Community Intros

👋 👋 Hi, hi! I'm so appreciative of all of you and I'm so excited to get to start to make more connections. Thanks for being her and introducing yourselves! (If you haven't already, you can fill out this google form .)

Name: Courtney Puckett

Where do you zoom in from?  Hudson Valley, NY (specifically Holmes- but its so tiny no one knows where it is)

Where can people find you online? www.courtneypuckett.com, Instagram: @courtneygpuckett

What industry do you work in (paid or unpaid)? I am a visual artist and educator. I began as a painter many moons ago during my undergraduate studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art, but shifted to working with found objects and repurposed textiles by the end of my BFA. Since earning my MFA from Hunter College in 2007, I’ve been exploring ideas through these materials and processes. While I occasionally sell my work, I primarily support myself through teaching. I’m currently a full-time, tenure-track professor and run the Visual Art program at CT State Northwestern, part of Connecticut’s community college system.

What's your favorite book, movie, food, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]? Instead of favorite, I'll answer with what is current:

• I’m currently reading: The Four Agreements (re-reading), The Gift (Lewis Hyde), The Twelve Faces of the Goddess (Danielle Blackwood), and for fun Sarah Maas's A Crown of Thorn and Roses series.

• Movie- Just watched Adolescence (limited series on Netflix). OMG so upsetting. Be warned.

• Painting- female surrealists Remedios Varos and Leonora Carrington and of course early spiritual abstractionist Kilma Af Klint

• Poem- taking a Poetry Forge workshop this summer so I'll be attempting to write my own!

• Food- Chocolate with nuts always and forever

• Vacation spot- staying home and working in my art studio

How about any of these questions on the Proust questionnaire? a la celebrities in Vanity Fair! What or who is the greatest love of your life? My husband Colin O'Con. An artist and musician. The sweetest most gentle caring human I know.

Suggested question from Amy Circosta: How did you come to join the One Small Stone community? I was Katy's teacher in a summer sculpture class at Westchester Community College! She was an A+++++ student (is anyone surprised?!).  We reconnected a few years later and became fast friends. 

Suggested question form Staci: How long have you been meditating and how did you start? I have been practicing yoga for 20+ years but meditation became a more regular practice around 2019 when I was struggling with major life direction/career changes. Regular practice was transformational for me in acceptance of the present moment and clarity about my purpose.

Suggested question from Staci: Do you have pets?  Oh Yes. Penelope Puckett O'Con is my 65 lb lab/beagle/collie angel rescued from Georgia and my adopted baby for 11 years. She is the other love of my life.

Suggested question from Sara: What's your guilty pleasure?  trash tv: Love is Blind, Love Island, Married at First Sight, Bachelor in Paradise....etc. etc. etc.

Suggested question from Nadia: Where did you grow up?  Winter Park, FL

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Name: Nadia Nedelcheva

Where do you zoom in from? Mamaroneck, NY

What industry do you work in (paid or unpaid)? Real Estate Management - My job is kind of boring and repetitive, but the people I work with make up for it!!!

What's your favorite book, movie, food, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]? Book: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls; show - "The Greatest Night in POP"; vacation - Greece; food - lately Persian

What's one question that I should have asked and how would you answer it? Where did you grow up? I grew up in Bulgaria and came to USA when I was 25.

How about any of these questions on the Proust questionnaire? a la celebrities in Vanity Fair! What I love about my friends? That they know how to cheer me up.

Suggested question from Amy: How did you come to join the One Small Stone community? Katy's daughter and my daughter were best friends in Elementary school, so Katy and I became good friends as well. I joined her sessions and I enjoy them so much.

Suggested question from Staci: How long have you been meditating and how did you start? I have been meditating for 12 years as part of my yoga class. Still learning though…

Suggested question from Staci: Do you have pets? Not at home. We have a dog (boxer), Luki, at my office.

Suggested question from Sara: What’s your guilty pleasure? I rewatch movies several times; I love bread; I love bragging about my kids...

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Name: Sara Conklin

Where do you zoom in from? Amherst, NH

Where can people find you online? https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraconklin/

What industry do you work in (paid or unpaid)? 

• Designing for Impact: UX & Innovation in ⚡ Clean Energy ⚡

• I design irresistible, intuitive, and scalable climate tech innovations to accelerate adoption and impact. I’m a Human-Centered Design and User Experience leader with 20+ years of experience leading UX solutions for complex systems, developing SaaS solutions, and designing high-impact teams and products. I’m passionate about using design, research, and behavior change strategies combined with AI to accelerate the clean energy transition.

• I'm also a Home Electrification Coach, helping people get excited about going electric in their homes, evaluate their options, and make a plan.

What's your favorite book, movie, food, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]?

Book: To Kill A Mockingbird. I loved this as a kid and read it to both of my own daughters when they were ~10. We now have a family joke that whenever anybody says the word "pants," one of us pauses and says, "Pants, sir?"

