Victoria Moran on Life Changes With Filippo

Our guest on Life Changes With Filippo Radio Show tonight was Victoria Moran. She is quite a prolific author and has much to share as you will read below or hear on our show at www.LifeChanges.ws.

Victoria Moran is the author of ten books...

...I've been writing for publication since I was a teenager. I wanted to meet the Beatles so I got a $1 press card from a teen magazine. It worked: I got into my first Beatles' press conference at fourteen, my second at fifteen, and when I was seventeen, Paul McCartney bought me a drink. That's when I knew that even though I was just an ordinary girl from Kansas City with a recurrent weight problem and bad skin, I really did live a charmed life.

A motivational speaker specializing in inspiration, wellness, and personal growth

...I've also been speaking since I was a kid - first for school assemblies and Rotary Clubs, and on from there. I'm fortunate in that I have only one gift: words, spoken and written. People who have a wide variety of talents have more trouble figuring out which one to pursue...

...and a certified life coach specializing in spiritual-life coaching...

...coaching is my way to have an ongoing relationship with individuals who are serious about changing their lives. Because most coaching is done by phone, I have clients from around the country.

Victoria's latest book is Living A Charmed Life...

...this is the 10th anniversary sequel to my classic, Creating a Charmed Life. The new book is a testament to living a charmed life now, even in difficult circumstances.

Also new this year is the fully revised and updated version of The Love-Powered Diet...

The subtitle says it all: Eating for Freedom, Health, and Joy. I've been free of compulsive overeating (and an extra sixty pounds) for over twenty years as a result of a spiritual turnaround and loving food choices. How you can do it, too, is in this book.

Her other titles includes Fat, Broke, & Lonely No More...

A terrific book on making peace with food, money, and other people. It's my editor's title and I've never quite warmed to it (I spent a lot of years 'fat' and I don't like the word), but if you look inside the book, I think you'll be glad you did.

Younger By The Day...

For looking, feeling and living well all your life.

Fit From Within...

...I was overweight for 30 years and for the past 20-plus I haven't been. How you can get free from food troubles, too, is in Fit from Within.

Lit from Within...

...This one is about discovering and bringing out your inner beauty, the beauty that's truly yours and that truly lasts.

Shelter for the Spirit...

...This book grew out of my experience as a single mom, trying to create a truly nurturing home for my daughter, myself and our animals. Once I knew I'd done it, I wrote a book about it.

Creating a Charmed Life...

...Which has been translated into twenty-seven languages and is quoted on Celestial Seasonings' tea boxes.

Creating a Charmed Life is one of my favorite books. It's subtitle is: Sensible, Spiritual Secrets Every Busy Woman Should Know. I wrote it when my daughter was fourteen, I'd just remarried and inherited three lively stepchildren, then five, nine, and ten years of age. There was so much on my plate - I'm sure you're relating; that seems to be the nature of life these days - and yet there was so much joy. I drew on my background in comparative religions - I am fascinated by the many ways people find meaning in life - and eclectic spirituality, and on simply being a woman and a mom, blessed with many inspiring friends who taught me even more about making a charmed life out of whatever life you've got...

Moran's articles have appeared in publications including Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Day, Body & Soul, Weight Watchers Magazine, Natural Health, and Yoga Journal. She has been a guest on TV and radio programs including two appearances on Oprah!

...And of course I'm praying for a third: Oprah is every bit as wonderful and amazing as I'd hoped she would be. She's funny and confident and she went out of her way to say nice things about my books and about me. I admire her a great deal.

Moran's work has been noted in publications including USA Today, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, as well in magazines such as Glamour, Fitness, Elle, Allure, Health, Self, Cosmo, Family Circle, Woman's World, and O, the Oprah Magazine.

...The piece in O was when filmmaker Michael Moore was the celebrity book reviewer. I was amazed that, along with the various political books that you'd expect Michael Moore to have as favorites, there was my book, Fit from Within. You can imagine how thrilled I was to open up the magazine, not knowing my book was in there, and find his truly lovely review. Some of the best things in my life seem to come from out of the proverbial blue...

Among Victoria's past speaking clients are Hallmark Cards, Toyota Women's Conferences, the New York Athletic Club, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and Speaking of Women's Health. Victoria also speaks for churches around the country...

...Speaking is so much fun. Writing is, too, when it flows, but writing can also be a lot of hard work. Speaking, for me anyway, is a gift. It's like stepping into another mode. I don't "give speeches" - the very phrase is boring - I do something more like a one-person show. Some people have even called it "performance art", although I've never been quite sure what performance art is. I just know I love doing it and people seem to love experiencing it. Please check my Calendar to see if I'll be speaking near where you live. And if your company or association or church hires speakers, please refer them to the my Speaking page or print it for them. I'd love to have the opportunity to do a presentation there.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri...

