Speaker Bios
Tracie Bluse Ward, President & Founder, Celebrations of Life
Inspired by her grandmother’s and mother’s life stories, Tracie created Celebrations of Life in 2007. Her passion is to help individuals of all ages, cultures and backgrounds celebrate their lives and make purposeful life choices that result in a lasting and positive legacy for their loved ones and communities. She is a seasoned facilitator, planner, consultant, coach and writer and brings over 20 years of experience serving the unique needs of individuals, families, and business owners.
Tracie works diligently to ensure that the values and actions of her life and company are rich in celebration, purpose and meaning. Each year, the company honors an individual or couple with the Celebrations of Life Inspirational Life Story Award and others are honored throughout the year as they learn from their past, realize their goals and aspirations, and plan for meaningful futures. Through her company, she also provides flexible, meaningful careers for individuals 50 and older, called LifeSAGErssm.
The company’s newest division, My Best Pet Friends, was launched to help pet lovers remember and honor their beloved pets through personalized pet memorials, including hardcover story books, frame-ready story prints, and story lamp urns. Additionally, the company provides a unique Pet Legacy Trust product and Tracie will soon author a weekly pet blog called myBPFF.net (Best Pet Friend Forever).
Prior to creating Celebrations of Life, Tracie enjoyed a twenty-year career as a strategic management consultant serving start-up to Fortune 500 companies and executives. She graduated on a full scholarship from George Washington University in Washington, DC, and serves a number of non-profit organizations through her ongoing volunteer and board activities. Tracie resides near St. Paul, MN with her husband Jeff, two teenage sons Zach and Brett, and a one year old rescue puppy Sydney.
Barry K. Baines, MD, Vice President, Celebrations of Life
Barry is a leading authority on the use of ethical wills—a way to pass on your values, beliefs, hopes, and life’s lessons to your family, friends, and community. He pioneered its use in a number of settings, most notably, estate/financial/legacy planning and palliative care.
Barry is the author of Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper, 2nd Edition, Da Capo Press, 2006. He has spoken regionally and nationally on this topic to both professional and public audiences. Barry’s work has been featured in Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Money Magazine. He has been a guest on National Public Radio’s "Sound Money", “Morning Edition,” “Talk of the Nation” and “All Things Considered” programs.
As Vice President of Celebrations of Life, Barry’s passion for ethical wills is integrated into the company’s mission of helping individuals, families, and businesses celebrate the extraordinary uniqueness of their lives.
Dr. Baines is board-certified in Family Practice and in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He also serves as Sr. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for UCare and Associate Medical Director for Hospice of the Twin Cities.
Barry received his MD degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1975. He resides in Minneapolis, MN with his wife Sandy and his dog Suli. Two adult daughters, Alisha and Hannah live in St. Paul with their respective spouses, Jesse and Keith.
Lisa Gonzalez
Lisa Gonzalez is a 4th generation psychic intuitive who has used her gifts to help others for over 10 years professionally. Lisa is able to provide insight and answers to questions one has about their life path by connecting with her guides and allowing information to flow through her. By providing detail-oriented, specific, pertinent information, Lisa can help you to see clearly your life patterns and lessons ahead. Lisa has been known to connect with those departed and can receive messages from beyond. She believes that everyone can experience these things with a little training. Like anything else, it takes practice and a little technique. Lisa is a well known radio personality in Denver and has taught classes and lectured nationally. She can be found on www.12listen.com as an advisor. She is looking forward to speaking with Beyond Indigo this year.
James Baltzell, MD
James Baltzell, MD has spent many years teaching meditation, was an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, and ran an innovative medical practice that combined alternative therapies with traditional medicine. He has taught meditation for 30 years in several centers in the US and England. Now retired, he lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota.
His 2006 book Why Meditation Works will be republished in June as Meditation for the rest of us.
Kelly Baltzell, MA
Kelly Baltzell, MA is the founder and creative force behind Beyond Indigo, a website focusing on grief located at www.beyondindigo.com since 1996. With expertise in the Internet and mental health care arenas, Ms. Baltzell brings to Beyond Indigo experience gained through her work for companies such as iVillage.com and America Online.
Ms. Baltzell has her Masters in Counseling and Psychology. She worked as a practicing therapist counseling patients of all ages. Building on her interest in the then-budding Internet, she became the Site Manager for Online Psych, a pioneer producer of mental health content and community for America Online.
At Online Psych, she managed the staff and resources to design and deliver customized independent mental health programming for the AOL Health Channel. As a result of her ability to identify business opportunities and implement effective marketing strategies, Online Psych was able to reach up to 4 million page views per day and this was when there was little internet usage! With persistent contact with AOL, Ms. Baltzell skillfully promoted Online Psych and attained placement on AOL’s Welcome Screen.
Because of Online Psych’s overwhelming success, the company was merged with iVillage.com, The Women’s Network. iVillage.com, impressed with Ms. Baltzell’s talents, hired her as Director of Interactive Health and later promoted her to Executive Director of Health. At iVillage, she effectively managed the day-to-day operations of three diverse online properties, creating new business partnerships and opportunities for the company. She recruited, trained and motivated a diverse team of 15 professionals. Her dedication and initiative generated over 18 million page views per month for iVillage.com.
When the opportunity arose, she began to focus full-time on Beyond Indigo, making it one of the premiere websites for grief support information. With 65,000 visitors a month, Beyond Indigo is listed in Forbes Best of the Web for the last eight years for death, dying and grief support.
Ms. Baltzell is dedicated to build support and community. This dedication has led her to develop expertise in the development of Internet support. She is an accomplished professional with a proven record of performance and leadership in both the Internet industry as well as the mental health field.