Stories on Purpose

E17 Nature, Wholeness, and Living Your Soul’s Calling | Paige Doughty

Paige Doughty has spent over 20 years performing for children across Colorado as one half of the beloved science and nature musical duo, Jeff and Paige. What began as small local performances has grown into a nonprofit dedicated to helping children fall in love with the natural world. Their latest endeavor, Rainbow Socks, is a live-action children's television series set to release this year. But Paige's connection to nature runs deeper than the stage; it has been a guiding force in her own journey toward wholeness. In this episode, Paige shares how her path from a serious eating disorder at age 14 to becoming a spiritual teacher and coach has been shaped by curiosity, authenticity, and a deep listening to her soul's true calling. She reflects on what true recovery really means, why self-actualization is available to everyone, and how the same wisdom she brings to children about the natural world has helped her untangle the knots of her own story. She is also writing her first memoir, Unwinding Myself Whole, which promises to be a powerful tool for anyone on a path toward healing. To learn more about Paige Doughty:Website: https://www.paigedoughty.com/ [https://www.paigedoughty.com/]Jeff & Paige: https://www.jeffandpaige.org/ [https://www.jeffandpaige.org/]Subscribe: www.paigedoughty.com/subscribe [http://www.paigedoughty.com/subscribe] To learn more about your host, Stan Ajemian:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stanajemian [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanajemian?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BQv11alA2QiSN77XU%2Fst4yw%3D%3D]Email: stan@beingthechangecoaching.com [stan@beingthechangecoaching.com]Website: beingthechangecoaching.com [http://www.beingthechangecoaching.com]

E16 Death Doesn’t Always Happen All at Once | Stan Ajemian

In this solo episode, I share the experience of losing both parents to terminal illness at nearly the same time during the darkest time of my life. My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia, my mother with ALS. They were divorced, living in Montreal while I was in Colorado, and the losses unfolded slowly, in layers, over several years. What I came to understand is that death rarely arrives in a single moment. Long before either of my parents passed, I had already been grieving. This episode explores grief in a way that I hope feels honest and useful — not as a linear process with a clear beginning and end, but as something far more complex that shifts our sense of identity and meaning. I reflect on the difference between loss and grief, on what it means to mourn someone who is still alive, and on the profound beauty that can exist even in the hardest of goodbyes. I am recording this on the anniversary of my mother's death, and I offer this story in the hope that it meets you wherever you are in your own journey. To learn more about your host, Stan Ajemian: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stanajemian [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanajemian?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BQv11alA2QiSN77XU%2Fst4yw%3D%3D] Email: stan@beingthechangecoaching.com [stan@beingthechangecoaching.com] Website: beingthechangecoaching.com [http://www.beingthechangecoaching.com/]

E15 Born Into Revolution, Called to Love | Veronica Olalla Love

Veronica Olalla Love was born in Argentina in 1976, just weeks after a military coup, to a family who had already fled another coup in Chile. Her mother shielded her children from gunfire in the streets. Her father became a pioneer in transformational coaching, giving Veronica a front-row seat to the power of story and human connection at the age of twelve. These experiences did not leave her broken. They gave her a mission.In this conversation, Veronica shares how the trauma stored in her earliest memories became the foundation for a life devoted to teaching others to truly see and hear one another. She reflects on why she believes every human is fundamentally whole, and how listening deeply enough to another person can turn any conversation into a portal to our shared humanity.This is a story about what becomes possible when violence does not get the last word, and when one person chooses, again and again, to respond to the world with love. To learn more about Veronica Olalla Love:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-love-m-ac-dipl-ac-pcc-19152394/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-love-m-ac-dipl-ac-pcc-19152394/]Website: https://newfieldnetwork.com/ [https://newfieldnetwork.com/]Art: https://www.veronicalove.net/ [https://www.veronicalove.net/] To learn more about your host, Stan Ajemian:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stanajemian [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanajemian?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BQv11alA2QiSN77XU%2Fst4yw%3D%3D]Email: stan@beingthechangecoaching.com [stan@beingthechangecoaching.com]Website: beingthechangecoaching.com [http://www.beingthechangecoaching.com]

E14 Hyper-Achiever to Peaceful Observer, a Meditation Story | Stan Ajemian

What happens when a hyper-achiever tries to master meditation in ten days? For me, it ended with violently throwing up in front of a hundred silent meditators and carrying that trauma for years. But that embarrassing failure became the doorway to the practice that has transformed my life more than anything else.In this solo episode, I share my winding journey with meditation, from that disastrous ten-day silent retreat where I tried to be the "best meditator in the room," to finding a teacher who helped me begin again by telling me, “Don’t meditate.” I open up about how meditation helped me stop worrying obsessively about workplace conversations, taught me to trust my body's intelligence, and eventually led to a spiritual awakening during COVID that shifted how I see everything, even pain itself. To learn more about your host, Stan Ajemian: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stanajemian [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanajemian?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BQv11alA2QiSN77XU%2Fst4yw%3D%3D] Email: stan@beingthechangecoaching.com [stan@beingthechangecoaching.com] Website: beingthechangecoaching.com [http://www.beingthechangecoaching.com/]

E13 From Divorcing His Parents to Soulful Leadership | James Davis-Massey

At the age of 12, James Davis-Massey made one of the most difficult decisions of his life: he stood before a court and divorced his parents. It was a soulful decision, one that defied logic and wasn't driven by what his head or even his heart told him, but by a deeper knowing that he needed to move toward safety and love. Growing up in an environment marked by abuse, alcoholism, and neglect, James knew deep within himself that he needed safety and love, even if it meant making an extraordinary choice that most children never face. That moment of soulful decision-making became the foundation for who James is today. He moved in with his grandparents, and heard his grandmother's words, "James, you can be and do anything you want to be and do," which became a guiding light that he carries with him to this day. James developed a fierce independence. By age 14, he was working nearly full-time to support himself. While this responsibility forced him to grow up quickly, it also gave him the resilience and grit that would shape his future. Now, James is the co-founder of The Human Blueprint, where he helps leaders, executives, teams, and organizations understand the power of human-centered leadership. His approach integrates the five dimensions of a leader—head, heart, gut, body, and soul—to help people align with their higher purpose and become their most powerful, influential, and fulfilled selves. From his early trauma to his work today, James's journey is a testament to the transformative power of making soulful decisions and serving others from a place of deep authenticity. To learn more about James Davis-Massey:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdavis2/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdavis2/]Website: https://www.thehumanblueprint.com/ [https://www.thehumanblueprint.com/] To learn more about your host, Stan Ajemian:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stanajemian [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanajemian?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BQv11alA2QiSN77XU%2Fst4yw%3D%3D]Email: stan@beingthechangecoaching.com [stan@beingthechangecoaching.com]Website: beingthechangecoaching.com [http://www.beingthechangecoaching.com]