The Courage Coalition

The Courage to See Yourself First with Anne Peshka

We spend so much of our lives chasing the checklist. Performing. Achieving. Becoming who we think we’re supposed to be so we can finally feel accepted. But what if the real question was never “What do you do?” What if the real question has always been “Who are you?” Because from the moment we take our first breath, we are taught—subtly and loudly—that love, safety, and belonging are earned through behavior. Be good. Be quiet. Be what we need you to be. And without even realizing it, we build our identity around those expectations… until one day we wake up and realize we don’t even know who we are underneath it all.  What struck me most in this conversation is how deeply we are wired for acceptance—and how often we look for it everywhere except within. We wait for someone else to see us, validate us, choose us. But the truth is, real acceptance is an inside job. And that’s not fluffy or easy—it’s gritty. It’s the work. It’s peeling back the labels, the trauma, the stories, and asking yourself, “What is actually mine?” Because when we don’t do that work, we abandon ourselves first. We break our own hearts trying to fit into spaces that were never meant for us. And then we wonder why we feel empty, disconnected, or unseen. But here’s the hope—and it’s a powerful one. Change doesn’t come from someone else forcing you to be different. It comes from a moment, sometimes the smallest moment, where something shifts inside of you. A glance. A word. A connection. A tiny thread of belief that maybe… just maybe… you are not what you thought you were. And when that thread is nurtured, it becomes something bigger. Not overnight. Not perfectly. But steadily. That’s where courage lives. Not in becoming someone new, but in finally seeing, accepting, and loving who you’ve been all along. Find Anne Peshka here: https://annepeshka.com/ [https://annepeshka.com/] Contact Corree or find out more about Corree and learn about all the ways she does not choose to stay in one lane go here: https://correeroofener.com/ [https://correeroofener.com/] To Purchase Emotional Money click here: Emotional Money [https://a.co/d/08GWK2mP] Are you ready to walk with us for https:/https://fosteringthesummit.org [https://fosteringthesummit.org/]  Join us as we change the statistics for children aging out of foster care. Also, follow me on https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/ [https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/] for more inspiration and practical wisdom for your business and life.  Until next time, keep shining bright! - Corree

Healing, Hope and The Power of Being Held with Heather Gibson

Some conversations do more than inform us, they remind us that healing rarely looks the way we expect it to. My conversation with Heather Gibson was one of those. What struck me most was not just that we share the foster and adoptive journey, but that her story reveals something so many people miss: behind foster care is trauma, and behind trauma is often a desperate need for connection, safety, and unconditional love. Heather’s path into foster care was not some grand, polished plan. It was a quiet nudge, built through personal heartbreak, compassion, and the kind of life experience that teaches you to notice the lonely person in the room. And that matters, because so often the people most called to this work are not responding to a spotlight moment, hey are responding to a holy ache they cannot ignore. What moved me deeply in this conversation was the way Heather began to see that animals were not just companions, but bridges to healing. When her daughter, carrying layers of profound trauma, could not find words for what she was feeling, she could talk to the cat. That moment says so much. It reminds us that healing is not always linear, clinical, or wrapped in something the world easily understands. Sometimes healing begins in the quiet presence of something that asks nothing from you except to be loved. For children who have been moved, uprooted, unseen, and left carrying invisible disabilities born of trauma, that kind of unconditional connection can be life-changing. It can regulate what feels unregulatable. It can soften fear. It can create safety where trust has been fractured again and again. This conversation also held a bigger invitation: to look beyond judgment and ask better questions. Better questions about foster care. Better questions about biological families. Better questions about trauma. And yes, even better questions about breeding animals with purpose and care when the goal is support, stability, and healing. Heather’s work is rooted in understanding that the right animal can offer hope in ways many traditional paths cannot. That is not a small thing. It is sacred work. And what I hope listeners take from this episode is that courage often looks like listening to the heartbreak in front of you and choosing not to look away. Sometimes that heartbreak becomes your purpose. Sometimes it becomes the very thing that teaches you how to help others feel seen, safe, and loved. And that kind of courage changes lives. As always remember, Love you meant it. Find out more about Heather here: https://www.instagram.com/bigheartedbreeders/ [https://www.instagram.com/bigheartedbreeders/] Find here guidebook to dogs and fostercare go here:  Contact Corree or find out more about Corree and learn about all the ways she does not choose to stay in one lane go here: https://correeroofener.com/ [https://correeroofener.com/] To Purchase Emotional Money click here: Emotional Money [https://a.co/d/08GWK2mP] Are you ready to walk with us for https:/https://fosteringthesummit.org [https://fosteringthesummit.org/]  Join us as we change the statistics for children aging out of foster care. Also, follow me on https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/ [https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/] for more inspiration and practical wisdom for your business and life.  Until next time, keep shining bright! - Corree

