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“You’ve got to meet my sister-in-law, the greatest Grateful Goddess!” @LaraBrodkin said to me over the phone.
“A grateful what?” I asked.
As I was just putting the finishing touches on The Accidental Influencer, Lara was generously handing me the most wonderful opportunity, on a silver platter – but I didn’t know it yet.
Meet Karen Pulver. A woman with many many hats. You can read the impressive list on her website. After working with Karen on not one, but two podcasts and interviewing her for this article, five main hats come to my mind. Podcast host, mother, friend, and cancer survivor.
Firstly, we need to explain what the Grateful Goddess is and why Karen Pulver is the greatest Grateful Goddess there is.
The true meaning of Goddess is a woman in God’s eyes that carries great beauty and charm. Thank you, Google Dictionary. đ In my eyes, Karen has taken this concept to the next level. To honour women that have done something remarkable and sharing it with the world through her podcasts. How amazing is that?
“What’s the catch?” I ask Karen as we spoke on the phone before we dove into our plan of a formal interview.
“No catch. You will be a Guest Goddess, which embodies qualities of passion, resilience, persistence, and most of all, are able to make mistakes and learn from them. We are all Goddesses but perhaps have had trouble tapping into those inner goddess qualities. Glinda, The Good Witch from the movie The Wizard of Oz was right. We have the qualities in us all along and don’t need the wizard to give them to us. We just need to open up, learn, react and grow .” Said Karen the greatest grateful goddess in the world.
The motivation behind The Grateful Goddess was Karen’s own personal transition and thirst for knowledge.
“My kids were getting older and not needing me as much. I was working as a teacher part-time, and I wanted to learn more, so I set that intention to the universe. I always loved forming groups like dinner parties, book clubs, and movie clubs, so this was another one that I wanted to create and experience. Thankfully, it evolved into so much more!”
Being a guest on a podcast is one thing – I had done it a few times before, but being on the Grateful Goddesses podcast was a whole different experience! I had no idea that there would be other women known as Featured Goddesses, who would be interviewing me at the same time!
“The Featured Goddesses are the women who help ask questions to the interviewee. They represent the virtual audience. They are women in their 20s to 50s that come from different backgrounds with different perspectives on life. Some are spiritual, some are scientific. One thing they all require – to be open to learn and grow.”
Karen has also extended the Goddess podcast to an interactive virtual forum where people can take actionable steps towards the lessons that they learn from the podcast. It’s called GGTV, which stands for Grateful Goddess TV. It is here where there are private breakout rooms and attendees get a chance to ask questions and reflect. Take a look!
During the interview, Karen asked me what I was presently working on. I told her all about my new book, Get Up which will be published in August of 2021 and is co-written with @DavidNewtonWellness. Right away, Karen generously asked me to be a returning guest! After the amazing time I had with this segment, how could I refuse? At the time of publication, this segment is still in post-production. I will post it on social media as soon as it’s ready. Stay tuned!
Even though I have not stepped foot into Karen’s home, call it a women’s intuition, I just know that she is a devoted mother and friend. Could it be from the stories she shared with me and on our podcasts? The fact that she’s a great listener? Perhaps it’s because Karen loves to explore and views learning as the key to growth.
When Karen was diagnosed with B Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, it was the hardest most challenging hat she had to wear.
“It was a total shock. I halted everything in my life to focus on my health and my immediate family. This âstopâ took longer than I had wanted, but I needed that time to heal physically and emotionally. As I was going through treatment, I had this amazing âGoddess Toolboxâ that I acquired. Meditation, proper nutrition, and weeding out toxic people in my life became my M.O. These habits helped me take on cancer with great strength. This diagnosis was also a huge wake-up call to be even more grateful and be present. My priorities shifted. I became motivated to take a bite out of life even more.”
How could I not ask Karen about the lessons that she has learned from this journey?
After Covid is over, The Grateful Godesses podcasts and GGTV will be definitely be continuing! Karen plans to incorporate in-person gatherings in Chicago, where she presently lives. Also in the works are destination retreats and a Goddess Guidebook that will have summaries of each episode, quotes, lessons learned, activities, and self-care rewards. Her lifelong dream? To be interviewed by Oprah on Super Soul Sunday! As cliché as this sounds, I just have to say it. Karen, you go girl!
The Grateful Goddess with all its soul-inspiring interviews can be heard on Spotify and watched on YouTube. You can register here. To be a featured Grateful Goddess, contact Karen at karen@gratefulgoddesses.com.
Iâm so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to write what Iâm passionate about and what I think will serve others. If you would like me to write for a product or service you represent or for your own company, please be in touch.