Chasing Dreams With Aimee J.

Jake Heilbrunn is a passionate speaker, lifestyle blogger and the author of "Off the Beaten Trail", an inspiring memoir about his journey leaving college and solo backpacking through Central America at 18. He is dedicated to empowering people to live a life of purpose and fulfillment. Jake has been featured in multiple large publications including Psychology Today, Thought Catalog, and The San Diego Union-Tribune. Jake’s a great guy who’s only 19 years old at the time of this conversation and Aimee is excited to see where Jake goes with such a good start. Be sure you listen to hear Jake’s inspiring story. TWEET: Ep. 63: Jake Heilbrunn - Leaving Behind What’s Familiar and Venturing Off the Beaten Trail @Jake_Heilbrunn Stress & anxiety in college are almost an epidemic, & nobody talks about it.The catalyst to leading Jake Heilbrunn to eventually spend his 19th year of life backpacking through Central America was when he was diagnosed with, what he was told, was a chronic skin condition. The doctors were

Joel Boggess is among those I credit for helping me to launch this podcast. He’s the guy people call when they’re feeling stuck, under-challenged or overwhelmed. Joel teaches people how to find productivity, meaning, and success. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Joel earned his undergraduate degree at Texas Tech University, an MBA from Amberton University, and a Master’s in Counseling. His latest book, Finding your Voice, hit the #1 spot on Amazon for success, happiness, and in the self-esteem categories. His podcast, ReLaunch has passed the 1.5 million listen mark. Joel and his wife Pei live in the Dallas/Fort-Worth area, and have two dogs; a Golden Retriever retired therapy dog, Bubba, and a Golden rescue, Happy. TWEET: Joel Boggess - Doing is the New #Planning, on this episode of #ChasingDreams When you want to get started in a new endeavor, here’s what you should do.When you’re chasing your dreams you will need help. Nobody can go it alone and nobody should go it alone. Today’s guest, Joel Boggess

Today’s guest is Crystal Hammond. She attended Ohio State University and graduated with a degree is in Electrical & Computer Engineering. She also is a landlord (an awesome one) and used to be a day trader. She’s a paid Zumba and INSANITY instructor, has helped people lose significant amounts of weight, and has helped others start their own blogs. She started her own blog on May 16, 2011 - lost everything twice - and restarted again both times. She loves to travel and has been to 17 countries/islands. She’s currently working to build a food box subscription company (she sees it as an experiment) and runs the Grocery Game Challenge. She sees herself as the side hustle queen. Be sure to take some time to get to know Crystal on this episode. Her aggressive “can do” attitude is contagious. TWEET: Ep. 61: Crystal Hammond - Being a #SideHustle Queen Requires Resilience She uses pen and paper to keep her life organized and effective.In the digital age we live in, it’s not very common to hear of someone who’s sti

As a former family law attorney, Erik describes himself as someone who’s “been through a thousand divorces and still believes in love.” Ushering couples through divorce wasn’t easy for Erik, a romantic from birth, but it turned out to be the ideal medium through which to understand the entire life cycle of a relationship. As a result, Erik has a unique, real-world comprehension of what makes one marriage thrive and another fall apart. Ultimately, his calling to help couples build healthy relationships superseded his legal career, and he decided to dedicate himself full-time to creating a place couples could go for information, inspiration, and a big dose of truth. That’s when Together was born. TWEET: Erik Newton - Being the Happiest You’ve Ever Been After Climbing Back from Rock Bottom Twice He didn’t want to be a lawyer even though he went to law school.It’s interesting to hear how Erik Newton got started in law school. Honestly, it seemed like a cool thing to do, something prestigious that he tho

Cornell Thomas’ father was a police officer in the city of Passaic, New Jersey. Officer Bobby Thomas passed away when Cornell was only four years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his four siblings by herself. The strength and positive mindset that Cornell’s mom displayed through his childhood helped mold him into the man he is today. Cornell is a speaker, author, basketball coach, and world changer. He is a living example of how a positive mindset can transform your life. Cornell’s “next play” mentality is what helped him triumph over adversity and turn the pain of a career-ending injury into finding his purpose in life. Cornell is the author of two books (The Power Of Positivity and The Power Of Me) with two more books coming out this fall. Cornell travels all over the world sharing his story and inspiring others. TWEET: Ep. 59: Cornell Thomas - Turning Your “Why Me” into “What Now” He was raised to believe that everything happens for a reason.Everybody has a past. Everyone has a particular way

