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Therese Quinn, Nancy Altman and Deb Haley are three Jacksonville women who
have arrived at the same exciting, life-changing destination by traveling very
different paths.
Therese Quinn competed in Women’s U.S. Open Golf Championships and once
owned a nationally ranked golf sales and marketing company. As an entrepreneur
and business owner for the past thirty years, Therese has received top honors
in the insurance industry. A widow with an interesting and varied background,
Therese holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing management from Barry
University in Miami and has been a leader in the fields of marketing and advertising.
While her success in the world of business has been phenomenal, she once, while
studying religion at Immaculata College, contemplated becoming a nun.
Nancy Altman has a Bachelor’s degree in Education with a minor in psychology
from the University of Florida, and two Masters degrees in Counseling and in
Social Administration. Her extensive career in education has often been in partnership
with her husband, Dr. Jim Altman. As college professors, founders of the Mandarin
Farm School and parents and educators of their own children, the Altmans are
lifelong teachers and learners. She is a devoted mother of three and grandmother
of six.
Deb Haley was an Air Force Brat. After growing up in the military, she chose
to stay by pursuing a career as an officer in the United States Air Force. Deb
rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel during an illustrious career that spanned nearly
a quarter of a century. She spent three years at the Pentagon and won numerous
awards, including the Al Gore Reinventing Government “Hammer Award.”
During her career she pursued college degrees, earning a Bachelor of Science
in math education from North Carolina State University and a Master’s Degree
in Management from Webster University. Deb, who was a stern, structured Squadron
Commander for many years, now luxuriates in newfound freedom.
Three charming and diverse women who already possessed all the outward trappings
of success, Therese, Nancy and Deb agree that their lives were not completely
successful until they experienced their first LifeStream Success Seminar. Today
they devote their energies to sharing the LifeStream adventure with others.
“The combination of their life experiences and the concepts learned through
LifeStream has made them three of the most powerful women in Jacksonville,”
says Bill Burns, a Jacksonville Beach small business owner who credits LifeStream
with saving his business and giving him new direction in life.
When 17th Century Poet John Donne wrote No Man is an Island, Entire of Itself,
he would have been gratified to realize that his prophetic words would remain
real and fresh four centuries later. “It’s true; no man is an island,”
says Therese Quinn. “We are all in relationships — with ourselves
and with others. As we learn to trust each other and achieve greater balance
in our lives, our boundaries disappear and we grow beyond our greatest expectations.”
As a facilitator for LifeStream Success Seminars, Quinn is a living reflection
of Donne’s words — connected physically, emotionally, mentally and
spiritually with the rest of the world. While she travels nationally and internationally
facilitating Lifestream Success Seminars, Quinn’s insurance agency thrives
and grows. “I never stop learning and growing,” says the energetic
facilitator. Staying full of excitement about the future is another quality
Therese shares with Nancy and Deb. “It was through my late husband, Jim
Quinn, founder of LifeStream, that I learned to take charge of my life, and
meet and exceed my goals,” says Therese.
“We took Therese to her first LifeStream seminar in 1984,” remembers
Nancy Altman, now President of the Board of Directors for LifeStream Jacksonville,
Inc. “My husband, Jim, and I had taken the seminar at the suggestion of
a friend. That’s how it works. Once you’ve experienced it, you want
to pass it on to people you love. Jim and I were thrilled to introduce Therese
to LifeStream. What we didn’t know at the time was that we were introducing
her to her future husband, Jim Quinn, as well.”
For many years after that fateful meeting, Therese joined her husband in facilitating
LifeStream Success Seminars. Since her husband’s death, Therese has become
President and Co-Owner, with Dr. Jim Altman, also a facilitator, of LifeStream
Learning Systems, Inc. In 1999, Quinn, the Altmans and the Board of Directors
expanded the vision by establishing LifeStream Jacksonville, Inc., a 501C(3)
professional organization devoted to education and service in the community.
“LifeStream has always been about empowering the individual and building
leadership,” says Nancy. “With the many service projects performed
by LifeStream Jacksonville, Inc. seminar graduates on an ongoing basis, we are
seeing how it can become a template for positive change throughout the community.
It’s exciting!”
