Press Release

Press Release

Salt Lake City SkylineUtah couple interviewed by Ellen at their home near Salt Lake City, UT.

LORI: Hi Ellen! Welcome to our home!

ELLEN: Hi Lori! Thank you for having me! My goodness, what a beautiful drive it was getting here! Everywhere I looked coming from the airport were gorgeous, majestic mountains!

LORI: Yes, we really are surrounded by beauty!

ELLEN: You are! Is that what brought you to the Salt Lake City area?

LORI: That, yes, and it’s central location to everything we love. There are a lot of lakes in the area – I grew up in the Finger lakes of Central New York and we were always swimming and boating and water skiing. Now we’re kayaking, fishing, and SUPing. Plus we can easily get to Vegas, Late Tahoe, San Francisco, Sand Diego…

ELLEN: My house.

LORI: Your house. (laughing). Not to mention Arizona, Colorado, the Grand Canyon…

ELLEN: MY house.

Jim and Lori BikeLORI: Your house (still chuckling). All are easy trips when we want an adventure. And Jim and I have really enjoyed the northwest states. We’ve explored and now biked in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming…

Lori’s voice is suddenly drown out by music.

ELLEN: What? Where is that music coming from?

Jim and Lori DancingWith EllenLady Gaga’s “Just Dance” has started playing in the background and has flooded the mudroom where we are standing. Jimmie comes out from around the corner, dancing his way in. Ellen and Lori do what comes naturally and join him! We all dance and smile and enjoy each other for several minutes. The song fades and we embrace, laughing, fully in our bliss!

ELLEN: Wow! Jim! Lori! Thank you for that! I feel right at home!

LORI: We knew you would! We love to dance and we know you do too!

ELLEN: Yes, I do it every show!

JIM & LORI: We know! (more laughter)

JIM: Did you get the tour?

ELLEN: Not yet. Lori hasn’t offered.

JIM: Lori! Let’s get to it!

Lori & Jim guide Ellen through their beautiful home (Jimmie and Lori’s Magic Kingdom), which serves as a soothing sanctuary of peace, relaxation, and comfort while at the same time facilitating a wellness community and PLAY!

The tour explores the master bedroom suite with adjacent dressing/laundry room, master bath with a shower for two, and walk-in closet. Then it is into the gym with large storage closet, cycle room workshop and photo studio. We pass by the garage and then it’s in to the guest suites.

home

LORI: We love to entertain and have family and friends and even business partners come to visit. AND, we like our privacy. The guest suite areas allows for them to have their own bedroom and a shared kitchenette and living area. So they are visiting us and we enjoy spending time together, but we all get a little independence and space.

ELLEN: That’s smart. Although I find sending them to the local Hyatt works great too.

We head back toward the kitchen and dining room, but before we can leave the gym, Ellen drops down on the mat and begins doing push-ups!

LORI: Oh, we’re doing that are we?

Ellen continues with her push-ups and Lori jumps up and starts doing pull-ups. After a handful both collapse on the mat in fits of laughter and playfulness.

Ellen Michelle Obama PushupsLORI: So, how strong is Michelle really?

ELLEN: Push-ups. She’s really good at push-ups. I think you may have her on the pull-ups tho.

Jim does a skin-the-cat on the bars, Lori and Ellen follow. Then it’s follow-the-leader across the monkey bars.

 

The King’s bring Ellen through the two spacious offices with beautiful mountain views and an outdoor sitting space and then head into the main living space: with industrial teaching kitchen, large circular “Knights of the Roundtable” style dining table and massive – yet cozy – living room.

ELLEN: MMMM… something smells amazing!

LORI: I believe Marie has just finished preparing lunch. Ellen, I’d like you to meet Marie. Oh, and here is her husband John. They live on the property and help us maintain the organic gardens, the fruit trees, the chickens, the property inside and out. And Marie is an amazing cook!

ELLEN: Great to meet you Marie and John.

MARIE & JOHN: Likewise. Lori, Jim we already ate. We’re going to scoot out. Enjoy your lunch.

LORI, JIM, ELLEN: Thanks, we will!

Fish & Veggies GrillingLori and Jim serve 3 plates of fresh steamed veggies and herbs from the organic backyard garden, and fresh, caught-this-morning fish from a local river!

ELLEN: So tell me a bit about this round table we are sitting at.

JIM: I made it myself.

ELLEN: Get out! For real?

JIM: Yes. (beaming with pride). I designed it to be large and circular with seating all around the outside. Everyone is equal and everyone can see each other’s face and look each other in the eye. On the inside is more seating and a lazy Susan to make family style meals easily accessible. The cutout is for easy access to the kitchen.

Jim FishingELLEN: Wow. That’s really smart. I like that. This really is a beautiful, efficient home. I love that it’s all on one floor. Do you entertain a lot or keep to yourself?

