A Life In Progress

Remember Your Way to Freedom

JOIN THE Brave + Beautiful membership Community!

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

— Viktor Frankl

Life is so imperfect. And beautiful.

If we are to really live – abundantly – we need to make space for messy. We need to embrace the truth that life can be really hard, challenging, scary, and painful – but also a beautiful adventure.

We get to decide who and how we want to be in the world and how we’ll show up to life. This can feel incredibly stretching and is best done in brave community with others who are also committed to this work.

The Brave and Beautiful Membership Community is one way that we can gather together and make space. It’s a place for the brave, growth-minded, and weary woman in the messy middle of life to come aside and rest awhile, be nourished and strengthened, mind, body, and soul.

It’s a place for you to receive quality evidence-based education + encouragement to help you learn and practice tools, mindset shifts, and habits to help you release what no longer serves, reconnect with the truth of who you are and what you want and need, realign your life with your highest values and priorities, and live fully awake and alive in every season.

In this post I share a growth path to help you self-identify where you currently land in this season of your life. If you see yourself somewhere in steps 2-6 then the Brave + Beautiful Community might be a great fit for you.

New members can join the Brave & Beautiful Membership Community in September, January, and May and you are welcome to join us for one, two, or all three sessions; you’ll experience tremendous value whenever you join and for however long. Each session weaves together to form a beautiful whole to help you come back home to yourself.

ask to be added to the waitlist for january
  • The community is capped at 60 women so space is limited. Reach out to talk with me if you have questions.
  • You do NOT need social media to join the community. We use an inviting, organized, and easy to use private platform.
  • Members who join for a full year get to “grandmother” in at that price (you keep the same price when prices increases). You also get free access to the experiential workshops I’ll be running this year with guest teachers!
  • The email you use to register will be added to or tagged on MY EMAIL LIST so that you receive updates and important details about the membership.
  • I offer a number of “pay-what-you-can” spaces to the people on my email list. I offer a special rate for people on a fixed or lower income. Reach out.

The materials and guidance you’ve provided in the B&B have helped me gain valuable insights into my personality. Your program is far superior to a lot of offerings out there.  They are kindergarten and you are graduate school.

—Amy D

$280 — 4 months or 1 SESSION OF THE BRave & Beautiful community ($70/MOS or the price of a monthly 60-min massage)

*Jan through April 2022. You are welcome to upgrade your membership within the first three weeks and this amount will be applied to the new registration amount.

$700 — 12 months of Brave & Beautiful community ($58/MOS or less than the cost of a monthly massage)

*Jan through Dec 2022. Includes free access to the new experiential workshops in the year. You get 2 months free on top of the fabulous company and support:). Ask about making 2 payments if you need this option.

$1500 — deep dive: a full year of the bb plus eight 1:1 consults with krista (or 2 pmts of $750)

*The Deep Dive is for you if you desire brave and growth-minded community and also you’d like to go deeper into the work and receive individualized support from me (you save $200). For a payment plan, reach out to Krista @[email protected] The Deep Dive also includes free access to all extra workshops in the year.

Imagine being part of a private community to talk about the things that truly matter to you, build growth-minded relationships, and RECEIVE COMPASSIOnaTE and thoughtful GUIDANCE TO HELP YOU show up whole and brave in every season

The B+B incorporates intentional weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythms that allow for reflection and inquiry, engagement and practice, integration and rest. Quarterly seasonal check-ins will support your mind-body-soul health, invite you to set new intentions or course correct as needed, and mindfully transition from one season to the next.

Each session (Sept-Dec, Jan-Apr, May-Aug) includes 11 weeks of active teaching/engaging with new content plus 1-2 Seasonal Check-Ins and 1-2 Workshops.

Remember that on “rest weeks” you can use this time in a way that meets your individual needs. You may catch up with material, take time offline, show up and chat in the conversation feed, etc.

