I recently had the pleasure of joining Kate Hanley on her podcast How to be a Better Person to chat about the power of manifesting your destiny by having a good mantra 

Listen to the Podcast Here

KATE: Sonia, welcome! So let's start off with your story. You were an actress with a sweet gig, a starring role on "The Guiding Light." Oh my goodness. All my soap fans out there I know are going to be so excited to hear that. You had that role for five years and then you left. So what happened?

SONIA: Yeah, so, I was so fortunate. I had played this role of Lucy Cooper Spalding, and it was an amazing experience. But  I had done it for five years and I thought if there was ever a time for me to leave and this was it. I wasn't in a relationship, or not a regular relationship at that time. I wasn't married, I didn't have kids. And I didn't have anything holding me. So this was my moment to go. The only thing was this time when I went back, as opposed to the first time when I left to sort of be...

Being an entrepreneur isn't just a job. It is a way of life. And I can tell you from personal experience, it impacts every area of life.

If you’re making decisions on your business, it can impact your mood, which impacts your relationships, which impact your health. If one area is going great, but another isn’t, it can all have a domino effect.

So life coaching can be invaluable for entrepreneurs. Today I’m going to tell you three powerful reasons why, if you’re running your own business, you definitely want to have a good life coach.

First, I want to tell you the story of my first executive coaching client – the first time I coached an entrepreneur.

In fact, it was my husband.

(Now, this is rare. Most people in relationships don’t coach each other, but Stephen and I have found a groove.) It all started one sunny afternoon in Los Angeles – the day Stephen got fired.

This was bad news. Our daughter was six months old. We relied on Stephen’s income. I had transitioned from my caree...

Have you ever felt stuck? Stressed? Like you could really use a mindset reset?

Millions of people wake up every morning, less than thrilled about the day ahead of them. Many even dread it. They drag themselves through their routine. They're tired, depressed, and they feel like happiness and fulfillment have passed them by.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Every minute of every day, you have the choice to take control of your life. You can step out of “stuck” and into the flow. You can redirect the course of your life, so it's one that makes you jump out of bed in the morning.

Don't believe me?

Neither did Ellen, at first. When I met Ellen, she was making her way up the corporate ladder at a wealth management firm here in Manhattan. She was successful in her career – she even had an office with a breathtaking view of the city – but the rest of her life , well, it left a lot to be desired. 

Her marriage was in shambles. She was so tired all the time, she thought she might be sick...

As you may know, women have borne the brunt of Covid-19. Whether it's from sacrificing their careers to take care of (and educate) children, or through the immeasurable cognitive and emotional labor that comes when there is a major disruption, women have been uniquely impacted in this pandemic.

While it's great that more and more studies are coming out, raising awareness around this issue, the hard truth is this: there simply has not been a comprehensive, heart-body-mind connection that dramatically changes the path of women’s wellbeing.

Until now.

(You didn't think I'd say all that without giving a solution, did you?)

I’m thrilled to join two other dynamic women leaders—Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, and Dondeena Bradley, Ph.D, author of Living Full Circle—for a Facebook live event with Bookstr’s global audience. We'll discuss our combined efforts to spur women toward authentic, life-changing and yes, even life-saving wellbeing. Collectively, each doing our own part, we offer a comprehens...

A lot of people wonder: can a life coach help with relationships?. When I get asked that, I have to smile - because so often that’s what people come to me about, that sometimes I feel like I’m a relationship coach rather than a life coach.

By now, I’ve had years of experience helping people find (and keep) love, not only because of my years as a life coach, but also because of my own experiences. Today, I’m married to the love of my life, the father of my children, my husband of almost 20 years. But before Stephen, there was Bob. And with Bob, I learned the hard way what makes a relationship grow and flourish - or fall apart.

How All the Best Love Stories Begin

When I was still in college, before I moved to LA to try my hand at acting, Bob and I met the old-fashioned way: he crashed into my friend’s car. 

I was riding with a friend on Route 200 - actually, we were on an exit ramp - when from out of nowhere, another car slammed into ours. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. My friend go...

