Books by Transformational Speakers 2023
“Shopping is so tempting. You get to abdicate your throne for a bit and let China and New York dictate your life.” — Janice Haynes
That was my sister Janice’s response when I winced at what I’ve spent on stuff I’ve never used after months of clearing out what no longer serves. Yet I’m finding that the books I love are the “keepers” and I can return to their wisdom again and again.
We all need fresh and inspiring ideas for our holiday gifts, so last year I started a new tradition: highlighting the books of my Transformational Speaking clients. Here it is for 2023 and beyond. It’s as diverse as my amazing clients are, and I’m confident you’ll find just the right book for anyone on your list!
This year I have added a new category to honor a particular group of change artists:
KICK ASS ELDERS!
And of course, there’s a story about that! Here’s our April 2021 Transformational Speaking Immersion group where the name originated.
L to R: Katy Shannon, Dinah Lin, Sheila Ohlsson Walker, moi, Esther Jantzen, Lindsay Quinn, Mika Barber
To my right in the photo is Esther Jantzen, who has walked the Camino several times and coined the phrase “kick ass elder” during class. With Esther and I in our 70s and Dinah at 80, Sheila made us Kick Ass Elder t-shirts, with “Elder in Training” shirts for the rest of the group. Dinah did the Chinese lettering, “Wisdom is earned.”
Wisdom is earned for all of these authors, and I want to especially highlight the elders who continue to thrive by living their purpose and bringing their gifts to the world.
KICK ASS ELDERS!
 | Esther Jantzen - Walk An award-winning history, mystery, and travel tale about the missteps, adventures, and heroism of a boy who walks the ancient Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain with his home-schooling family. WALK is in special edition for home schoolers, and Esther has been approached by a producer about optioning WALK for a TV series! For the children and young person on your list, this is the book! |
 | Susan B. Eirich, Ph.D. - Whispers from the Wild: An Invitation I met Susan through a Social Venture Network conference when we were paired up to share a room because we both stretched financially to even get there! Later I visited Earthfire Institute, the sanctuary for rescued wildlife which Susan founded in 2000. These whispers from the wild vividly illuminate the incredible connection of these animals to each other and the humans who care for them and provide a taste of the laughter, joy, love and insight they generate. They are indeed ambassadors for their species. |
 | Gladys McGarey, MD - The Well-Lived Life Dr. Gladys was my doctor back when I lived in Phoenix and was an inspiration 30 years ago. Known as the “Mother of Holistic Medicine,” she is now 102 years old and still in practice. I still remember her stories from my fledgling Real Speaking program in the mid-90s, and her book is full of practical wisdom that will transform your relationship to your body. Reading it brings me to tears as I recognize how much Dr. Gladys has influenced my path. |
 | Dinah Lin -Daring to Dream Once Again - It’s Never Too Late! Dinah, along with her mom and two siblings, escaped on the last boat out of Shanghai in 1949. Be inspired by Dinah’s courage, determination and grit, from growing up in a small town in Ohio as the only Asian family, living in five countries in Asia as a young wife and mom, getting her MBA at age 40, to finally ‘break the glass ceiling’ as VP, International Business Development of a Fortune 500. |
New Releases
Inspiration for the Life You Want to Live
Living and Working with Intention
Memoir
For Youth and Children
Esther Jantzen - Walk |  Monique Gray Smith - Braiding Sweetgrass |
 Monique Gray Smith - I Hope |  Michelle Spalding ?- Nathaniel's Journey |
 Annmarie Chereso ?- Little Seed's Journey |
Health and Healing
Relationships and Transitions
Especially for Women
Business & Entrepreneurial Success
Shamanism, Nature, Animals
May this list tempt you to shop with purpose and give gifts of lasting value to delight and inspire the people you love!
And for you, right now, might I suggest…
Beth Kempton – Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year
Beth’s book will help you celebrate a new kind of holiday season this winter — one where you radiate calm and cultivate delight.
That is my wish for us all.
May we radiate calm and cultivate delight.
