Category: Friday with Friends

Many people know Jessica Hendy from Broadway, where she’s best known for playing Grizabella in “CATS.” But Jessica is getting ready to launch a one-woman show about her own struggles — which she shares with us today.

Jessica opens up about a show business career challenges, dealing with rejection, and building self-confidence. She also dives into her experience with mental illness and the struggle that turned into her memoir and one-woman play.

Resources:

• jesshendy.com
• Instagram: @jesshendy
• Buy tickets to “Walking with Bubbles”

Dr. Alison Kay is an energy medicine practitioner, author, speaker, holistic life coach, master meditator, and founder of Vibrational Upgrade, a system to apply your magic and get what you desire. Born in the West and studying medicine in the East for over a decade, she brings so much wisdom and experience to her practice.

Alison has a way of talking about energy in a way that’s grounded and backed up by science and evidence. This is not the woo-woo stuff we’re used to hearing. She shares as much of the why as she does the how and gives a clear path to harnessing your energy for the better.

Resources:

• vibrationalupgrade.com
• @dr.alisonjkay
• Read: “What If There’s Nothing Wrong?”
• Read: “Reasonable Dragons”
• Read: “Vibrational UPgrade”

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is a recognized thought leader on the culinary, social, ethical, and practical aspects of living compassionately and healthfully. Her compassionate living philosophy is propelling plant-based eating into the mainstream and forever changing the way we regard animals.

We talk about what brought her to veganism, the biggest obstacles others face in confronting animal cruelty, and why being joyful as a vegan is actually helpful to the cause.

Resources:

• joyfulvegan.com
• Instagram: @joyfulvegan

Calvin Tucker goes by “Black Noah” on Instagram, a moniker he adopted after becoming a huge animal rescuer and advocate. He owns four rescue cats, helps feed a hundred cats every week, has TNRed (Trap-Neuter-Return) over 650 cats, and found homes for over 140 cats.

You wouldn’t guess it from that bio, but growing up, Calvin always hated cats. Then, one day after leaving work, he found a little grey kitten sitting by his car and something inside of him changed. That cat was Henry, the first of four kittens that Calvin would wind up adopting and the reason for everything he does today.

He talks about colony management of feral cats, a day in his life, and how you can support animal rescue efforts.

Resources:

• Instagram: @blacknoah1
• Donate to Calvin’s animal rescue

Nathan Hirschaut is an ex-professional dancer who graduated from The Juilliard School. He’s also a yoga teacher with a passion for creative coaching and spiritual evolution. He’s lived a lot of life in his 21 years and has a lot of wisdom to share from that time.

Before Juilliard and before professional dancing, Nathan saw dance as more of a sport than an art. He was good at controlling his body, but he didn’t understand how to use that for self-expression. Now, in the year of COVID and with dance mostly on hold, Nathan decided to go full force into starting his business, Hive Creates, a company dedicated to supporting the next generation of leading artists in 2018.

When he realized that he didn’t want to follow the traditional path laid out for people, he knew he had to build an inner compass to guide him and help him be strong enough to navigate the unknown. He gathered the components he needs to not only create authentically but to help others do the same.

Resources:

• hivecreates.com
• Instagram: @hivecreates | @nathanhirschaut | @hivecreativecompany

Adell Bridges is an international yoga teacher with a passion for sharing the healing power of yoga with everyone she can.

We talk about what it’s been like to be an international yoga teacher when you can’t travel, as well as the new book she’s writing about hypermobile yogis. She also delves into how injury can be a learning experience, what she teaches about hypermobility, and how people with hypermobility, or those teaching people with it, can learn to work with it.

Resources:

• Learn more: adellbridgesyoga.com
• Follow: @adellbridges | @hypermobile.yogis
• Pre-order: “Too Flexible to Feel Good” (releasing March 16, 2021)

What does a world traveler do during lockdown?

Lesley Murphy is a lifelong traveler (up until this past year, that is), the creator of LimitLes Travel, and so much more. The past year has changed so much for her — as it has for many of us — and we dive into all that that means for her and how she’s adapted.

In the last year, she has gotten engaged, got pregnant, and settled into a home after living as a travel blogger for years. Through all of this change, she has learned so much about herself… both in what has changed and what has stayed the same.

Resources:

• theroadlestraveled.com
• Instagram: @lesleyannemurphy
• 33 | Traveling, Moving Through Surgery, & Love After the Bachelor | with Lesley Murphy
• 152 | Spread Your Wings | with Lesley Murphy

Karen Rohlf is an expert dressage teacher. She pioneered a new niche in the horse industry by combining two seemingly different styles of riding, and she works with horses to improve their biomechanics by focusing on the mental and emotional components of posture and movement. She also mentors other heart-centered equine professionals.

Karen started as a horse-crazy kid. But the further she delved into the professional horse industry, the more she missed the feeling of riding for fun as a kid. So she ended up diving into natural horsemanship, where the partnership and relationship with the horse took priority.

Resources:

• dressagenaturally.net