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Our podcast guest today, Lisa Congdon, is a shining example of how to use your creativity to find and express your authentic self.

Lisa is an award-winning fine artist, illustrator, and writer who is widely accomplished despite being self-taught and not achieving career momentum until she was nearly 40 years old.

Based in Portland, Oregon, she now makes art for clients around the globe, including Target, Amazon, Google, Warby Parker, The Library of Congress, and MoMA. Oh, and by the way, she has also authored ten (!) books.

One morning I opened an email from my literary agency and saw that they were featuring a young artist by the name of Sam Onche. I was instantly captivated by his illustrations filled with bold colors, expressive images, and intense facial expressions. They gave me chills all over my body!

I knew immediately that I wanted to meet him and hear more about his story. So I invited him to come on the Cracking Open podcast, and I'm so deeply pleased that he said yes.

Over 20 million people are suffering right now from substance abuse, often in silence. This secrecy around addiction creates shame which then increases the addiction, which then increases the shame.

This vicious cycle can only be broken if we first break the stigma of addiction and the silence and shame that perpetuates it. This week's guest on the Cracking Open podcast is Reverend Jeff Grant, and he's here to do just that.

Today's episode on the Cracking Open podcast is someone who I would consider a cherished guide in my professional journey over the last two decades.

Mary Pipher, Ph.D. is a truly extraordinary psychologist who specializes in women, trauma, and the effect of culture on our mental health.

My honored guest today is Mark Dahir, the CEO of Heart Ministry Center, a non-profit organization based in Omaha. Their mission is to provide healthcare, food, and a way forward for people severely affected by poverty, and Mark had an unquestionably positive impact on the company, its employees, and the community they serve over the many years he was a part of it.

Mark and I had our deeply heartfelt conversation, which you can hear on the podcast today, back in May.

On August 3rd, just 3 weeks ago, Mark suddenly and unexpectedly died from a massive heart attack.

Today's guest is Emily Paulson – a writer, Certified Professional Recovery Coach, TEDx Speaker, and the Founder of Sober Mom Squad. She is passionate about ending the shame and stigma of mental health and substance use disorders, and her own recovery path is focused on ruthless honesty, grace, self-love, and the belief that sharing our truth with each other is the best resource of all.

One of my favorite things I did during my break was re-listen to all of the amazing guests that have visited the Cracking Open podcast thus far. And – WOW! We have had some spectacular guests in Seasons 1-4! I was astonished all over again by the profound wisdom, intriguing conversations, and depth and vulnerability of every single guest that has come on the podcast.

In fact, I found myself in such deep awe and gratitude, that I decided to gather some of my favorite clips from the past four seasons and put together a recap episode filled with golden nuggets of wisdom that were shared by some of our guests.

Today’s guest on Cracking Open, Suzanne Anderson, MA, is one of the most beautiful examples of The Lighthouse I have ever come across in my life.

Suzanne is the founder of The Mysterial Woman, a psychologist, coach, leadership consultant, transformational teacher, and author of the newly released memoir & guidebook You Make Your Path By Walking. Her pioneering work in guiding women to awaken their full Feminine and Masculine strengths combines insights and practices from ancient wisdom, depth psychology, and modern neuroscience.

The topic of boundaries was one of the first things I studied in my graduate school program – how to create boundaries as a therapist and how to teach and encourage clients to create their own boundaries in order to have healthier relationships and make better choices.

Regardless of where you may be in your journey with boundaries, we can all acknowledge the importance of having healthy boundaries in our lives.

Today's guest, Melissa Urban, is a total boundary badass and an authority on helping people create lifelong healthy habits. She is the co-founder and CEO of Whole30, a 30-day program created to help you curb your cravings and bad habits, boost your metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and calm your immune system.

How is your mental health these days?In recent years, our society has grown more accustomed to discussing this very important subject. We have normalized checking in with ourselves and each other, increased our compassion for those who are struggling, and have more resources than ever available to us to educate and guide us toward improving our mental health. Dr. Christina Bjorndal, ND is on our podcast today, and she is considered an authority in treating mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and eating disorders using a naturopathic physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual approach.