Interview: Lee Woodruff On Family, Her Foundation And Flannel PJ’s

By Stacey Gualandi

Twitter:  @LeeMWoodruff
Facebook:  Perfectly Imperfect

UPDATE: 2/1/12:  Lee’s blog reports that she’s just finished the manuscript of her first book, “Those We Love,” which will be out 9/11/12

UPDATE 1/9/12:  Lee Woodruff joins ‘CBS This Morning‘

Author Lee Woodruff  knows what it means to overcome adversity.   Five years ago, her husband ABC anchor Bob Woodruff,  suffered a near-fatal brain injury from a roadside bomb while reporting from Iraq.  It has been a long, yet successful road to recovery.  And in the process, she has become a voice for brain-injured soldiers returning from war.

“Things happen in life and we need to reach out and seek help.”  Lee Woodruff

Lee and her husband wrote In An Instant, an instant bestseller about healing from such a horrible event.   They formed the Bob Woodruff Foundation to help raise awareness, money, and assistance to those troops in recovery.

In her follow-up book, Perfectly Imperfect, A Life In Progress,  she humorously tackled the subject of everyday challenges.  Lee also speaks tirelessly to people all over the country.   This Good Morning America correspondent will be one of the hosts at  the More Magazine Reinvention Convention in Los Angeles on Monday.

I have recently had to “reinvent” myself, so I was very interested in talking with Lee about how to move forward, how to find inner strength, and how to embrace flannel nightgowns.  I’ll explain…

Interview: Alissa Finerman On Leaving Wall Street And Living in Your Top 1 %

By Stacey Gualandi

Twitter:  @AlissaFinerman
Facebook:  AlissaFinermanTop1

Alissa Finerman is living proof that it’s never too late to start a new life path.   She is practicing what she preaches with her first self-published book “Living in Your Top 1%”.  This former Wall Street financier and nationally ranked doubles tennis champ turned life coach serves up what she says are the nine most effective rituals to success.

“I think it begins with everyone being the CEO of You, Inc.”

She pulls from her own experience managing hedge funds, working the corporate bond desk, and acing opponents on the tennis court.  She believes that when “your heart and mind come together you will excel”.

After being laid off as one of the top senior women, she decided to write a book that would help others chart a new course.

I know what it’s like to get laid off and then trying to rethink your future.  So I was eager to read Alissa’s book, and learn how to navigate through change, shift your mindset, set new goals, and as a doubles tennis player myself, how to win a tiebreaker!…

Interview: Nancy Santullo’s Crusade For Clean Water In The Amazon Rainforest

By Stacey Gualandi

Twitter: @rainforestflow
Facebook:  rainforest-flow

Nancy Santullo calls the Peruvian rainforest her home.  As the founder of Rainforest Flow: A House of the Children Project, she has gone deep into the Manu rainforest to bring clean, healthy water to the indigenous people who live there.

  “Our lives are interconnected…as we help one child, we help all children.”   Nancy Santullo

In 2000, this former fashion photographer embarked on a journey that she says not only transformed her life, but also the children who can now drink safely.  Within eight years, Nancy says her organization served approximately 450 adults and children in remote areas of the rainforest. 

Rainforest Flow has successfully brought clean water and reduced diseases in two remote villages, and she is about to return to help yet another one.

With the chidren of Huacaria, Peru/2009

Nancy puts her life in danger for up to nine months at a time.  To reach these villages takes several days – by plane, by jeep, by boat – with snakes, mosquitoes, and disease always posing a threat. 

The rainforest is the last place I would think of for a life-altering career change, so I wanted to see why Nancy won’t stop until there’s enough drinkable water for all the tribes of the rainforest…