...Kansas City will always be my town. That was where I learned to love urban life, and I'm so proud of hailing from a place that hosted, for long or short periods, luminaries like Walt Disney, Harry Truman, Satchel Paige, Ernest Hemingway, Count Basie, Jean Harlow, Charlie "Bird" Parker, and Thomas Hart Benton...

...and an adopted New Yorker...

...I am nuts about New York City. I moved here seven years ago and I am still so in love with this city that every morning when I go out in it, I can hardly believe I'm here. The energy is infectious and every wonderful thing somehow seems possible.

Victoria is married to an attorney and writer...

I married William Melton in 1997. (My first husband, Patrick Moran, died ten years earlier.) William is a wonderful, sweet man who loves me like the dickens. Sometimes I just stare at him and am amazed at how lucky I am. He wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Harmonica coauthored with Randy Weinstein, which I'm sure needs no editorial commentary. He is now pursuing another dream: becoming a screenwriter.

...Her daughter Adair is an actor in New York City...

...If you read Shelter for the Spirit or Creating a Charmed Life, you know that I wrote about a daughter named Rachael. At age 14, "Rachael" decided that she was really "Adair," her middle name. Adair is the little village in northern Missouri where her dad's ancestors settled when they came from Ireland. She is, by any name, the light of my life, and being a mom is the grandest adventure I know of. It's hard to believe that she's in her twenties and married. Her husband, Nicholas Moran (yes, he took her name), is also an actor. They share theater, a love of animals, and their hobby of making beer, "Actor Ale," as a gift for agents and casting directors. (It was Mama Rose in Gypsy, I believe, who said, "Ya gotta have a gimmick if you're gonna get ahead.")

My stepdaughter Siân is twenty-three and has trained to be a makeup artist for fashion magazines and runway shows. She spent a year with us in New York and is now back in Toronto where her mom lives. My stepson Erik, nineteen and also in Toronto, trained in sound engineering and is working in his field - he's also a mean bass player.

After a short illness, James, my other stepson, left us to be with the angels on September 12, 2007, at age sixteen. He was an amazing kid, funny and bright, and with tremendous compassion. I don't pretend to understand how life works and why things happen the way they do. I do believe with all my heart that there is a reason for everything, a reason that will one day make sense. My commitment to everyone I love, both those in this world and the ones on the other side of life, is to live fully, cherish each day, experience joy, and use whatever gifts I have to make a difference.

Thank you Victoria for being on our show and for being, along with us, a Positive Change Agent, ushering in the changes we wish to see in the world.

Filippo Voltaggio

Robyn O'Brien on Life Changes With Filippo

Our guest tonight on Life Changes With Filippo was Robyn O'Brien.

Robyn O’Brien

"Robyn O'Brien's fervent message describes the toxic tangle of American food, government, and culture. THE UNHEALTHY TRUTH is a healthy dose of medicine that we all need to swallow, and I say this as an advocate for the environment, but more importantly, as a father of five." -Graydon Carter, Editor-in-chief, Vanity Fair—Graydon Carter, Editor-in-chief, Vanity Fair

Robyn O’Brien

Says Robyn of herself, her life and her mission,

"I was raised in Houston, Texas on meat and potatoes with a fair share of Doritos and Ding Dongs thrown in.

I was not a foodie.

My background is motherhood and finance. I earned an MBA from Rice University on a full scholarship and graduated as the top woman in my class. I went on to work in the investment world, jockeying with the gang on Wall Street, as an analyst on a team that managed about $20 billion in assets. During those years, I learned a thing or two about 'enhancing profitability and shareholder value' and 'managing earnings and expectations'.

When our first child was born, I traded my briefcase for a diaper bag and found myself in a world of picky eaters, on a limited budget, with no time.

Today, I am a married, mother of four children and the founder of the AllergyKids Foundation, an organization designed to help protect the 1 in 3 American children that now has autism, ADHD, asthma or allergies, that funds research into the development and practice of techniques designed to heal children with the 4As using an integrative, biomedical approach developed by doctors in New York.

Prior to unearthing all of this, I didn’t trust myself to do more than hit '2:00 START' on my microwave. And I have to laugh as I find myself on the front lines of our “national eating disorder’ given the battle that so many of us waged against food when we were younger.

