Episode Details

Lori Pappas plodded with a slow, heavy pace against resistance in her youth. Her parents had her committed when she was 16 years old because they could not control her. She was rebellious, and her mother, a religious fanatic, was convinced she was possessed by the devil. While there, she heard rumors that she was scheduled for shock treatments. She devised a plan and escaped - armed with only her smarts and determination. Lori made the difficult decision to become the architect of her life without emotional support or a safety net.

She married the first man who loved her but gave up trying to navigate his paranoia when her career took off. Divorced, she started a business before falling into another unsatisfying relationship. She was like two different people for years. Her career defined her and was applauded professionally (award-winning and nationally acclaimed.) Homelife, however, was a different story, complicated and exhausting. She juggled being a mother of three, a wife, and a businesswoman for a long time.

Lori sold her company for millions of dollars at the height of the tech market and tried to retire at 49. But the "American Dream life" bored her. At 57, Lori traded in her cushy life to start a non-profit to help Indigenous people gain a chance to live a healthy life. She moved to Ethiopia to build and implement initiatives for 100,000 extremely marginalized people in South Omo Valley (the corner of Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Kenya).

In her 60s, she met the love of her life online. She now has the time and mind-space to share the insights of her inner wise woman.

You will love her story, and she will inspire you to live your life as you were destined to be.

When did you last choose yourself without feeling guilty? Can't remember? You're not alone. Most of us spend our lives helping others while our own dreams collect dust. I did it too—even after breaking out of a mental institution at seventeen, building a multi-million-dollar tech company, and transforming 100,000 lives in Africa. I was still helping others while ignoring my needs to feel loved, connected, and at peace. That's when I created the D.R.E.A.M. method to save myself—and