Lori Pinkerton has made a career out of her passion—helping every woman, no matter who they are, create irresistible connections on their dates and ultimately find the love of their life—just like she did.

Her success caught the eye of TV’s 180 Life and Style Makeovers, a national television show premiering in fall 2010 on the Oxygen channel, and the first show of its kind to account for the whole woman. The producers invited her to share her secrets with America. As the show’s dating and relationships expert, Lori teaches women how to breathe new love into their lives and she helps women create relationships that leave them feeling wanted instead of feeling wanting.

Her proven tools get to the heart of what matters—showing women how to create the dates they dream of and experience an intimacy that most have given up on ever finding.

Lori doesn’t believe in settling—that’s why she took the scary step of leaving an unfulfilling marriage after 23 years. Tired of her depression and unhappiness, she abruptly took her perfectly imperfect life off autopilot.

Raised by nine moms and four dads before the age of ten, Lori spent her young adult life building a castle of stability around herself.

“I grew up very poor. My granny used to say all the time, ‘If we just had money, everything would be great,’” she says. But once Lori reached the top of that castle—surrounded by multiple houses, a successful construction business, and a model family—she looked down and wondered, “Why do I feel so empty? How come I never feel good enough?”

Lori would find an answer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a tool for re-envisioning herself beyond the self-imposed limits that had kept her confined for so many years. After studying under NLP expert Richard Bandler, she became a certified trainer and began helping others recognize and act on their vast potential in their personal and professional lives. As a business and life coach, she was wildly successful.

But the now-foreign world of dating made her head spin. She admits,“It took me a year after the divorce to even start dating.” Then the idea to use her business and life-coaching experience in her dating hit her like a ton a bricks. She started Get Up and Date to support women in finding quality dates they wanted—and because she understood that settling is too often an easy alternative to fighting for what you want.

This hard-working author, speaker, and coach—who loves to toss back a glass of vodka, will curse with great enthusiasm when necessary, and is about to take up boxing just because she fantasizes about fighting—is a gutsy woman who never wants to be the “guru” of anything. With her innovative process, she teaches women how to grab the advantage in dating, re-discover themselves and their wants, and use that power to date with confidence.