
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, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

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
possibility

Besides my family, the most meaningful thing to me is that wondrous and joyful place – the imagination, and using the power of imagination to create new possibilities.
One of my favorite questions when I was kid was Why? “Why does that happen? Why?” What if? has also always been compelling to me. I love to chase down a What if? and try to figure it out, and I love to offer possibilities, whether they’re real or not. It’s a way my brain works – I’m studious and observant, my mind piles things up, and then finds uses for them in different contexts, collecting things and assembling them in different ways. I draw connections between seemingly disconnected things until something absolutely and totally new arises.
For me, there’s always a period of germination. The length of the germination depends on the complexity of whatever it is I’m chasing. For example, I’d say my novel was probably 30 years in the making. A seed gets planted by an experience, then the idea becomes sticky, attracting different experiences over time – a book read, a conversation, a scientific discovery, anything relevant.
A lot of people keep journals – like the scientists I’ve been reading about – so they can keep track of all the material that ties into the sticky idea. For me, the sticky stuff goes into my head. Then, when another idea passes before me, if it feels relevant to an original kernel, it sticks on and stays there. Like a magnet, my mind seems to be always turned on and always available in that way. I love that. The idea, like a snowball, grows and grows until there’s an “Ah-ha!” moment. “Oh, wow, I’m going to write a book and Jesus is going to be a woman!”
At some point, I have to write things down. I like to do that through story. I think that’s because story is very emotional and free-flowing. Communicating ideas through story and fiction has always been powerful to me, sometimes even more powerful than non-fiction.
– Kristen Wolf
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