to get where she is today demonstrating a never give up spirit, which is clear in her desires to help young people find their way in today's competitive college admissions world.Support the show

Elana Guerra, my Enneagram 8 sister, comes to 126 Days to tell us about overcoming numerous challenges to get where she is today.  As I touched base with Elena  recently, I learned that much in this story has changed and we will feature that in Part 3, but in this episode Elana walks us through her life as the older sister, entering college only to leave due to a pregnancy, being a single mom, back to school, and then onto achieving amazing things as an adult.  Elana, today, works to help families maneuver the college application and admissions world. She has fought to get where she is and always made the case for what her next move would be with whatever job she was holding at the time.  Elana has carved a path for herself wherever she has gone and her life & work have definitely intermingled, mixed and mashed up.Find Elana on LinkedIn here:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/elana-guerra-823000b8/.  Support the show

TRIGGER WARNING:  THIS EPISODE INCLUDES CONVERSATION ABOUT RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT & THE OVERTURN OF ROE V. WADE.With this platform, 126 Days wants to provide perspective on how women may be affected by the overturn of Roe vs. Wade. Support the show

 Suswati Basu is a writer, journalist and feminist activist from London. In 2007, she won the Emma Humphries Memorial Prize for her feminist campaigning and was also shortlisted for the Guardian Mary Stott Prize. She has worked both in China and in the UK as a journalist targeting international development issues and has been translating documentaries on human rights concerns. With an international background, she writes frequently about sexual and reproductive rights affecting home and abroad as well as social politics in Britain.Suswati tells the greatest story of being an investigative reporter for The Guardian in China only to be sent home due to her computer being hacked by....well, someone in China. Today, she is in the intelligence community so deeply she can't even talk about it while living in the UK.Another great accent telling us her story growing up in a Southeast Asian family where education was emphasized and hard work was the norm.  And, honestly I wish her grandfather could be a guest.  It's always amazing where people come from and how life is instilled in them through generations.Follow & Subscribe to Suswati's podcast, How to Be, on all major podcast platforms.IG:  @howtobe247Support the show

What a journey this woman has been on!  An interview where you feel like you're talking to yourself is like no other.   From working in insurance in Bermuda and Georgia to deciding she wasn't going to continue building someone else's dream in the UK, Leticia felt she must make a change in order to not live a life robbing her of her own dreams.Her own podcast, Choosing Her Hustle, features episodes where the conversations are with black women and focus on issues black women face in the corporate world and while working to start their own businesses.  Leticia has created a platform where stories come alive from those who have created a space where their own dreams are coming true.Leticia is a Business Mindset Coach and Owner of BlaqueRose Coaching (www.blaquerosecoaching.com).  IG:  @blaquerosecoachingSupport the show

Makeda Pennycooke is beautiful, peaceful, and authentic in ways that astound me.  I rarely feel safe in the presence of others like I do with Makeda.  In this episode, you will hear the first song ever sung on the podcast, but you'll also get a glimpse into Makeda's life where she starts in Brooklyn, NY, and manages to peel apart her life and put it all back together as she landed in Charlotte, NC.With roots in Jamaica, Makeda walks us through her foundations as a physical therapist and how growing up in religion and church which led her to later becoming a pastor and church planter.  Makeda begins to question her beliefs and even wondered if God/god existed.  Being a good rule follower, Makeda walks through whether or not what she had been taught was ever even real.  She eventually embarks on a rebuild of her internal systems to where she is today as a coach helping others find their own way.If you're someone deconstructing your religious journey, this is the episode for you.  If Makeda's story speaks to you, you can learn how she believes fear is temporary, but regret is permanent (www.makedapennycooke.com).IG:  @makedapennycookeSupport the show

Are you ready for a great Minnesota accent?  Well, this episode with Heidi Meyer has it.  Growing up on a farm meant she HAD to find a way out of her small town in order to find her way in life.  Post-secondary education wasn't expected, but she aimed for it anyway.Heidi heads off to college, finds a job, and sits there for a loooonnnnnggggg time becoming the Executive Director of Admissions for the University of Minnesota.  BUT, she wasn't happy.  She didn't feel fulfilled, but she stayed in the role until 2020 struck, brought a pandemic, and gave her the quiet needed to go inward and hear what she really desired.  There isn't a person who won't identify with some part of Heidi's story on life & work.  She grapples with the reality that we allow our work to become our identity and how a pandemic changed her world.  She asks the question about whether work was bringing her to her best place in life and begs the questions, "What have I been doing with my life?"  When's the last you asked yourself that question?During the taping of this episode, Heidi was still experiencing the empowerment of asking herself what she really wanted out of life....and wasn't sure if a job was the answer.Support the show

TRIGGER WARNING:  THIS EPISODE INCLUDES CONVERSATION ON SEXUAL ASSAULT.  PLEASE TAKE CARE  & DETERMINE IF THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU.The beautiful Maria Thrasher walks us through her trials and tribulations where she finds herself homeless, jobless, and asking "Why Me?" This amazing woman--who is ON FIRE--will inspire you to pick yourself up and learn from the hardships.  After the loss of her first child and then, the birth of her twins she speaks about how life was "just happening" and she was having to work HARD to find her way in life.  Every mother listening will identify with her and her desire to make the best life for her children.  Her children told her, "Mommy, you can't fall apart. We need you."   She got into counseling and found the survivor within herself.    Today, she runs MThrasher Media (www.mthrashermedia.com) and she is bright, beautiful and can boldly wear any color she wants.  This episode promises to life your spirit and give you the gift that is Maria Thrasher.IG:  themariabrandWebsite:  www.mthrashermedia.comSupport the show

From homeless to hero, Chef Sam Diminich has THE MOST interesting life & work story.  Just a handful of years ago, Chef Sam was struggling with addiction and not living the life he'd hoped for as a master in the kitchen.  Finding sobriety changed all that, and today Chef Sam not only has survived the devastation of COVID on the restaurant industry, but he build Your Farms Your Table serving delicious home delivered meals, became Christian McCaffrey's (and Olivia Culpo's) personal chef, while also launching his first restaurant, Restaurant Constance (named after his daughter, which will open in late 2022.  Get ready for an episode that will warm your heart and your tummy.  Also, when's the fried chicken challenge, Chef?IG:  yourfarmsyourtableWebsite: yourfarmsyourtable.comSupport the show

Corri Smith, Owner + Executive Lead of Black Wednesday, a Charlotte based PR firm walks us through her story of life & work.  Taking us on her backpacking tour, earning business through contacts, reaching out for help to start her now well-known company, Black Wednesday (which she ended up doing all on her own) to building a place where creatives can thrive through their edgy marketing and PR campaigns, Corri teaches us we can do things we often don't think we can.  Corri is incredibly authentic, real and approachable--despite an all black wardrobe and her love of the brighter side of darkness.  IG:  @blackwedcoTwitter:  @blackwedcoFacebook:  Black WednesdaySupport the show