The Story Behind the Story "You are the storyteller of your own life and you can create the legend or not…" — Isabel Allende, Chilean American Writer, 1942- We are simply four women whom destiny threw together more than a decade ago. Collectively, we have experienced the extreme joys and deep sorrows that life offers up. From mundane moments to the dramatic and surreal, we have a history of six marriages, ten children, four stepchildren, six dogs, two miscarriages, two cats, a failed adoption, twelve koi fish, widowhood and foster parenthood. We have built companies, sold companies and lost companies. One of us was shot and left for dead on a tarmac in South America, and two of us have lived through the death of our spouses. We grew up in less than wealthy families, where living paycheck to paycheck was the norm. Forced to be creative, we have raised families on bare budgets and at times have been the sole breadwinner and bakers when our spouses were unemployed, seriously ill or dying. Learning to Reinvent Ourselves Time and again we have learned to reinvent ourselves. Meeting monthly around a kitchen table, we shared our lives with one another and encouraged one another. Word spread about our kitchen table conversations. We were encouraged to write a book, speak at conferences. We used the ideas of writing and speaking to continue our monthly meetings. For ten years we met before we put one word onto paper for that imaginary book we told everyone we were writing. What did we do: we talked. Candidly, completely, and honestly, no topic was left unexplored in our lives. We encouraged one another through the numerous transitions we were experiencing. We even gave ourselves a name Women In Transition---WIT for short noting that we would truly need our collective wit to navigate through the tricky times. Kitchen Table Coaching Sessions From kitchen conversations to the thousands of conversations we’ve had with women from all over the world, we finally wrote this book. Our goal is to reach one million women with a message of hope and action plans that can help a woman keep her head above water when life threatens to drag her down. Helping you create a higher quality of life for yourself and your loved ones now, not someday is our mission.