Magdalene Brandeis is a Producer, Novelist, and the Executive Director of the MFA Program in Film at Stony Brook. Getting her start in development at Hollywood Pictures and Caravan Pictures, she went on to translate and adapt French films and produce television series and pilots for ABC, AMC, Bravo, and MTV. She also served as the Executive Director of The Bridge Program, a non-profit, and as a juror for The March on Washington Film Festival during the Obama Administration. She holds a BA from Antioch University Los Angeles and an MFA in Writing and Literature from Stony Brook. Her short stories and essays have been published in The East Hampton Star, and The Southampton Review.

Sheena Cook: "I grew up on my family’s farm in the north of Scotland, became an intellectual property lawyer in Edinburgh and London, while secretly dying to be a novelist. I moved to the US where I did an MFA at the Bennington Writing Seminars. Now I live between Baltimore and Edinburgh. My novel extracts and short stories have appeared in Two Serious Ladies, Literary Orphans, The Southampton Review, Gutter Magazine, The Potomac Review, and Inertia. I have been a Hawthornden Fellow in Scotland and a Bookends Fellow at Stony Brook University, Southampton, US, during which I worked on my novel A TENDER HATE with mentor, Meg Wolitzer. Most of my writing is set in Scotland, but during lockdown I started a new novel called LONG NIGHTS ON SLOW TRAINS set on a pond in Maine and in the Italian Alps."

After graduating with a degree in neuroscience and fine art from Wellesley College, Serena Cora Eastman interspersed full-time nomadism with forays into nursing, art supply and dance shoe retail, color neuroscience, monkey wrangling, and teaching dance and English as second languages. She worked at the National Institutes of Health in a lab using color as a model system for understanding how we see. She then fled to Spain to complete a master’s degree in Bilingual and Multicultural Education. For her thesis she conducted original research identifying and debunking neuromyths held by Spanish and American teachers and made recommendations for integrating neuroscience-backed practices into the classroom. She has traveled 6000 miles on self-supported bike trips around the world, visiting 20 countries and 33 states. By night she dances salsa, training, social dancing and performing. She now lives in Hawaii editing and writing books, contemplating the ocean and listening to the jungle.

Whit Hill grew up in New York City where she studied music, dance, and theater. She served 14 years as artistic director of a dance company, People Dancing, in Ann Arbor, Michigan and earned many grants and commissions for her choreography. As a songwriter, she was lead writer and singer for her band Whit Hill and Postcards. Today, she writes, teaches and performs in Nashville. When not working as a copywriter for a media company, Whit has turned her obsession with metal detecting into a blog (Dirt Girl Unleashed), a full-length album of songs inspired by the hobby, and a musical. She is the author of a memoir, "Not About Madonna", (Heliotrope Press, NYC) and is currently writing another.

Whit is married to blues artist Al Hill and has two adult children and a dog, Pearl. She is grateful for the cosmic nudges and shoves that led her to Gateless.

Danielle Hougard, a Love & Intimacy Mentor, has been at the cutting edge of the health and wellness movement for more than 30 years.

Drawing on her extensive training as a body-worker, yoga teacher, and intuitive healer, Danielle supports her clients to reclaim pleasure, vibrancy, and joy in their lives. Women hire Danielle to help them address body shame, embrace their sexuality, and bring this self-confidence to new or long-term relationships.

She also harnesses the power of collective learning in her "Awakening the Divine Feminine" groups as well as her engaging and interactive workshops and retreats. Through speaking, writing, and teaching, Danielle offers the full wealth of her wisdom to women looking to break through barriers to sensuality, self-love, and true fulfillment.

Dr. Kelly Knox is a retired clinical social worker and a retired veteran of the U.S. Army and Air Force. She is a nationally recognized expert in effective treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and has trained hundreds of mental health professionals throughout the country to provide evidence-based care. Kelly has remained very active in educating the public about a variety of veterans’ issues, especially those related to the “veteran-civilian divide,” veteran mental health, and women veterans. Kelly was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 2016.