P.S. Transformational Speaking continues to reach a global audience. Here’s why:
“When Danielle LaPorte recommended I attend the Transformational Speaking Immersion, I first bought the book to get clarity on what I needed to say – and how to say it. Traditional models give you script. Gail’s book and the Immersion helped me uncover my own. To keep this profound teaching alive, I downloaded the book and went for a walk listening to it every morning for about a year. I still pull it open on digital or hardcopy or audio when I need reminders to reconnect to my authentic way of speaking and storytelling—what Gail calls the HomeZone™!” – Gregg Brown, Professional Speaker on Change & The Future of Work
“I’ve dog-eared your book Transformational Speaking so much that I’m tempted to walk it before going to bed, and give it its own water bowl. I want so badly to plagiarize from it, but I know that’s naughty so I restrain myself. It’s just that when something is said in such a way that it can never be said any better, what am I to do?” – Esther Luttrell
Birthing the New Story! Imagining a World that Works for All of Life
In 1987 my sister was 40 years old and having her first baby. She chose a home birth with a midwife. I questioned her choice, but Janice is a smart woman and had done the research to understand that the approach of hospitals and doctors adds unnecessary layers of procedures for protection (often their own from malpractice suits) that can often result in harm to a newborn. That’s likely why the US is “the most dangerous developed country to give birth in” according to Newsweek in 2018*. Janice gave birth to her second healthy child at age 44, again at the home of her midwife.
Back in 1987, most of us put our trust without question in the promise of existing structures and heedlessly follow their protocols in an attempt to create lives that work within an established system. Unfortunately, even though our lives as a whole aren’t working all that well, we still do. But it is 2020 and we’re starting to break the spell of believing someone knows more than we do about how to create the world to which we want to belong. Our blind allegiance is faltering, and well it should. We’re in a time of health, political, environmental, racial and financial crises. The structures we’ve relied on are crumbling, and no election or single leader can change that.
What will it take to break the spell of believing in an old way and imagine a world that works for all of life?
For years, I have been captivated by the Rumi quote, “Speak a new language so the world may be a new world.” I’ve spoken about that as I’ve sensed that there are languages of the soul that can awaken us to new ways of seeing and being that open the way to the new world we trust is possible and want to co-create.
4 Ways to Work with Gail
Let’s stop watching the newsand make the news!I invite you to join the unmistakable calling of our times to bring your imagination and voice to a new story that is being born in your heart! Like many of us, I’ve been in a wait and watch mode since early March. I’ve sensed something is incubating that is not yet formed. With scheduled travel cancelled, it seemed like a good time to bring a new puppy into my life. What an adventure that has been–for both me and my 9-year old dog Paqo — who is sort of adjusting but remains less than thrilled!
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A new rhythm for new times
Some of you know that my customary way to just stop has been to break bones. Yes, sometimes two, or sprain both feet! All amount to a full stop. Enforced! No negotiation!
I’m not kidding. The day I was to start my Transformational Speaking book tour, I broke bones in both legs and was confined to bed for a week until the swelling subsided and I could be trussed up. (My friend Lisa called it “extreme avoidance.”)
Then when I launched Transformational Speaking Online, I broke my hip in the middle of our series of 8 weekly community calls. I didn’t see my home again for nearly 3 weeks.
When my dear friend Margaret died, I missed two stairs and her memorial service in San Miguel de Allende when I sprained both feet.
In the shamanic path, we know that breaking a bone is about breaking a pattern. It was clear to me in all the above cases that my pattern was to move too fast to pay attention to what my body and soul were telling me.
Calling All Voices
The Four Questions You Must Ask Yourself to Ignite Your Holy Fool
Many of you are asking for the four questions from our Calling All Voices event. Yes! When you take the time to thoughtfully consider your answers, you’re on track to stewarding your strand in the web of life.
One Woman’s Effect: Zoe Tryon, Disturbing the Comfortable!!
The Honourable Zoe Tryon could have married a “lovely” Earl or Lord and lived in a castle. But the Amazon called to her instead, inspiring her great passion to be a voice for the voiceless. She has fallen in love with a people whose ancestral lands are being devastated by oil drilling, whose children are dying because their only source of water is poisoned.