Paying it forward is one of the basic concepts of LifeStream. The term itself
is based on Catherine Ryan Hyde’s book Pay It Forward, in which the twelve-year-old
hero, Trevor, devises a plan to change the world by helping three people. When
asked how they could return the favor, Trevor requests they help three more
people — making it nine who would eventually pay it forward — and
so on, multiplying good deeds until the world became a better place. Recently
the book was made into a movie with Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey.
“My cousin, Jack Burns of San Francisco, paid it forward for me when he
attended a LifeStream Seminar in Jacksonville over a year ago and paid for my
wife, Diane, to go,” says Bill. “After 9/ll, my business was failing
and I had lost confidence. Diane was supportive and loving, but I was at a really
low point. I had so many questions. I felt like it was me against the world.
LifeStream gave me the tools I needed not only to achieve both personal and
business success, but to pay it forward.”
Among the community services sponsored by Lifestream seminar graduates are
workshops for children at the Webb Center, Nights of Shelter at the I. M. Sulzbacher
Center For the Homeless, Art Enrichment Programs for emotionally disturbed children
in partnership with the Cummer and Duval County Schools and the Relay for Life
sponsored by the American Cancer Society at Jacksonville University. Last year
they were recognized as a National Point of Light.
Accredited by the State Board of Nurses and the American Association of Radiologic
Technicians, LifeStream provides 29 hours of continuing education credits for
nurses and radiologic technicians. Corporations like St. Vincent’s, BellSouth,
Baptist Medical Center, the Federal Reserve Bank and DiscoverTec recognize the
value of Lifestream’s seminars in enhancing the work habits of employees
and improving the bottom line. Donny Lamey of DiscoverTec believes so strongly
in the program that he pays for employees to attend LifeStream (all of the Basic
and half of the Advanced seminar). “People who have been through Lifestream
are successful, confident and charismatic,” he says. “They have good
direction in life and are generally better able to answer life’s questions.”
About a year and a half ago, Deb Haley met a couple who had been working on
their relationship through attending a LifeStream Success Seminar. Deb began
volunteering in the LifeStream office, took the basic and advanced seminars
and became a lifelong LifeStreamer. In June of 2002, Deb accepted the position
as City Director for LifeStream Jacksonville, Inc., managing LifeStream’s
day to day operations.
“It’s not about a lecture; it’s not any fluff stuff,” says
Deb. LifeStream, according to its literature, focuses on responsibility, trust,
balance, acceptance, social contribution, communication, honesty and commitment.
Deb relates enthusiastically, “It’s a life experience that has helped
me personally deal better with stress. In the military, life was very structured,
there were few choices and there was constant pressure to conform. It was high-powered
stress. That was all I knew, so when I retired in 1996, I noticed a major release
of stress. All of a sudden, I had a tremendous amount of freedom and choice
— I could choose my clothes, job and even where and how I’d live!
It was freeing and frightening. With it came a new kind of stress that brought
back old feelings with it. It was difficult to release feelings like ‘I’m
afraid,’ or ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘what if they
don’t like me?’ LifeStream taught me to focus on these feelings and
deal with them. It also gave me a new set of good friends that my nomadic life
never allowed me to have.”
“The energy that the three of us bring to the table is joyful!” says
Deb. “We respect each other and, together, we represent a very powerful,
rich combination of qualities that makes for great synergy. Therese is a fascinating
woman. She’s an athlete and an entrepreneur — a leader in every phase
of her life. Nancy is wise, a true leader, determined to make a difference.
She’s the matriarch — the wife, mother and grandmother — the
heart of her home and our organization. Me? I’m an organizer and communicator.
Each of us is passionate about the program.”
Passion is the word that comes to mind when any of these women talk about LifeStream.
“It is a passion,” admits Deb. “We’re passionate about being
involved in the transformation of human beings. We’re passionate about
the continual learning process and our part in it. We’re passionate about
giving people the tools they need to be the best they can be.”
“Agape love and Lifestream are synonymous,” says Nancy. “It’s
the unconditional love that meets people where they are in life and helps them
get in touch with their central core of original blessings. Everyone has it,
but most people are so out of touch with their feelings that they have lost
the ability to focus on it. Lifestream provides an intensely personal journey
back to the incredible true self you were meant to be.”
“Lifestream is unique in that it integrates every learning modality,”
says Therese. “It is a “whole-istic” approach to personal change
that touches the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual inner being of each
individual. By changing ourselves, we are changing the world — one person
at a time.”