Luvvie Ajayi is an award-winning writer, digital strategist and speaker who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology and activism. A 13-year blogging veteran, she covers all things pop culture on her blog http://awesomelyluvvie.com/ (AwesomelyLuvvie.com). Her first book http://luvvie.org/im-judging-you-book/ (I’M JUDGING YOU: The Do Better Manual) will be released in September 2016, and is now available for pre-order. Luvvie is also the Executive Director of http://theredpumpproject.org/ (The Red Pump Project), a national nonprofit that raises awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls, using red shoes as a symbol of empowerment. She’s also an avid traveler and her love language is shoes. TWEET: Ep. 58: Luvvie Ajayi - Putting in the Work Leads to Living Her #Dreams Everyone should have boundaries.As Luvvie Ajayi has experienced more and more success she’s found more and more opportunities. It can be difficult to know what to say “no” to and what is OK to take on. On this episode, Luvvi

Vidya Vox is singer/songwriter with her music videos on YouTube. Born in Chennai and raised in Virginia, Vidya learned Carnatic classical music from a young age. She earned her Psychology degree at George Washington University. During that time she started posting Bollywood + Western pop mashups on her YouTube channel, which grew in popularity and a number of videos have over 2 million hits. Vidya has performed at a number of amazing places including the White House. Today, she continues to make mashups but is also working on her own solo EP of original music. TWEET: Ep. 57: Vidya Vox - East-West Mashups on YouTube Mark the Beginning of #DreamsComeTrue Before music was her thing, what did Vidya think would be her thing?With the success that Vidya Vox has experienced from her Youtube channel alone, it’s surprising to think that she began with a different dream in mind. Her first direction was not music, but medicine. She was working toward becoming a doctor until she got started then realized in a fairly short

Stephen A. Hart is the founder and host of Trailblazers.FM, a business podcast that explores and highlights the stories of successful black professionals, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders. The podcast is a weekly broadcast that has been downloaded by audiences in over 55 countries globally. Stephen is a highly sought after marketing professional with extensive experience in executing web and digital media, social media, event planning and print-based marketing strategies. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he moved to the US when he was 16 and later attended the University of South Florida, Tampa, where he attained a B.A. in Business Management. Stephen was selected to the 2016 class of the Black Enterprise 100 Modern Men of Distinction and had the Trailblazers.FM podcast featured on the home page of iTunes Podcasts for Black Voices in Business. Stephen’s passion is to teach other aspiring entrepreneurs how to build, market and grow their own highly sought-after business. TWEET: Ep. 56: Stephen A. Hart - Providin

Joel Sharpton fell backward into the radio business and found the perfect platform for his unstoppable motor-mouth. Joel is the host of What Makes Me Weird? and Co-host of Always Listening: Podcast Reviews from Josh and Joel. A voiceover artist, audio editor, audiobook narrator, happy father of four and lucky husband to one, you can find his blog, his podcasts and more at http://joelsharpton.com/ (JoelSharpton.com.) TWEET: Ep. 55: Joel Sharpton - Networking Helped Open Up Doors For Me Joel Sharpton kept working at it in order to become good at it.By trying a lot of things Joel Sharpton discovered that he wasn’t necessarily good at anything in particular but that he could get better at things by trying them. When Joel first stepped into the realm of radio Joel didn’t believe he had a great voice for radio but he got better and better the more he did it. On this episode of Chasing Dreams, you’re going to hear Joel describe how that process worked in his life and how you can build your skills and find your geniu

RJ Hodges is a professional speaker, certified personal mastery life coach, certified practitioner in the healing art of Reiki, and the creator of a coaching system known as L.I.F.E (Living in Full Existence) Education. He is a bestselling co-author of the book, Mission Unstoppable partnering with world-renowned leaders George Fraser and Les Brown. RJ is also the author of You Can’t Practice At The Game, The Art of Mastering You Volume One, and an audio book series called Winner Status. RJ is the founder and president of empowerment companies BORN II WIN and RJ Hodges Speaks, LLC. TWEET: Figuring Out What You Want and What to Do Next, with RJ Hodges on this episode It was a business opportunity that opened him up to helping other people.RJ Hodges was not your typical 19 year old kid. He stepped out of highschool and immediately got busy working in a network marketing business. His dream was not necessarily to build a huge multi-level business - but simply to build something out of his life. It was that busine

