Jean Walters is a Saint Louis based teacher of self-empowerment principles for over thirty years.  She has studied metaphysics extensively and applies universal principles to every area of her life. Mission: is to lead people to the Light – to encourage, guide and assist others to live freely and express from their Highest. she works with people around the world as a Transformational Coach and Akashic Record reader (psychic).  She has performed over 35,000 readings with the emphasis on providing insight regarding personal growth, life purpose, strengthening relationships, and moving through obstacles.  She has been presented with “Best Psychic in Saint Louis Award for the last eight years.

Classes & Workshops:  Walters has designed and presented classes and workshops in empowerment, meditation, building communication skills, universal laws, dreams interpretation, strengthening intuition, and creating spiritual connection for many organizations, colleges, universities, spiritual groups, and businesses around the Midwest. 

Author:  Walters has written weekly and monthly columns for major Saint Louis newspapers and publications.  She has been published as a free-lance writer all over the United States.  Besides Set Yourself Free: Live the life YOU were meant to Live, she has written, Be Outrageous: Do the Impossible – Others have and you can too, and Dreams and the Symbology of Life.  

Radio:  Her radio show, Positive Moments, was syndicated on 110 stations across the nation and she has been a featured guest on many radio and television shows, even being referred to as The Dream Lady on several stations.  This is in lieu of her ability to interpret listeners’ dreams over the air.

Shawn specializes in strategic personal training. He has over 15 years personal training experience working with clients that have specific physical challenges to high level athletes.Shawn specializes in strategic personal training. He has over 15 years personal training experience working with clients that have specific physical challenges to high level athletes.

Shawn holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. He has worked with clients ranging from 6 to 90. Many of his clients have chronic health challenges and/or special needs but have not found an adequate solution while others simply want to start exercising but don’t know where to begin. He is one of the designers & creators of the Trooz Soccer Cleats for girls & women! Trooz cleats are a must have in women’s soccer. This cleat is specifically made for women and optimizes the mechanics and performance of our bodies. Finally, a viable cleat option that emphasizes the anatomy of the female soccer player. http://www.troozcleats.com/

Bill Busby is a former Body Building & Weight Lifting Champion, Educator & Trainer and CEO of The Bodys Health and Works Shops, Inc.

Charmaine Hammond is an expert in communication, collaboration and conflict resolution. She started her career behind bars... the outside... she was a correctional officer. Now she helps people build collaboration that make a difference.

THE "BLACK VELVET" QUEEN

A L A N N A H     M Y L E S 

SPECIAL GUEST ON THE RAY SHASHO SHOW

Alannah Myles was born in Toronto, Canada listening to FM radio stations that introduced her to an international compilation of music. She was raised in the city of Toronto where she studied to become a graphic artist, splitting time on her family’s ranch in Buckhorn, Ontario and spent her early years competing as an equestrian on the Ontario A Circuit competing in Canada’s prestigious Royal Winter Fair prior to deciding that she would make music her calling. You may click on the link below to visit the family lodge.

BIG BALD LAKE RANCH, BUCKHORN, ONTARIO, CANADA

Alannah appeared as an actor in TV commercials, modeled, styled wardrobe for local celebrities, worked as a makeup artist and consultant to pay for her early demo tapes in attempts to secure a record deal for her team. Though she was born to a privileged family, she chose to remain independent. After a decade of paying dues; performing concert venues, drinking establishments, nightclubs, coffee houses and hotel bars she spent five long years recording her debut album released by Atlantic Records (Warner Music Group).

Alannah was and will always be married to her music.

The ‘Alannah Myles’ first self titled album released in Canada in the spring of 1989 produced four Top 40 hits, “Love Is”, “Black Velvet”, “Lover of Mine”, and “Still Got This Thing”. Released internationally in 1990, Atlantic records finally hit pay dirt with her number one international smash, “Black Velvet”, winning a Grammy award for best female rock performance, along with several Canadian Juno Awards, a Diamond award for sales in excess of one million in Canada – the only artist who still retains this status for a debut record. After it’s first year of release Black Velvet received the ASCAP award for over one million radio plays and the ASCAP ‘Millionaire Award’ in 2005 for over 5 million radio plays. SOCAN in Canada awarded the songs, “Black Velvet” and “Lover Of Mine” each with an award for over 100,000 plays in Canada in 2005 with her #1 hit ‘Song Instead Of  A Kiss” to follow.

