Over 100 years ago my grandparents settled on a farm between the towns of Joes and Cope on the eastern plains of Colorado, where my mother was born and raised. After she met my father, they moved to Denver, where I grew up. I graduated from John F. Kennedy High School and received a BA degree from Rockmont college (now Colorado Christian University) in 1974.
For the past 37 years I have owned and operated a media and video production service. It was my privilege to serve on the Board of Trustees for Colorado Christian University for many years, and to help found Christian Home Educators of Colorado in 1990.
Government has been a strong interest for me for all of my adult life. I was chosen to participate in the Colorado Republican Leadership Program in 2000. In that same year, Governor Owens appointed me to serve on the Colorado Commission on Family Medicine. Two and a half years later I was elected to the Colorado House, where I served until, in 2009, I was appointed to a vacancy in the Colorado State Senate. In 2010 I was elected to my first full term in the Senate and reelected for a second term in 2014.
With a deep love for our beautiful state, I have backpacked all across the Colorado Rockies, including a 700 mile trek along the Continental Divide. In 1997 I fulfilled a lifetime dream of building a solar and wind powered home, which we continue to live in today.
Monique Verpoort is a registered social worker and trainer who has worked in the field of children’s mental health for close to twenty years. She is a certified practitioner in the modality of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) with NeftTI and previously with EFT International.
Monique has been on a path of personal development and spiritual enlightenment for as long as she can remember. Her desire for wholeness rather than perfection has resulted in a major shift in her process of transformation. Freedom from judgment, self-imposed or externally based, has created space for greater love, laughter and life fulfillment.
Her experience working with both clients and professionals as well as doing her own personal work over the years has provided her with a unique perspective on the way in which self-regulation techniques such as EFT coupled with focused action, can transform limiting beliefs into peace of mind, increased joy, positive transformation, and a life of unexplored possibility at any age. Monique has seen lives radically change for the better when subconscious limiting beliefs are transformed into empowered ones, and she continues to dedicate her life to helping women become emotionally free.
Anthony Werhun is a television, film and commercial director who development the award- winning Comcast series, “Voices of The Civil Rights Movement” and feature documentary “James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen.”
Anthony directed two award-winning documentaries in 2004 and 2006 before taking a position with NFL Films in 2009. In 2010 Anthony joined Cornerstone Pictures, where he has produced and/or directed projects for commercial clients such as Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Starkist, Chesapeake Energy, Hersheypark, Turkey Hill, and Conair, while collaborating with Comcast for nine years on the expansive civil rights multi-platform docuseries, “Voices of The Civil Rights Movement,” which is the most watched Comcast original programming to-date.
In 2017 Anthony partnered with Chef Ashbell McElveen to create a documentary about the life, legacy, and erasure of America’s unknown culinary founding father, James Hemings. “Ghost in America’s Kitchen” debuted at The Roxbury International Film Festival in 2021, winning Best Feature Documentary.
Anthony is currently directing documentary projects based in New York City while supporting the recently released Hemings documentary and delivering 10th anniversary segments of “Voices of the Civil Rights Movement.” He looks forward to creating compelling and impactful documentary programming for years to come.
Guest Occupation: Hand Analyst, Coach, Storyteller
Guest Biography:
ABOUT Leslie Zemenek:
For three decades Leslie has been decoding the life story in people's fingerprints and hands, helping them break through their blocks and write their happy endings. After her own hero's journey divorcing a narcissist and ending lifelong patterns of wrong choices and abuse, she wrote her own happy ending, and called in her perfect soulmate.
Now she has made it her my mission to teach others who are ready to do the deep work necessary, how to fall madly in love with who they are, so they can call in their soulmate and find true, healthy, and everlasting love.
Guest Occupation: Full-time volunteer at Diviners, Psychologist
Guest Biography:
NGAN JASMINE NGUYEN (Nguyễn Thúy Ngân)
Ngan Jasmine Nguyen is a full-time volunteer at Diviners. Jasmine was featured on national Television and press for winning 3 prestigious scholarships from 3 billionaires to start multiple community projects. In former lives, as a Watson fellow, Jasmine traveled solo for 15 months to 10 countries across 4 continents with one purpose: to support the growing movement of business which prioritizes people and planet over short-term profit maximization.