Lauren Coulson always knew she was going to be involved in the creative arts: She wrote her first book in the second grade, produced short films through middle school, and even had a painting of hers displayed in a show at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. She was lucky enough to earn a full visual arts scholarship to UMBC, and studied film before moving on to graphic design. Her final in her first design class won an international poster design contest and was exhibited all over the world! Lauren is currently in Oklahoma City, where she is employed as a graphic designer at Oklahoma City University. In her spare time she write novels and is neck-deep in the publishing process. She has about more than 12 manuscripts so far! It’s her dream to be able to write full time and spend her life crafting stories. TWEET: Lauren Coulson - Making Time for Your Art Each Day Now so You Can Do it Full Time Later For Lauren Coulson The Arts has been a passion since childhood.If you’ve ever had the idea that creative peopl

Originally from Chicago, Illinois Chantal' Ashante Hill began as a gymnast at 6 years old but began her formal ballet training at the late age of 17. With the heart & the strength of God she persevered to get to her calling which she now calls "Spiritual Ballerina." Chantal' is the Spiritual Ballerina who dances as God’s Vessel to glorify God & draw his people closer to the lives they were created to live. She has trained & performed with Dance Theatre of Harlem-Nutcracker (NYC) Joel Hall Dancers-Authentic (CHI) Performance-Centre du Dansê Marais (Paris, France) Dance Ministry Institute- Nativity: Birth of a King (NYC) Judah International Dance Theatre- Psalms Symphony (NYC) She has been featured & interviewed on Trinity Broadcast Network. Since her interview, she is developing a documentary as a Spiritual Ballerina. TWEET: Chantal’ Ashante Hill - Forget What People Say, It’s Never Too Late to Follow Your Passion Even though you might miss the cut-off date, you are never cut off.One of th

http://thesalesevangelist.com/ (Donald Kelly) is a powerful sales trainer, an award winning speaker and host of the most dynamic sales podcast, "The Sales Evangelist". His sales experience expands across a variety of industries including SaaS, IT technical training courses, home security systems, manage IT services, medical and sales training. Donald's mission is to evangelize the method of effective selling to motivate sellers of all levels to DO BIG THINGS! TWEET: Donald Kelly - How a Kid Selling Candy Becomes the Sales Evangelist Your natural talents are great but if you really want to excel they are not enough.Aimee found it very interesting that her guest, Donald Kelly insists that people with natural talent still need to get training in order to make the most of their attempts at reaching their dreams. Donald has tons of natural charisma and talent but discovered on his own journey that the skills he’s learned and has been able to refine over the years are much more than they ever could have been i

Today’s guest is going to be super appealing to anyone who longs to be a writer. His story is one from starting at the bottom and working his way all the way to the top of his industry. Brian Millikin was most recently a writer and Consulting Producer on the Syfy series HAVEN, based on a book by Stephen King. Brian was on http://www.syfy.com/haven (HAVEN) for the entire six-year run of the series in various roles, eventually becoming a Staff Writer. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Brian attended UNC-Chapel Hill. On this episode you’ll hear his entire story: how TV became his best friend growing up, how writing became his passion, and how he’s working on new projects to bring joy to the lives of others. TWEET: Write or die: How Brian Millikin became a successful TV writer, on this episode of #ChasingDreams Good storytelling is about the characters.Thinking back to the television shows that he loved as he was growing up, Brian Millikin recognizes that the shows he was most drawn to were the ones that did a grea

Darrell Darnell is a self-proclaimed nerd with a passion for all things tech-related. With a degree in computer programming, it was natural for Darrell to find himself in the tech industry. He spent 19 years working for a bookstore, where he went from part time employee to director of ecommerce. Throughout this insightful chat with Aimee, Darrell discusses everything from his unexpected love of TV shows to how he first found podcasting to his path to entrepreneurship. Today, Darrell runs http://www.goldenspiralmedia.com (Golden Spiral Media) and http://www.propodcastsolutions.com (Pro Podcast Solutions), where he focuses full time on consulting and podcast services for other podcasters. TWEET: Knowing when to follow your #passion and do what you love, on this episode A first glimpse at podcasting.Darrell discovered podcasting early on. In fact, he’s had a show since 2008, which was when podcasting was in its infancy. The story of how he found podcasting was quite unexpected for Darrell. A casual TV watcher, D