About half of the B+B members are highly engaged in the discussion feed and on Zoom Calls. The other half are either happy lurkers, working at their own pace and quietly listening/observing, or showing up here and there as real life allows.

Some people come and choose to work through all of our material while others come for the community above all. They appreciate the educational component but their priority in this season is building community and healthy relationships.

PRIMARY OUTCOMES FOR MEMBERS OF THE B+B

If I could offer you just ONE RESULT from your time in my membership, it would be that you BEFRIEND YOURSELF – that you trade judgement for curiosity, shame for self-compassion, and fear for agency. This alone would transform your experience of life.

You are more likely to experience most or all of the following outcomes depending on your level of engagement:

  1. You will deepen self-awareness, build a trusting and respectful relationship with yourself, like and love who and how you are, release shame and judgment, and live with calm and confidence. You will acknowledge that you’re imperfect, messy, and in progress but also brave, capable, and wise. Both/and. You will use your voice, set healthy boundaries, and honour your wiring.
  2. You will quiet the noise of comparison, perfectionism, and fear, craft a new, exciting life vision and tell the truth about what you want and need for wholeness and joy. You will practice self-compassion, mindfulness, somatic regulation strategies, conscious simplicity, deepen emotional literacy, and make peace with the messiness of life so that you live whole, brave, and on purpose in every season.
  3. You will practice the power of tiny intentional steps or imperfect action to handcraft a life that feels like home. You will build a sense of agency, increase resilience, live with mind-body-emotional health, and otherwise practice a gentler and more compassionate way of moving through the world. You will release what no longer serves and remember your way to freedom.
or work 1:1 with krista

Your guidance in finding new approaches, new ideas, and new attitudes that so resonate with me is part of what I love about Brave and Beautiful. And all of that plus such a supportive and accepting community is just the best! Much more than what I might have imagined if I’d have envisioned a great virtual space to learn and grow. I am so appreciative. Thank you, Krista.

— Stacy Low

COME HOME: REMEMBER YOUR WAY HOME TO YOURSELF

The theme for year 3 of the B+B is Coming Home to Ourselves. In general, the work we do together will help you:

  • Re-envision your life and examine your beliefs about yourself, your story to this season of life, and what it means to live a full, messy, meaningful life. Bring compassion and understanding to your patterns and narratives and learn a practice of bringing new hopeful possibility to the places you struggle or feel stuck.
  • Question and re-examine patterns of hustle, conforming, people-pleasing, or following status quo and understand how to adopt seasonal living for more compassion, clarity, and resilience in your personal and creative life. Build healthy lifestyle habits, practices, rhythms, and craft an honest and compelling Life Vision that reflects the truth of your values and who and how you choose to be in the world. Create emotional and energetic space in your calendar for the work/relationships/rest that you desire, explore a practice of conscious simplicity to live whole, brave, and on purpose.
  • Reconnect with your true and wise self as you deepen your roots of self-awareness, deepen self-trust, and become your own best friend; tell the truth about who and how you are and live with more curiosity, less judgment. Explore what it feels and sounds like to allow more joy, play, permission, and pleasure into your life. Decrease stress and overwhelm, live with more calm, presence, and joy, as you learn regulation strategies and resourcing techniques, emotional and cognitive tools including mindfulness and somatic practices, to help you feel safe, empowered, and at home in your body and your life.
  • Practice self-compassion in-action, take imperfect action through comparison, perfectionism, fear, and life’s challenges to begin walking in greater freedom. Build a sense of agency, resilience, and pride in yourself. Loosen your grip on what was and make space for new, joyful possibility, and carve out a healthy path forward. Pause regularly to check-in and notice your strength and courage, to celebrate your hard work, to practice the truth of “both/and,” and to pivot as needed. You are a life in progress.
  • Forge healthy and lasting relationships with other growth-minded women doing the soul-stretching work alongside you; learn, grow, and become in brave community. Shore up leaky boundaries in your life, disentangle yourself from relationships, commitments, or allegiances that no longer serve you. Use your voice, ask for help, build a strong support system, ensure you’re nourishing yourself from the roots up and not only pouring out.