S O N G    I N S T E A D    O F    A    K I S S

Her follow-up multi-platinum album, Rockinghorse (1992) received a Grammy nomination for the title track ‘Rockinghorse’ and three Canadian Juno Awards. Prior to her third,1995 ‘A Lan Nah’ album she signed with manager, Miles Copeland after attending his annual songwriting retreats held at the Marouatte Chateau in France. After the sale of over eight million records she concluded her alliance with Atlantic Records and in 1997 Ark 21 Records released her fourth record Arrival (1997), which saw the top 40, hit Bad 4 You. 

C H A T E A U    M A R O U A T T E 

Atlantic Records cemented Alannah’s release from her 7- 8 album deal with a parting gift, ‘The Very Best Of Alannah Myles (1999) compilation released on WMC and internationally on Ark 21/EMI, re-released as ‘Myles & More’ (2000) on Ark21/Universal Music Group containing hits from all four albums and is scheduled for termination. 

Funds from an out of court settlement with a national Canadian publication afforded Alannah the luxury of spending the time required to record, executive produce and co-write 9 of the 11 tracks for ‘Black Velvet’ leased to an indie label in Canada which has since 2013 been terminated. The album includes a contemporary remake of her classic hit, co-produced with Torontonian Mike Borkosky and Veronica Ferraro from France, mixed by renown producer Terry Brown.

The lease for Alannah’s independently owned 2009 CD, ‘Black Velvet’ was terminated on Sept 1, 2013, repackaged, retitled ’85bpm’ with added tracks including an original re-record of Black Velvet. Returned master recordings of her 1997 ‘A Rival’ CD are now distributed by tunecore.com re-released to all online digital stores with future remix plans in celebration of her 25th Anniversary.

Plans to tour Europe beginning with classically orchestrated concerts backed by conductor Friedemann Riehle for the Prague Philgarmonic Orchestra began in the fall of 2015. Expect to hear more music and news in her 28th Anniversary season of 2018..

MAKING OF 85BPM

HERE ARE A FEW OF ALANNAH'S  INFAMOUS QUOTES …

“Justice is never blind…  She just takes your precious time”.

“A good song lives on til well after we’re gone. It has the power to inspire others and move people’s hearts without their even being fully aware.”

“One Hit Wonder… Yeah, one only needs to get it right once.

“I challenge anyone (including me) to better Black Velvet!”

“God put me on this planet to accomplish a certain amount of things.

Right now, I’m so far behind, I can never die!”

Earth Guardians Youth Director Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is a 17-year-old indigenous climate activist, hip-hop artist, and powerful voice on the front lines of a global youth-led environmental movement. At the early age of six Xiuhtezcatl began speaking around the world, from the Rio+20 United Nations Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to addressing the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York city. He has worked locally to get pesticides out of parks, coal ash contained, and moratoriums on fracking in his state and is currently a lead plaintiff in a youth-led lawsuit against the federal government for their failure to protect the atmosphere for future generations. Xiuhtezcatl has traveled across the nation and to many parts of the world educating his generation about the state of the planet they are inheriting. His message has inspired youth to join the front lines to combat the environmental and climate crisis that is impacting their future, as well as form Earth Guardian crews in over 30 countries.  His work has been featured on PBS, Showtime, National Geographic, Rolling Stones, Upworthy, Aljazeera, The Guardian, Vogue, Bill Maher, Skavlan, WE Day, AJ+, CNN, MSNBC, HBO, VICE, and many more. In 2013, Xiuhtezcatl received the 2013 United States Community Service Award from President Obama, and was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the President's youth council.  He is the 2015 recipient of the Peace First Prize, recipient of the 2015 Nickelodeon Halo Award, 2016 Captain Planet Award and the 2016 Children's Climate Prize from Sweden.  Bill Mckibben of 350.org calls Xiuhtezcatl "an impressive spokesman for a viewpoint the world needs to hear.”

Belinda J. Womack is a spiritual counselor, teacher and author of Lessons from the 12 Archangels: Divine Intervention in Daily Life, Bear & Co. November 2015. She is also a regular contributor to OMTIMES Magazine.

