From time to time life invites us to integrate our learning and experience to take a big step into something different. Now is such a time! I’m excited to share this new chapter!

New Podcast for Caregivers

Bringing resources to caregivers dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and welcoming all who are tasked with caring for loved ones with prolonged diseases.

Welcome! I’m glad you stopped by today. As we all know—sometimes painfully—life continues to challenge us to adapt, grow and move beyond where we’ve been. In response, this website has been updated and expanded to include our new Compassion Chats podcast as well as an eclectic blog meant to entertain and perhaps inspire you to accept and positively respond to the challenges you face. I invite you to engage, ponder and reach out with a request, challenge or additional thought. If you would like to be a guest on our Compassion Chats podcast, please complete the form below.

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Recent Podcasts

Chat with Us

Our mission is to help others grow, while continuing to appreciate and learn from every person and experience we encounter. Please join us! Your unique story enriches us all.

backbone banter blog

Backbone Banter Blog

Welcome! This blog is the product of many years of working with three elements of backbone: competence, confidence, and risk taking, as well as a writer’s compulsion to express. It is a weekly real-time collection of observations, musings, and an occasional rant. There’s no agenda, other than to comment on the world as it appears behind my eyeballs, hoping it

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Don’t let systems destroy people

As I sat patiently then impatiently waiting for a company representative to call me with information about a significant repair to a major piece of equipment, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. After dropping the equipment at a dealership, I was advised that my advisor would call me soon with information. Just before closing the next day,

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Don’t let systems destroy people

As I sat patiently then impatiently waiting for a company representative to call me with information about a significant repair to a major piece of equipment, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. After dropping the equipment at a dealership, I was advised that my advisor would call me soon with information. Just before closing the next day,

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A Reason to Marvel

Do you know someone who has been through the wringer? Someone who has been mauled by life, pummeled with tragedy after travail after trauma? I had the privilege of spending time with my friend Adele recently. From the time I met her ten or so years ago, Adele has been an absolute rock of stability and quiet class despite deep

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Eclipse Reflections

My home was far from the path of totality during the last eclipse, but I have friends who live in or traveled to areas of the country where they witnessed totality. Our experiences were vastly different. I chose to walk my dog while the eclipse was closest to my state (Wisconsin) to experience it and see if the dog displayed

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Books by Susan A. Marshall

Mom’s Gone Missing: When a Parent’s Changing Life Upends Yours

How to Grow a Backbone: 10 Strategies for Gaining Power and Influence at Work

Life. Be In It. Words of Wisdom, Humor and Engagement

Of Beauty and Substance: A Backbone Guide for Women