who

about us

 

Carrie Stack, M.Ed.
Carrie is a Certified Life Coach, author and motivational speaker with over 20 years of experience providing people with the strategies to make positive changes in their lives. Over the years she worked in the nonprofit world as a teacher, counselor, trainer and program director. She has worked with children, teens and families dealing with a wide range of challenges and trauma, and in her different positions she had the privilege of witnessing people, young and old, grow and evolve in ways that inspire and awe.

Always searching for new ways to reach people, Carrie went through a coaching training program, with the goal of eventually starting her own business. In 2005, she realized she couldn’t keep talking about what she wanted to do, it was time to do it. She left her job in the nonprofit world and founded the Say Yes Institute (SYI), a company focused on building emotional intelligence skills through workshops, coaching and trainings. She has worked with over 50 nonprofit agencies and specializes in supporting leadership to develop management/supervision skills. She works with individual clients, ranging from teens to Executive Directors, and is always amazed at how similar people are, and how much we have in common, despite our perceived differences! It seems everyone is looking for ways to do the best job they can in expressing themselves, connecting, building relationships and finding their meaning and purpose in life.

Carrie is the author of “Conversations with the Future” and “You are Not a Puzzle Piece.” She has been featured on Boston’s NBC affiliate, 7-NEWS, FOX 25, in the Boston Globe, the Boston Literary Magazine, the Daily Lynn Item and North Shore Sunday. She believes that there are no guarantees in life, so whatever you want to say, or do, or give, or create, the time is now. And it’s important to mention that there is absolutely nothing she would rather do than the work she is doing now with SYI and EO… not even going to Marshalls.

Michele Lazcano
Michele is an Emmy award-winning television producer. She is the recipient of two Regional Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Community Service and for Excellence in Arts and Entertainment for her interview with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx about his memoir of addiction, “The Heroin Diaries.” Michele was a finalist for a National Emmy Award for a Public Service Announcement she produced to promote Seat-belt Safety in memory of her younger brother, who passed away following a car accident. She is the recipient of five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Achievement on stories she produced, ranging from History and Culture to Health, Science, Public Affairs and Serious News.

Michele has spent the past 15 years producing stories that she hopes have made a difference or raised awareness in some way.  In her career, she has interviewed some of the most fascinating people in the world; from children to centenarians, mothers, fathers, spiritual leaders, psychics, mediums, celebrities, doctors, authors, activists, artists and even prisoners. Those at the top of their game and those at rock bottom, those who have achieved greatness and those who are doing great things- from raising a family to starting a business, to finding a cure and to raising awareness about the cause of their life.  Michele recently had the great pleaure of sitting down for one-on-one interviews with two of the most sought-after speakers in the world, internationally-acclaimed author and world-renowned leader in the field of mind-body healing, Dr. Deepak Chopra and frequent Oprah contributor and the host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” cardiac surgeon and wellness expert, Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Michele has worked for both NBC and FOX, and as a host of Comcast’s “The Book Case,” where she interviewed authors on topics ranging from personal development to overall wellness in mind and body. She has been a Hospice volunteer since 2005 and recently founded “Toast Ghost,” a mentoring service for speech writing, toasts, roasts and eulogies. In her spare time, she enjoys screenwriting, having completed a Master’s Screenwriting Workshop with Ernest Thompson, the Academy Award winning writer of “On Golden Pond.” Michele was honored to have been recently invited to judge writing contests for “Words Matter Now,” founded by Actors/Producers Brian White and Keisha Whitaker to promote the power of the written word in today’s youth programs, and as an industry judge for the first ever Independent Book Festival in Los Angeles, featuring self-published authors from across the country.

With the exception of marrying her best friend, J.P., and together bringing their beautiful son Brennan into the world, Michele’s biggest EO has been working on EO and seeing this amazing project come to light.

EOvolution: the story of how we got here….

So many people have asked us, “How did this EO thing come to be?” There are no secrets here. This is how it started, with a little trip down memory lane…
1990-1994
At some point EO was born. Location: UMASS Amherst. It could have happened over a slice of Antonio’s, or maybe on the way to one of our communication classes, perhaps the morning after a late night at The Pub or during a “DU” (Destination Unknown) where we would pile into Michele’s Chevy Nova and just drive and drive. (Yes, we liked to abbreviate everything we possibly could! OMG/ LOL… clearly we were so ahead of the times!) Details are foggy about when, but it definitely happened there. Out in Western MA, in our younger days, a life changing movement was born, and we didn’t even know it. In retrospect, there was a lot we didn’t know then. No wonder why we were so freakishly happy.