I am an unlikely crusader for cleaning up our food supply. You may be, too. But fortunately, there is a lot that we can do about it. We simply have to get savvy and stand together so that our voices can be heard by leaders in our government and the food industry the same way that families overseas have made their voices heard over there.

And that requires transparency in our food system. I believe that we deserve full disclosure of financial ties behind industry funded research, our doctors and our medical organizations. I believe that knowledge is power, transparency is critical and that attitude is everything!

It is humbling to have appeared in the New York Times, on CNN, the Today Show and Good Morning America and featured in People Magazine, but more importantly, I am honored to have been invited to attend roundtable discussions with members of Congress on health care reform and to serve on the board of the Environmental Working Group, based in Washington, DC.

I am deeply grateful for the work that all of you are doing and remain profoundly hopeful that together, leveraging our collective abilities, we can affect remarkable change in our food system for the health of our families.

And though we can't change the beginning of our stories, we can change the end. And hope is the knowledge that change is possible, even when it seems hard to imagine."

Here this all too important interview with Robyn and other such interviews at www.LifeChanges.ws.

Thank you Robyn for being on our show, and for being, along with us, a Positive Change Agent, ushering in the changes we wish to see in the world.

Filippo Voltaggio

Dr. David Simon on Life Changes With Filippo

Our guest tonight on Life Changes With Filippo was Dr. David Simon.

Dr. David Simon, M.D. is a world-renowned authority in the field of mind-body medicine. As a practicing physician, innovative researcher, and insightful teacher, David continues to expand his vision for an effective and compassionate healthcare system. Integrating ancient wisdom healing traditions with modern scientific principles, David has forged a model of health that integrates the multiple dimensions of a human being – environmental, physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.

As a board-certified neurologist and expert in Ayurvedic medicine and other traditional healing arts, he brings a unique perspective to the relationship between mind, emotions, and health.

Author of “Free to Love Free to Heal - Heal Your Body By Healing Your Emotions

(excerpt from the book):

Each week at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, I see patients struggling with challenges to their physical and emotional health that sometimes seem overwhelming. Although coping with problems such as depression, cancer, and heart disease can be exhausting, I’ve found that if people are willing to look at the story behind their illness (including core beliefs, toxic emotions, and painful memories), and healing and transformation can occur. Free to Love, Free to Heal is a step-by-step guidebook that helps readers identify and release their painful stories and beliefs, reclaim their health, and write a compelling new chapter in their lives.

You can hear the show in it's entirety and for that matter, other interviews as well at our website www.LifeChanges.ws.

Thank you David for being on the show and for being, along with us, a Positive Change Agent, ushering in the changes we wish to see in the world.

Filippo

Marci Shimoff on Life Changes With Filippo

Tonight's special guest, and our first guest of the New Year, was Marci Shimoff.

Marci Shimoff is the woman's face of the biggest self-help book phenomenon in history, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her six bestselling titles in the series, including Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul, have met with stunning success, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide in 33 languages and have been on the New York Times bestseller list for a total of 108 weeks.

Marci is one of the bestselling female nonfiction authors of all time. In addition, she's a featured teacher in the international film and book phenomenon, The Secret. Her new book, HAPPY FOR NO REASON: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, offers a revolutionary approach to experiencing deep and lasting happiness. It immediately soared to #1 on many bestseller lists including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com, and debuted at #2 on The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

A celebrated transformational leader and one of the nation's leading experts on happiness, success, and the law of attraction, Marci has inspired millions of people around the world, sharing her breakthrough methods for personal fulfillment and professional success. She delivers keynote addresses and seminars on self-esteem, self-empowerment, and peak performance to corporations, professional and non-profit organizations, and women's associations. She has been a top-rated trainer for numerous Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, General Motors, Sears, Kaiser Permanente, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

As an acclaimed authority on success and happiness, Marci is often approached by media for her insights and advice. She has been on more than 500 national and regional television and radio shows and has been interviewed for over 100 newspaper articles nationwide. Her writing has appeared in national women's magazines, including Ladies Home Journal and Woman's World.

Marci earned her MBA from UCLA and holds an advanced certificate as a stress management consultant. She is a founding member and on the board of directors of the Transformational Leadership Council, a group of 100 top leaders serving over ten million people in the self-development market. She is dedicated to fulfilling her life's purpose of helping people live more empowered and joy-filled lives.

You can currently hear the show in it's entirety at our website www.LifeChanges.ws

Thank you Marci for being our guest tonight and for being, along with us, a Positive Change Agent, ushering in the changes we wish to see in the world.

Filippo Voltaggio