ABC News January 3, 2011

'Dear GMA' Advice Guru Search: Meet the Top 7!

GMA
GMA
By ABC News

We started with 15,000 amazing applications in the search for the "Dear GMA" Advice Guru, and now it's down to just the lucky top seven! We're searching for someone to join the "GMA" team and answer questions about love, work, family, and much more.

The top 20 candidates came from all walks of life and from across the country, and for the last month they've been answering questions online and sharing their holiday advice on "GMA." And now it's time to announce the Top 7.

CLICK HERE to watch bio videos from the Top 7 Contestants!

Bette Alkazian; Westlake Village, Calif.

Alkazian is a licensed marriage and family therapist, an author, speaker and mother of three. In her application, she wrote, "I feel very blessed to have been given a gift and a passion for something that makes a big difference for the better in people's lives."

CLICK HERE for more on Alkazian's biography and her submission application.

CLICK HERE for her answers to viewers' questions.

Carla Barnhill; Minneapolis, Minn.

Barnhill is an author, editor, blogger and mom of three. She wrote in her application, "I keep telling myself to trust my gut. It has never steered me wrong."

CLICK HERE for more on Barnhill's biography and her submission application.

CLICK HERE for her answers to viewers' questions.

Cooper Boone; New York, N.Y.

Boone, who is also referred to as "Dr. Coop," is a clinical psychologist who writes, "Listen to your instincts and passions and let them guide you and the rest will come with hard work and support. Bring into your life what will bring you happiness -- no matter how big that accomplishment may seem."

CLICK HERE for more on Boone's biography and his submission application.

CLICK HERE for his answers to viewers' questions.

Advice Guru Search Top 7

Fran Harris; Dallas, Texas

Harris is a speaker and life coach whose varied experience also includes work as a fitness expert, relationship coach and entrepreneur. She says the best advice she's ever given is "Don't make your stuff about the person you're having the problem with. Our experience -- whatever we're feeling about or towards a situation or person -- is about US, not them."

CLICK HERE for more on Harris' biography and her submission application.

CLICK HERE for her answers to viewers' questions.

Amy Kean; New York, N.Y.

Kean has worked in television and as a columnist and blogger, and she's also a first-time mom to a one-year-old son. She wrote in her application that "Giving great advice has always been my passion, my calling."

CLICK HERE for more on Kean's biography and her submission application.

CLICK HERE for her answers to viewers' questions.

Liz Pryor; Studio City, Calif.

Liz Pryor is an author, and also describes herself as"a professional giver of advice both on radio and online."

"What you describe for this position is what I love, and what I do," she wrote in her application.

CLICK HERE for more on Pryor's biography and her submission application.

CLICK HERE for her answers to viewers' questions.

Philip Van Munching; Darien, Conn.

Van Munching wrote in his application, "I've been an author, a teacher, an executive, a friend, a son, a husband and a father and in all these roles, I've taken pride in my ability to really listen, and then to give thoughtful, well-reasoned and loving advice, even when that advice is maybe not what someone wants to hear."

CLICK HERE for more on Van Munching's biography and his submission application.

CLICK HERE for his answers to viewers' questions.

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