"As I now approach my second adulthood, with over 30 years of corporate management under my belt, I really enjoy corporate management, developing strategic alliances, business strategy, writing, training and mentoring within the community."

Carol has worked in the UK, USA and Australia. Born in England, she is a dual British & Australian citizen. Her experience includes over 30 years in corporate management and training in the UK, USA, and Australia.

Carol recently retired from celebrancy, related training, course and workshop development to focus full time on corporate management responsibilities. This sees the end of a long period of personal dedication to the development and training of modern-day ritual-makers and the creation of modern day rites of passage because she believes in the importance of Rites of Passage in human psychology.

Carol has a passion for reading and research and has hundreds of books. She studies mainly in the areas of Information Technology, Metaphysics, including Human Consciousness and the Zero Point Field; and Quantum Physics in relation to Ritualism & Rites of Passage and its links to human consciousness, and the higher self. She is completing a MSc.IT (ISM) focusing on Information Systems Management because it combines essential components of the MBA and MSc.IT programs relevant to people in the ICT space.  She also has a BA and MA in Metaphysical Science and intends to complete her doctorate in Metaphysical Science at some stage - she loves studying, has always studied - been curious about people, and interested in Life.  

An international, inspirational motivational Trainer and Speaker, Carol is available for public speaking engagements, internationally, all year round. She is also the author of several Books and eBooks including eBook Publishing Essentials Toolkit, The Modern Day Ritual Maker and The Celebrant's Toolkit, which is a selection of tools for Celebrants available on CD. She has both developed and facilitated Web-based training courses; private and group workshops on a variety of subjects including Workplace Training & Assessment; Management in the Field; Modern Day Ritualism, the Demartini Method®, and Ceremony. 

As an educator, Carol believes that it is important to provide training with compassion and humor and cares very much about her responsibility to her students, and where possible, provides mentoring or support to each one of them.  In Australia, Carol is a Justice of the Peace and in the past has also held the office of Authorised Celebrant, which gave her the chance to become involved in the training and professional development of new Celebrants and especially the training of modern ritualism and rites of passage. 

When she can, Carol loves spending time with her strong network of close and special friends and her interests include: music of all kinds; travel; walking; driving; live theatre; comedy; writing; poetry; corporate events and socialising with people from all walks of life; quantum physics; racquetball; swimming; fishing; boating; cooking; conversation; motivational speaking; painting and drawing; Sudoku; and children - she loves their magical outlook on life - and is proud that her work in some ways helps children on a spiritual level - especially through the work she does with their their parents in relation to rites of passage as well as voluntary work at Westmead Children's Hospital when she can.

Although she loves her dog! Carol believes we all have special gifts to give, and that every single person has a light as bright as any star in the universe - if for any reason the light from their star went out - no other person could ever replace them. Carol also believes that the space between us is not empty and that love conquers all. People that Carol admire include: her parents, Jim and Sheila Stoodley; Rupert Sheldrake; Edward DeBono; Albert Einstein; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Viktor E. Frankl;  Eckhart Tolle; David Bohm; Gail Sheehy; Anita Roddick; Paul Davies; Louise Hay; John F. Demartini, and Lynne McTaggart - to name a few.

Carol's favourite poem

The Invitation
© Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from her book The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,
remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand  in the centre of the fire with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Carol's favourite quotes

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
- Eleanor Rooseveldt -

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it - always.
- Mahatma Gandhi -

Love is everything
it's cracked up to be.
That's why people are so
cynical about it.
It really is worth fighting for,
being brave for,
risking everything for.
If you don't risk everything,
you risk even more.
(Erica Jong b.1942, U.S. author,
in How to Save Your Own Life, 1977)

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world. The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same. Every wonderful sight will vanish; every sweet word will fade, But do not be disheartened, The source they come from is eternal, growing, Branching out, giving new life and new joy. Why do you weep? The source is within you And this whole world is springing up from it.
- Jelauddin Rumi -

 What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you practice extreme self care, you wrap yourself in energy that creates miracles in your life and in the lives of those around you.
 - Shirley Anderson -

The visible world is the invisible organization of energy.
- Physicist Heinz Pagels -

If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet.
- Niels Bohr -

...the sense of being, which in calm hours arises, we know not how, the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them and proceeds obviously from the same source.... Here is the fountain of action and of thought.... We lie in the lap of immense intelligence.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

What we are looking for is what is looking.
- St. Francis of Assisi

 "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave
with the intention of arriving safely in an
attractive and well-preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways,
champagne in one hand,
chocolate covered strawberries in the other,
body thoroughly used up,
totally worn out and screaming ... 
                     
                  "WOO HOO - what a ride!"    
(Author Unknown)

Click Here to listen to a Radio Interview with Carol by Glenn Wheeler of Sydney's 2UE (in mp3 format)