Finding you and your courses have been life-giving for me. I feel like it is a debt I will never be able to repay.

—Roxanne

A roadmap and dedicated guide for you

We walk through the following structure as we dive into each new topic and apply the work to our lives.

SELF-AWARNESS // WHY

I’ll introduce the topic of the month and WHY it matters; we’ll examine our experience and thoughts about it, any compelling research, and we’ll get honest about where we’re at. Self-awareness is essential to sustainable and healthy growth.

SELF-COMPASSION // WHAT

We’ll start talking about WHAT we want for ourselves in this area (we’ll establish personal goals and intentions) while staying grounded in self-compassion and I’ll offer ideas for WHAT we can do to grow and begin practicing the concepts for the month.

IMPERFECT ACTION // HOW

We’ll get more specific about HOW to apply the habits, tools, mindset shifts or the practical application of ideas (and how to sustain positive change) and we’ll address issues or resistance that come up; this is about taking imperfect action to move closer to who and how we choose to be in the world.

INTEGRATION // Rest & Reflect

We need time to synthesize and notice what’s showing up for us, and we need time for actual rest. In Rest Week I’m offline though members are welcome to continue engaging with each other and the material. This week also allows time to catch up on videos/work from previous weeks. Every quarter we have an extra week to “Rest & Reflect.”

read this post about the B+B growth path

Join the Brave & Beautiful Membership for 4 months – $280 ($70/monthly)

*Jan through April 2022. You are welcome to upgrade your membership within the first three weeks and this amount will be applied to the new registration amount.

Join me inside the Brave & Beautiful community for 12 months – $700 ($58/monthly)

*Jan through Dec 2022. Once you’ve paid for a full-year you lock in that price for future renewals. Year membership includes free access to all extra workshops in the year.

$375 Add 3 consults for personalized 1:1 support

*Many members benefit from some one-on-one deeper support so that we can work with your specific life and health circumstances and so that you have privacy to talk about things that you don’t want to share with the group.

$1500 — Deep Dive: full year of BB + 1:1 consults x 8 (or 2 pmts of $750)

*The Deep Dive is a special offer for new or renewing B+B members. This option is for you if you want to go deeper into the work we’re doing together in the BB and receive personal and individualized support (this consult price is 30% off my regular consult fee). These consults are not for business coaching. For a payment plan, please reach out to Krista at [email protected] This option gives you free access to the experiential workshops in the year.

I have stayed mostly quiet in the FB group, but I have benefited greatly from doing the work offline and it has truly made a huge difference in this time of transition and rebirth for me. I look forward to reviewing the materials again on my own – I know I will discover many things I missed the first time through. Thank you for being willing to share with and guide people in all seasons of life.

— Christine H
A brave and beautiful life: You are not broken, bad, or too screwed up. You are simply a messy tangle of strength and struggle, just like the rest of us. #rebrandingmiddleage #alifeinprogress #brave #beautiful #whole #onpurpose

I so appreciate you, your posts, thought processes, interviews, your way at problem-solving, the content you create, and your support. Joining this group is the very thing that helped me to begin to take steps forward from probably the worst season I’ve ever been through since childhood. I was so stuck and discouraged. Now I am making headway in leaps and bounds!! Brave and Beautiful has been so inspiring and so life-giving for me, as well as my Listening Partnership with (another member) and I just wanted you to know and thank you again. Who you are and what you carry is truly immeasurable in my life.

—Joyanne Ferrara

When you invest in this community

The Brave & Beautiful community is not about stuffing our lives full to the brim with information; you already have full lives. Setting aside about 2 hours most weeks will allow you to engage with the material and participate in discussion, though some members spend more or less time and find it life-giving. Come as you are – with the capacity you have in this season. In this community, you will find ample time and space to discuss, reflect, and engage with the deep and rich work in a gentle and encouraging manner. You also get support from me and each other when you feel stuck or need encouragement.