1994-2008
Busy living life. A lot of laughing, some crying, and definitely our share of EO’s. However, along the way we also accumulated many stories of missed EO’s, as well as unfulfilling relationships that couldn’t generate an EO, even with professional assistance and a cash reward. People in our lives know what we mean when we say, “EO.” Some say it too, but there are still those who don’t think “that word” should be said, ever. One might think these were our uptight friends, but no! Let’s just say, they aren’t uptight at all. However, since what happens at UMASS stays at UMASS (with the exception of EO), we’ll keep those details to ourselves.

February 2009
EO is something more than an idea. We think it could actually BE something, and apparently others do too. When we share the idea, people get it, and not just women either! They know who they’re having EO’s with, and who they aren’t. We see it in their faces, the recognition that there are people and experiences in their lives that have given them this incredible feeling…and they want more. So do we. We think we have something here that’s clicking for people. Does everyone feel this way? If not, they should! Life is definitely too short to live without EO’s. We’re thinking it’s time to do something more structured with these ideas. We obviously do what anyone would do in this situation. We buy the domain name www.emotionalorgasm.com. We are absolutely soaring from this purchase! Euphoria has set in and it’s intoxicating. Just like in, “Field of Dreams,” we thought, “if you buy it, they will come.” It took a little while for it to sink in that actually NOTHING is happening, and buying a domain name apparently doesn’t launch a business. We talked a lot about what could happen, and that was fun. Talking actually carried us through a few busy months of speculation. There isn’t much more alluring or seductive than the power of possibility. Consider us both seduced by the Possibility Svengali (PS). Fully and unequivocally seduced and completely enraptured by PS for the next SIX MONTHS!

August/September 2009
We suddenly have the elusive missing piece. We know what we need now. We need a logo. THAT is what we need to take this to the next level. That will help give this form, purpose and focus. We have so many more ideas, but without an identity they’re just floating around with nowhere to land. Some people say, “Well, what you need to do is a business plan.” That’s probably a good idea. It certainly couldn’t hurt. But, do you know what a brilliant, more exciting and much more gratifying idea is? Work on a logo! And, so we do. Wow. Turns out, we were right. That was some much needed fuel to get us moving. Still not sure where, but now we’ve got the fuel to get there. “There… just needs to be defined,” we say, as we gaze lovingly at our new logo.

October 2009
Hit the brakes! Can we really use www.emotionalorgasm.com as our main site? Seriously. Can we actually have the word “orgasm” out there like that, without it being too much for people to handle? EO is the main term we use, but EO.com isn’t an option. We play with countless variations and combinations. We think we’ve got it with www.EOyourlife.com. That’s what it is, isn’t it? Aren’t we trying to get people to do something? We want movement and action. We want people to feel powerful. We want people to take ownership. We want people to take this and find fulfillment in all parts of their life! And, mostly we need a way to say our business name without Michele having to say “orgasm” in front of her mother. EO Your Life it is! We bought it- and this time we were ready for the PS and we didn’t get lulled into another state of inertia. We actually bought it and kept moving. We can’t be sure, but we think the train may have officially left the station…

November 2009
We had our first heated conversation since officially starting this EO thing. As a producer, Michele is more comfortable “behind the scenes” while Carrie most likely led her first seminar at 4 years old. Who will be the face of EO? Carrie thinks that both of us will be out there doing this. Michele thinks there’s no reason to both be there when there’s Carrie. Michele is overruled. True to form, Carrie wins…again. There’s a reason Carrie has been deemed “The Chief” by our friends, as she typically wins.  So, we’re in this together and now Michele is calling Toastmasters and googling hypnosis centers to figure out how she’s going to embrace public speaking.  We know you’re thinking it’s pretty impressive that we’re able to iron out the wrinkles that others may miss at this early phase, since no one has actually even requested any EO services yet!  Ahh…speaking of THAT, what is our service, you wonder? TBD. If we keep showing up, it will reveal itself.  We love the power of intention! So, we’re back on track. We’re really good at being friends AND business partners, which is probably what we’ll tell Oprah, when we’re sitting on her stage.

