Good / True / & Beautiful | with Ashton Gustafson: Recent Episodes
Ashton Gustafson
In The Spiritual Child, psychologist Lisa Miller presents the next big idea in psychology: the science and the power of spirituality.
Combining cutting-edge research with broad anecdotal evidence from her work as a clinical psychologist to illustrate just how invaluable spirituality is to a child's mental and physical health, Miller translates these findings into practical advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop and encourage their children's—as well as their own—well-being. In this provocative, conversation-starting book, Dr. Miller presents us with a pioneering new way to think about parenting our modern youth.
https://www.lisamillerphd.com/the-spiritual-child
Yael Schonbrun, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, assistant professor at Brown University, co-host of Psychologists Off the Clock: A podcast about the science and practice of living well, and mother of three. Yael’s academic research explores the interaction between relationship problems and mental health conditions. She has authored chapters in several books and has written dozens of scientific articles. In her private practice, writing, and podcasting, Yael uses evidence-based science to help individuals and couples learn to manage work, parenting, and marriage in more effective and fulfilling ways. She draws upon treatments that integrate ancient Eastern philosophy with scientifically backed practices. Yael’s writing on work, parenting, and relationships has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Greater Good Science Center, Behavioral Scientist, Kveller, Lilith Magazine, The Wise Brain Bulletin, Psychology Today, and Motherly.
Chris Dombrowski writes, teaches, and plies the rivers of western Montana. His latest book is The River You Touch, which Kirkus calls, “a heartfelt memoir of life and fatherhood in Big Sky country.” Chris is the author of two acclaimed poetry collections, and his nonfiction debut, Body of Water, was published to enthusiastic reviews in 2016.
Aaron was born in Houston, but his childhood took him to Mexico City; Washington, D.C.; Stockholm, Sweden; and Los Angeles, California, before finally settling in his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
After earning a B.A. magna cum laude in History of Science at Harvard University, Aaron spent two years with an educational non-profit in Kazakhstan. Aaron later worked at Harvard Business School and H.J. Heinz in Pittsburgh.
He received his Master of Divinity from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in 2008. Before coming to St. Alban’s, he served churches in Pittsburgh and Houston. Aaron is a contributor to the Mockingbird blog and magazine, and is past President of the Board of Directors of Mockingbird Ministries. He is on the advisory board for StoryMakers NYC. He is a member of the Better Together BU Advisory Board and on the board of the Episcopal Foundation of Texas. He is currently the Dean for the Northwest Convocation of the Diocese of Texas. Aaron co-hosts Same Old Song, the weekly lectionary podcast of Mockingbird Ministries, with the Rev. Jacob Smith.
We pile on “to-dos” but don’t consider “stop-doings.” We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don’t subtract.
Leidy Klotz’s pioneering research shows why. Whether we’re building Lego models or cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches or strategic plans, our minds tend to add before taking away. Even when we do think of it, subtraction can be harder to pull off because an array of biological, cultural, and economic forces push us towards more. But we have a choice—our blind spot need not go on taking its toll on our cities, our institutions, and our minds. By diagnosing our neglect of subtraction, we can treat it.
Subtract will change how you change your world. In these pages you’ll meet subtracting exemplars: design geniuses, Nobel-prize winners, rock-stars, and everyday heroes, who have subtracted to dismantle racism, advance knowledge, heal the planet, and even tell better jokes. These and more guiding lights show how we can revolutionize not just our day-to-day lives, but our collective legacy. A paradigm shift of a book, Subtract shows us how to find more of the options we’ve been missing—and empowers us to pursue them.
Joseph wrote a book to help you discover the root cause of all psychological and emotional suffering and how to achieve freedom of mind to effortlessly create the abundant life you've always wanted to live.
Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Cerebral Cortex, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Weaving her own deeply personal journey of awakening with her groundbreaking research, Dr. Miller’s book reveals that humans are universally equipped with a capacity for spirituality and that our brains become more resilient and robust as a result of it. For leaders in business and government, truth-seekers, parents, healers, educators, and any person confronting life’s biggest questions, The Awakened Brain combines cutting-edge science (from MRI studies to genetic research, epidemiology, and more) with on-the-ground application for people of all ages and from all walks of life, illuminating the surprising science of spirituality and how to engage it in our lives.