As a member of this inspirational community you will receive:

  • Educational modules that help you live with purpose, wholeness and joy, and help you “come home to yourself” including weekly exercises/practices with worksheets and relevant resources to support you in doing the work
  • Weekly Coaching+ Connection calls (not including Rest Weeks), focused on the current topic (you do not have to join live/replays are available), to support you as you work through the core content/material provided
  • Meaningful connection & opportunity to build long-lasting relationships with growth-minded people and a monthly peer-led Group Chat to connect with other members and talk about how you’re applying the material to your life or receive support and encouragement.
  • Quarterly seasonal check-ins to support your mind-body health, invite you to set new intentions or course correct as needed, and mindfully transition from one season to the next
  • Access to two bonus courses to help you deepen self-awareness: Exploring the Enneagram and The Strengths + Challenges of the Highly Sensitive Person. These are free for you to work through at your own pace if/when you’re ready but you’re welcome at any time to ask questions in the group about these bonus courses.
  • 50-100% off (depending on your membership) of all extra workshops in the year including those with guest teachers.
  • Learn more about expected outcomes or benefits of joining the B+B

Get started today with one SESSION or 4 months of the B+B – $280

*Jan through April 2022

get 2 months free when you invest in a B+B Membership for the year – $700

*Jan through Dec 2022. Once you’ve paid for a full-year you lock in that price for future renewals.

$375 add 1:1 consults x3

*This one on one time allows us to go deeper into the work, applying it to your life while addressing your specific needs/goals/life circumstances. It also offers more intimacy/privacy because sometimes there are issues you don’t want to address in the group setting but that you need and want support with.

*If you have an issue with the shopping cart (as happens on occasion), email me at [email protected] for help.

Krista has an incredible gift not only of words but also of really seeing into the struggles common to so many women. Krista doesn’t just leave us to struggle—she helps find a way to shift our mindset, look at our circumstances differently and help us find joy and celebrate the win, no matter how small. She is patient, knowledgeable and caring. The resources she writes are life-giving to me. I find myself learning something profoundly new and helpful each time I go through the materials.

—Teresa C

Build meaningful relationships

Weekly Zoom Calls offer time and space for coaching + connection. Showing up live is absolutely not required as replays will be available to watch or listen to when you’re ready and we all live in different corners of the world. The first part of the call is educational and related to our growth-work and the second half are informal times to share how you’re learning/practicing, ask questions, and build relationship with other members.

We also currently have an extra Peer-Led Monthly Group running inside of the membership. This group is another opportunity to build friendships and feel heard and supported by other members.

As a community, we gather inside a Private Group (not on social media) – this is where you’ll receive your monthly PDF, applicable worksheets, join the coaching videos (or watch the replays), ask me questions, and connect with other members. You can choose to participate in all group discussion or simplify by focusing on core content only. Core content for each month is organized within a separate GUIDE (like a file folder) inside the group.

Live Call Schedule

  • I offer an assortment of times because we have members from the US, CAD, NZ, AUZ, UK+ but replays are available. Showing up live is not a requirement for “success” in this group though IF you can make it live once in a while, I suggest focusing on the Group Chats which allow for relationship building + receiving real-time support and encouragement.
  • Zoom calls are usually around 1-2 hours long and you’re welcome to pop in as you’re able. Remember that you can watch the reply at your own pace.

Week One: Coaching + Discussion

Zoom Call: Wednesday, 11 am MT//1 ET

Peer-Led Group Chat: TBD

Week Two: Coaching + Discussion

Zoom Call: Wednesday, 1 pm MT//3 ET

Week Three: Community Building

Zoom Call: Wednesday, 5 pm MT//7 ET

Week Four

Rest Week(s): No calls

*Times may vary in the future. Replays are available.