How to get a success mindset? If you're wondering this, chances are you've got a big idea or goal in mind. I have a hunch that you've got something special in mind...and you're on the track by looking for ways to step into a success mindset!

Maybe you have an idea for starting a new business, or you felt a glimmer of inspiration for a new creative project. Or you’re finally ready to do that thing you’ve been saying you’re going to do for, I don’t know, ever.

Let me guess. At first, there was a lot of excitement. I’m gonna DO this! This time, it’s gonna work!

But maybe the excitement has worn off, and now  you don't know where to start. You're standing at your desk or your whiteboard or your kitchen table, suddenly faced with all the million overwhelming tasks you need to do to make that goal a reality. 

Now what?

I've been there. (Who hasn't?) Especially for creative types who like to think big, that transition from "big idea" to "let's go!" can leave us feeling stranded. 

That's...

Impostor syndrome - the belief that you're a fraud - is one of the biggest productivity killers in our culture. Every day, it plagues millions of people with doubts and fears, keeping them from achieving their full potential. Especially in today's world of constant social media, where we're bombarded with images of other people's success, impostor syndrome robs people of their creativity and well-being, causing stress, burn-out, and poor performance.

When you suffer from Imposter Syndrome – whether it’s in your work, business, passion project, or even your relationships or health (yes, that’s real), you’re less likely to think creatively, problem-solve intelligently, and manage effectively.

Fortunately, there is a solution.

Are you ready? It’s simple:

Know your value.

Don’t freak out. I know what you’re thinking: How can I know my value when I don't feel like I’m enough?

Most people believe their value is so much “less” than other people’s. Most people wildly underestimate their ...

It’s one of the most poignant questions a person can ask: how to get over anxiety and depression? Because when someone asks that, you know there’s a lot of pain and hardship in their heart.

Fortunately, there are ways to overcome both anxiety and depression, even if you think you’ve tried everything.

Here are three ways.

1. Instead of resisting the feelings…make friends with them.

In general, there are two common ways to confront depression and anxiety – ignore it, or combat it.

If you try to ignore it, often the fear just grows, and continues to influence your actions in ways you don’t want. It stops you from taking action toward what you want.

When you combat something, you create conflict, and that negative energy can overtake your mood. It can permeate you, so that the thing you want most becomes tainted by negativity. And again, that will inform your actions.

But if you take a totally different approach – negotiating with your negative feelings, not combating or ignoring th...

Part 1: How it all started

A lot of people ask me where the question “What if it’s easy?” came from. Is it the result of years of mind-body training? Did they teach it in coaching school? Did you learn it in acting classes, on the set of Guiding Light or One Life to Live, or on one of your adventures on Kilimanjaro or Macchu Picchu?

The funny thing is, it was none of those things. It was actually an accident.

It was on a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles. My husband Stephen and I were sitting in a hot rental car on Sunset Boulevard, that famous place where dreams come true…or come crashing down. And that’s what it felt like that day, as we sat there soaking in the terrible news.

He’d flown out from New York City for a meeting with his boss, and we’d been hoping for something good—a promotion, a raise, a new project. But instead, he’d been fired.

And he was devastated.

Looking at him, I saw something I hadn’t seen before from my ambitious, confident, and (until that moment) successfu...

If you’ve never worked with a coach before, you might be wondering just what are some life coach basics. What is a life coach, anyway? What do they do, and what can I expect if I hire one? 

Those are all great questions, and that’s why today, I’d like to share with you 3 basic truths about working with a life coach.

1. You are always in control.

A life coach – a good one, anyway – will never make you feel uncomfortable, or do or say things you don’t want to do. They will never force you to answer a question, pressure you to take actions you don’t want to, or in any way make you feel threatened or pressured.

Why is that?

Because life coaching is built on the foundation that you are the master of your own life. You are in charge, 100% of the time.

In fact, it’s not holding that belief that often makes us need life coaches in the first place.

What the heck do I mean by that?

Let me tell you a quick story about one of my first clients, Marie. Marie was a kind, caring soul who’d lef...