Absorbing, uplifting, and ultimately enlightening, The Awakened Brain is a conversation-starting saga of scientific discovery packed with counterintuitive findings and practical advice on concrete ways to access your innate spirituality and build a life of meaning and contribution.
In psychologist Kelly Flanagan's non-fiction works (Loveable, True Companions), he drew from clinical insight to explore the spiritual depths of identity and relationships. Now, in this debut novel, he weaves a page-turning and plot-twisting tale that brings new life to those insights, along with fresh revelations about personal growth, spiritual transformation, and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships.
How did we lose goodness, kindness, and beauty? And more importantly, how do we get them back into our lives? In Good and Beautiful and Kind, Rich Villodas offers a compelling vision of wholeness for broken lives and a fractured world.
Steve Magness is a world-renowned expert on health and human performance. He is the co-author of the best-selling Peak Performance and The Passion Paradox, and the author of The Science of Running. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Wired, Outside, NY Magazine, and Forbes. http://www.stevemagness.com/
Ashish Kothari is an executive coach, author, consultant and founder of Happiness Squad, a company focused on helping individuals and organizations unleash the power of happiness and wellbeing to achieve their full potential.
BrainTap® creator Patrick K. Porter, PhD. dedicated his life to studying neuropsychology. For years it was believed that we have a set number of brain cells, that our intelligence quotient is fixed, and that our brains do not change. Dr. Porter’s clinical experience and research told a different story, revealing that the human brain is, in fact, plastic, making it capable of change, improvement, and expansion.
Dr. Porter’s exploration sparked incredible transformation for thousands of people. In 2014, with the emerging Apple and Android mobile devices, he saw the opportunity to impact millions by leveraging these new mobile app platforms by founding the brain fitness company – BrainTap®.
Our greatest need is to be recognized—to be seen, loved, and embedded in rich relationships with those around us. But for the last century, we’ve displaced that need with the ease of technology. We’ve dreamed of mastery without relationship (what the premodern world called magic) and abundance without dependence (what Jesus called Mammon). Yet even before a pandemic disrupted that quest, we felt threatened and strangely out of place: lonely, anxious, bored amid endless options, oddly disconnected amid infinite connections. But there is a way out of our impersonal world. The social innovations of the early Christian movement, and the efforts of entrepreneurs working to create more humane technology today, show how we can restore true community and put people first in a world dominated by money, power, and devices. There is a way out of our impersonal world, into a world where knowing and being known are the heartbeat of our days, our households, and our economies.
Gregg Krech is an author, poet, and one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America. His work has been featured in THE SUN magazine, Tricycle, SELF, Utne Reader, Counseling Today, Cosmopolitan and Experience Life. His books include "Naikan: Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection," "A Natural Approach to Mental Wellness," "The Art of Taking Action" and "A Finger Pointing to the Moon."
Gregg and his wife, Linda, founded the ToDo Institute (http://www.todoinstitute.org), a non-profit center in Vermont that uses Japanese Psychology as an alternative to traditional Western approaches to psychology. Over the past 25 years, Gregg has introduced Japanese Psychology, particularly Naikan Therapy, Morita Therapy and Kaizen, to thousands of people through his workshops and online courses. His work supports a blend of the psychological, the spiritual and the practical, and helps individuals to clarify purpose, cultivate gratitude, develop compassion and engage in meaningful action.
Greg McKeown has dedicated his career to discovering why some people and teams break through to the next level—and others don’t.
The definitive treatment of this issue is addressed in McKeown’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. As well as frequently being the #1 Time Management book on Amazon, this book challenges core assumptions about achievement to get to the essence of what really drives success.
McKeown is the CEO of McKeown Inc. Clients include Adobe, Apple, Google, Facebook, Pixar, Salesforce.com, Symantec, Twitter, VMware and Yahoo!.