In her retirement, Kelly enjoys public speaking, hosting concerts on her Backyard Stage, pottery, blacksmithing, long-distance cycling, making music with friends, and hiking with her service dog, Amber. She still hasn’t figured out what she wants to be when she grows up, but she keeps trying new things to see what will stick.

Megan Mehr is a believer in kids and in the promise of schools. She served as a public school teacher and school leader in New York City and Massachusetts, co-founded a high school for New Americans in Brooklyn, New York, and has worked as an instructional coach and consultant in cities across the country. Her work has always been inside innovative middle and high schools focused on closing the achievement gap and institutionalizing and sharing best practices that other schools and communities can replicate in order to better serve their own students. Megan has a B.A. in Psychology from Boston College, an M.S. in Education from the New School University, an Administration and Supervision degree from Hunter College, and an M.A. in American Studies from Columbia University. Megan lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, with her husband Andreas and their two spunky kids, Liesl and Christian.

Alysa Osvog often jotted "writer" on medical forms under the blank space for occupation. Perhaps as a secret ambition, fantasy persona and mere conversation for her new doctor. Yet, besides scribbling in a journal since she was a child, did not seriously put pen to paper until she embarked on a Writer's Retreat Oct 2016. Part of her soul began to pour on the pages, and she found the power of her written word as an expression of art, creative joy, and cathartic therapy. Alysa describes her adventure into the literary world like embarking on a journey to a very foreign land, learning a brand new language; thrilling, daunting and a little bit scary all in a Divine way. Balancing her full time career as Certified Yoga Therapist in California, writing became more than a pastime, she choose to pursue deeper while living in Bali 2019. Alysa has completed three manuscripts while intentions to publish and continue her series, titled A Few Lifetimes Away.

Fernanda Sarmento is an experienced Digital Marketer with over 15 years of experience, a Bachelor's degree in Social Communication and Media Studies, and a Master of Science in Production Management. She currently works as a Senior Product Marketing Manager in one of the biggest Telecom companies in the US. Besides marketing, Fernanda loves to express her creativity and energy through writing, cooking, and cocktail-making. She is originally from Brazil but fell in love with California over the last few years - this combination of experiences frequently leads to some sunny, fun, and lighthearted pieces.

Allison Turner: "54 years old and living in Nashville, I have been writing with Suzanne and other Gateless teachers for many years. I have wanted to do this training for so long, very excited! My company of 22 years is a “live” events production company that of course got hit hard during Covid. I am taking the rest of this year off while the industry gets back on its feet to work on my overall health and enjoy my passions of my fur babies, friends & family, writing a book, working on art, gardening and hopefully some travel. Galapogos Islands in August fingers crossed! Also a certified yoga teacher, I hope to incorporate purposeful yoga with the Gateless writing. Look forward to meeting you all!"

As a singer, Nicole Watson found her way to breathwork through learning the mechanics of breathing in bel canto vocal training. Once she understood that breath is the fuel behind beautiful singing, she began to fully understand it’s power and started exploring various types of breath-based meditation. She believes breath is the key to healthy expression and is the best and fastest way to “find our way home” to ourselves. Her personal philosophy is that our biggest job and commitment to ourselves is to constantly be exploring our spiritual existence in everything we do. Her Capricorn moon keeps her down to Earth, while her Sag Sun brings expansiveness and truth-seeking which makes others feel safe and fun to explore the depths whether it’s in meditation or over a cup of tea.

Nicole holds several certifications for various modalities of meditation and healing:

• Usui Reiki Ryoho - levels I & II
• Usui Tibetian Reiki - Master Teacher III
• Kundalini Yoga Teacher - KRI level I
• Breathwork Energy Healer (with David Elliot) - levels I, II, & III
• Freedom Method Energy Practitioner

A former NYer, she now resides in Asheville where she’s usually exploring something new and fun in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains.