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How to Reduce Test Anxiety by Changing How Kids Think

Most parents try to reduce test anxiety by pushing kids to study harder. Sharon Emily says that approach often backfires. When children feel pressured to perform, their brains shift into fear mode, which actually makes learning harder. 

A former counselor, FranklinCovey-trained facilitator, and educator, Sharon helps families understand how thoughts quietly shape behavior, confidence, and results. She teaches why creativity, repetition, and imagination can be more effective than checklists, rewards, or threats. 

Her book Mirror of Myself grew out of a simple insight: when kids learn to focus on possibility instead of fear, their choices change naturally. Sharon explains why positive thinking is not about ignoring reality, why mistakes can build confidence faster than success, and how the same mindset tools work across parenting, school, and life. Her approach gives families practical ways to calm anxiety and improve performance during high-stakes testing seasons.

CONTACT: Sharon Emily at (480) 470-3893 or semily@rtirguests.com

3 Million Mom-Owned Businesses Are Fueling the U.S. Economy

Why the Mompreneurs Work-From-Home Age Is Now

Last year, mom-owned businesses generated more than $1.8 trillion in revenue, but this powerhouse movement didn’t start with TikTok side hustles. It began a century ago, in kitchens, basements, and living rooms, led by women with big ideas and little recognition.

Roy Martin, Nashville Women’s Entrepreneur Coach and founder of the WFH Empowerment Academy, is spotlighting these early pioneers and empowering post-COVID mompreneurs to follow in their footsteps. His upcoming book, But, She Can’t Vote, draws a direct line from women like Jean Nidetch (Weight Watchers) and Tupperware trailblazer Brownie Wise to today’s online Work-from-Home Moms.

Roy is encouraging motivated mompreneurs to claim their 20th century history while building a New Age WFH Empowerment Movement.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS: What can today’s moms learn from the original work-from-home pioneers? How can women start a purpose-driven home business in 2026?

CONTACT: Roy Martin at (629) 265‑0570; rmartin@rtirguests.com

The Diplomatic Skills Every Leader Needs — But No One Teaches

Great leaders aren’t just decisive—they’re deliberate. “In high-stakes rooms where every word carries weight, success depends on skills rarely taught in business school: listening with precision, speaking with intention, and navigating conflict without escalating it,” says author and former diplomat Dianne Olvera. Drawing from real-world diplomacy and leadership experience, this approach reveals how to manage tough conversations, defuse tension, and influence outcomes without overpowering the room. It’s about knowing when to speak, when to pause, and how to choose language that builds trust instead of resistance.

Dianne is a board-certified educational therapist and the author of The Power of Connection: Understanding Individual Differences to Uplift and Empower.  She’s also a former diplomat and spy.


SAMPLE QUESTIONS: What are some specific examples of diplomacy that people can apply to everyday life? How can one diffuse tension in difficult situations?


CONTACT: Dianne Olvera at (805) 779-3558; dolvera@rtirguests.com

Why Healing Doesn’t Always Follow a Straight Line

Healing is not neat, inspiring, or Instagram-ready, and pretending it is leaves people feeling broken. Avonley Lightstone explains why healing often looks messy, slow, and unresolved, and why lingering pain does not mean failure. She challenges the belief that healing requires closure and reframes progress as something that can happen even when wounds remain.

Lightstone speaks from lived experience. After losing her mother in a childhood house fire and facing abandonment soon after, she learned that healing comes in small, honest steps, not sudden breakthroughs. She is the author of Strength of Scars, a memoir on resilience and faith, and her story has gained media attention as it moves toward a potential film or television adaptation.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
Why does healing feel like failure to so many people? Can you heal without closure? What does real progress actually look like?

CONTACT: Avonley Lightstone at (801) 980-0447; alightstone@rtirguests.com

Award-Winning Parenting Expert Shares How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Sons

In a world where boys are often taught to suppress their feelings, award-winning parenting expert and author C. Lynn Williams is changing the conversation. She offers practical, compassionate guidance for raising sons who are emotionally aware, resilient, and confident. “We need to focus on challenging outdated myths about masculinity and replace fear-based parenting with connection, communication, and trust,” she says. “When boys are given permission to feel, communicate, and be understood, they grow into healthier men and create stronger families and communities.”

C. Lynn is the author of five parenting books including Trying to Stay Sane While Raising Your Teen, an educator, speaker, and family dynamics strategist.