His writing has appeared or been covered by The New York Times, Fast Company, Fortune, HuffPost, Politico, and Inc. Magazine. He is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s Influencers group: averaging a million views a month.
Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading widely, preaching and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching. He's been married to Rosie since 2006 and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His first book, The Deeply Formed Life, is now available wherever books are sold.
Zahnd extends an invitation to move beyond the crisis of faith toward the journey of reconstruction.
In everything from health care and politics to technology and economics, we are experiencing feelings of loss, anger, and anxiety. In the Enneagram's wisdom, our number determines how we respond. We automatically move to another number when we're feeling stress and to yet another when we're feeling secure. Such moves may help us feel better temporarily but don't last. For those who want to dive deeper into Enneagram wisdom, expert teacher Suzanne Stabile opens the concept of three Centers of Intelligence: thinking, feeling, and doing. When we learn to manage these centers, each for its intended purpose, we open a path to reducing fear, improving relationships, growing spiritually, and finding wholeness. Drawing on the dynamic stability of the Enneagram, she explains each number's preferred and repressed Center of Intelligence and its role in helping us move toward internal balance. Using brief focused chapters, this book provides what we need to deal with the constant change and complexity of our world to achieve lasting transformation in our lives.
With over a million copies sold, Mark Nepo has moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with his #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called "one of the finest spiritual guides of our time," "a consummate storyteller," and "an eloquent spiritual teacher." His work is widely accessible and used by many and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A bestselling author, he has published twenty-two books and recorded fifteen audio projects. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation. In 2016, he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN's SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. And In 2017 Mark became a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine.
Joan Chittister, OSB, is an internationally known writer and lecturer and the executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality in Erie, Pennsylvania. A Benedictine Sister of Erie, Pennsylvania, she served as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses, and was prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie for twelve years. Sister Joan received her doctorate from Pennsylvania State University in speech communications theory. She has authored sixty books and received numerous awards for her work on behalf of peace, justice, and women in church and in society.
Her latest book, The Monastic Heart, was released September 21, 2021. This book carries the weight and wisdom of the monastic spiritual tradition into the twenty-first century. Sister Joan leans into Saint Benedict, who, as a young man in the sixth century, sought moral integrity in the face of an empire not by conquering or overpowering the empire but by simply living an ordinary life extraordinarily well. This same monastic mindset can help us grow in wisdom, equanimity, and strength of soul as we seek restoration and renewal both at home and in the world.
At a time when people around the world are bearing witness to human frailty—and, simultaneously, the endurance of the human spirit—The Monastic Heart invites readers of all walks to welcome this end of certainty and embrace a new beginning of our faith. Without stepping foot in a monastery, we can become, like those before us, a deeper, freer self, a richer soul—and, as a result, a true monastic, so “that in all things God may be glorified.”
GREGG KRECH is an author, poet, and one of the leading authorities on Japanese Psychology in North America. His work has been featured in THE SUN magazine, Tricycle, SELF, Utne Reader, Counseling Today, Cosmopolitan and Experience Life. His books include "Naikan: Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection," "A Natural Approach to Mental Wellness," "The Art of Taking Action" and "A Finger Pointing to the Moon."
Gregg and his wife, Linda, founded the ToDo Institute (http://www.todoinstitute.org), a non-profit center in Vermont that uses Japanese Psychology as an alternative to traditional Western approaches to psychology. Over the past 25 years, Gregg has introduced Japanese Psychology, particularly Naikan Therapy, Morita Therapy and Kaizen, to thousands of people through his workshops and online courses. His work supports a blend of the psychological, the spiritual and the practical, and helps individuals to clarify purpose, cultivate gratitude, develop compassion and engage in meaningful action. He is a member of the North American Naikan Counsel and Editor in Chief for the quarterly journal "Thirty Thousand Days: A Journal for Purposeful Living. https://www.thirtythousanddays.org/
Steve McIntosh, J.D. is a leader in the integral philosophy movement and author of Developmental Politics—How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself (Paragon House, 2020). He is president and co-founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution think tank, which focuses on the cultural roots of America’s political problems.