A scientist by training, with dual master’s degrees in microbiology and environmental science (Indiana University), Belinda was called into service by the 12 Archangels while working in a medical university lab as she was doing a stem cell experiment. For nearly 25 years since that meeting, Belinda has had an active spiritual counseling practice, working with the 12 Archangels, to support individuals, couples and families with seemingly impossible problems to solve.

The 12 Archangels of the Central Sun (Soul) of the Universe are all-powerful and all-loving energies that pour forth from the Heart of God like flowing rays of singing sunshine. These energies are similar to the music coming from a perfectly tuned orchestra where it is difficult to distinguish one instrument from another. From the sacred music and light of the Central Sun, the 12 Archangels created Earth, an amazing schoolroom established so that Oneness (ALL THAT IS) can dream a dark dream and experience the reality of fear and the illusion of being separated from the Creator.

According to Belinda, “We are here to learn, through our experiences and choices, that we are children of the Divine.” Belinda’s new book, Lessons from the 12 Archangels is a treasure chest of channeled angelic wisdom that offers clear strategies for transforming the wounds trapped within the deep subconscious that block us from experiencing positive change. The guided imagery exercises integrate the healing-power from our batteries of spiritual energy (chakras), together with the unconditional love of the 12 Archangels of the Central Soul of God. This facilitates a vibrational super shift that moves us from focusing on our suffering here on Earth to receiving Heaven’s abundance and joy.

CHRISTOPHER MACK

Christopher Mack has been a lead community worker on skid row in downtown Los Angeles for 15 years. He works for Wesley Health Center, one of the largest healthcare systems in the county. The latest project he is proud of is called the Refresh Spot, giving the homeless a place to clean up and get information for services available to them.

ADAM BRADLEY PEEK

TIGRAN MARTIKYAN

OLYMPIA LEPOINT

Modern-day “Hidden Figure,” award-winning rocket scientist and author Olympia LePoint overcame poverty, gang violence, and failing marks to eventually launch 28 rocket missions to space. Olympia is now applying the same math and science that she used at NASA to show audiences and readers how anyone can remap their own thoughts to remove fear, unleash their brain power, and change the course of their life.

Olympia is the author of Mathaphobia, a book on how to overcome your fear of math, and is currently a popular college math professor and motivational speaker. Her newest book, Answers Unleashed, which unveils her Brainpower Unleashing System, was released September 19th, 2017. 

Olympia’s highly popular TEDx talk, “Reprogramming Your Brain to Overcome Fear,” has garnered nearly 1M views worldwide.  She hosts her own weekly radio program, Answers Unleashed, and has appeared on NBC, CBS PBS, and CW network stations across the country. Her story was recently featured in People Magazine, in news across Canada, on the KTLA morning show in Los Angeles, and most recently, with Tom Bilyeu on Impact Theory.

Honey Pig NBD is a trio with fun and impressive 3 part harmonies singing country/folk/pop originals and covers. Debi Derryberry, Nina Herzog and Brenna Larsen are all Los Angeles based singers and voice actors. Debi is best known for the voice of Jimmy Neutron and also Maureen and Phillip on Netflix’s F is for Family.  Nina Herzog has sung with Universal Music, and she just had her debut in the world of voiceover as the role of The Swan Princess for Sony Animation. Brenna is recently off the National tour of nikelodeons Peppa Pig Live, she is now back in LA working with VO clients around the world. Also joining the trio is Andrew Russell who is recently off the national Broadway tour of Jersey Boys, and is now an active VO artist here in LA.

ALAIN LAGGER

Alain’s goal as a speaker and guide is to heal the “us-them” mentality that has become so rampant and entrenched in American culture today, and to assist his audience in developing a harmonious state of interpersonal flow.

Alain began his career as a police officer at the age of 16, the youngest officer on the Dutch police force. After eight years of brutal and desensitizing experiences, Alain resigned from the force and embarked on a life-changing journey:  he traveled the world in an attempt to reconcile his desire for healing and connection with the violent, divisive things he’d experienced as a police officer.

