Kristen K. Brown is a celebrity stress coach, bestselling author, creator of The Happy Hour Effect, and blogger on http://widowmommy.wordpress.com/. As a new mom, Kristen was devastated when her 30 year-old husband died suddenly of a heart attack. Two weeks later, her job became increasingly stressful. Her stress was manifested in various physical illnesses. Rather than wanting to become overly medicated, Kristen sought a holistic solution to her challenging situation. She decided to help others as well as herself to reduce stress and anxiety by starting her company, The Happy Hour Effect. She also shares how she coped with her grief and stress in her first book, The Best Worst Thing. In it, she describes how the ‘worst thing’–tragically losing her husband—became the ‘best thing’ when she “woke up” and became more able to cherish her relationships, especially with her young daughter.

Kristin is now dedicated to helping others cope more effectively with stress, anxiety and grief in their own lives. Her business, The Happy Hour Effect, provides the opportunity for sharing her knowledge of various stress-reduction techniques. For example, she describes various stress indicators, including the ‘stress uglies’ which cause women to age more quickly, via wrinkling, sagging, acne and other skin conditions, plus weight gain caused in part by caring less about one’s appearance. It’s important to pay attention to the early symptoms of stress so they can be dealt with before too much damage is done.

Kristen shares a couple of techniques including singing loudly, which helps the body relax and release endorphins. Eating dark chocolate, which is filled with antioxidants, helps protect damage to cells by stress. She also discusses some of her favorite self-pampering techniques along with advocating for work/life harmony, where we prioritize what’s really important to focus on. For more information, please visit www.thehappyhoureffect.com