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Guest Occupation: Co- Founder of I Am Fine
Guest Biography:

Iamfine is the brainchild of Colin and Paul Hammond. Colin lives in the UK while his brother Paul lives on the west coast of America.  They designed Iamfine to help them both keep in touch with their mother Isobel who lives alone in Florida.

The brothers regularly speak to their mother and visit several times a year, but busy schedules mean they struggle to check on her every day. Although in her mid-90s, Isobel is healthy, plays golf twice a week, lives in her own home and loves life.  Like many elderly people living alone, she is fiercely independent and doesn’t want her sons to be worrying about her.

Iamfine was built to ensure they both have peace of mind that their mother is OK each day.  With many years of technology and software experience, they set out to build Iamfine as a robust, reliable and scalable service.  Living so far apart, they made sure the system could communicate with a wide circle of family and friends, meaning that if Isobel ever missed a check-in, her friends living locally could pop in to ensure everything was fine while keeping the brothers informed.

Iamfine hasn’t replaced the visits or regular calls, but has simply supplemented the communication and care for the person Colin and Paul care most about - their mum!

We have both been involved in software companies and large technology projects.  We understand how to build and maintain a robust, reliable and scalable service.  Paul helped design one of the first VOIP cloud platforms at VirtualPBX.com and Colin has led many large software projects for several major UK companies and founded the AI software tool Scopemaster.

Guest Category: Health & Lifestyle, Kids & Family, Self Help, Variety
Guest Occupation: Author
Guest Biography:
Amy Pollack 
Author of The Adventures of Jelly Bean and
The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean
 
Bio 👇

Ever since she was in fourth grade – back in 1960 – Amy Meislin Pollack was writing and telling stories about a character named Jelly Bean. She never stopped telling those stories, sharing them with her students over a teaching career that spanned 40+ years. She shared them with her three children when they were younger – and then with her seven grandchildren. Now her stories have been made available to everyone with the recent publishing of two coming-of-age books intended for middle-graders, The Adventures of Jelly Bean and The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean.

“My books touch upon topics of friendship, popularity, death, race, drugs, alcohol, feeling neglected, family issues, and the types of things many kids today are confronting as they look to find their way in an ever-changing world,” says Pollack.

The Adventures of Jelly Bean and The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean are the stories of a fourth-grader who faces challenges that just about all children her age can recognize.  Her parents don’t approve of her favorite friend in the whole world. She has trouble getting along with the brother who is closest in age to her.  The uncle she loves so much is about to marry the most awful woman she could ever imagine, and the girl who used to be her best friend has turned on her. Jelly Bean faces these and other stumbling blocks, including: the difficulties in achieving and maintaining popularity and how important having certain friends should be to her; difficulties inherent in relationships with various friends and family members; and learning how to make decisions on her own.  In these first two books of my middle-grade series, Jelly Bean comes to understand that much of life is trial and error, and that the only constant in life is that it is always changing

About The Adventures of Jelly Bean:

What if the start to your day was falling into the toilet, which caused you to miss your carpool, that in turn caused you to get to school late, that ultimately caused you to miss getting one of the decent parts in the upcoming Thanksgiving play? That is exactly what happens to fourth-grader Jelly. Bean on the day we first meet her. Things only go downhill from there and no one at home seems to have much time for her. Except Roger-Over, her beloved dog.

About The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean:

Jelly Bean in the continuation of her adventures as she seeks solutions to the challenges that confronted her in book 1. Michael, her oldest brother, has dropped out of school and joined the Marines, which usurps much of her parents' attention. Kylie, the new girl in school, faces a medical emergency. And Jelly Bean is still forbidden from going to her best friend's house.

She has to decide how to deal with these dilemmas and more. Along the way she learns about love, death, pain, relationships, the difference between right and wrong and the value of friendship. See the world through the eyes of this forthright fourth-grader as she discovers two truths about life - that it is always complicated, and always changing.

Guest Category: Arts, Business, Entertainment, Kids & Family, Philosophy, Psychology, Self Help, Society and Culture
Guest Occupation: Commissioner in the field of policing
Guest Biography:

For more than 35 years, Commissioner Charles Ramsey has been an iconic innovator in the field of policing since the start of his decorated career. Commissioner Ramsey remained at the forefront of developing innovative policing strategies, leading organizational change and advancing the law enforcement profession across three major city police departments Chicago, Washington, DC and Philadelphia. Throughout his tenure in law enforcement, Commissioner Ramsey has supported and facilitated evidence-based policing and experimental evaluations, resulting in positive change within the communities he served.
 

Commissioner Ramsey established a firm commitment to fighting crime and safeguarding people’s lives, all while committing to providing officers with the tools they need to develop professionally and remain safe while protecting their community. President Barack Obama recognized Commissioner Ramsey’s effectiveness and innovation in community policing, appointing him as the co-chair of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. This followed several high-profile incidents involving law enforcement’s use of force nationwide. Commissioner Ramsey continues to be an internationally recognized practitioner and educator in his field and is past president of both the Police Executive Research Forum and the Major Cities Chiefs Association.

 

 

Guest Category: History, Kids & Family, Politics & Government, Self Help, Variety
Guest Occupation: Financial Planner and Tax Expert, Business Owner
Guest Biography:

Gabrielle Rene is a Financial Planner and Tax Expert.   She is the proud owner of Grene Enterprises Tax & Financial Planning.   Gabrielle has been working with families and small business owners for over a decade. She has worked as a Bank Manager, a  Financal Advisor with Edward Jones, Mortgage Loan Officer and Mortgage Broker.  She currently holds  Life & Health insurance license. She is also an Enrolled Agent; Enrolled Agents (EAs) are "America's Tax Experts". EAs are the only federally licensed tax practitioners who specialize in taxation and also have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS.