Steve is also co-author, with John Mackey and Carter Phipps, of the book: Conscious Leadership—Elevating Humanity Through Business (Penguin/Portfolio, September 2020). He has authored three previous books on integral philosophy: The Presence of the Infinite (Quest, 2015), Evolution’s Purpose (Select Books, 2012), and Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution (Paragon House, 2007).
Doug Scott, PLLC offers a holistic counseling approach that integrates the realms of psychology and spirituality.
Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., has been a leader in the fields of relationship transformation and body-mind therapies for more than 45 years. After earning his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Stanford, Gay served as a professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Colorado for 21 years. He has written more than 40 books, including bestsellers such as Five Wishes, The Big Leap, and Conscious Loving (co-authored with his co-author and mate for more than 35 years, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks), both used as a primary text in universities around the world. In 2003, Gay co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle, which distributes inspirational movies and conscious entertainment to subscribers in 70+ countries. https://hendricks.com/
Money is energy. It can be happy or unhappy.
When you adjust your perspective on money you can see it as positive and negative flows based on the energy you have when receiving and spending your money.
When you receive and spend well you generally have a happy life. Conversely, if you are always feeling tension or fear around spending and receiving, chances are you are holding that energy through most situations.
Happy Money is your invitation to let the unhappy money go and begin bringing in happy money and a sense of freedom.
Ken has impacted millions with his message, selling over 8 million books worldwide.
Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world—a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently.
Morgan Harper Nichols is an artist and poet whose work is inspired by real life interactions and stories. Morgan spent the first couple of years of her professional life as a college admission counselor, and then, as a full-time touring singer-songwriter and musician. It was on the road that she cultivated her curiosity and passion for writing, art, and design and slowly began to share her work online.
Her next book, How Far You Have Come, is available on April 27, 2021.
With over a million copies sold, Mark Nepo has moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with his #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called "one of the finest spiritual guides of our time," "a consummate storyteller," and "an eloquent spiritual teacher." His work is widely accessible and used by many and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A bestselling author, he has published twenty-two books and recorded fifteen audio projects. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation. In 2016, he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN's SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. And In 2017 Mark became a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine.
Recent work includes The Book of Soul (St. Martin's Essentials, 2020); Drinking from the River of Light (Sounds True, 2019), a Nautilus Book Award Winner; More Together Than Alone (Atria, 2018) cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2018; Things That Join the Sea and the Sky (Sounds True, 2017), a Nautilus Book Award Winner; The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True, 2016), a Nautilus Book Award Winner; The One Life We're Given (Atria) cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2016, Inside the Miracle (Sounds True) selected by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the top ten best books of 2015; The Endless Practice (Atria) cited by span class="italicredsmall">Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2014; and SeSeven Thousand Ways to Listen (Atria), which won the 2012 Books for a Better Life Award.
Mark was part of Oprah Winfrey's The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. He has also been interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. The Exquisite Risk was listed by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005, calling it "one of the best books we've ever read on what it takes to live an authentic life." Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He continues to offer readings, lectures, and retreats.
Visit https://www.michaelrudzena.com and https://goodshepherdnewyork.com for more information.
Parker J. Palmer, Founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy.
In 2006, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean to bar chocolate factory and never looked back. His company, Askinosie Chocolate, was recently named by Forbes “One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America.” So far the company has provided over a million school lunches to malnourished children in Tanzania and the Philippines, without any donations. Founded at the forefront of the American craft chocolate revolution and regarded by many as a vanguard in the industry. Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine “One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World.” He's received two honorary doctorates and given a popular TEDx. Shawn’s book, co-written with his daughter Lawren, published by Penguin Random House titled “Meaningful Work: The Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul” is an Amazon #1 bestseller. He is a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Ava, Missouri and the co-founder of Lost & Found, a grief center now in its 20th year serving children and families in Southwest Missouri.
Like Streams To The Ocean is about examining the things that make us who we are and getting to know ourselves, our stories, and the decisions that shape our one and only life.