What's one question that I should have asked? How would you answer it?

Guilty pleasure: Watching old episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway (the Drew Carey years, not the later years when it just got unnecessarily raunchy and predictable)

How did you come to join the One Small Stone community?

I met Katy through an All We Can Save circle that she most expertly facilitated. Before it started, I told her that I thought I wouldn't like it because it sounded a little too "woo-woo" for me, but she warmly welcomed me and gave me confidence to keep going. I ended up loving it and it gave me the safe space I'd been looking for to talk about all the big feels related to climate change.

How long have you been meditating and how did you start?

I started meditating 5-6 years ago when my then-school-age kids seemed to need an outlet for their stress. I started meditating with them. So I cut my teeth on New Horizon meditation stories for kids and — guilty secret — they still work really well for me even though I am a middle-aged lady. Nowadays I don't meditate as much as I want to but I wish I did.

Do you have pets? 

Currently I have 1 dog, a mutt named Shea. Growing up I had all the pets: Dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, fish, sheep, goats, and — as the absolute luckiest kid on the planet — my very own horse. I'm sort of sad that my own kids don't get to experience that kind of life.

Name: Lorraine Chun

Where do you zoom in from? Yorktown Heights, NY

What industry do you work in? Medical Librarian

What's your favorite book, movie, food, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]? Fav vacay spot - Cape Cod; rom com movies (too many to name), love to eat any kind of cuisine, too many fav books to name

How did you come to join the One Small Stone community? Katy was the New York Zero-to-Three Director at the time I was on the Board of Directors. We continued to stay in touch and she facilitated a meditation program at the school I work in. 

How long have you been meditating and how did you start? Long time but inconsistently. Weekly sessions with Katy keeps me on a regular schedule.

Name: Terry Miller

What industry do you work in? Pediatric Radiology

Where can people find you online? Can’t be found…

What's your favorite book, movie, food, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]? Chocolate…and love dogs!

How did you come to join the One Small Stone community? I’ve always wanted to do meditation, but never knew how. I met Katy and so here I am. (This is Katy jumping in to add that Terry and I met through our dogs!)

Name: Heather Mitchell

Where are you Zooming in from? Mamaroneck, NY (around the block from Katy!)

Where can people find you online? Not easily probably! I am on facebook (sporadically) and instagram (sporadically)- hjmitchell27

What industry do you work (paid or unpaid) in? I'm a social worker in the field of Early Childhood. I work part-time overseeing an early learning home visiting program for under-resourced families with young children in Westchester.

What’s your favorite book, movie, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]? I lived in Campeche, Mexico for a year 25 years ago and a piece of my heart is always there!

How did you come to join the One Small Stone community? Katy and I have been friends for the last decade and have always had a mutual love of mindfulness.  I couldn't wait to join her meditations when she started One Small Stone.

Name: Staci W.

Where are you Zooming in from? Shrewsbury, New Jersey

Where can people find you online? @stacimagnolia on FB and IG

What industry do you work (paid or unpaid) in? Currently I lead operations for a (commercial and utility-scale) Renewable Energy team of engineers but looking for a change!

What's your favorite book? The Absolute by John Boyne and echoing Amy with TJ Klune's Cerulean Sea series. 

What's one question that I should have asked? How long have we been meditating and how did we start? (I started meditating in college while I was beginning my Buddhist journey and have done so with vacillating frequency ever since....so 20+ years. )

How about any of these questions on the Proust questionnaire? a la celebrities in Vanity Fair! 

I love Vanity Fair and the Proust questions!

My loathed traits in others are: duplicity, pessimism and lack of follow through.

Which talent would you most like to have: I'd like a really good, effortless singing voice.

How did you come to join the One Small Stone community? I met Katy at a meditation retreat in 2024 and was led to the community from there.

Name: Amy Circosta

Where are you Zooming in from: Raleigh, NC

Where can people find you online: www.sevenandnineconsulting.com or personal Instagram @amy_circosta

What industry do you work in? I'm a higher education consultant who helps leaders integrate compliance, culture and strategy (i.e., enhance systems for equity, diversity, and inclusion in states that allow use of those words)

What's your favorite book, movie, food, vacation spot, [fill in the blank]? Hard to pick a favorite book . . .more recently: This is How it Always Is; House on the Cerulean Sea; Remarkably Bright Creatures

What’s a question I should have asked? How do you know Katy and/or how did you come to join the One Small Stone community? (This is Katy jumping in to say that Amy and I have known each other since Upper Arlington High School, outside of Columbus, OH!)

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Whenever you get a chance (and if you feel so inclined), fill out this google form and introduce yourself. I will share responses via the weekly emails and also in this blog post. Please also say "hi" on the Zooms! (I'm extremely open to all suggestions on how to best facilitate this!)