Kris Batchelder is a chronic seeker with a passion for transformation. Her proclivity for exploration has seen her through extensive worldwide journeys and adventures. Yet her most rewarding travel continues to be into the “final frontier” located within, to integrate the triumphs and tribulations she has experienced along the way. Facilitation is the common thread woven throughout her colorful career, which has primed her with experience and skill in helping others discover and actualize their goals. Her mission is to guide others to reclaim their light, inside and out. To that end, she serves as a Personal Style Consultant for J.HIlburn Men's Clothier, and is certified as an Integrative Life Coach by The Ford Institute for Transformational Training.
Sally Pederson is a travel writer and international house sitter. Having traveled to over twenty countries, she loves to share her experiences about various destinations, cultures, traditions, and history around the world. Born and raised in Canada, she was hit with the travel bug as a young adult. She lived in beautiful Costa Rica for four years and now calls Barcelona, Spain home. When she is not writing about a destination or photographing it, she is most likely making travel plans to her next destination. To find out more about Sally, visit her website at www.luxuriouslifestyles.co.
Erika Fay is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and certified Transformational Life Coach with over 16 years of experience working with men, women, couples & athletes. As a professional speaker, Erika specializes in helping people build dreams, accelerate results and create richer, more fulfilling lives. Erika graduated from Purdue University and obtained her Master of Arts degree from St Mary’s University in San Antonio Texas and is certified as a Transformational Life Coach by the Life Mastery Institute. As founder and owner of Erika Fay, LMFT & Associates, a relationship therapy practice, Erika believes that everyone has the capacity to create loving relationships and lead fulfilling, happy lives. In her free time, she is an endurance athlete and competes in numerous triathlons and marathons. www.erikafaylmft.com
Nicole Fisher is the Founder and CEO at HHR Strategies, a health care and human rights focused advising firm. She is a Senior Policy Advisor for federal and state officials and an expert on health reform. Nicole runs a Health Innovation and Policy page at Forbes highlighting and advising companies, ideas and people that are changing the health care landscape. She is currently finishing her PhD at the University of North Carolina in the Health Policy and Management Department. Nicole earned her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri.
INDIA HICKS
EARLY SUMMER 2018 COLLECTION HAS ARRIVED
SHOP NOW
Melanie Redd is a fitness professional in Dayton, Ohio, and the owner of Melanie Redd Performance Training. Specializing in total wellness, strength and conditioning, injury prevention, and weight loss, Melanie has been helping clients achieve health and happiness since 2011. She is a practicing lifestyle change/health/fitness coach, has developed injury prevention and performance programs for high school and adult athletes, and has a virtual personal training and corporate wellness app. She’s passionate about helping clients realize their full potential through functional movement, healthy eating, and healthy thought patterns. Melanie is also passionate about travel and incorporating sport, exercise and wellness practices into her adventures.
Kristen Russell is a millennial contributor and currently a junior at the University of Alabama majoring in Psychology with a minor in Telecommunications and Film. Prior to her enrollment at the University, she resided in Concord, North Carolina. She is passionate about advocacy as she volunteers at the Women and Gender Resource Center at her school and is a Safe Zone Ally, ensuring that each student can feel safe and supported on campus. In the future, Kristen desires to be in the Communications or film industry, with a keen interest in writing, casting, and production.
We have storage boxes devoted to this purpose and each season I divide the goods into piles. In my mind the categories are: Too Small (given to families with smaller boys), Worn Out (used for rags or simply thrown away), and Future, which is placed into said storage, ready for the day when my younger son grows into them.
As an oldest child, I was rarely the recipient (victim?) of hand-me-down clothes. My sisters, close in age, were not so lucky. When they were young, one season of outgrown things were packed away for the next one to grow into. Initially, this was OK as the little one loved
having ‘big girl’ clothes
but later on it was
groan-inducing
and eventually
their styles
diverged
and the
cycle was broken.
My boys don’t seem to mind or frankly even notice this, although there are a few favorite pieces they are reluctant to give up. One particular lizard-print hoodie was given to us by another family, who got it from a third. This shirt is entirely too small now but it keeps being ‘rescued’ by my younger son when I put it in the Too Small pile. It’s like he can sense when his favorite shirt is nearly out the door and he swoops in to rescue it. I’ll keep trying.
I love seeing them in photos through the years wearing the hand-me-downs: Older pictures with my big guy, and years later, the same shirt appears on his brother. And on the playground,
the youngest boy in one family we know
appears the next season in the same piece.
It’s the circle of sibling life.
This ritual is not without its painful
moments for me as well. I sit on the
floor, surrounded by piles of things
to sort, overwhelmed by the
excess. When something that
both kids loved to death
reaches the end of the line, it
makes me pause. I hold it
close, smelling their little
boy scent, a little ache in my
heart that they are growing
up so fast. No more onesies and footie
pajamas, now they want Ravenclaw T-shirts
and the latest Spiderman hoodies. I sigh and
try to focus, going back to the sorting with a
twinge of nostalgia.