Gabrielle has her Bachelor of Science in Management with a concentration in Finance (BS), a Master in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master in Taxation (MST).  She has also completed the education requirements to sit for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board Exam.

Gabrielle loves to volunteer, travel and spend time entertaining with friends and family.

Guest Category: Business, Investing and Finance, Marketing, Management, Philosophy, Psychology, Self Help, Society and Culture
Guest Occupation: MFCC, Professor, Ph.D.
Guest Biography:

Dr. Angela Bowers attended the University of New Hampshire for her undergraduate work as a double major in psychology and communications. After a few years of work in the business world, she entered graduate school and received her Master’s in Clinical/Community psychology from California State University, Fullerton, CA.

After earning her Master’s she became licensed as an MFCC, (Marriage, Family, Child Counselor) in California. She also taught psychology classes at California State University, Fullerton while pursuing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles.

After earning her Ph.D. she and her husband moved to Scottsdale, AZ. She set up a private practice and has been working in the practice for over thirty years. While enjoying her work as a psychologist, Dr. Bowers, who believes in life-long learning, trained with the International Yoga Studies program and became a certified yoga teacher in the mid-1990’s. She also pursued post-graduate training in hypnosis with the world-renowned Milton Ericsson Foundation in beginning and advanced hypnosis. Dr. Bowers received beginning and advanced training in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and has completed a 200 hour training course in Ayurveda. She has also become certified in Nutritional and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health.

Dr. Bowers has three children. She enjoys spending time with them and supporting their growth as she witnesses them emerge into becoming responsible, happy and thriving young adults. She enjoys sharing her life with her long-term partner and three adorable dogs.

Her hobbies include painting, photography, hiking, yoga, meditation, and most of all traveling. She appreciates traveling domestically and internationally as well. She has a strong interest in nutrition, reading, culinary delights and spontaneous adventures.

Guest Category: Arts, Business, Kids & Family, Medicine, Psychology, Society and Culture
Guest Occupation: Firefighter, LEO, Crisis Intervention Team Coordinator, EMT, LCSW, Crisis Clinician
Guest Biography:

Pete Nichio, has worked 20 yrs in fire service, and served in the Marines and Army National Guard. Pete was diagnosed with PTSI in 2015 from multiple combat deployments and from everyday operations on emergency calls. Pete recently served as Master of Ceremonies and auctioneer for the Fairfield County Trauma Response Team’s first-ever benefit last October.

Pete Elste has been a Police Officer for 24 years. He started his career working with the NYPD 73rd Precinct in Brownsville Brooklyn, and was part of the Street Narcotics Unit and Community Conditions Unit. Pete is currently serving with the Danbury Police Department where he is a Field Training Officer, Crisis Intervention Team Coordinator, and a member of the Emergency Services Unit and Peer Support Team.

Bonnie Rumilly is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in the treatment of First Responders. Bonnie is also a 21-year Emergency Medical Technician, and retired Chief of her EMS agency.  Bonnie worked in Newtown treating Trauma directly after the Sandy Hook School Shootings and is an EMDR therapist. She is a Clinical Director of the Fairfield County Trauma Response Team, Inc.

Scott Alvord, LCSW is an experienced therapist and clinical supervisor. Scott works with the Crisis Intervention Teams for two local Police Departments as their Crisis Intervention Clinician.

 

Guest Category: Military, Local News, Local, Psychology, Emotional Health and Freedom, Mental Health, Personal Development, Self Help, Inspirational
Guest Biography:

Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz is a riveting speaker, multi-award-winning best-selling author and filmmaker, consumer health activist, energy medicine expert, “electroceuticals" pioneer, and founding father of the exploding “528 industry” that leverages the “528 frequency” of therapeutic sound, light, and music empowering creative artistry and the natural healing arts and sciences. He has published more than two dozen books (including three American bestsellers), dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles, and seven (7) documentary films. His latest book sold through Amazon is titled “Spiritual Warfare, Salvation & Survival in the Age of Chaos"—subtitled, “AI, Frequency Weaponry and Transhumanism Threatening Extinction.”

Guest Occupation: Doctor of Physical Therapy & Pickleball Injury Prevention
Guest Biography:

About Dr. Josh Mackey, PT, DPT

With a background in sports like table tennis, badminton, and spikeball, it was easy for Josh to fall in love with the sport of pickleball.

After quickly starting to play the sport and competing against other players, he learned that many were struggling with pain and injury. Many of them had tried physical therapy, chiropractor, personal training, and other treatments in the past. Despite this, most were not getting the results they wanted.

This is where Dr. Josh began to search and look for a better solution. With his knowledge of the sport of pickleball and expertise as a doctor of physical therapy, he was able to bridge the gap between the two. He wanted to deliver a one-of-a-kind service designed specifically for pickleball players struggling with pain and injury.

Over the past year, Dr.Josh has been able to help hundreds of pickleball players all over the world. His goal is to help pickleball players bulletproof their bodies from injury so they can continue to compete against friends and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Guest Category: Games & Hobbies, Health & Lifestyle, Kids & Family, Self Help, Sports & Recreation, Variety