On the course of his travels Alain has worked with children in a Mexican orphanage, and village elders in an indigenous tribe in Panama; he’s counseled prison inmates in Colombia and corporate CEOs in Brazil; he’s aided homeless youth in the favelas of Medellin, and at-risk youth in the projects of Watts.  In 2012, he imagined and successfully pioneered the position of “Director of Happiness” for large corporation in Latin America.

Throughout these experiences Alain has found a simple and recurring theme: productive harmony and flow – in business interactions, law enforcement environments, and educational settings – is best achieved by establishing connection through the practice of compassion.  Alain draws on his many personal and professional experiences to show how and why connecting through compassion is the key to success in any endeavor.  He actively engages his audience in connection exercises that are both eye-opening and life-altering.

Alain’s ability to implement his practice in a variety of environments has led to profiles and interviews by diverse media sources such as Forbes, Dinero, El Tiempo, Exame, and Santa Domingo Times Magazine, which featured Alain on the January 2014 cover, naming him as one of the “Los Mas Attractivos,” honored for his merits and innovations in business.  In his speaking engagements, as in all of his endeavors, Alain’s goal is to bridge the “us-them” divide and give people the tools and the inspiration to connect to one another in a harmonious and productive flow state.

Daniel Garza has overcome health issues, became an HIV/AIDS Advocate, Anal Cancer Survivor. Several near death experiences and lives with a colostomy. After 10 years Clean & Sober and many valleys in his journey, he has made it his mission to give back to the community. A self-proclaimed workaholic, you will find him either; speaking to students about HIV prevention, interviewing folks for his podcast "Put It Together", recording his show "Zodiacs & Candles" produced by his company Lilmesican Productions. Auditioning or filming a project in Hollywood or traveling with his boyfriend, Christian Ramirez. He carries his heart on his sleeve, has no edit button, and will always find time to pull his Oracle Cards and offer a reading to a stranger at coffee shop. Daniel is someone you want to know. 

MORE INFO: https://www.facebook.com/LilmesicanProductions/

Regina Huber, Founder & CEO of Transform Your Performance

Drawing from her extensive corporate experience in six countries, Regina Huber is a Transformational Leadership Coach for Business Women; Speaker with a Passion for Inclusive Diversity, Co-Creation and Dance; and Author of Speak up, Stand out and Shine – Speak Powerfully in Any Situation, reviewed on The Huffington Post.

With her signature system, Powerful Leadership Transformation (PLT), she works with companies to transform top female performers into top leaders Regina focuses on driving fast results for her clients by emphasizing an empowering mindset, their distinctive uniqueness and a compelling, body-conscious presence, enabling them to stand out, gain visibility and accelerate their success.

Regina speaks five languages and has over 18 years of international experience in the corporate business world, including management positions at The Boston Consulting Group in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. As an entrepreneur, Regina owned two businesses in Argentina and Brazil, and she translated 12 books.

Regina is a Certified Leadership Ambassador at Take The Lead Women and a Conversational Intelligence® Enhanced Skills Coach. She serves as Co-Chair of the NYC Financial Women's Association's Distinguished Speakers Committee. She is a Global Executive Mentor at UAE-Africa Mentoring Development Consortium and a Mentor for a global group of entrepreneurs. In 2017, she supported several initiatives and conferences for women and youth in Ghana and South Africa. She was recently featured on Forbes and in Goldstreet Business (Ghana).

To contact Regina for private coaching programs, group workshops, interactive talks and presentations for your events, contact or call her at (+1-347) 821-8050.

BEN CARROLL

Ben Carroll is a Los Angeles musician – singer, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. His various studio and live projects range from Soul to Classic Jazz to upbeat sunny California Surf Pop, and more. He has played and does play around the world. He writes for commercials, TV and film. Write him and say hi: ben@bencarroll.com

Ben Carroll. You know him, right? That’s the feeling you get when you hear his music. He’s the guy next door who you’ve seen come and go and wondered about…There’s something to him that’s kind of special—kind of magical and connective on a level that you can’t quite put your finger on. There’s a slew of hidden worlds within this one man.

When you hear Ben’s music, you feel like you are really being sung to. Ben makes it personal for you, like he’s sitting in your living room with a guitar on his lap. And on the tunes when the whole band plays, it sounds like they’re playing just for you, the music creating an atmospheric presence that invites you in and gently closes around you.

