Lauren Wakefield

Oh man where do I even start.  I first met Evan when Katharine was just a tiny little thing.  Evan was her first nanny and instantly became part of the family.  I mean, Katharine was this little angel that had just come into all of our lives so to trust her with anyone was a huge deal.  But little did we know just how important Evan would become to all of us.  I think I had met her for about 30 seconds before I knew we would be fast friends.  I had just finished chemo and was in the whole getting myself back process and Evan never treated me differently.  You’d be surprised how many people are afraid to talk to you like a human being when you’re bald.  She was so kind and NORMAL that it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with her.  Fast forward (almost) four years and she is still such a huge part of our lives.  Here’s a great example of the type of person Evan is.  When I asked her to write this #wcw post…instead of writing about herself, she initially sent me a post she had written about ME!  It was honestly the sweetest thing I’ve ever read and just sums her up so well.  She is the type of person that will do anything for the people she loves.  She’s selfless and genuine and and incredibly fun person to be around.  She is so beautiful on the inside and out and I am so thankful that she will forever be a part of our family.

Love you Iya!

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EVAN HATLELI

It’s easy for people to look at my life and assume it’s perfect.  Why wouldn’t they?  I have a supportive fiancé, a beautiful home, loving parents, a career I love and I’m fortunate enough to travel…this is the social media version of myself.  What’s not seen …

I’m a complete and total control freak.

I push Sean to his limits just to see what they are .

I obsess over not gaining weight.

I’m a people pleaser.

I’m a terrible cook.

I have a mountain of mismatched socks sitting in living room.

I leave my dead Christmas tree up until March.

I’m never caught up on my laundry.

I hold all my frustrations and stress in until I explode into one emotional mess.

I stick my foot in my mouth too often.

I love too deeply.  Yes it’s possible.

I’m secretly sensitive and care what people think of me.

I wouldn’t shower for weeks if I didn’t have to.

The thought of having my own children terrifies me.

Sean says I screech like a dying cat when I sing, I think I sound like Carrie Underwood.

I’ll never stop trying to dance like Beyoncé.

I could continue on this rant, but I think this sums me up pretty well.  I’m not perfect.. I’m a complete mess at times.  I screw up, I make mistakes, I hurt the ones I love but at the end of the day…  I’m here.  I was able to enjoy the beautiful disaster that life is for another day.  I got to spend another day kicking cancers butt and allowing my patients to spend another day with their loved ones.  Is it really that big of a deal that Sean didn’t take the trash out like I asked?  Or my hair just won’t corporate today?  Not really.

At the end of the day I can say I’m happy with who I am and where I’m at, the dishes can wait another day…

Gary always jokes with me that I need to trust my gut.  Whenever I get that gut feeling I always write it off as being nothing and sure enough…my gut is almost always right.  When I “met” Catherine (we were Facebook friends long before we were real friends) I just had this feeling about her.  Like she was something special.  My amazing friend, Cara, introduced me to her and right away I knew this girl was meant to be in my life.  Fast forward and now she is engaged (and I am SOOOOOOOOO incredibly excited to be shooting her wedding next year) and completely rocking it as a business owner.  Here’s the thing about Catherine….she’s sort of like this shining light that you can see even when you’re not looking for it.  Whether it’s her popping up in my Facebook feed or commenting on a post…she’s always this beacon of positivity that seriously inspires me.  She’s an incredibly beautiful person inside and out and has devoted her life to making sure other people can see that same thing in themselves.  In a world that is so cut throat and competitive she brings women together and proves day in and day out that we are all much stronger together.  Catherine is the epitome of  #wcw and I, for one, am so grateful to get to call her a friend.

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CATHERINE HUMMEL

What does “Real” mean?

I am a love coach.  I teach women how to attract true love.  True love is real love.  Real love doesn’t mean it’s perfect all the time, in fact that’s not real at all.  True love is being able to love someone for who they really are.  Holding their humanness and their divinity at the same time.  I am present to both for me today.  Here’s what’s real for me.

I struggled for decades.  I worked my ass off to get to where I am today.  Years of hating myself and being in pain that once I was able to live in joy, I never wanted to be in pain again! It’s hard for me to be vulnerable because I have a preference for being happy.

I love having conversations about consciousness, dreams, visions and the meaning of life.

It’s hard for me to talk about every day reality.

I can be super serious and my partner does a great job at helping me stay light hearted and playful.

I love chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  I get stomachaches every time I eat it but I eat it anyway.

I’m 28 and I still get pimples like a 13 year old.

Last week I got a ticket because my inspection sticker on my car was 3 months overdue.

I am passionate about a lot of things and have a hard time saying “no” to things.

I hate cleaning and think paying for this service is totally worth it.

Andrew does the dishes.  Always.  Thank God.

I’m a yoga teacher and own about 500,000 pairs of yoga pants and sometimes go days without going to a class.

I facilitate women’s circles and the name is “Sisters of the Heart” and at the same time, I really struggle with my relationship with my own sisters.

I cry all the time.  About everything.  Sometimes I cry myself to sleep when I think about how much work we have to do in this world.

Sometimes I cry from having beautiful, powerful, amazing orgasms with my partner.  I cry tears of joy a lot too.

Working from home is really lonely and I feel that a lot.

Sometimes I go days without leaving my house.

Sometimes days wearing the same clothes.

I really suck at eating.  I don’t do this deliberately, but there are days when I forget to eat.  One of my friends currently has to text me to remind me to.

I am overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities of being an adult.  I have no idea how to do my taxes.  I also know nothing about buying a home.  Andrew bought the house we live in before we met.

I sometimes stand in front of my closet of clothes and cry at not knowing what to wear or how to put an outfit together.

I sometimes put on one of my favorite dresses and I feel like the sexiest woman in the world.

I sometimes stare at my engagement ring and cry because it’s so beautiful and I can’t believe how blessed I am.

I spend all day helping people and sometimes I forget to ask for help myself.  And then I get resentful that no one is helping me.

I’m selfish.  I’m a relationship coach and I’m still learning how to truly be a WE in relationship.  It’s hard for me to remember there’s someone else I have to think about when I make decisions for my life.

I have a hard time just BEING a friend sometimes, without needing to give an answer for every struggle, every problem.

I struggle with money.  I have student loan debt from going to graduate school.  A degree that I’m not using as a love coach.  I constantly wonder if I’ll ever pay this off.

I also can’t believe how much weddings cost.

I’m truly grateful for my life and I’ve worked really hard to create it.  It’s easy to look at me on social media and imagine that I’m lucky.  On the other side of that screen is a woman who is seriously HUSTLING, every single day, seriously committed to learning and growing and evolving and supporting other people in doing the same.  My truth is I AM happy and grateful and I worked really hard to get here.  As much as I have created and accomplished, I am most grateful for the ability to fall asleep at night not wishing I was anyone else, or wishing I was living someone else’s life.  I believe in all of our capacity to create the life of our dreams and to do so from a starting point of worthy and deserving of having our dreams come true.