Interns & Volunteers Sought: Sugar Addicts, Get Free Coaching!

With my next book, Beyond Sugar Shock, scheduled for publication in the United States and Canada on June 1 (and on Nov. 1 in Australia), I need lots of help from dedicated volunteers or interns to spread the word about it.
Sugar addicts and carb addicts around the world need to know, I firmly believe, that this simple, friendly book can help them to easily release destructive habit for good so they can get slimmer, sexier, and sweeter. To help people, we’re planning many Book Launch activities. (Stay tuned for another post.)
If you come on board as a Beyond Sugar Shock volunteer or intern, you’ll get a number of benefits. Of course, you’ll get the satisfaction and “warm fuzzies” from knowing that you’re helping others, but you’ll receive much more. Keep reading to learn how I’ll help you if you help me.
So let’s get to you — how will you benefit when you volunteer or intern for me?
Specifically, anyone who interns or volunteers to help build buzz for Beyond Sugar Shock and the companion Sugar Freedom Now Program, gets:
Frequent access to me. (Previous interns and volunteers tell me that just being around me has helped them to improve their lives.)
A chance to have your many questions answered.
Complimentary admission to my programs, including one that helps you Bust Stress, another on How to Write How-to Articles with Joan Stewart, and, of course, my popular, six-week Sugar Freedom Now Course, which is the companion program to Beyond Sugar Shock.
Free, weekly, half-hour group coaching calls, during which you pick the topics. Previous volunteers and interns have found this to be powerful in helping them to lick sugar or another bad habit (what I call a “babit”). By the way, you don’t don’t to have sugar issues to get helped, because I’m both a certified certified health coach and certified life coach, thanks to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).
Valuable work experience or, if you’re a student, great resume-building duties.
These are the positions now available.
Social Media Interns – 2 or 3
Book Launch Publicist Intern(s) – 2 available
Graphic designer
Bloggers/Writers – 2 or 3
Radio Show/Book Launch Assistant Producer Intern
Expert in SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Blog Webmaster (To Update Website on WordPress)
Community Builder (SparkPeople Beyond Sugar Shock Team)
Another position that’s ideal for you (Feel free to suggest something!)
If you are interested in any of these positions, reply here, and my assistant and I will get back to you ASAP. (You can include all info here, which we will not publish.)
Be ready to provide:
Thoughts as to why an internship or volunteer position appeals to you.
How you heard about me and Beyond Sugar Shock.
Your time availability. We’d prefer at least 6 hours a week, but less is okay, too.
A copy of your resume or bio. Please do NOT include an attachment.
2 references
Please note that we’re looking for people who are:
Reliable and organized.
Compassionate.
Gracious under pressure.
Very accurate.
Interested in health, wellness, personal empowerment, nutrition or exercise.
Interested in serving others and making a difference in the lives of millions.
One or more of these positions are ideal for:
Self-starters.
Stay-at-home moms, homemakers, entrepreneurs, or sugar addicts.
Budding health and health coaches.
Students (graduate or undergraduate).
People who have skills in journalism, PR, social media, etc.
You if you want to find a community of people dedicated to health and wellness.
Other details:
You’ll work 8 to 15 hours per week. You can work at home.
These are unpaid positions initially. May develop into paid positions.
Must have high-speed Internet access.
Thank you in advance for helping me to help people break free of their sugar addiction so they can easily move Beyond Sugar Shock. I couldn’t do this without you!
Please note that we will NOT publish your responses. These are for our internal use only — we will respect and honor your privacy.
Reply now if you’d like to volunteer or intern with me.

Life Coaching: I’m Certified!

From time to time, on this Sugar Shock Blog, I share personal accomplishments.
Today, I’m very excited, because I just found out that I passed my oral exam from iPEC, where I trained to be a life coach. (It was a pretty rigorous program which I’m thrilled to have finally completed.)
So, I’m pleased to announce that as of today, I’m a Certified Professional Coach (CPC)! Yeah!
Now that I’m a CPC, I’m entitled to use the logo which you see on your left.