Such is the experience on “Letter From Memphis,” the fifth cut on Carroll’s latest record, the independently released Lighting Bonfires. The rolling, twangy fingerpicked guitar, ticking drums with a steady shaker, and country blues double bass resound a lullaby that is both uncomfortable and settled. As he sings the opening lines, Ben’s sense of a home scattered throughout the world is painted like a postcard for you, evoking the emotions he felt while writing the song on tour in Memphis. For Carroll, home is less of a place and more of a connection shared with others:

It’s 9:26 in Budapest but here the stars are out
And the Memphis skyline’s flickering like it never deals with doubt
And it’s certainly an interesting way to pass the time
Two heartbeats closely listening for a reason and a rhyme

The son of two Grammy-winning parents (“Afternoon Delight,” 1976), Carroll’s power of craft comes fully to light on “Child at Heart,” track two on Lighting Bonfires. With a two-step stompy groove that drives the song, Ben defiantly declares his penchant for whimsy as he sings:

I live a dream like children
Above your sullen law
I celebrate the live-long day
By riding a see-saw

Later on, you hear Ben’s super-ego kicking in, giving a window into the artist’s search for balance between the heart and the head. Says Carroll about “Child at Heart,” “You can show up on time, do what you say, and still fly over mountains dressed like Dr. John in a headdress, sucking a lollipop and clapping your feet.”

I will do my deeds with honor
I will show up there on time
But the story’s not a goner
The laughter’s not a crime

The juju is the joy now
The dance is still the dance
The whisper is the pow-wow
And recess is romance

Lighting Bonfires was recorded almost entirely live in one take, without autotune, at the famous Magic Shop recording studio in New York City. The album was produced by Adam Levy (Norah Jones, Amos Lee) with Emily King (R&B Grammy nomination, John Legend tour) joining for backup vocals on “Precious Precious” and “Wanna Be Me” and Nicholas Britell (Woody Allen’s New York, I Love You composer, SXSW Grand Jury Prize composer) writing and arranging the string parts on “Grace,” “O Sarah,” and “Books and Movies.”

“What I loved about doing it how we did it this time was, essentially, doing it live. I played with guys that I’d played with often around town for the past three years before recording in New York, and a lot of the songs we had played together dozens and dozens of times at shows. And that’s how we recorded them. Everything was one take, with very few exceptions, and I feel like that really translates…the record sounds really good. We did it with energy, all together.”

Lighting Bonfires also tells a great social success story. Ben’s fans paid $22,455 in a Kickstarter campaign to make the record happen. Backers from around the world told Ben, through their pledges, that they wanted to hear this music. This release marks the fulfillment of Ben’s promise to give his fans a record that provokes an immediate and deep connection with what it means to be human in some way.

Though Lighting Bonfires marks the achievement of new milestones in production and collaboration, Ben Carroll is not a newcomer to the industry. He has steadily toured North America and Europe as a solo act since 2004. He released his debut solo album Lover Undercover in 2005 and his followup Real Thing in 2007 (on UK label Blue Cloud Records), which was #1 for five weeks on AAA FM Radio in Ohio and was played on over fifty radio stations in the US and Europe. Ben’s songs have also been featured in television and film, including Pier’s End Productions’ 2008 release Wake, which premiered at the Tribeca Cinema in New York City.

SWAMI BEYONDANANDA (aka STEVE BHAERMAN)

Swami Beyondananda is the cosmic comic alter ego of writer, humorist, performer and uncommontator Steve Bhaerman. The Swami, whose favorite yoga pose is tongue-in-cheek, is the spokesperson for a new non-religion, FUNdamentalism (accent on “fun”). Says the Swami, “We are strictly non-dominational.”

Steve was pursuing a career as a teacher and writer, when a funny thing happened. The name “Swami Beyondananda” flew into his head on day in 1979. As Steve tells it, “I got struck by enlightening during a brainstorm.”

The following year, when he and a cohort were casting about for a comic mascot for their ground-breaking holistic publication, Pathways in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Swami’s name popped back up. The first issue of Pathways in January, 1980 featured an ad spoofing the old Famous Artists ads. This ad was for Famous Guru’s Schools, and the headline proclaimed, “We’re looking for people who want to draw … on higher consciousness.” The piece included some mock testimonials, including: “Dear Swami … loved your leadership training … please send followers.”