*Rest + Digest Month call days/times may vary

I feel like this group has already helped me start living my own life, and for that, I thank you all! 

—Cindy P

Is the Brave & Beautiful Community right for me?

I love this beautiful gathering of women and believe it offers a unique opportunity to learn and grow together in a kind and supportive environment. But it’s not the right fit for everyone in every season.

In this post I offer a guide to help you self-identify or pinpoint where you currently land in this season of your life. When we know where we are, then we can then carve an honest, compassionate, and compelling path forward. If you see yourself somewhere in steps 2-6 then the Brave + Beautiful Community might be a great fit for you.

Though I’m always learning and in progress, I practice consent-based and trauma-aware coaching and education. I feel like this is a bold and important commitment and I take it seriously.

This means to me, for example, that you are supported in honouring your energetic or emotional needs and in using your voice. I believe that you are the expert on your life and I am here to create safe and brave community but never to speak over or pressure you. This is a weight neutral space. I am honest and boundaried around my scope of practice, and I continue to study in order to better serve clients (like myself) who have lived experience of trauma and are harmed by spiritual bypassing, toxic positivity, or ignoring injustice, oppression, and the messy reality of this world and all the ways it impacts our wellbeing and experience of life.

I do NOT “treat” trauma (I am a coach and educator, not a therapist or medical professional). Many of my clients take our work to their therapist or functional/integrative health practitioner appointments. I offer tools, practices, story, modeling, and hard-fought wisdom that can help you befriend yourself, re-envision your life, and continue your journey to freedom.

The BRAVE & BEAUTIFUL Community is for women who:

  • Are in the messy middle of life (you can self-select; current members range from 30-69 and I love the collective wisdom and lived experience of the group!);
  • Are growth-minded, tired of letting perfectionism, comparison, or fear be the boss of your life, and ready for the soul-stretching and exciting work to reconnect with your true self, re-envision your life, and remember your way to freedom;
  • Are interested in living mind-body-emotionally whole and want to learn, grow, question, practice, and who believe (or are drawn to the idea) that every season of life offers new gifts and opportunity, even the painful ones;
  • Want to live with deep roots of self-awareness and self-compassion and equipped to take (imperfect) action to handcraft a life of purpose, wholeness, and joy (a life that feels like home);
  • Feel a little weary or beat-up by life or ready for change and are looking for brave and safe community, compassionate, trauma-informed, and evidence-based support to continue showing up fully – brave and on-purpose – to every season of life.

This community is not for women who:

  • Are in crisis or newly diagnosed mental health conditions and need 1:1 professional support;
  • Are not yet ready to do the messy inner work to grow, stretch, and take personal responsibility for their response to life or are looking for quick or superficial fixes for their pain or struggles;
  • Don’t have 1.5-2 hours most weeks to engage with the material and group (you may intentionally come for friendship/community more than the guided work – this is a valid option!;
  • Don’t feel they can build healthy, respectful relationships with others who come from a different viewpoint, lifestyle, or lived experience;
  • Are visually impaired: much of the content is print, without screen readers, or video without closed captioning (I’m aiming to figure this out).

It takes courage to continue forging ahead with intention through all the ups and downs of life. To say yes to growing, stretching, becoming, and to keeping your heart soft as you go. Staying open to the beauty and gifts of life – choosing to witness and receive them – rather than staying stuck in the struggle or pain.

Get started today with a 4 MONTH membership – $280 ($70/MOS)

*Jan through April 2022

enjoy 2 MONTHS FREE when you invest in a Brave & Beautiful Membership for 12 months – $700 ($58/MOS)

*Jan through Dec 2022. Once you’ve paid for a full-year you lock in that price for future renewals

$1500 — deep dive: a full year of the bb plus eight 1:1 consults with krista (or 2 pmts of $750)

*The Deep Dive is a special offer for new or renewing B+B members. This option is for you if you want brave and growth-minded community and also you’d like to go deeper into the work and receive individualized support from me (save $200). These consults are not for business coaching. For a payment plan, reach out to Krista @[email protected] The Deep Dive also includes free access to all extra workshops in the year.