During her Watson fellowship, she collaborated with local social entrepreneurs, accelerators and incubator programs, government agencies, universities, think tanks to gain a systems perspective that could nurture a movement of social initiatives for youth.
After her fellowship, Jasmine became Regional Manager Asia Pacific Region at AngelHack for 2 years, where she engaged its diverse community of 160,000+ developers, designers, and entrepreneurs in Hackathons, accelerator programs, and various innovation initiatives.
Jasmine graduated Cum Laude from Macalester College in Minnesota with a degree in Psychology.
ALISUN (Alison Solis) was born in the United States and is proud of her Latin roots, Cuban on her mother’s side and Mexican on her father’s side. The love that her parents have transmitted to her for cultural expression of both countries is reflected in her passion for music and artistic expression.
Since she was very young, she developed her talent and dedicated herself to taking piano, vocal, acting classes and also showing her heart in her compositions. From an early age she has enjoyed the stage and has always dedicated herself to perfecting her skills by participating in endless plays and live musical performances.
In recent years, thanks to her artistic abilities and dedication, she has received the invitation to be part of important tours, as was the case with Camila, in which for more than a year she toured the United States and all of Latin America, showing that she was born to dedicate herself to the scenarios.
On January 21, 2022, ALISUN presented her first single with which she formally began her solo career in the world of music, a song of her own inspiration in English entitled “HYPOTHERMIA” within the indie/pop genre, in which she worked not only in the composition but also in the arrangements and production, and which will be part of her first studio album.
ALISUN has defined her music as a magical and immersive experience, and to give continuity to her project, on April 1, 2022 the magic continued with the premiere of a new song “THEY LIVE IN AND AROUND US”.
“THEY LIVE IN AND AROUND US” is her second promotional single and listening to it, we can once again feel that the essence and sensitivity of the young singer-songwriter, where she expresses with unusual subtlety and exquisite talent her purest feelings and lofty ideals when it comes to composing and interpreting.
Guest Occupation: Multimedia, Interactive Creator and Producer
Guest Biography:
TESS CACCIATORE
Tess is a Multimedia/Interactive Creator and Producer with 25+ years in the entertainment/technology and philanthropic arenas.
Tess is also the Founder and CEO of GWEN Global LLC a for-profit company dedicated to social impact & positive change in the entertainment arena, which also emcompasses Global Women’s Empowerment Network (a 501c3).
Tess is a best-selling author, award-winning producer/filmmaker/songwriter, as well as a Director, keynote speaker, and social entrepreneur who has dedicated her life to advocating for “Transforming lives through the power of storytelling!”
In 2003, Tess was awarded the Fete d’ Excellence within the Sub-Commission for Human Rights at the United Nations (Geneva, Switzerland) for her work in edu-tainment. Throughout the years, Tess has been honored with multiple awards, including in 2011 she won Mobile Excellence Award for the GWEN Alert, FREE downloadable safety app with video-cloud private storage to protect those in need.
Tess is currently working on an original, scripted series called “The Wright Turn” as co-creator, co-writer and Director.
This multi-cultural cast reflects true stories from the Gwen community in a scripted manner, so that we can continue to put forth healing through storytelling, “trauma to transformation.”
HE WRIGHT TURN
Here is what Tess and Terrah had to say – perhaps you can relate. We got tired of people saying NO! We got tired of an industry that says, “you’re too OLD!” We got tired of waiting for someone to say “Hey ladies, we like you”. So instead of waiting for a seat at the table, we built our own table, pulled up two chairs and went to work.
In 2015 Tess had an opportunity to mentor female millennial directors for a network web-series competition. Although the network’s demographics were women 40-plus, the ideas that were presented were focused on the younger demographics. Realizing there was a void in the stories about women her age, Tess asked to put her hat into the ring and created a project which focused on a 50-year-old woman on her journey to self-rediscovery. In the meantime Terrah, who had made the decision to transition to behind the camera and focus on raising her three children, was
slowly returning from an eight-year acting hiatus. Tess needed an actress and Terrah was eager to act again. The network decided to shelve the competition, so Tess’ project was never submitted. Three years later, Tess and Terrah sat down, restructured the idea and story-line, and gave birth to – The Wright Turn.
