JULIE POTIKER

Author and mindfulness expert Julie Potiker is an attorney who began her serious study and investigation of mindfulness after graduating from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of California, San Diego.

She was trained by Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer and UCSD as a Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher. She went on to study with Rick Hanson, becoming a graduate of his Positive Neuroplasticity Training Professional Course.

Potiker also completed Brené Brown’s Living Brave Semester. Now, she shares these and other mindfulness techniques with the world through her Mindful Methods for Life trainings and her new book: “Life Falls Apart, but You Don’t Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm In the Midst of Chaos.”

She holds a B.G.S. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from George Washington University.

VOLKAN CAN CANBOLAT, Ph.D., aka “VOLKAN THE VIOLINIST”

Volkan Can Canbolat hails from Izmir, Turkey, where he began his violin studies at the age of ten at the Dokuz Eylul State Music Conservatory, continuing his studies at the Conservatory until his graduation in 2011. 

Can’s concert performances have taken him around the world, from his original Turkey to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Pakistan, Israel, Italy, Portugal and the United States. His worldwide performances have included solo recitals, chamber music and appearances as a soloist with orchestras. Can Canbolat holds Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota School of Music.

He currently serves on the violin faculty at the renowned music conservatory in Los Angeles, the Colburn School. 

MATTY B WOOOO

We all need a Guardian Angel at some point in our lives, but we never know when our Guardian Angel will show up. In my case, she showed up just in the nick of time.

NO CASUALITIES

If you happen to be standing at the FUBAR CROSSROAD of your life, not knowing which direction to go, you can either have a drunk driver hit you head-on at sixty miles an hour or come along with me on my journey from loser to embarking on the road to recovery. If I could do it, you can do it.

A NEW OPPORTUNITY

It took a sixty-mile-an-hour, head-on collision with a drunk driver, when I was twenty-five and waking up ten days later from a coma, massive memory loss, debilitating paralysis and excruciating pain to find myself standing at my FUBAR CROSSROAD. Fortunately, God gave me a do-over.

CYNTHIA BRANDO

Cynthia Brando is a Los Angeles singer songwriter with a recognizably unique voice, which has been described as “equal parts silk and Stevie Nicks.” Cynthia has developed a connection with fellow musicians and appreciators as a performer all across the Los Angeles region and beyond-sharing her unique “vintage vibe” powerful vocals and steady acoustic folk rock rhythms in clubs, homes and as a street performer.

She has played notable shows at House of Blues in Hollywood, music festivals and has completed her second tour across the country.

Cynthia is the founder of Music Emerging-a site dedicated to the emotional well being of people in the music industry. She has been published as a guest writer on the music sites “Music Clout,” and “Music Industry How To,” and has received honorable mentions for her music in the Songdoor International Songwriting Competition and the American Songwriter Magazine Lyric Contest.

Cynthia is a 2017 recipient of a Hemera Foundation Fellowship Award for her music. Her new album, “The Treehouse Trio Sessions” was released in June of 2018 with positive national and international reviews. Music Connection Magazine included it in their “Top 20 Prospects of 2018” list.

“I have lived in Los Angeles now since the end of 2013 when I moved from a quiet Northern Californian town where I had a rural lifestyle. I moved here in my late 30’s to do something musical with my life. I wasn’t exactly clear on what form that would take-but my heart always gravitated towards music. I was not born a musician. It took me a very long time to reach the point where I felt good enough to make such a big move. I also came up against many emotional roadblocks in my life that stopped me from following my dreams.

My life has completely changed when I moved to one of the major musical capitals of the world. There are continually MANY challenges, but I get to do something I love every day in the form of writing, performing, recording, traveling and so much more. 

In these years, I have performed in many venues, festivals, homes, and as a street performer-I started a project-Music Emerging, where I devote time to the emotional well being of my fellow colleagues in the music industry with my blog, workshops, life coaching and other resources. 

I hope to inspire others to work through any fears they may have that stand in the way of their own dreams. I’m excited about sharing my music and stories with others on this fascinating path of the creative and working musician!”

ELAINE T. SILVER, ESQ.

Elaine Silver is a peaceful divorce attorney and mediator.  She helps families heal.  She practices yoga and gardens to maintain her own balance.

Elaine is a “holistic” Collaborative lawyer and mediator, a peacemaker.  She advises clients to be at their best while moving through divorce. 

She is President of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals.  FACP is the umbrella organization of Collaborative divorce attorneys, counselors and financial experts in 16 Collaborative divorce communities throughout the state of Florida.

She has represented some “rich and famous”, including Carl Icahn’s first wife.  In Connecticut, where she practiced for the first half of her career, she tried and won the case that awarded the highest alimony and support award given to that time.