Zoe in Ecuador -“Big Oil’s Dirty Secret”
Wisdom from Holy Fools
Here is some sage counsel from last year’s featured Holy Fools.
Chris Jordan: When someone says, “Be more practical,” they are scared for you. You don’t really overcome fear, but you can develop a relationship with it and learn to contain it. The bigger fear for me was not living my own life.
Atina Diffley. I knew I was the person to take on the Koch brothers to stop a pipeline on our organic farm. To keep going, I kept giving myself little dares. Taking the leap is a lot like planting a field. You keep working and never know if you’ll get a crop. I call that “engaged optimism.”
Karen Brody: Every day I wake up with a huge YES! Follow your yesses. It is hard? Absolutely. It is worth it? Absolutely. Continue reading
Personal Reflections on We the People
We the People
The U.S. mid-term election results were a reminder that once a constituency is “won,” it is only the beginning of a relationship. Just as motivational fervor is quick to die after the speaker sells a bunch of product, a politician’s success is not sustainable without continued attention to those who voted. Last week’s Transformational Speaking class said it well: Love Your Audience! As evidence of the disengagement of Obama’s base, only 9 million young people voted this week compared to 23 million in 2008. At the same time, the zeal of the Tea Party ignited a movement. It seems the rigor of getting elected pales in comparison to that of governing. Continue reading
Your Soul is Rooting for You
Danielle LaPorte writes a blog www.WhiteHotTruth.com I wouldn’t miss. On this day of Thanksgiving in the U.S., she reminds us “Your Soul is Rooting for You.”
I love this! Because today I am packing my car for a 4-day journey to Santa Fe and an unknown adventure which I am taking at the urging of my soul. My soul wants winter sunshine and a place of belonging . . . where my body feels good to live in, my heart expands, and my spirit soars. (My mind simply wants a rest.) Continue reading
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Holy Fools 2024
Have you met your inner Holy Fool? That wild, world-changing risk-taker who lives within you? I have! Holy Fools Day is upon us, and it’s the perfect time to ditch the ordinary and celebrate with this powerful “What If?” challenge.
Ask yourself: What If? What if we create a world based on our wildest dreams?
For 25 years, I’ve taught Transformational Speaking, helping you break free from your old ways and words to embody a new story. I’ve encouraged you to catch up to who you’ve become, so Life itself can speak through you.
But here’s the nudge: Lately, I’ve been calling on you to expand. Go beyond your personal story. Imagine a collective new world.
Many declare Transformational Speaking
to be life changing.
It is … and there is more.
For me. And for you.
My own madness has caught up to me and impaled me on a New Edge of possibility. I see the disruption in our world as a full-on invitation to a Holy Fool movement, driven by a Rumi quote that’s been whispering in my ear for a decade:
“Speak A New Language so the World May Be a New World”
Words can inspire yet they often divide us. I sometimes wonder if words have taken us as far as we can go unless and until we tap into a deeper well of wisdom. It’s time to listen to the languages beyond words: the whispers of nature, the wisdom of dreams, the synchronicities and signs and symbols (cymbals!) that can take us to new ground. And the body — of course, the body!
Curious about harnessing this New Language of intuition, energy, and the natural world? I am, so I am embarking on a Listening Experiment™.
The “What If?” Challenge
What If by listening, we discover a path forward, together? What if we create a world beyond our wildest dreams? One that works for all of Life?
Don’t know how to get there? That’s the beauty! The question itself opens the field of possibility.
“A new world is not only possible
She is on her way.
If you listen carefully,
you can hear her breathing.”
– Arundhati Ray
Listen. Imagine the unseen guiding you. Then take your first Holy Fool Act and share your “What If?” to inspire others. Please post it here.
Together, let’s listen a new world into existence, one Holy Fool at a time.
P.S. This Listening Experiment is asking me for a new rhythm to follow its lead. For now, I have one more open enrollment Immersion in Santa Fe this year. This is my first announcement and there are two openings of six for July 18-21.
The Immersion is the opportunity to get out of jet lag and catch up to who you have become in the journey so that Life can speak through you now. Together, we’ll listen for the new story that’s emerging for you, without the trap of old ways and words. If it’s on your bucket list, please apply.