Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. www.jackcanfield.com
Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. www.huffingtonpost.com
Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. www.squidoo.com/linchpin
Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. www.yogaforyouth.org
Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. www.normanlear.com
Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. www.leilanimunter.com
By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery’s penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. www.freetheslaves.net
Sophie Chiche, founder of lifebyme.com, is the single mom of an amazing 16-year-old, Leah, and wicked step-mom of 22-year-old, Sarah. They all live in LA. You can find them boxing, cooking, collaging, hosting brunches, laughing their head off or bickering over who’s washing and who’s drying the dishes.
Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. www.TheDailyLove.com
Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. www.lizphair.com
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. www.tutu.org
Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. www.womenforwomen.org
Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He’s a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. www.timetostand.com
Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. www.kiamiller.com
Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. www.simonmainwaring.com
Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. www.getupgirl.com
Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He’s a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. www.candytangerine.com
Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
soul

It’s important to me to have experiences in every moment of every day that I enjoy – whether it’s a good moment or a bad moment. Why make only one thing out of ten special? Why do something if there’s no meaning in it? Everything should be special. I put all those moments together and call them soul experiences.
What helps me create soul experiences is what I call experience DNA. There are things we consider hereditary, like being six-foot-two and having blue eyes. I can’t really change those things, or the other things I’ve inherited. But there are also things that happen in our lives, including things we strive for and make happen, and that create experience DNA.
If I read a book that moves me and makes me look at things a bit differently, or if I go to an event that’s so incredible it makes me look at things differently, those changes stay with me over time. They become part of my experience DNA – part of who I am.
I think of my authenticity as traveling with me. Too often, we relate our surroundings, our people, and our comforts to who we are. If I’m in a foreign place, can I maintain who I am? A quest I’m on is finding my authenticity and taking it with me everywhere I go – being brightly who I am, wherever I am.
When we look at the people we admire the most, not only for their accomplishments, but for who they are, what we appreciate about them is their authenticity. People we love the most aren’t perfect. They may be fun, but they’re not hiding their imperfections.
Internally, I’m always striving for that kind of authenticity. I’ve found that it helps to start with the people around me first – being as vulnerable and intimate and authentic with them as I can, giving them everything of who I am. Next is doing that with everyone else. I don’t know if achieving that is around the corner or on the horizon … but the path is fun.
- Chuck Longanecker
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