Connie’s Confession: I’m a Health Hypocrite! Help Each Other

Normally, I don’t reveal my vulnerabilities here, on this Sugar Shock Blog. Nor do I share a personal plight, but today, I feel a need to confess to you that I feel like the ultimate Health Hypocrite.
Sure, I eat healthy, wholesome, real foods. Yes, I religiously avoid sugary foods and carbs — and have since 1998 with only a handful of very minor infractions. I don’t even smoke anymore. (Inhaling two packs of cigarettes is a thing of the past.) What’s more, I’ve been shunning caffeine since a doctor suggested I do so more than a decade ago. And I don’t even chew sugar-less gum or eat candies with artificial sweeteners anymore. In addition, I’ve triumphed over my diet soda slugging. Plus, I’m huge exercise aficionado. But feeding my body well and moving just aren’t nearly enough.
Sleep My body craves — as does yours — ample sleep. We desperately need those zzzzzz’s.Otherwise, I’m headed for sniffles, sneezing, coughing and congestion.
Well, lately — especially in the last week — I haven’t walked my talk. Despite the fact that I know about the wonders of a good night’s sleep and I’m even mentioning it as a “Smart Diet Habit” in my next book, I skimped on sleep myself last week. Now that I’m a health coach, I’m not going to indulge in self-blame. Rather, I’m going to use this realization as an opportunity.
The irony is that lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about and striving to do excellent self-care, because of my training as a health counselor and life coach and because I’ve been completing Cheryl Richardson’s fabulous book, Take Time for Your Life, which was required reading for my life coaching program through iPEC.
I even just bought Cheryl Richardson’s latest book, The Art of Extreme Self-Care, this weekend at this remarkable Hay House ouse Movers & Shakers conference. Both books have motivated me to think a lot about how we all will benefit if we devote ourselves wholeheartedly to treating ourselves with respect and reverence, even it it means we have to let go of current projects and disappoint people.
Well, despite my commitment to treating myself right, last week, I neglected my needs when it came to snoozing. You see, I felt compelled to help you you a lot this month.

Tired? Wiped Out? It’s Staycation Time (A Vacation at Home)

Are you exhausted? Burnt out from your work, financial stress and all the things you have to do?
If you’re short on funds or if you’re just not in the mood to leave town but still want to relax and chill out, it may be time for a staycation — i.e., a vacation at home.
Lately, lots of publications are touting the merits of a staycation.Consumer Reports and SuperEco give you tips to have a great one. And today’s Daily News even has some ideas.
A staycation is on my mind, because, after taking lots of time off earlier this summer, I’m taking a staycation this weekend.
Actually, more to the point, I have lots of homework to do for my life coach training and I want to be done with all the requirements before I get my certification as a CPC (Certified Professional Coach).
This weekend, I’m bicycling in the parks, going to fun events, catching a movie or two, hosting a Labor Day Meetup to see Madama Butterfly at Lincoln Center and doing lots of homework to wrap up my life coaching certification requirements from my training at the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). (Great school. If you want to go there, tell them Connie recommended you.)
Want help to kick sugar, write or promote a book or find passion in your life? Grab me now at my pre-CPC rates. Learn more now about Coaching With Connie.

Madama Butterfly: Free Performance With Happy, Healthy, Dreamers Meetup

If you’re doing a “staycation” (stay-at-home vacation) in New York this Labor Day weekend, come Monday night with a goup of us (as part of my newly revamped Meetup group, “Happy, Healthy Dreamers & Doers in the City”) as we attend the final free performance of the Metropolitan Opera’s Summer HD Festival.
At no cost to you, you’ll catch see a staging of the glorious Madama Butterfly, which is sure to be an absolutely glorious experience, as was last night’s Barber of Seville.
Here are brief details about Monday’s opera/film:
Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella’s production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly stars Patricia Racette as Cio-Cio-San, Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, Dwayne Croft as Sharpless, and Maria Zifchak as Suzuki. Patrick Summers conducts. Approximate running time: 145 minutes
See the brief announcement on YouTube about the opening night of this opera.
Get details on how and where to meet at the Happy, Healthy Dreamers & Doers in the City Meetup site.
FYI, I’m in the city this weekend doing final homework assignments to conclude my superb life coach training from iPEC (the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching). (If you want to become a life coach, I heartily recommend iPEC. If you’re interested, feel free to ask me about this program, and make sure to say Connie referred you when you call them.)
Save the dates for other exciting events:
* You’re invited to join me on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 3 pm on my Gab With the Gurus Radio Show, when I interview renowned sugar expert Nancy Appleton, who’s just come out with a new book, Suicide by Sugar: A Startling Look at Our #1 National Addiction. This is sure to be an eye-opening show. In case you’re wondering why I’m promoting another sugar book, it’s because I believe that we all have something great to offer. Also, Nancy is one of my mentors, and she was incredibly generous to me while I was researching and writing my book SUGAR SHOCK!
* You’re also encouraged to join me Thursday, Sept. 10 when I discuss “Breaking Free of Your Sugar Habit” at a free Open House at the New York Open Center’s new offices. I’ll be one of 8 speakers that night. Learn here about the schedule.