Professional

The work I have been honored to do in this unexpected career has been meaningful, and so beautiful. I am extremely grateful to the many individuals and groups who have shared their lives, their stories and their hearts with me.

Jenny Woodall, Grief Specialist

Michele Neff Hernandez is a deft presenter who excels at connecting with her audience while gently challenging them to stretch out of their comfort zone. She believes fundamentally in honoring loss and in helping people find meaning and joy in the wake of it. Down to earth and authentic, Michele has a quiet energy that allows space for people to show up as their own authentic selves. She doesn’t come with the answers. She begins by listening deeply. And then she challenges us to consider expanding our view, planting seeds that grow over time and allowing us to find our own insight and healing.

I work closely with Michele throughout the year assisting her with her Annual Conventions in San Diego, Tampa & Toronto. Her main goal is to always deliver the best content & value to those in her organization. She is very passionate about serving those in her community and very professional. I enjoy working with Michele and she is a true partner with my organization. You are the best.

Wilson Prado

Dr. Nancy Saltzman

Michele Neff Hernandez has the uncanny ability to talk directly to your heart about what it means to experience loss. What makes her especially unique is her unrivaled ability to offer hope and support to those grieving. Spend time in Michele’s presence and you will be changed forever.

Michele Neff Hernandez is an innovator. Through her work founding Soaring Spirits International Michele has repaired many wings and inspired thousands of widowed people to know, love and celebrate the people they are today.  She is an inspiration and knowing her has been a great privilege.

Experiencing the loss of a loved one can be profound, and heartbreaking, and devastating. Michele Neff Hernandez has healed and grown through her own grief to guide so many others from pain to peace, from trauma to triumph. Through her organization Soaring Spirits, Michele helps widowed people to love again - to love themselves.

Michele is an inspiration. Not only is she a survivor but her indomitable spirit is obvious from the moment you meet her. She has a true gift for connecting people, giving people hope and camaraderie at a time of profound loss and loneliness. I have been blessed to witness Michele helping literally hundreds if not thousands of recent widowers navigate the traumatic landscape of loss with her profound compassion, love and kindness, giving so many a safe space to heal and connect.

"Tireless commitment," "boundless energy," and "infectious optimism" are all terms that one hears, again and again, about Michele Neff Hernandez and her unwavering commitment to the widowed community. She has an uncanny ability to inspire in people a practical, loving, and compassionate belief in themselves and their own ability to heal through the power of community, an edict she lives by every day. Michele is a natural bringer-together of people and has become a superhero to thousands of grieving people as she lovingly guides them through the stages of grief, walking alongside them, both figuratively and literally, holding their hand every step of the way.

Michele’s eyes radiate her dynamic personality - bright and effervescent, thoughtful and contemplative, sorrowful and grieving. Those eyes lock on to yours when she is with you, for, at that point, you are the most important person in her world and she gives all of herself to you. In her writing, in her organizing, in her speaking, in her companionship, she changes lives. What a gift for those of us who have lost our beloved partners.

Tanya Villanueva Tepper

Michele has an incredible gift of truly connecting, on a heart and soul level, with the thousands of the widows she serves through Soaring Spirits International. Her hard-earned wisdom and empathy are a comfort to anyone who is dealing with the excruciating pain after losing a life partner. She is an inspiring hero, and through her example of living her best life after loss, she shows how possible it is to rise and thrive in widowhood.

It is such an honor to introduce you to Michele. She has had an unbelievable impact on the lives of so many, widowed people and beyond! I am so grateful to have benefitted from her speaking - she really sheds light on different ways one can view life, and how the darkest days could some day give way to the brightest sunshine - and she can do so without being trite or pollyanna. Her speaking is accessible to so many people - in good times and in bad - and encourages everyone to live a more active, engaged and positive life.

I have also been privileged to work with her as leader. She has tremendous vision and ambition for what is possible in our world, and how we can all create stronger communities and better care for each other. I have never seen her back down from a challenge, and indeed sometimes she will go seek them if life is too quiet! Her leadership is equally inspiring and supportive - pushing towards a better future, but supporting those who have to do the pushing as well.

To experience the energy and presence of Michele Neff Hernandez is to be greatly enriched. You will never see the world the same way again. I urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to hear and learn from her.

Leslie Streeter, Author of Black Widow

Michele took the worst tragedy of her life and, instead of letting it destroy her, turned her pain outward as a light, as a beacon to other widowed people wandering in the same fog. Soaring Spirits has literally saved  lives, including mine, by providing resources and a community that doesn't judge, talk down or condescend to you. It does not try to fix you or make you the same as you were before your loss, but rather respects and considers the seismic shift in your life and gives tools to help rebuild. And that comes from Michele, from her understanding, compassion and sense of humor that says "I get you. And I've got you.'