Jedidiah Jenkins is a travel writer, entrepreneur, and the New York Times bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self. A graduate of USC and Pepperdine University School of Law, Jenkins began his professional career with the nonprofit Invisible Children, where he helped orchestrate multinational campaigns to end the use of child soldiers in central Africa. His parents, Peter and Barbara Jenkins, are the authors of the bestselling A Walk Across America series. He is the executive editor of Wilderness magazine. Jenkins’s work has appeared in The Paris Review and Playboy, and he has been covered by National Geographic.
Ryan Casey Waller, a pastor and licensed psychotherapist himself suffering from depression and anxiety, takes on the relationship of mental health and faith while addressing the role of self-care, compassion, and restoration.
Allison Fallon is a bestselling author, public speaker, and founder of Find Your Voice—an online education platform for writers who swear they aren’t “real” writers. Allison has helped thousands of people finally accomplish their goal of writing a book and taught even the most skeptical to use writing as a tool for personal growth. She’s worked with leaders of multi-national corporations, stay-at-home moms, Olympic gold medalists, recovering addicts, political figures, CEO’s and even high school and college students to help them find the exact right words to say—even when they swear they’re “not real writers.”
Her next book, The Power of Writing it Down, releases January 2021.
Celebrated artist-storyteller Scott Erickson gives us 25 days of refreshingly new illustrations and meditations to rekindle the wonder of God-with-Us in this season.
Everybody Now
Climate Emergency and Sacred Duty
We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and theologians talk bravely and frankly about how our biosphere is changing, about grief and hope in an age of social collapse and mass extinction, and about taking action against all the odds.
On 19th October 2020, Everybody Now is being released by podcasters all over the world as a collective call for awareness, grief and loving action.
With contributions from:
Dr. Gail Bradbrook - scientist and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion
Prof. Kevin Anderson - Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester
Dámaris Albuquerque - works with agricultural communities in Nicaragua
Dr. Rowan Williams - theologian and poet, and a former Archbishop of Canterbury
Pádraig Ó Tuama - poet, theologian and conflict mediator
Rachel Mander - environmental activist with Hope for the Future
John Swales - priest and activist, and part of a community for marginalised people
Zena Kazeme - Persian-Iraqi poet who draws on her experiences as a former refugee to create poetry that explores themes of exile, home, war and heritage
Flo Brady - singer and theatre maker
Hannah Malcolm - Anglican ordinand, climate writer and organiser
Alastair McIntosh - writer, academic and land rights activist
David Benjamin Blower - musician, poet and podcaster
Funding and Production:
This podcast was crowdfunded by a handful of good souls, and produced by Tim Nash and David Benjamin Blower
Permissions:
The song Happily by Flo Brady is used with permission.
The song The Soil, from We Really Existed and We Really Did This by David Benjamin Blower, used with permission.
The Poem The Tree of Knowledge by Pádraig Ó Tuama used with permission.
The Poem Atlas by Zena Kazeme used with permission.
The Poem What is Man? by Rowan Williams from the book The Other Mountain, used with permission from Carcanet Press.
Take a creative hero’s journey through magic, myth, and mindfulness to rediscover the greatest work of your life – You.
https://jonmarro.com/
AJ Sherrill (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) has served as lead pastor for churches across the country, including Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he teaches popular courses on transformational preaching and the Enneagram.
Rediscover connection, meaning, and purpose through the power of ritual.
We can nourish our souls by transforming everyday practices― eating together, working out, reading, taking a walk―into sacred rituals that can heal our crisis of social isolation and longing for connection.
Hal Elrod is on a mission to elevate the consciousness of humanity, one morning at a time.
Morgan Snyder is a grateful husband of over 20 years and a proud father of a wildly creative and witty daughter and a joyful and passionate son. He serves as a strategist, entrepreneur, teacher, writer, and speaker. His passion is to both be shaped by and shape the men and women who are shaping the kingdom of God.
Christopher Heuertz is the host of Enneagram Mapmakers, the author of The Sacred Enneagram and The Enneagram of Belonging. His latest work is a partnership with the Center For Action and Contemplation where he hosts the Enneagram Mapmakers Podcast. Here, Chris journeys to the origins of an ancient and often misunderstood system designed to help us live a more embodied and integrated life.