Before long, Swami was the most popular feature in Pathways, as he held forth on topics such as “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sects” (“… unbridled sects can lead to unwanted misconceptions …”), Teach Your Dog to Heal (“… being around friendly canines generates healthy hormones called puptides …”), Tantrum Yoga (“… the latest rage on the path to ire consciousness”), and Be There Now, Swami’s ultimate take on bi-location (“… the first time I stepped outside my body, I was beside myself with excitement …”).

After Pathways ceased publication, the Swami’s articles began to appear in national publications such as the old East West Journal, and local publications in Philadelphia, Austin, Salt Lake City, among others. When Steve decided to pursue comedy as a full-time career in 1985, the Swami was the obvious vehicle. (You can read the surprising story of the first words that ever came out of Swami’s mouth in the e-book, Wake Up Laughing: An Insider’s Guide to the Cosmic Comedy.)

Anyway, shortly after his first public performance as Swami in 1985, Steve met his wife-to-be Trudy, and a year-and-a-half later, they took off in a van and trailer and launched the Swami and Trudy show. And the rest … is mystery.

In the course of nearly twenty-five years of purveying cosmic comedy and healing laughter, Swami has had a successful, long-running monthly column, Ask The Swami, has written four books (Driving Your Own Karma … When You See A Sacred Cow, Milk It for All It’s Worth … Duck Soup for the Soul … Swami for Precedent: A Seven-Step Plan to Heal the Body Politic and Cure Electile Dysfunction), and produced a half a dozen comedy cassettes (sorry, not available on 8-track) and CDs.

He has been on stage with the great sages of the past quarter century, and even performed for Swami Satchidananda’s 80th birthday party in 1994, along with Hollywood celebs and international recording artists. He has gained a reputation for being both pointed and compassionate (his comedy has been called “irreverently uplifting”), and over the past decade, his comedy has become more political.

(“I know,” Swami says, “that many people don’t want to go there. But there has already come here.”)

In recent years, the Swami has performed at numerous political events, including the Transpartisan Alliance Citizens Summit, the Network of Spiritual Progressives Conference, the Department of Peace Conference, the Praxis Peace Institute Economics of Peace Conference, to name a few.

Swami’s latest venture is to combine his non-religion of FUNdamentalism with the non-politics of the newly-formed Right to Laugh Party (“one big party … everyone is invited”), to create one big evolutionary up-wising to overgrow the current dysfunctional system. He will also be launching his radio feature, Karma Talk this year — to give folks from all over the world to ask the Swami answerable questions, and receive his questionable answers.

ALBY POTTS

SHANNON KEITH

Shannon Keith is the founder and president of ARME. As an animal rights attorney, Shannon represents animal rights activists in the courtroom, defends dogs on death row, and goes after animal abusers. As a filmmaker, she focuses on stopping the problem at its roots through educational documentaries and has won several awards for her groundbreaking films exposing animal cruelty. As an activist and rescuer, Shannon personally saves animals from abuse, neglect and imprisonment and organizes campaigns against animal exploiting industries. Shannon formed ARME in 2004 and formed ARME’s Beagle Freedom Project in 2010, a mission dedicated to rescuing animals from laboratories.

ARME’s mission is to eliminate the suffering of all animals. This goal is achieved by rescuing unwanted and homeless animals and by educating the public of the vast extent of the suffering animals endure in our society. Through its actions and words, ARME advances the freedom of all animals.

ARME’s EIN is: 55-0882647

ARME is a 501(c)(3) organization which relies on the kindness and consideration of the public’s donations.

GOLD MAN

Jake Goldman (aka Gold Man) is a multi-talented singer/songwriter from Los Angeles. He began playing guitar and piano at a young age and soon developed the ability to captivate audiences with his glassy voice and contagious personality. Jake’s music is sultry and stimulating with its intricate chords, unique, but catchy melodies, and charming lyrics. According to Infectious Magazine, Jake is “on the fast track to the top”, and his music is “an easy listen that will immediately get stuck in your head.”