Marie Trout, CPC, PhD - Expert

Marie became deathly ill at age 8. A feeling of being emotionally connected to others inspired her fight to stay alive. The experience awoke in her a desire to learn about how we can  navigate difficult times in life to not only survive—but to thrive.

It has thus been a life-long mission for Marie to see challenges as teachers and use their momentum to create new possibilities. This awareness feeds her work in blues artist management, her research, her presentations, and her writing. Her insights are diametrically opposed to mere "positive thinking." She advocates that we acknowledge hardships when they happen and don't ignore the difficult aspects of life. Paradoxically, it is precisely by acknowledging our pain that we eventually transcend it. It is by using the lessons of dealing with our problems proactively that we are able to eventually create new richness of experience going forward. She emphasizes the surprising relationship between pain and passion, and the important—although often overlooked—role of creativity in all human relationships. These are some of her engaging topics as a speaker and presenter.

Marie was born in Denmark into a family where music and imagination were integral parts of the fabric of life.  She describes her grandparents as role models. They were expert story tellers and creative powerhouses.

She went to college and studied literature and religion at Aarhus University.

While finishing college she managed a music venue, did PR for bands. After she graduated, she started an advertising sales company and ran it successfully for a few years.

In 1990, an incredible, life-changing meeting with Walter Trout led Marie to follow her heart to California, where she married the love of her life. Walter is an internationally known blues-rock musician. After discovering that Walter's manager was dishonest, she took over management of Walter's career in 1992. She describes her life in California as a unique synthesis of love, music, entrepreneurship, and deep gratitude for life.

Walter and Marie are partners in love and in business. They are also devoted parents of three sons.

Writing has always been therapeutic for Marie. In the spring of 2014 however, it became a virtual lifeline to her, when she started sharing it publicly. Walter had end-stage liver disease, and was unable to get the needed liver transplant in Los Angeles, where they live. A move away from the children to Nebraska was their only hope. Out of desperation, Marie poured her anguish into writing about Walter's journey to the brink.

She discovered that roughing it alone is over-rated, yet most of us are not taught how to stay emotionally connected to others especially when we go through tough times in our lives. She found new ways to tranform her anguish coming from the "voice" of her research about blues music, and thus got a unique chance at walking through her own blues as she studied how blues music helps others walk through theirs.

In June of 2015, she finished her PhD degree with the Wisdom School of Graduate Studies.

Walter is once again healthy. Marie continues to manage his career, and now also works diligently towards the release of her first book in the spring of 2016: Blues Boomers - Walking Through the Blues in the 21st Century.

Marie is an advocate for organ donation as well as hepatitis C awareness.