Self Biography

Since she was a child, Lisa wanted to help. Whether it was rescuing a blind duck at a park or defending her younger brother against bullying when he experienced severe asthma attacks—Lisa always found herself in the role of a helper during times of crisis. As an adult, a phone call at four o’clock in the morning launched a trifecta of trauma that changed Lisa’s life forever. When her family’s world imploded, Lisa felt as if she had become irrevocably damaged. Instead, she discovered her calling during a sunrise walk along the beach at the height of her son’s illness.

If you’re only learning from your own experience, you’re wasting years of time doing all the wrong things. When we learn from the experiences of others, we can save those years and make the right decisions when they count. Who has the experience you should learn from? Anyone and everyone, including the author of this book. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Experience Matters is full of (brutal) honesty and humor.

This is the raw story of Rae’s near-death experience, which sparked her soul purpose and took her around the world. Where will your soul’s truth take you? Use this book for your real-life freedom initiation. This is a soul-searching book that teaches you how dealing with emotions will help you go from self-talk to soul talk. This is how men and women rise in power and connection in three keys: dream, transform, and impact. The stars are not even the limit. Return home to your dreams. They’re waiting for you.

This story includes the struggles of mental health, grief and loss, dysfunctional relationships, narcissistic parents, sexual assault, substance abuse, postpartum depression, and autoimmune disorders. It may be triggering to some. It shows the obstacles families overcome and is about abandonment. It shows the unconditional love between a mother and daughter. Despite all the hardships we faced, despite all odds against us, together we proved what the true definition of unconditional love is. It wasn't the prettiest, but to us, it was perfectly "imperfect".

In the eyes of the public, Ron Baker had already become an international success, performing over sixty lead roles in operas and Broadway shows around the world. However, on the inside, he felt empty and insecure. Something important was missing from his life. Then, a chance encounter on a bus changed everything. What follows is an epic saga of spiritual empowerment like no other—from the channeled urgings of Archangel Gabriel for Ron to reframe his entire life, to the planet-shifting quests in the Great Pyramid of Egypt and on the mountaintop of Machu Picchu in Peru.

In 2012 Lenerd Louw is living the high life on Millionaires' Row in Clifton beach, Cape Town. The successful CEO of an insurance company and part-time playboy, he appears to have it all - gorgeous women, threesomes, ecstasy and cocaine on demand. But something doesn't feel right. He tries to drown a deep inner voice urging him to change his career, life - everything - by partying harder. By the end of December 2012, a massive shift occurs. He resigns as CEO, sells all his worldly possessions, and books a one-way ticket to Lima, Peru.

Growing up as an undersized white basketball player on a remote island in Alaska, Jesse had nearly every chip stacked against him. Yet despite his size and circumstances, he managed to rise above it all and make it to the big screen in Hollywood. With only the love of the game of basketball and the tenacity to follow a dream driving him, Jesse's persistence has led him to star in national commercials and movies with some of the most recognizable celebrities and professional athletes in the world.

My descent into more than a dozen years of sex and cocaine addiction, and how a cow in a Vermont pasture pointed me toward recovery and redemption.

America knew George Zimmer for one of the most famous slogans in television advertising history: “I guarantee it.” Zimmer rode his promise to lead the Men’s Wearhouse to unimagined success as a retail giant. Now, years removed from his stunning dismissal as leader of the company he founded, I Guarantee It recounts the journey of Zimmer’s rise, the fall of the Men’s Wearhouse, and his personal renewal.

Wie werde ich erfolgreich und finanziell unabhängig? Wie nutze ich Hindernisse, um an ihnen zu wachsen? Wie treffe ich die richtigen Entscheidungen? Als Kind nach Deutschland eingewandert, aufgewachsen in einem »sozialen Brennpunkt«, schon im Studium die erste eigene Firma gegründet und heute Millionär: Unterhaltsam und temporeich erzählt Dawid Przybylski seine persönliche Lebens- und Erfolgsgeschichte.

