author. speaker. motivator.
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]
political powerhouse. media mogul. author.
Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]
author. speaker. linchpin.
Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]
yogi. philanthropist. dynamic teacher.
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]
producer. philanthropist. tv legend.
Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]
race car driver. activist. carbon free girl.
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]
Freedom Fighter. Philanthropist. Game Changer.
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]
mom. big dreamer. lady in red.
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]
Writer. Entrepreneur. Daily Lover.
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]
singer. musician. crier.
Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]
archbishop. author. peaceful leader.
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]
author. ceo. humanitarian.
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]
speaker. psychotherapist. life embracer.
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]
yogi. meditator. teacher.
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]
creator. writer. idea geek.
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]
Strategist. Writer. Life Coach.
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]
Designer. Art Director. Passionate Creator.
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]
Agent. Producer. Photography Enthusiast.
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
love now
Kute Blackson
motivational speaker. coach. video star.
Life coach and motivational speaker Kute Blackson assists people in living life's wild free-fall. He dares you to pick up the instrument that is your heart and play it fully. [www.kuteblackson.com]
Growing up on four different continents and seeing the reality that diverse people live daily has deeply impacted my heart. From those experiences came the profound and simple realization that at the core we are all the same, we are all one. On the surface, it might seem that we’re different, but we’re not. We all have the same hopes, fears, wants, and concerns. Everyone wants to be loved and everyone wants to love. Each time I come across another human being I’m so humbled. How beautiful we all are.
Inside all my studies of and experiences with religion and philosophy, I find the same thing at the core: At our highest possibility, we are love itself. Are you loving in this moment or are you not?
There are moments when I realize I’m not in tune with the state of loving that’s at the core of my being. If, in that moment, I say to myself, I’m not loving right now. What’s wrong with me? I judge myself and am thus doubly unloving. What helps me if I find I’m not in a loving state is to bring my awareness to the moment, to simply observe without judgment.
It takes real heroism and courage to be willing to love now. It’s easy to love when we feel like loving. It’s easy to love what’s typically lovable. It’s easy to love ourselves when we’re doing great things. But when we open our hearts and dare to love what challenges us, what might collapse us, or what we don’t want to love, we make a profound commitment. When I stop resisting my heart and allow love to flow, that’s when miracles happen.
If we shift our focus and let go of our attachment to the form – the form of a relationship, for example – and commit instead to the loving itself, we remain open. Forms will always change. People will change. Experiences come and go. Guaranteed. What’s important is a commitment to the process of loving, so we remain open and ready and available in every moment.
At times, loving hurts and the heart feels like it might break. But I think it hurts more to hold back. It hurts more to not love. It hurts more to contract rather than to expand, to not risk expressing the depth of love that’s within us. When our hearts feel like they’re breaking, they’re trying to break open to more love. The heart itself can never truly be broken. There’s an unshakable strength there that’s unbreakable at the core.
– Kute Blackson
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good girl. light footed leader. experience owner.
Sarah Jones sees Life Itself as her lead in an epic, ongoing partner dance. She teaches women how to go from feeling uptight and invisible around men to beautiful and free. [www.sarahamandajones.com]
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father. entrepreneur. abc conceptualist.
Dmitri Leonov is an entrepreneur working to make the world a better place through technology at Sanebox.com. He spends his free time playing music and thinking about how to make the world a better place in general. [www.leonov.org]
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poet. photographer. lover.
Lynda Filler is a poet, author, photographer, and would-be public speaker who lives in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She has two published poetry books and is currently working on two memoir/biographies. [www.thelovefix.com]
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Writer. Philanthropist. Community Transformer.
Brian Center has worked on the issues of violence prevention and strengthening families from many angles. He's the Executive Director of A Better LA. [www.abetterla.org]
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Songwriter. Producer. Music Enthusiast.
Bio: Varda Kakon is a sound supervisor, producer and song writer. She has evolved in the world of music her whole life. She lives in France with husband Alain and son Ariel.
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kindness warrior. food demystifier. vitality spreader.
Geneen Roth wrote pioneering books that were among the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that go far beyond food, weight, and body image. [www.geneenroth.com]
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healer. author. receiver.
Alexandra Solnado's path as a spiritual healer began in a moment, when her daughter stopped breathing. Since then, she's channeled books, spiritual therapies, and meditations. [www.alexandrasolnado.net]
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bird-girl searcher. poetic papa. avery-catcher.
William Henderson lives outside Boston with his children. He blogs about love and other unexplainable forces, tweets about books and parenting, and rarely reads directions. He still wanders in cemeteries, and often gets lost. [www.hendersonhouseofcards.com]
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