SAMPLE QUESTIONS: What challenges do boys face in modern society? How can parents raise sons who are strong without being aggressive?


CONTACT: C. Lynn Williams at (224) 357-6315; Cwilliams@rtirguests.com

Forget Role Models: Leadership Lessons from Rebels, Pirates, and Outlaws

What if the most powerful leadership lessons didn’t come from heroes—but from history’s most notorious figures? Author and leadership coach Steve Williams reveals 20 bold, practical lessons drawn from rebels, outlaws, pirates, and power players you won’t find in a typical business book. From Attila the Hun to Al Capone, he strips away myth to uncover the strategies that made these figures astonishingly effective leaders.

He is the author of six books including Notorious: Leadership Lessons from History’s Most Notorious Leaders, with a forward written by renowned author Jack Canfield, and a certified leadership coach and QMS expert.


SAMPLE QUESTIONS: What are some examples of how these notorious people made great leaders? What are the comparisons between these and effective leaders of today?


CONTACT: Steve Williams at (920) 280-1068; swilliams@rtirguests.com

Why Will So Many Americans Have to Work Past Retirement Age?

Many Americans worry they are already too far behind to retire comfortably. Tom Loegering explains why so many people end up working longer than planned and why it is rarely too late to change direction. Research from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College shows nearly half of working households risk falling short in retirement, often because they believe missed opportunities cannot be fixed.

Loegering is a financial planner, entrepreneur, and author who shows how small adjustments, even later in life, can create meaningful change. He is also the Founder and CEO of Golf Program in Schools, a nonprofit that has helped more than 51,000 students prepare for their futures.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
Why do so many Americans assume it’s too late to fix retirement plans? What’s the biggest mistake people make when working longer feels inevitable? What can people in their 50s or 60s still do today?

CONTACT: Tom Loegering at (623) 400-8648; tloegering@rtirguests.com

Political Insider Reveals What No One Tells You About Running for Office

Most people think running for office is about speeches, slogans, and shaking hands. Rob Curnock knows better. As a former TV political reporter, party leader, and unlikely congressional candidate, he’s seen the process from every angle. He pulls back the curtain on the physical exhaustion, emotional toll, family strain, and political hardball that define modern campaigns. After challenging and almost winning after running against an “unbeatable” incumbent, he discovered how power really works behind closed doors. “I experienced the often brutal realities of running for office—and learned how ordinary citizens can shake up the system,” he says.

Rob is a long-time broadcast journalist and the author of Dead Man Running.


SAMPLE QUESTIONS: Are politics really as down and dirty as the media makes it out to be? What are some of your most challenging experiences while running for office?


CONTACT:Rob Curnock at (254) 822-3741; rcurnock@rtirguests.com

The Dark Side of Positive Thinking No One Talks About

Positive thinking is often sold as the cure for everything: pain, loss, confusion, or even a world that feels like it’s falling apart. But what happens when optimism stops working? Author Lydia Samaniego offers a counterintuitive perspective rooted in lived experience, rather than theory. She argues that forced positivity and manifestation culture can actually disconnect people from truth, responsibility, and the guidance of their own hearts. Lydia explores why the deepest betrayal isn’t a broken relationship, but the realization that our trusted systems, from society to culture and even religion, can’t actually tell us who we are or how to live. She shares why real change doesn’t come from thinking harder or “staying positive,” but from noticing the conflict between the mind and the heart, catching inherited beliefs that no longer serve us, and choosing an inside-out path forward. Her story resonates with anyone questioning what to trust when old answers fall apart.

CONTACT: Lydia Samaniego at (530) 443-5826: samaniego@rtirguests.com

How Movement Can Help Kids Focus and Learn Faster

Think kids need to sit still to concentrate? Research says the opposite, and so does math educator Suzy Koontz. With screen time up and attention spans down, Suzy offers a powerful, practical solution: movement-based learning.

Suzy is the creator of Math & Movement, a program used in schools nationwide to boost focus, memory, and academic performance through full-body learning. In her segment, she shares how jumping, hopping, and dancing can help kids grasp math and reading faster—no tech required.

She also offers simple, at-home activities parents can use to help restless kids refocus after school. These aren’t just theories, Suzy has reached over 1 million students and authored 20+ books packed with easy, energizing takeaways your audience can use right away.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:

  • Why does moving the body help kids retain what they learn?
  • What’s one surprising thing parents can do tonight to improve focus?

CONTACT: Suzy Koontz at (607) 366-9588; skoontz@rtirguests.com