The Wright Turn is based on true stories. Interviews with various women and men in the 50 plus club were underway, and knowing how the industry often type-cast actors, The ladies sat down with their actors to find out what types of roles they’ve always wanted to play but have been denied the opportunity. They found a way to incorporate each actors’ ideas, which made the character fun to portray. The series also features product lines by cast members and others as a way to support entrepreneurship.
What is The Wright Turn? It’s not a comedy or a drama, it’s a whole bunch of life’s shit, mushed together, and served to us as our individual journeys. From career/romance/motherhood to homelessness/sex trafficking/mental illness and more.It has been a journey to say the least. The idea of creating, and executing 8-forty-five minute episodes independently, was a surmountable feat, but for these two multi-hyphenates, both directors, writers, producers, editors, actors… It was a challenge worth taking on.
Guest Occupation: Actress, director, producer, singer/ songwriter, screenwriter, Life Coach, and Manager
Guest Biography:
TERRAH BENNETT SMITH
Terrah, a Native New Yorker, has enjoyed a rich and multi-faceted career in the entertainment industry having worked as an actress, director, producer, singer/ songwriter, screenwriter, Life Coach, and Manager. On-camera a few of her TV Recurring/Guest Star credits include: STUCK WITH YOU, 68 WHISKEY, BOSCH, GAMES PEOPLE PLAY, 9-1-1.
She is co-Creator-Executive Producer-Writer, and star of “THE WRIGHT TURN”, and co-Director-Producer-Co-Stars in EXTRACTION. Terrah currently co-hosts SUNDAY BITES & TIDBITS, a health conscious show with Celebrity-Chef Babette, which can be seen on the Vitalcy network. Terrah’s stage credits range from Broadway to Regional Theatre.
Behind the camera, Terrah made her directorial debut with the feature film “FLIP THE SCRIPT,” and is currently directing the television show AFTER MIDNIGHT. She recently completed directing the feature film, LOS ANGELES BAKERS, a pilot for a new sitcom, SLEEPING WITH STRANGERS, and is scheduled to direct the Rom/Com feature film, MY PERFECT LIFE… ONCE I CHANGE YOU! This mother of three, is also the CEO/Founder of Royal One Entertainment, and Reclaim Haven, a wellness platform for women.
THE WRIGHT TURN
Here is what Tess and Terrah had to say – perhaps you can relate. We got tired of people saying NO! We got tired of an industry that says, “you’re too OLD!” We got tired of waiting for someone to say “Hey ladies, we like you”. So instead of waiting for a seat at the table, we built our own table, pulled up two chairs and went to work.
In 2015 Tess had an opportunity to mentor female millennial directors for a network web-series competition. Although the network’s demographics were women 40-plus, the ideas that were presented were focused on the younger demographics. Realizing there was a void in the stories about women her age, Tess asked to put her hat into the ring and created a project which focused on a 50-year-old woman on her journey to self-rediscovery. In the meantime Terrah, who had made the decision to transition to behind the camera and focus on raising her three children, was
slowly returning from an eight-year acting hiatus. Tess needed an actress and Terrah was eager to act again. The network decided to shelve the competition, so Tess’ project was never submitted. Three years later, Tess and Terrah sat down, restructured the idea and story-line, and gave birth to – The Wright Turn.
The Wright Turn is based on true stories. Interviews with various women and men in the 50 plus club were underway, and knowing how the industry often type-cast actors, The ladies sat down with their actors to find out what types of roles they’ve always wanted to play but have been denied the opportunity. They found a way to incorporate each actors’ ideas, which made the character fun to portray. The series also features product lines by cast members and others as a way to support entrepreneurship.
What is The Wright Turn? It’s not a comedy or a drama, it’s a whole bunch of life’s shit, mushed together, and served to us as our individual journeys. From career/romance/motherhood to homelessness/sex trafficking/mental illness and more.It has been a journey to say the least. The idea of creating, and executing 8-forty-five minute episodes independently, was a surmountable feat, but for these two multi-hyphenates, both directors, writers, producers, editors, actors… It was a challenge worth taking on.
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