IF YOU DON’T FEEL “BRAVE AND BEAUTIFUL” RIGHT NOW…

I want you to know that if you don’t feel “brave and beautiful” right now – this group is exactly for you. For most of my life, I felt anything but. But over time, as I learned to show up through fear and finally decided I’m good enough, I realized that I always was far braver than I realized and that I am messy, imperfect, and beautiful too. So are you.

I started the Brave & Beautiful Community 4 weeks before my husband and I were in a serious car accident, 7 weeks before my beautiful son ended his life after a brave and ferocious battle with severe depression and persistent suicidal ideation.

It might seem like the absolute worst timing but instead, it has served as a lifeline. Study, service, and brave community held me fast as I learned to breathe again. And my willingness to show up raw and real in all my imperfection and the messiness of life modelled courage and strength to the other women who chose to join me here.

This space is not for people who already feel they have life all figured out – it is for the BRAVE + WEARY SOJOURNER. All this means is that if you feel weary, you love to learn, you’re ready to even tentatively acknowledge that you are brave because you have not quit, if you would love to meet and engage with other growth-minded women from different corners of the world doing their own deep emotional work, then this will likely feel like an incredibly encouraging and strengthening community for you.

We can choose to SAY YES to showing up fully to our imperfect & beautiful lives.

I joined the Brave & Beautiful Community to have a group of growth-minded women to journey through this season of my life with. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn new strategies for living with purpose as well as supporting and celebrating other women as we share our lives together as part of the community. Brave & Beautiful is a wonderful investment and I would highly recommend making the commitment.

—Shana H
click here to reach out if you have questions!

Krista’s blog simply speaks to me. It’s growth-minded, raw, & real. Sometimes I see myself living the self-care, mindfulness theme well, but other times I just want to move about my day and not overly focus on anything. I wasn’t sure about an online community because I am “offline” mostly. I feel the connectedness though! Gretchen Rubin talks honestly in her Happiness Project about how some days she doesn’t want to hold the door for that slower woman behind her. I appreciate Krista so much for continuing this journey. I really see it as her gift and thank her.

—Tara B

REGISTRATION WILL OPEN ONCE MORE IN DECEMBER

Doors to the Brave & Beautiful Membership are now CLOSED. Join The HOPE Map or ask me to add you to the waitlist if you want to learn when doors open for the next session. The B&B Community is capped at 60 women so that we can build a relationship and so you don’t get lost in a crowd.

Join the Brave & Beautiful Membership for the cost of a monthly 60-min massage! 4 months – $70/monthly

*Jan through April 2022. You are welcome to upgrade your membership by the end of the first month and this amount will be applied to the new registration amount.

Join me inside the Brave & Beautiful community for the cost of a monthly 30-min massage! 12 months – $58/monthly

*Jan through Dec 2022. Once you’ve paid for a full-year you lock in that price for future renewals. The year-long memberships also gives you free access to all extra workshops in your membership year.

$375 — Add on 3 consults with krista for personalized support

$1500 — deep dive: a full year of the bb plus eight 1:1 consults with krista (or 2 pmts of $750)

*The Deep Dive is a special offer for new or renewing B+B members. This option is for you if you want brave and growth-minded community and also you’d like to go deeper into the work and receive individualized support from me (save $200). These consults are not for business coaching. For a payment plan, reach out to Krista @[email protected] The Deep Dive also includes free access to all extra workshops in the year.

I have followed Krista’s work for a couple years now. She has challenged me to see” how” I’m thinking, and that it’s OK not to be perfect in this messy life. The Brave and Beautiful Membership Community has shown me that others are also seeking answers to a messy life, while still being imperfect. I truly believe we are becoming “Community.” Thank You Krista, for all your hard work, and leadership.

—Deb Gates

included with the brave + beautiful community…