On my talk show in April, I had the pleasure of interviewing Crystal Andrus Morissette, a woman who has accomplished a great deal during her career and is nowhere near complete. The author of six books, Crystal has dedicated her life to empowering women, all over the world.

Crystal is the founder of the SWAT Institute, which stands for ‘Simply Accredited Woman Trainer’, a global organization with a mission: heal the world, one woman at a time. The organization is an empowerment coach certificate, currently operating in 45 countries.

This certainly keeps her busy, yet she still finds time to coach individuals. Crystal points out her organization is not anti-men, but simply an organization which helps women establish a better place in their lives.

Born in Toronto, Crystal has lived in Vancouver, and now makes her home in the quaint village of Greenbank, in north Durham. Her two daughters are grown, and the peaceful life of a rural community is a good contrast for her hectic career.

Throughout her books, she talks about ‘the emotional age’, which differs from the biological or chronological age. Chronological age is simply how old you are, biological age is how well you take care of your body, and emotional age is a concept created by Crystal.

“I was shocked no one had coined the phrase. I did a ton of research, and discovered there was little out there on how to communicate, negotiate, compromise, basically, the way we appear in our lives.”

It was interesting when Crystal explained about different archetypes within us. We each have of course, our man and woman archetype, but in addition, we have a parental and child one as well. This explains how seventy year olds can sometimes act as 30 year olds and vice versa. The big question seems to be, you know how to do things, but are you actually doing them? The key is to reflect upon yourself and see if you are happy. If the answer is no, maybe you need to re-evaluate your focus from doing what you are ‘supposed to be doing’, to doing what you want to be doing.

“Along with the obvious physical makeup of individuals, we are a massive amount of energy, and when you are fully empowered, that energy knows no bounds. On the other hand, when your energy is low, which is not necessarily negative, it makes us feel we’re carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. We feel heavy, it’s hard to lose weight, it’s hard to feel great, etc.” Crystal’s goal, through coaching and her books, is to turn that energy up in people.

So, how does one get into this very unique area of interest? Crystal competed in fitness shows, when she was in her teens, and opened her first health club when she was 21. Her early years were very turbulent, and the physical element gave her a feeling of power.

After the birth of her first daughter, she gained a great deal of weight, which gave her a different perspective on how she felt and how the world treated her. She worked hard to lose the weight, but no longer wanted to be in the fitness industry. Instead she wanted to help women feel better about themselves from the inside out.

She started to pen her thoughts and ideas, all of which were based on her own life, because she documented how she felt and what she did every single day.  “I began to see patterns,” Crystal explained. “Those patterns helped me see that I was a big creator of my experiences.”

She self-published her first book, entitled, ‘Simply Woman’, a full colour book and realized she had to publicize the work immediately, as she had a very financially vested interest. “I went on the Shopping Channel and got a call from Hay House Publishing in California, and did a deal for her first three books with them.”

From there she had a radio show on Sirius Satellite, and found herself on stage with great speakers, such as Deepak Chopra and Dr. Wayne Dyer. Her books have been featured on Oprah, and she continues to amaze people around the globe with her insight and wisdom.

To see the entire interview visit The Jonathan van Bilsen Show on YouTube, or the Rogers network. To learn more about Crystal, or where to get her books visit: crystalandrusmorissette.com