My purpose was handed to me in the shape of an envelope, a simple paper container with a sealable flap that holds a little bit of hope for our everyday heroes. As it turned out, a life of stationery was my destiny, not a stationary life. And it all began on the heels of a broken heart. For the better part of my life, I dreamed of and even prayed for an epic love story, and this is a love story on so many levels. I just never expected it to come at such a great toll. But then again, if you look back through the course of history, the greatest love stories always do.

Motsi opens up about the determination, hard work and resilience it took to get to where she is today from the moment she fell in love with the glitterball world as a young child watching a dance tournament whilst on holiday. She takes us back to growing up in apartheid South Africa where she experienced exclusion and discrimination, raising money to compete in cut-throat international competitions and the huge leap of faith she took giving up her law degree, moving to Germany to be with her dance partner and throwing everything in to becoming the best dancer she could be.

Growing up with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Sam felt restricted by the labels other people put on to her. After a spinal fusion operation, which almost left her paralysed in her early twenties, she decided to quit her job and move from Lancashire where she'd grown up, to London to start the life she'd always envisioned for herself. In You Are the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread, Sam shares how she went from a young girl who was constantly underestimated to succeeding in becoming a strong independent woman who followed her dreams and stopped letting other people hold her back.

In searching for certainty about choosing the right path, there is a stark truth. The truth is that choice carries burden. The burden of past and future choices. Without a crystal ball to see the future, and without the right skills, relief from the burden of choice comes down to one shocking reality. It means giving up the ability to choose. Giving up choice, or more importantly, not taking responsibility for the outcomes, frees you of the burden of choice. However, that freedom comes at a huge cost.

Lynn Young’s Red Hot Living is part joyride, part memoir, part zesty recipe, part anthem, and part love letter to life. Discovering wild joy in the most unlikely places, Young connects us to our own desires and yes, to finding unimaginable joy no matter what life dishes up. Laugh-out-loud funny, Red Hot Living is a rollicking, unabashed, irresistible listen that leads us straight home to our joyful selves.

Fulfilling the Dream: My Path to Leadership and Finding Purpose in Serving Others is an honest, eye-opening, and inspiring book about setting aside personal ego and ignoring racial and political bias to bless and benefit others. Wayman Britt's story is a tale of believing one's dreams, realizing them, and then dedicating his life to helping others imagine and achieve better lives.

Mike Flynt was swapping stories with some old football buddies when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: getting kicked off the college team before his senior year. So, one of his pals said, "Why not do something about it?" Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt's only concern was his eligibility. He not only returned to college football, but actually made the team at his alma mater—Sul Ross State, an NCAA division III school.

She was born to a working-class family in Manchester. Her father was her inspiration. She idolized this charismatic man, and he told her every day that she was special. Emulating her beloved father’s work ethic, Mandy worked on a market stall at 13 years old, then went off to university at 18, always working to help financially. From nothing and nowhere, she built a successful career in an unexpected place. She was admired, respected, and had made it. Then her world literally fell apart, and life took her on a journey from abundance to rock bottom.

Stacie Broek was living the expat dream—three children in a central Tokyo private school, house and travel back home all paid for—until the morning when her carotid artery spontaneously ripped, causing blood to pool in her artery wall. Upon waking from a 10-hour surgery, Stacie couldn’t walk, talk, or feed herself. She couldn't remember her name, her children's names, or her own address. The new ignorance was menacing and dangerous. This once independent, full-of-moxie woman was reduced to a needy lump.

In Our Brave Foremothers, discover an intergenerational, intercultural bouquet of Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous women lifted into the significance that they deserve. From Etel Adnan to Mary Jones, Thelma Garcia Buchholdt to Pura Belpré to Zitkála-Šá, here are 100 women of color who left a lasting mark on United States history. Including both famous and little-known names, the thoughtful profiles and detailed portraits of these women herald their achievements and passions.