LORI: Both. It has everything we ever wanted. It’s the best of two worlds, really. It is serene and relaxing and peaceful and surrounded by nature which is really important to me and for my needs. I love solitude and quiet to write – you saw that my office is filled with large glass windows and doors and opens right up to an outdoor sitting/office space. Nature has always inspired me so I can easily move in and out and even when I’m inside, I can see and feel nature and God’s beauty all around me.

AND, we really do love to entertain. Some days we are promoting discussions and presentations in our living room on wellness topics; other times we are watching sporting events or simply hanging out.

We have a lot of cycling friends and athletes in general so the gym is a great space that promotes that feeling of community and belonging. We even do team retreats and trainings here.

ELLEN: I can’t wait to hear more about those team trainings. But first, Lori, tell me more about your latest book!

LORI: Absolutely. If everyone’s finished with lunch, let’s head out to the courtyard.

Ellen and Lori settle in to the comfy patio chairs while Jim lights a fire in the fire place.

ELLEN: So, Lori. You are a fairly new author, correct?

LORI: Yes. Yes. I worked a lot of jobs and my employment history is pretty eclectic with a lot of change and movement. I jumped around a lot and got bored quickly. Plus, I didn’t enjoy feeling locked into a 9 to 5 schedule or having to ask a boss for time off.

ELLEN: You wanted freedom.

LORI: Right. I discovered through Mark and Davene’s Master Keys Mastermind Alliance (MKMMA) that one of my main pivotal needs was AUTONOMY. And being self-employed certainly fulfilled that. But also in my late 30s and 40s I really discovered that I LOVED to write. I didn’t care if I ever earned a penny from my writing. I knew that in order to be true to myself, to be authentic, to be living my purpose and my bliss, I had to write.

ELLEN: DO what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

LORI: Exactly.

ELLEN: That’s how I’ve felt doing this show all these years. It never feels like work. It’s fun. So, this is your third book?

Life Lessons From The BikeLORI: It’s actually my fourth. I wrote Life Lessons from the Bike first. And then Jim and I were both participating in these 16-week transformation challenges with the wellness company we partner with. So Life Lessons from the Challenge was an easy follow up. It’s about being coachable and having a plan and taking daily consistent action. It’s about committing to finish something right from the start. “…when we start something and do not complete it, or make a resolution and do not keep it, we are forming the habit of failure…” (Haanal)

ELLEN: I like that. Commit to finish from the beginning.

LORI: Right. It came out of Haanels Master Keys teachings we learned in the MKMMA.

ELLEN: I need to learn more about that!

LORI: Yes. It’s a brilliant Pay-It-Forward Scholarship model. (Read more about the Mark & Davene’s MKMMA in Mark’s Press release). Life lessons from the Challenge is really all about what it takes to be healthy and successful.

ELLEN: Which is what you guys are really all about.

JIM & LORI (in unison): YES.

Lori SUPingLORI: Yes. TRUE HEALTH was one of the top two pivotal needs for both of us. And when we moved to SLC, my love and passion for the water and boating and SUPing flourished! So Life Lessons from the Water was third. I literally wrote that one in about a week!

ELLEN: You caught your stride.

LORI: Yes. Totally in the flow and loving it!

ELLEN: SO Unbroken is your fourth book. I just finished reading it and it’s really great. Really, really fantastic. Tell me about the inspiration behind it.

LORI: Well, it is almost an autobiography. It’s very personal and so much of my own journey and life are in it. For a long time, due to some experiences in my past, I believed that I was broken or less than whole. I looked outside for my happiness and self worth. It wasn’t until I went WITHIN that I really discovered and embraced the idea that I was born whole, and I’d always been whole. And the power was in claiming that. It was self-love and self-care and finding my voice and really stepping into my greatness, trusting that I was created from the Divine. And as soon as I saw that I was ALREADY whole and always HAD BEEN whole, everything in my life made sense. Everything improved. Exploded really. In a good way. Jim and I had always had a great love. A really, REALLY great love and suddenly it was even better. All my relationships improved. Opportunities were suddenly pouring in for me to write and speak while at the same time, our wellness coaching business was growing and thriving. I became happier than I ever imagined possible. And I live every day with that joy. That love. That bliss.

ELLEN: And it all came from getting in alignment with who you were designed to be.

Two Wholes Coincide in Beauty & LoveLORI: Yes. And that’s what Unbroken is about. Embracing our true purpose and acknowledging that we’re already whole. When we accept it and claim it, love abounds. Love for the Universe – who I call God. Love for self. Love in marriage, family, friends, community, all of humankind.

ELLEN: Wow. Great message Lori. Thank you for writing it. Tell me about the charity aspect.

LORI: 100% of the proceeds from this book go to support domestic violence shelters.

ELLEN: Wow. That is wonderful. Well, as you know, this interview will be aired next month. I’d love to have you both come visit, stay in my home with Portia and be my guest on The Ellen Show.

JIM: Wow!

LORI: We are there! That is outstanding Ellen. I would love that. Thank you. And each member of your audience will receive a free copy.

ELLEN: Yes, of course! Now, can we go play on that outdoor playground?