Hi there! My name is Laurie Smith, and I absolutely love what I do–writing about the power of the truest self and finding our own unique paths to true happiness.

A few years ago, I gave myself a challenge. After taking time off from my intuitive coaching practice to focus on motherhood, I was ready to relaunch my business.

Since my schedule was already bursting at the seams, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to fit in one more thing.  I decided to focus on doing what I loved most–writing.

I challenged myself to spend a year of writing articles–52 total, one per week. Rather than publish them right away, I decided to give myself space to just see what happened. I wanted to write about whatever felt right, rather than trying to fit my articles into a specific agenda or business plan.

What resulted was one of the happiest years of my life. I love writing and making space in my life to do it again filled me with incredible joy. I frequently woke up at 4 a.m., filled with passion and ideas. Our house was filled with notebooks, sticky notes and my phone with voice memos full of my ideas. I experienced firsthand how fantastic it can be to completely “go with where the energy is flowing”—something I had coached clients to do, but had never given myself permission to do in such a full and complete way.

About LaurieSmith.com 

I published many of them on a site called HappyToBeYou.com. I had big plans, was going gangbusters, and then, life happened again. We decided to remodel our home. My role switched from full-time mom and writer to manager of a remodel (all while living in our garage with my husband and two kids). The experience was ripe for more writing material, but didn’t give me time to do much else.

When I returned to my blog two years later, I was a much different person. In addition to remodeling, our family had experienced health challenges, gotten a new puppy and navigated many peaks and valleys.

I realized I wanted my writing to be more real, more genuine, and to integrate all I had learned. I wanted the fluidity to be able to let my writing instruct me rather than the other way around.

I also knew I was going through my own big life changes, and I wanted to create space for that in my work. As a result, I shifted the name of my website to LaurieSmith.com, to give me more flexibility.

I am now writing a lot more directly about something I’ve always been passionate about and is the crux of what I spend most of my time thinking about–how each of us can share the unique gift that is our true selves with the limited time we have here on earth.

Thanks for visiting my site. I’m glad you’re here. I look forward to getting to know each other.

This site is as much about YOU and your journey as it is about mine.  If you’re ready to dive in, here’s how to begin:

1. Join me on my 28-Day Challenge here.
2. 20 Questions to Ask Yourself
3. A Meditation for You

My Background

(Wanna cut to the chase? Here’s my Professional Bio.)

I started my career as a writer first as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where I wrote the biweekly column “Through Rose Colored Glasses” for the daily newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian.  As a college intern, I lived in London, writing bylined feature articles for the magazine Nine-to-Five. I then worked for Johnson & Johnson in their public affairs department, writing employee publications. Next I went to New York City and worked for the large public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, specializing in national media relations for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

My Transitional Twenties

At the age of 25, I launched my own media relations consulting business—WordSmith Communications, Inc. I moved to the riverfront town of New Hope, PA, where I serving my New York City-based clients remotely. This leap of faith enabled me to work from home, increase my income, and gain freedom over how I spent my time. The greatest benefit was more time to spend with my best friend, soulmate, and now husband Jim.

My new flexibility also allowed me to reflect more on what I wanted out of life, which led me to study many things including meditation, mindfulness, feng shui, hypnosis, NeuroLinguistic Programming and energy work. I became passionate about what I was learning and was struck with how quickly change can manifest when we are able to connect with the quiet wisdom we each have within. Before I knew it, I accidentally had enough certifications to launch several new careers.

Launching DreamCatching™

I felt like I had one foot in one world—still doing my corporate marketing work—and another foot in the world of human spirit. I decided to bring the two worlds together by developing my own coaching program that integrated best practices I had learned in the corporate world and applying these on the individual level. My goal was to help people connect with their own power within and create lives they loved, using tools like guided meditation and intuition development.

The result was DreamCatching™–a five-step process I used with private clients and groups, all the while keeping my public relations business humming along. I was fortunate to be invited to speak at several organizations and companies and share my DreamCatching™ workshops with them.