After a 28-year career at ABC News, Melvin McCray knew it was time to chase the dreams he’d held in his heart for so long. And so, after retirement, Melvin focused on his passions and his purpose by continuing to produce inspiring documentaries through Media Genesis Solutions and launching the non-profit http://www.harlemeyes.com/ (Harlem Digital Media Training Program). Throughout his chat with Aimee J., Melvin discusses his incredible experience at ABC News, as well as what led him to focus on working with high school students in retirement. He talks about the rewards of working with kids, as well as what it was like to win the White House Student Film Festival for the film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXNPV_pjr3Q (Mentoring in Harlem). TWEET: Visualize your #dreams to make it a #reality, on this episode It’s never too late to chase your dreams.Some people might see retirement as a chance to kick back, travel, and relax. That’s clearly not how Melvin sees it. In fact, he’s busier than ever. Melvin discus

Leanne Brown is the creator of the viral sensation, https://www.amazon.com/Good-Cheap-Eat-Well-Day/dp/0761184996?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0761184996&linkCode=as2&linkId=UNPUME6T3LLPRK3G&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_tl&tag=leanbrow02-20 ( Eat Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day). Originally created as a master’s thesis, Leanne found success with her book quite by accident. Throughout this chat with Aimee J., Leanne discusses her connection with food, the evolution of the book, and how she found her purpose. She also gives insight into maintaining focus on her purpose and why it’s important to continue to find ways of connecting with her audience. It’s clear Leanne has created something special. What’s even more clear is that Leanne is passionate about helping others and has truly made an impact. TWEET: Bringing everyone to the #kitchen #table, on this episode of #ChasingDreams Connecting with your path.As a child, Leanne loved all things creative, including (and p

John Kenney is no stranger to hard work. In fact, the journey to finding his purpose was filled with many late nights, long days, and hard work. John’s passion for music came at a young age, when he was drawn to the fiddle. He grew up listening to John Denver and other country stars, which attracted John to the fiddle/violin. There was only one problem. It was very expensive to play the violin. After discovering the high cost, John was disappointed and gave up on music entirely until high school. That’s when John would discover his true passion: the piano. TWEET: Finding your #dream through #dueling #pianos, on this episode of Chasing Dreams A passion for the piano.John’s attraction to the piano was motivated by something that wasn’t uncommon for a 16-year-old boy: girls. He decided to learn to play the piano to attract girls. With such a non-musical motivation, John didn’t expect to truly love the piano. But, that’s just what happened. John was passionate about the piano and found himself practicing during a

For classical hip-hop artist Brandnu, dream chasing wasn’t always easy. After coming to the US from Nigeria, it was clear that there were a lot of expectations placed on Brandnu. His passion for music started early, but he put that aside to be an athlete in high school. In college, Brandnu reignited his love of music and secretly created an album. After sharing the album with his less than supportive parents, Brandnu agreed to continue college and get a degree in Chef and Restaurant Management. This decision led to a couple of years of darkness for Brandnu and a desire to honor his truth and pursue his passion and purpose. He knew his calling was music and it would give him a platform to give back, so Brandnu worked hard to make his dream a reality. TWEET: Changing the world through #music, on this episode of #ChasingDreams The power of giving back.From a young age, giving back was at the core of who Brandnu was. He attributes this passion to his parents, who taught him the value of giving back to others. Bra

Brian Drury is an avid traveler with an extensive travel log covering more than 16 countries. In addition to his globe-trotting adventures, Brian is a coach and motivator who is focused on helping others get exciting results through his coaching program. His goal is to show young adults that they can create the life of their dreams by changing their thinking and taking action outside the box. In this chat with Aimee J., Brian discusses how he found his true purpose in life and why that helped him to become the owner of his happiness. He also shares how he helps others do the same through his business, http://overcominggraduation.com/ (Overcome Graduation, LLC). TWEET: Tips to help you #overcome #graduation so you can chase your #dreams What impact do you want to make on the world?From a young age, Brian knew what his story should be. Go to school, get good grades, go on to college, get good grades, and then land a great job. That’s what he thought his life should be. But Brian realized there was one pretty si