The Invisible Children We Have Learned Not To See

There are over 400,000 children in foster care in the United States right nowand if we’re honest, most of us don’t feel that number… because we’ve learned not to. We’ve learned how to look past it, how to believe it’s too big, too broken, too far removed from our own lives to matter. But here’s the truth: these are not statistics. These are children, children who have been moved, uprooted, and reshaped by trauma in ways most of us will never fully understand. Children whose behaviors we question instead of asking what happened to them. Children who age out of the system every year thousands of them without family, without support, without someone saying, I see you, you matter. And we wonder why they fall into every other system we’re trying to fix.  The hardest part of this conversation is recognizing that the system isn’t broken because of one thing it’s broken because we keep trying to fix it the same way. More policy. More funding. More homes. And yes, we need more foster homes but what we actually need are prepared homes. Supported homes. Trauma-informed homes. Because placing a child who has lived in survival mode into a house without the tools to hold that reality doesn’t heal anything it continues the cycle. We have to stop asking, What’s wrong with these kids? and start asking, What has happened to them? And even deeper than that what has happened to us as a society that we’ve allowed this to become normal? But this is where the conversation shifts from overwhelming to personal. Because it’s easy to say, this is too big, I can’t fix this. And you’re right you can’t fix all of it. Neither can I. But we can do something. We can support the foster family down the street. We can start a conversation. We can mentor, donate, show up, ask better questions. Because change doesn’t start with systems it starts with people willing to care enough to act. The ripple always begins with one. And maybe the real question isn’t how we fix foster care… maybe it’s whether we’re willing to stop looking away long enough to see these children for who they are: not invisible, not broken but worthy of love, support, and a different story. Contact Corree or find out more about Corree and learn about all the ways she does not choose to stay in one lane go here: https://correeroofener.com/ [https://correeroofener.com/] To Purchase Emotional Money click here: Emotional Money [https://a.co/d/08GWK2mP] Are you ready to walk with us for https:/https://fosteringthesummit.org [https://fosteringthesummit.org/]  Join us as we change the statistics for children aging out of foster care. Also, follow me on https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/ [https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/] for more inspiration and practical wisdom for your business and life.  Until next time, keep shining bright! - Corree

Emotional Money Chapter 10 11 and 12

There’s a moment, if you’re willing to sit in it, where you realize this was never just about money. It was never just about the numbers, the accounts, or the strategy. It was about safety. It was about what you were taught, what you witnessed, and the quiet beliefs you built along the way about what you are allowed to have. For so many of us, growing money feels overwhelming not because we aren’t capable, but because no one ever showed us how in a way that felt human, accessible, or aligned. And somewhere along the line, we absorbed the idea that wanting more meant we were greedy or selfish. But what if more simply meant living in deeper alignment with your values? What if more meant freedom, peace, and choice? The truth is, change doesn’t come from one big, dramatic moment. It comes from the smallest, most intentional steps repeated over time. It’s choosing to look at your bank account when you’ve been avoiding it. It’s putting away $20 when it feels insignificant. It’s asking a better question: What is one thing I can do today? Because readiness isn’t something you wait for it’s something you create through action. Every small step builds evidence. Every aligned decision shifts your identity. And over time, those quiet, consistent choices become the foundation of a completely different life. Not perfect. Not predictable. But intentional and yours. And this is where it all lands living the story you are choosing. Not the one you inherited. Not the one shaped by fear, scarcity, or silence. Your money story will evolve, just like you will. There will be pivots, setbacks, and moments where old patterns resurface. That’s not failure that’s information. The work is to stay conscious, stay compassionate, and stay willing to choose again. Because nothing changes until something changes… and you are the something. You are the answer. So the question isn’t whether you’re ready. The question is: What is the one thing you’re willing to do this week to begin? Contact Corree or find out more about Corree and learn about all the ways she does not choose to stay in one lane go here: https://correeroofener.com/ [https://correeroofener.com/] To Purchase Emotional Money click here: Emotional Money [https://a.co/d/08GWK2mP] Are you ready to walk with us for https:/https://fosteringthesummit.org [https://fosteringthesummit.org/]  Join us as we change the statistics for children aging out of foster care. Also, follow me on https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/ [https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/] for more inspiration and practical wisdom for your business and life.  Until next time, keep shining bright! - Corree

What You Can Build, When You Stop Waiting with Diana Gleason

There are some conversations that remind you why courage matters so much, and this one with Diana Gleason was exactly that. What struck me most was not just the success she has built a thriving remote bookkeeping firm with a powerful team and strong revenue but the path she took to get there. She did not begin in accounting. She began as a dancer. A creative. A woman who knew what it meant to be told no again and again and still get back up. And honestly, that is what I hope more people hear when they listen to this episode: the thing that makes you “different” may be the very thing that equips you to build something extraordinary. Diana’s story is a reminder that resilience, courage, and the willingness to do things scared matter just as much as credentials. Maybe more. What also made this conversation so powerful was how deeply it aligned with something I believe with my whole heart: values are not extra, they are the foundation. Diana spoke about authenticity, family, connection, impact, and growth not as pretty words, but as the actual framework she uses to build her life and her business. That matters. Because so many people are building businesses they secretly do not even enjoy living inside of. They are chasing revenue while losing themselves. They are saying yes to things that do not fit, tolerating relationships that drain them, and calling it success. But success without alignment will always feel off. This episode is an invitation to ask a better question: does the life I am building actually reflect what matters most to me? And maybe my favorite thread through the whole conversation was this truth: you do not have to have it all figured out before you begin. You do not need perfect systems, perfect confidence, or a perfect plan. You need willingness. You need honesty. You need the courage to take the next step before you feel fully ready. Diana’s story, and honestly both of our stories in different ways, speaks to the reality that growth is messy, business is built in layers, and courage often looks like simply refusing to break your own heart by quitting on the thing that keeps calling you forward. If this episode gives you anything, I hope it gives you permission to trust what is in you, to build more intentionally, and to do the thing scared anyway. Find out more about Diana Gleason and DG Accounting here: https://www.instagram.com/dianagleason/ [https://www.instagram.com/dianagleason/] Contact Corree or find out more about Corree and learn about all the ways she does not choose to stay in one lane go here: https://correeroofener.com/ [https://correeroofener.com/] To Purchase Emotional Money click here: Emotional Money [https://a.co/d/08GWK2mP] Are you ready to walk with us for https:/https://fosteringthesummit.org [https://fosteringthesummit.org/]  Join us as we change the statistics for children aging out of foster care. Also, follow me on https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/ [https://www.instagram.com/correeroofenercoach/] for more inspiration and practical wisdom for your business and life.  Until next time, keep shining bright! - Corree