What I Learned as a Child

In many ways, my journey into becoming a workshop teacher, coach and healer was an expansion of my childhood experiences. My father was a gifted minister, writer and speaker, but more than anything, had the rare ability to be fully present when someone really needed him, and to hear what they were saying beneath the surface. In his interfaith work, counsel of individuals, and as a parent, his primary guidance was always to listen to one’s soft, still voice within.

My Tumultuous, Transformational Thirties

On December 29, 2000, my husband Jim and I had an experience that took my professional work and my personal beliefs much deeper. We were traveling to Africa to see my sister who lived there at the time. On the flight, a passenger attacked the pilot and for five horrifying minutes the plane did acrobats through the air. Our lives were miraculously saved but we were not the same. I knew we were lucky to be alive and had been given the gift of more time, one I did not take lightly.

After we landed safely, I was left with an inner drive to have children, publish my writing, and live my life from a place of greater integrity and purpose.

Eight months later, 9-11 happened, the tragedy that killed 3000 Americans in New York City and Washington D.C. We had many friends whose lives were dramatically affected by this tragedy. Again we were reminded how unpredictable life can be, and what matters most. With the resulting plummeting economy, in 2001, my husband’s employer was offering voluntary severance packages to cut costs and we decided it was time for a change. He left the company after 10 years of service; I took a three-month sabbatical from my businesses. We spent our time off driving around the country and doing lots of soul-searching.

Dreams Across America™

Our cross-country trip was a great adventure. In every town we stopped, I interviewed a few people (more than 100 people total) asking, “What do you want more than anything in the world?” I was deeply touched by how talking about what we really want, even with a perfect stranger, gets to the heart of who we each really are. The answers were profound and no two were the same.  Our journey also allowed us to check out many different parts of the U.S., and decide that someday, we wanted to move to the west coast.

Becoming a Mother

After this trip, I closed my public relations business and focused full-time on my DreamCatching™ coaching and workshops, and energy healing practice. Three years later, we started the greatest adventure of all—we became parents to our miraculous son. Suddenly “what mattered most” took on a whole new meaning. I continued working part-time, writing courses, coaching and facilitating groups.

In 2006, another dream came true when my husband was recruited by a firm in San Francisco, California. Two years later, yet another manifested when I became pregnant with our miraculous daughter.

Living My Full-Circle Forties

While our family has loved living in the beautiful Bay area, the move was not without its challenges. Leaving our large families and network of friends still in the east coast was not easy. This adjustment was compounded by the death of my father in 2011. Nothing could have prepared me for how difficult it can be to lose someone you deeply love. I have learned that our ability to be a healing presence for others is directly impacted by how practiced we are at sitting with our own dark places.

A few years after my father’s death, I experienced a concussion which, because of headaches and severe fatigue, limited my ability to be as productive as usual for almost six months. When I finally healed and regained my energy, I became increasingly aware of a yearning to start writing again and expanding my coaching and teaching work. My answer to that yearning is this site.

Making It All Work

I am constantly reminded that living the life of our dreams is not a finite goal that we ultimately reach, but rather an ongoing adventure as we navigate challenges and respond to whatever comes our way. In the articles on this website, in addition to sharing strategies, techniques and meditations from my workshops and courses, I also write about my own experiences with time management, setting boundaries, forgiveness, self-care, perfectionism, seeking authentic relationships, the juggling act of parenthood, my own meditation practice and my discovery of the power of FLOW!

As I have recently reached the big 50, I am currently writing as often and authentically as I can, as I’m finding that the creative process of writing really feeds me during these challenging times, and brings me joy.

If you are also on the rewarding, messy, unpredictable journey of doing your best to be true to you and navigating this miraculous, crazy world we live in, I look forward to getting to know you.

Let’s Connect ~ Social Media Links

Here’s where else we can connect:

Twitter – @LS_lauriesmith

Pinterest – LaurieSmith_inspired

Instagram – @LaurieSmith_inspired

(Join me in posting your #MiraculousMoments)

Facebook – @LSInspired

LinkedIn – @laurie-smith-inspired

LifeHack.org

My Professional Biography

Newsletter & Flow Challenge

Copyright © 2020, Laurie Smith, All rights reserved.