December 2009
Marathon meeting at the Cheesecake Factory. Our waitress did not seemed phased or impressed by our packets entitled, “EO: The Launching.” Not sure if she’s aware of what she’s witnessing. In the midst of our fried artichoke hearts, chicken piccata and brownie cheesecake, was pure passion and phenomenal vision. That’s what this is right?

January 2010
EOpportunities: Today we talked about what this means and if it’s clear. One thought it was brilliant! (“EO” before or after anything sounds fantastic, right? VidEO, RadEO, MovEO – I mean seriously, that is too cool to NOT do!!) The other had trouble pronouncing it… (E-Opportunities? EO-portunites? Where’s the accentuation? FYI, in case you want to say it, it’s EO-pportunities!) With a little work the brilliance was finally recognized and everyone was back on board! EOpportunities it is. That’s going to be the blog title. That’s going to be the place where we share ideas and strategies with people to encourage them to LIVE LIFE FULFILLED. That’s where they’ll really see what we’re talking about. We both now love EOpportunities. This is big. Huge! EEEEEEOOOOOO!!!!!!
Something else big happened this month.
Trying to fit in an EO call on her way from work to pick up her little guy from daycare, Michele asked (for the sixth time), “What time is it?”
“3:50″ Carrie replied.
“I’d like it if we can just make enough money so I can buy a freaking watch…”
So, it appears that our first financial milestone has now officially been set.
We need to get Michele a watch.
*Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure, we do need to reveal that Michele did purchase a watch in January. New financial goals have been set for EO.

February 2010
We are launching at the end of the month. We have until March 1st to set this free. It has been a year since this began to evolve in to something that was bigger than a shared expression we had been using for the past 15 years! A lot is happening and we are getting ready to release this to the world. It’s time. Perhaps not to a fireworks display, as it may be on the quieter side of things. We have a passion for what this is, what it means and what it has the potential to do for people. We have managed to both hold down our jobs, lives and still have landed with a pretty amazing bigger picture, including a website design, content and a vision of where we are going. And, we are going somewhere.
To say we are excited about this is an understatement!
Where is it we’re going, you wonder?
We’ll have to just wait and see…

March 2010
The month we launched. If it is possible to bottle and sell the feeling an EO brings, we were sitting on millions this month, as it seemed like daily there were phenomenal moments of, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” calls, emails and texts. Feedback and reaction was off the charts amazing. Beyond anything we had expected (or dared to hope for!).

April 2010
Now it was time for Michele to tell her Mom. You know the saying… “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.” Well, when it came to Michele telling her Mom she was the proud co-founder of a company called “Emotional Orgasm”… that was the perfect slogan. Since the two had never exchanged dialog containing “that word”…. it was like a scene from one of those agonozing phone company commercials when Michele finally got the nerve to tell her Mom and didn’t realize the call had dropped for nearly a minute after she finished talking. 

A Minute Later (which felt like a month, so it’s going in the timeline)
Michele’s phone rings. It’s her Mom, Kathy: “Michele, all I heard was Orgasm and then the phone died. Is that what you said, your company is called Emotional Orgasm?” (Michele is still in recovery mode, but quickly coming to realize her Mom just said “that word” and there was no anger around it, just curiosity.). Michele: “Yes.” Michele’s Mom: “Hmmm.” And then the conversation begins…. and it continues…. and it’s…. AMAZING! Michele feels like she wants to cry. A weight has been lifted. Her Mom gets it. She SO gets it. But she so doesn’t get it too. Like many people, it’s been a long time. Life got in the way… She raised 4 kids. She lost one in a car accident. Connections with others slowed down and a retreat into her pain sped up. And you don’t have EO’s when you’re numb. They begin… within. No matter what you’ve been through. And Michele couldn’t make her Mom have them. She shared the concept of eliminating obstacles & embracing opportunities that lead to more EO’s. Michele got excited. Kathy got excited. They had this craving for emotional connection in common. They had a lot more in common than they realized. They could each benefit from what the other needed… Michele needed HER MOM back, and her Mom needed A WAY back. Everyone in our surroundings benefits from our emotional fulfillment & connection…. EVERYONE. Yup, the truth CAN set you free… What Michele pictured as an awkward confession turned into an AMAZING conversation… a relationship changing moment in the story of a Mother and Daughter….  And then, Michele’s Mom told Michele’s Dad. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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