Elaine graduated with honors from New York University School of Law.  Elaine has been a visiting professor in family law at law schools in China, Connecticut and Florida. 

Knowing the devastation of a litigated divorce, even when her client “wins”,  Elaine encourages all families to take the route that Jeff Bezos just followed—peaceful, private Collaborative divorce.  Elaine speaks frequently to professional and lay audiences on “How To Have a Good Divorce.” 

APRIL HENRY

Singing in Japanese, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian, French, German, mostly English, in the woods, in the streets, in the shower, in bars, nightclubs and theaters, trotting around the world with a big smile and very big hair…

this is April Henry.

Her genres are as wide-ranging as the artists who have influenced her as a songwriter and a performer—from Billie Holiday and Tina Turner to Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Florence and the Machine, and Lana Del Rey to Janelle Monae. From tender whispers to the anthemic, pouring out of a song, April is interested in the raw nerve that connects us as human beings. She moves from sultry, soulful ballads and fragile torch songs to bright and sparkly pop tunes or the driving beat of a dance remix—and everything in between. Called, a “funny, fierce, force of nature” by reviewers, she explores polarity and humor. Just when you think you’ve defined her niche, she can surprise you with something completely different—yet always April.

An award-winning artist, garnering accolades in both singer and songwriter categories in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition (ISC) among others, April’s talents have been recognized by industry luminaries such as Peter Gabriel, Tom Waits, Adele, Robert Smith, and Epic Records president Amanda Ghost. In opening for artists like Michelle Branch and Gavin DeGraw, she uses her particular brand of theatricality and high-octane vocals to take audiences on an almost 

otherworldly roller coaster.

Art, media, science and music are the worlds where April integrates her skills learned at the New World School of the Arts Conservatory into her 

projects. Her live performances range from the Bitter End and Feinstein’s in New York to the Fillmore Miami Beach to Bar Queen in Japan.

Recently becoming a Lewitt Microphone endorsed Artist, April can also be found camping out in the studio, giving her Authentica microphones a workout.

KEN HONDA

the story of happy money

Ken was 29 when he first “retired” to welcome his newborn daughter in the world. At the time, he thought he was “done” with work. He had owned a successful consultant and accounting business, so successful it had allowed him to close up shop and spend his days with the apple of his eye. Little did he realize his “second” career, impacting millions by helping them heal their relationship with money, was about to begin.

That career started innocently enough on a beautiful, sunny day. Ken took his daughter to the park to play. While there, he witnessed a mother and her young daughter, who was about the same age as Ken’s daughter, fighting.

The mother was upset and in a hurry. She yelled, “Your mom has to go to work! So, let’s go home.” But her daughter kept saying, “We just got here. I want to play more. Please?”

After a few minutes of battle, the reluctant girl was dragged home.

Ken felt so terrible for the little girl and her mother for having to choose her job over an afternoon playing with her child, he decided he needed to do something. Not just for that mother but for all the parents and people struggling to make ends meet. He wanted to take away everyone’s pain and frustration and stress around money.

So, that day, after he finished playing with his daughter in the park, he sat down and wrote an essay about all the wisdom he gained over the years about making money and becoming prosperous.

That essay was the start of what would become Happy Money, the book you see here now.

Even as a child, Ken was noticing the difference between happy money and unhappy money.

When he was eight, he worked in his father’s successful accounting practice. His job was to serve the clients tea, which allowed him to get to know his father’s clients.

He saw how some of them were always irritated, rushed and hurried, and others were relaxed and peaceful. He also noticed how over time, some of the clients became more wealthy whereas others went the other way.

In college, he also witnessed this dichotomy in wealthy people–happy and unhappy. This continued until the day he met a woman at a party who described the money in his wallet as “happy money.”

Ah ha!

Money is energy. It can be happy or unhappy.

If you have happy money, you have a happy life. Conversely, if you have unhappy money, you have an unhappy life.

The key to a happy life starts with happy money.

Since then, Ken has impacted millions with his message, selling over 7 million books worldwide.

Certified through several leading fitness organizations: Master of Fitness through the ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association), IFPA (International Fitness Professionals Association), MMA Strength and Conditioning Coach through IHP (Institute of Human Performance) Creator of the sdi7 Safety. Prevention. Awareness. Self Defense Program and the sdi7 HIIT Workouts. He is a Black Belt, Self Defense & Fitness expert. A former North American Kickboxing Champion and member of the World Champion US Kickboxing Team. Inducted into the Black Belt Masters Hall of Fame. Recognized for Outstanding Martial Arts Achievement, and Listed in The Who’s Who of Martial Arts. Honored with the Joe Lewis PKA Eternal Warrior Award. Author of America’s Next Great Trainer Transform Your Life.