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Take Second Chances

In this episode, we honor those who never give up, despite setbacks and obstacles. How are you Growing Bolder? Learn from these role models and start your own adventure today.

  • Famous Face

His life was one of abuse and rejection. The more he suffered, the stronger his resolve. No one believed in him, until a chance meeting with a fledgling talk show host changed everything. Now, after 20 years as Oprah Winfrey’s personal makeup artist, Reggie Wells is set to soar.

  • Roderick Sewell

Just a few years ago, Roderick Sewell was a homeless teenager with no legs who was failing school. Today, he’s a world-class athlete, attends college and he’s set his sights on a big goal — making the Paralympics team. His life started turning around when he got involved with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organization that not only provides running legs for disabled athletes — it provides a pathway to a successful life.

  • Second Chance at Life

At age 68, Larry Pontius had a life expectancy counted in single-digit days. Even the smallest things reminded him of his own mortality — commercials for a football season he might never see; pictures of places he might never get to visit. Then came a life-changing call.

Plus, we talk to Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn about the stories behind the Byrds in Growing Bolder With…, and we feature Bungee Jill’s amazing birthday celebration in How Are You Growing Bolder?

  • http://www.betweenthestarandthecross.com/ Lauravalenti

    I love your program and wanted to add my two cents worth. I’ve worked as a freelance writer for 30 years in the Ozarks, writing non-fiction articles for newspapers, “The Springfield News-Leader”  and “The Lebanon Daily Record” and magazines like ”Ozarks Magazine” and “Missouri Life”, and non-fiction books, including “The Fifteen Most Asked Questions About Adoption” and “Ozarks Meth: A Journey of Destruction and Deliverance”. My dream however was always to write fiction but like so many all I got from publishers was rejection slips. Finally, I decided to take on the challenge myself and indepdendent publish my first novel “The Heart of the Spring”, a historical novel set in 1924 about the founding of Missouri’s first state park. Because I’d already done historical none fiction pieces on the park’s history, the history in this book is all accurate and the local high school is planning on using it next year in their English and history classes. Meanwhile, I’ve written a sequel, “The Heart of the Spring Lives On” this time set in 1935, when the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) was building many of the features we still know in the park today. I’ve also written and published a novel about a small town Ozarks county sheriff and the Salvadoran woman who comes to his town to run the Christian mission in his town. They say write what you know…I worked 10 years for our local sheriff’s department here and before that I was a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador for over three years. I’ve read that the average independent published novel sells 200 copies; I’ve sold and distributed over 1300 copies of my first three novels and the fourth is due out in a couple more weeks. I’m currently writing the third in the Bennett Spring series. It took until nearly my 60th birthday to publish my first novel but I can’t write them fast enough now. Yes, I am living bolder!

    Blessings,

    Laura L. Valenti, author
    The Heart of the Spring,
    The Heart of the Spring Lives On,
    Between the Star and the Cross: The Choice and
    Between the Star and the Cross: The Election (due out in May 2012)
    http://www.BetweentheStarandtheCross.com