Dana Gornall
Co-Founder & Managing Editor
Dana Gornall is the co-founder of The Tattooed Buddha.
She started writing as soon as she could form sentences and has always known there was more to life than meets the eye. Becoming a mother was the first step on the winding, sometimes rocky, path of transformation and she has never looked back.
The desire to connect with people on a deeper level has always been the catalyst for writing and still is every single time she sits down at the computer to bleed her heart onto the page. A writer, editor, sign language interpreter and lover of language, she finds bits of enlightenment in all of those connections. When not working or writing, you can find her lying outside in the dark night gazing up at the millions of stars or dancing in the kitchen with her children.
You can also see her writing on The Tattooed Buddha, Elephant Journal, Be You Media and Yoga International.
John Lee Pendall
TTB Board Member/Columnist
John Lee Pendall is a featured columnist, editor, podcast host, and co-owner of the Tattooed Buddha. He’s also a poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist (He’s recorded five albums so far), an amateur photographer/graphic designer and pen & ink artist, and he has a B.S. in psychology. He currently lives between two cornfields in rural Illinois. His errant knowledge base covers astronomy, theology, philosophy, music theory, and quoting lines from movies.
John Lee practices Chan Buddhism as a Novice Chan Priest. He’s also a lay Buddhologist (Buddhist scholar), and frequently translates and writes commentaries on Buddhist texts.
Feel free to check out John’s Facebook page and his blog, “Salty Dharma.”
Holly Herring
Columnist
Holly has bonded her spirituality to her activism. She began her relationship with Buddhism through Fo Guang Shan, an international Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist organization and monastic order based in Taiwan that practices Humanistic Buddhism. However, she finds herself more aligned with Stephen Batchelor’s more secular Buddhism currently. Holly works in homeless services and is very passionate about promoting the inherent worth and dignity of all people as well as eliminating stigma about homelessness and behavioral health.
Sensei Alex Kakuyo
Columnist
Sensei Alex Kakuyo is a former Marine, author, and Buddhist teacher in the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. He teaches a nonsectarian approach to the Dharma, which encourages students to seek enlightenment in everyday life.
You can follow him by visiting his blog, The Same Old Zen and on Twitter: @sameoldzen.
Louis De Lauro
Columnist
Louis De Lauro has taught elementary and middle school students for 27 years in NJ and PA. He is also a loving husband, dad, son, and friend. In April of 2017, his short story about his wife and daughter “Right from the Start” was published in “Chicken Soup for the Soul, Best Mom Ever.” Back in 2007, Louis was featured in the award-winning documentary “Juggling Life” about the charity he founded, Juggling Life Inc. The charity recruits and trains volunteers to teach juggling and chess at camps for children with cancer. In 2008, he was featured in a Star Ledger Series called “I Am New Jersey.” In 2011, Louis had four submissions published in the Pearson textbook, “Child and Adolescent Development” by Woolfolk and Perry. Louis enjoys writing about teaching, family, friendship, and Buddhism.
Kellie Schorr
Columnist
Kellie Schorr works as a commissioned novelist who writes mystery genre novels for traditional publishers. Her published credentials also include: journal articles, short stories, and a two-year stint writing for a web-comic. Kellie’s fiction is represented by the Kathryn Green Literary Agency. Kellie has been practicing meditation for nearly 20 years. Her practice is housed in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is currently studying Vajrayana and Dzogchen as a member of the Buddhist Yogis Sangha from Ngapka International. She lives and works in rural Virginia with her partner, Cathy, and three beagles. Her favorite word is chiaroscuro. You can contact or find more about her at The Bottom Line.
David Jones: A Mindful Berean
Columnist
Michelleanne Bradley
Columnist
Michelleanne Bradley is a practicing Pagan and Buddhist in the San Diego area. She was ordained into the Order of Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2013. She completed two years of facilitator training with Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, and has completed a Year to Live practice. She founded the Luminous Garden Sangha, and is a facilitator with Los Palomitas de Paz Sangha. Michelleanne’s focus in practice has been on the role of women in Buddhism (and really, everywhere).Michelleanne is a feminist, and writer, and consultant who says fuck a lot.
Claire Parsons
Columnist
Claire E. Parsons is a practicing lawyer in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, and the mom of two girls. She was blessed with an incredibly energetic and verbal mind that helped her get good grades and perform well as a lawyer.
For most of her life, it also filled her with anxiety, spiked into bouts of depression, and fed her imposter syndrome and perfectionism. When Claire became a mom, she realized she wanted to pass on her love of words and stories to her kids, but not her self-absorption, overwhelm, and despair. She started meditating to manage stress and curb overthinking, but the practice changed her life. Over time, she got training and began teaching other lawyers and professionals about mindfulness. She founded the blog, Brilliant Legal Mind, and has written two books, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, and Mommy Needs a Minute. Claire tries not to be boring and sometimes stumbles into humor but she confesses that the best social media platform to find her is LinkedIn.