Smart Women Talk Smart Women Talk

Finding Your Voice with Mary Beth Orr

Join Mary Beth and Katana as they discuss:How to live your purpose.Why there is no greater benefit to your creativity and fulfillment than being brave, vulnerable, and authentic.How to balance ambition while experiencing true joy.
Mary Beth Orr is a classical hornist/folk vocalist who was recently a finalist for The American Prize. Currently 3rd Horn of the Grand Rapids Symphony, she has been first prize winner of the International Horn Competition of America, International Women’s Brass Conference, Sound Espressivo Music Competition, Golden Classical Music Awards, and Charleston International Solo Competition. She made her European premiere at the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, Germany ’21, and Carnegie Hall ‘22. As a featured performer for Vox Novus' Fifteen Minutes of Fame, she traveled to NYC to perform and record works commissioned specifically for her. Her current project is finishing her debut album with multi-Grammy-winning label PARMA Recordings.

Learn more about Mary Beth at www.marybethorr.org.

The 3-Step Strategy to Get Off Sugar...Even if You've Tried Everything with Nagina Abdullah

Join Nagina and Katana as they discuss:Why women have sugar cravings.The 3-step strategy to get off of sugar and no longer have sugar cravings.Simple alternatives for sweets that are delicious and satisfying.
Nagina Abdullah is a weight-loss coach for women in midlife and founder of the website MasalaBody.com. She teaches women to boost their metabolism, especially when what worked before, no longer works. She focuses on natural formulas to combine and time metabolism-boosting foods to reduce belly fat and overall weight gain in midlife. Nagina has a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and has helped over 1,500 midlife women successfully lose weight permanently and create a lifestyle change.

Learn more about Nagina at MasalaBody.com.

Ageless Aging: A Woman's Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan with Maddy Dychtwald

Join Maddy and Katana as they discuss:


How to create a holistic action plan to thrive in the second half of life.Cutting-edge information on the impact of fitness, food, sleep, and hormones for living longer.The body’s role in the recipe for longevity.  
Recognized by Forbes as one of the top 50 female futurists globally, Maddy Dychtwald has spent nearly four decades exploring all aspects of the age wave and the new era of longevity and how it fundamentally transforms our lives. Maddy is an award-winning author, acclaimed public speaker, and thought leader on longevity and aging, health, wellness, and the new retirement. A successful entrepreneur, she is also the co-founder of Age Wave, the world’s leader in understanding and addressing the far-reaching impacts of longevity and our aging population.

To learn more about Maddy got to agewave.com.

Is it Time to Eat More Plants? 

Join Vicki and Katana as they discuss: 
Why eating more plants is a good idea for your health.Which plant foods are most nutritious.Where to begin when trying to increase your plant consumption.    

Vicki Brett-Gach is a Master-Certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach, Plant-Based Culinary Instructor, Certified Personal Chef, and author of The Plant-Based for Life Cookbook, published by Brooklyn Writer’s Press. She earned a Wellness Counseling Certificate through Cornell University, a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, and a Culinary Coaching Certificate through the Harvard Medical School and The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine. Vicki's recipes have been featured in several publications, including Forks Over Knives Magazine, Health Science, VegWorld Magazine, and Global Vegan Magazine. Vicki coaches individual clients transitioning to a plant-based diet and teaches a broad range of whole-food, plant-based cooking classes to groups of all sizes.  

Connect with Vicki through her popular recipe blog Ann Arbor Vegan Kitchen at annarborvegankitchen.com.  

The Food Controversy with Joanna Klein, Marla Pennington, and Colleen Kilpatrick

Join Joanna, Marla, Colleen, and Katana as they discuss:
The ways our childhood eating habits influence our adult eating habits.How to navigate the world of dietary options.Food choices beyond pleasure or health.Katana welcomes three vibrant friends, Marla Pennington, Joanna Klein, and Colleen Kilpatrick, who all agreed to share openly what they eat and why they eat that way.  Marla, for example, grew up on a farm with cows, hogs, and chickens and regularly eats steak and a glass of wine.  She also walks nearly 4 miles daily, following the steps of her mother, who is in her 80s and still walks daily (her mom recently married a man in his 70s!).  All have different experiences and relationships with food. You will enjoy hearing about their journeys.

She Believed She Could, So She Did with Molly MacDonald

Join Molly and Katana as they discuss:
The power of belief.How to create a committed, competent, and caring culture.Why a nonprofit organization needs to be run like a for-profit business.Molly MacDonald is an almost 19 year breast cancer Survivor, co-founder of Pink Fund with her husband Tom Pettit. She holds a degree in journalism from The University of Michigan and has a background in event planning, marketing, and public relations.  

Following her 2005 breast cancer diagnosis, Molly experienced the side effect of financial toxicity, a term that was not coined until 2013. Her personal experience led to identifying a gap in services for men and women in active treatment for breast cancer.To date, Pink Fund has delivered $7.8 million in financial assistance to the patient's creditor for housing, transportation, utilities, and insurance.

Molly is a keynote speaker and moderator for various national healthcare conferences. She is a Director on the board of the National Breast Cancer Coalition and a board member of The University of Michigan's Value-Based Insurance Design. She is the mother of five adult children and grandmother to three.

To learn more about Molly, visit pinkfund.org.