Amy Ogden is the Senior Vice President of Brand at J Public Relations, and the voice behind Sips of Sunshine blog and podcast. In both her blog and podcast, she shares her love of beauty and wellness, adventures in travel, positivity, and a little life advice sprinkled in.

In 2014 Amy was 37 years-old and living in San Diego, CA. She was living a charmed life by all accounts - a large townhome downtown, a great group of friends, a job she loved in luxury travel PR, a golden doodle named Lola, and a BMW in the garage. Life was good. But she kept feeling a calling in her soul that she needed to make a change - a big change.

Amy knew that choosing what her soul was calling for would require her to leave the life she had created for herself. She took a leap of faith and over a course of a few months she gave away or sold everything she owned. She packed her life into seven boxes and moved to New York.

Amy’s words about giving up everything that she had to figure out who she really was, will give you the courage to let go of what’s been holding you back. Her reflections on reconnecting to her creativity will encourage you to tap back into yours too. Between her blog, podcast, and upcoming novel, she’s found this expressive, vulnerable, and creative woman that was always within her, but who just didn’t know when or where to emerge. Amy’s story of how New York City has brought her to life, will inspire you to make the moves in your life that will allow you to blossom into who you know you are meant to be. Plus she’s living in a pretty cool neighborhood (and I cannot wait for you guys to hear where!) Amy says it so beautifully in this week’s episode, there really is something magical about giving up everything that you have to figure out who you really are.

“Listen to that voice that tells you to call someone, the voice that tells you to send that e-mail, to make that move, to try that thing. It’s not just your brain bouncing around ideas. That voice in your head is a powerful force, it’s the force that sees beyond what you can see right now and it knows what risks it’s asking you to take. There’s magic there, and you can’t see it because you’re in the moment, but that voice isn’t. It’s bigger than you and it’s more seeing than you, and so when you hear that voice - listen to it.”

— Amy Ogden

Tune in on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7bZHrtjAzbksbLWNaak1NM

Tune in on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-inspiring-joy/id1510488632

To learn more about Amy and Sips of Sunshine visit her website sipsofsunshine.com and you can connect with her on Instagram @amy.ogden and to check out her TEDx talk click here

Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here.