Eileen Robertson Hamra is the woman you meet—at the gym, in the coffee shop, or dropping off the kids at school—with a story that draws you in the minute she begins to tell it. At age forty-one, after losing her husband in a plane crash, she became a single mother to three children aged eight, seven and four. Overnight, the man she thought she would spend eternity with, the literal pilot of her family’s wonderful life, was gone. When everything seemed broken, the future she dreamed about now impossible, Eileen had to make choices she never imagined making.

What she did choose to do was peel herself out of bed those first few weeks of mourning, and with constant love and support from family and friends, she found a well of inner strength and she dipped down into it. Working through her own grief and the grief of her children, Eileen experienced a gradual spiritual awakening. The result? On the other side of tragedy, she found new love, gave birth to a miracle child, and rediscovered her calling: to build stronger, loving and ever evolving families.

Eileen believes we don’t always get to choose what happens to us, but we do get to choose the story we tell when asked, “What happened?”

With the intention of helping others tap into their inner resilience and reimagine adversity as an opportunity for growth, Eileen shares her story of loss and rebuilding in her memoir, Time to Fly. Because of her story—thanks to her story—Eileen has dedicated her life’s work to carrying on the legacy of the family she grew up with, the family she created with Brian and the family she continues to grow with Mike.

Eileen holds transformational retreats in Chicago, Los Cabos and elsewhere. As a public speaker, certified yogi, holistic nutritionist, and life coach with an MBA, Eileen brings a practical, holistic and humanistic approach to everything she does. From creative advising to impact investing, to building strength emotionally or physically, Eileen holds space to stay focused on what she believes matters most—family, friends, and community.