Sphere of Influence
Palm Desert Magazine
By J. Tracy Hermann

LuAn Mitchell-Halter motivates audiences nationwide and discovers orbs in her back yard

Whether LuAn Mitchell-Halter jets off to Boston or Bangkok as a keynote motivational speaker; hosts a group of “enlightened millionaires” at her retreat in Banff, Alberta; or taxis her children to drama competitions and sports practice around the desert, she revels in her element.

I have a very full and abundant life, and I absolutely love it all,” Mitchell-Halter says, “I’m grateful for every opportunity that’s come my way – the good, the bad, and even the ugly.”

The “ugly” part includes a troubled childhood growing up in the prairie town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. “In high school, they called me Ellie Mae [Clampett from the show The Beverly Hillbillies], and one girl later told me that I was the ugliest, scraggliest farm girl to come out of the prairie,” the former beauty queen recounts.

But life improved, thanks in part to what her good friend, Dr. Robert Schuller, calls her knack for turning scars into stars. At 23, she married Fred Mitchell, son of actor Cameron Mitchell and president of Mitchell’s Gourmet Foods Inc., joining one of Canada’s most influential families. Just a week before their wedding, however, Fred was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. In the years that followed, the new bride was given numerous opportunities to triumph over tragedy, aiding her husband through a rare heart and double-lung transplant; carrying the family through his illness and untimely death; and, in the aftermath, assuming leadership of one of Canada’s largest food processing companies – an experience that earned her acclaim as “Canada’s Number One Female Entrepreneur.”

The savvy multimillionaire now splits her time between homes in Rancho Mirage and Banff, where she loves to recharge her batteries with conservation biologist, documentarian, and author Dr. Reese Halter, whom she married in 2002, and their three children. Although a fierce business woman with a history of playing tough, Mitchell-Halter shows a softer side when talking of family, speaking candidly about her recent reunification with her daughter Jaki, whom she put up for adoption as a single mother 26 years ago.

When she’s not writing books – she has four under her belt, including her 2004 international best seller Paper Doll: Lessons Learned from a Life Lived in the Headlines – she’s working with her associates at WISH (Wealth, Inspiration, Success and Happiness) and traveling the country mentoring others on how to achieve wealth and abundance in their lives.

One new quest, however, baffles Mitchell-Halter. Several months ago, she noticed a spherical aberration in photographs she had taken outside her home one starry night. Since then, she has become a devotee of paranormal orbs.