We live in soul-scorching times. The mad pace of life, the number of demands on our time and energy, and the overwhelming torrent of information coming at us 24-7 have left us all ragged, wrung-out, and emptied. This isn’t the life we want, but how do we get off the roller coaster?
In Get Your Life Back, John Eldredge provides a practical, simple, and refreshing guide to taking your life back. By practicing a few wonderfully simple practices—or what John calls “graces”—you can begin to recover your soul, disentangle from the tragedies of this broken world, and discover the restorative power of beauty.
In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean to bar chocolate factory and never looked back.
Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award-winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. The only chocolate maker working directly with cocoa farmers on four continents, Shawn travels to regions of Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled authentic single origin. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a “Stake In the Outcome,” a principle he learned from author/entrepreneur Jack Stack.
Recently named by Forbes "One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America", Askinosie Chocolate has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on Bloomberg, MSNBCand numerous other national and international media outlets.
The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other, sharing the Askinosie Chocolate experience by leaving the world a better place than they found it. The company is currently sustainably feeding over 1,600 students per day in Tanzania and the Philippines, without any donations. Founded at the forefront of the American craft chocolate revolution and regarded by many as a vanguard in the industry, Askinosie Chocolate sets the standard: they are one of the few chocolate makers in the world who press their own cocoa butter (to make their chocolate truly single origin) and the only American craft chocolate maker to produce a natural cocoa powder; they were the first American craft chocolate makers to create white chocolate, as well as a chocolate hazelnut spread (says The New York Times: “one spoonful of Askinosie’s Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and all memory of Nutella is gone”).
Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine "One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World." They said, "Why we're fans: The philanthropically-minded chocolate entrepreneur aims to get students thinking about business ethics in a way that could have ripple effects for generations." For his efforts in "Advancing food standards... by creating social, economic, and environmental impact", Shawn was awarded Top Business Leader of the Year in 2013 by the Specialty Food Association. Shawn has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State University. In 2015, Askinosie Chocolate was awarded a complimentary membership to the Clinton Global Initiative for the company’s social efforts around the world. Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author, recently praised the company's model: "[Shawn] has built a practice of creating a worthwhile luxury good that directly benefits people. Not sort of. Not a little. But directly.”
Askinosie Chocolate has received 3 Good Food Awards, considered to be the Oscars of food; 6 silver awards from the Specialty Food Association; and 7 International Chocolate Awards, including the Gold World Award for the Dark Chocolate + Licorice bar. The small team at Askinosie works directly with all of their retailers and sells their chocolate into specialty food stores, luxury boutiques, and high-end grocery chains throughout the US in nearly all fifty states and across the globe.
Shawn's book, recently released, co-written with his daughter Lawren, published by Penguin titled "Meaningful Work: The Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul" is an Amazon #1 New Release. Read Seth Godin's review of the book here. He is a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Ava, Missouri and the co-founder of Lost & Found, a grief center serving children and families in Southwest Missouri.
A discussion with epidemiologist Emily R. Smith, PhD.
For more information go to https://www.facebook.com/friendlyneighborepidemiologist
Morgan Harper Nichols is a writer, artist, and musician who makes her work around people and their stories.
Morgan spent the first few years of her adult life as a college admission counselor, and then, as a full-time touring singer-songwriter and musician. It was on the road that she cultivated her curiosity and passion for the written word and art, and slowly began to share her art with others online.
In 2017, Morgan started a project where she invites people to submit their stories to her website. From there, she creates art inspired by what they send her, and then, sends them the art, for free. Nearly everything Morgan creates and shares today is from this project, and she always keeps the names and stories anonymous. The fruit of this project is shared daily around social media, in publications, on murals, and more.
As an artist, Morgan has been commissioned by and collaborated with publications and brands including Adobe, LiveNation, Aerie, Coach, Esquire Singapore, and more. She has been featured on social platforms for publications such as Teen Vogue, Refinery 29, Hello Giggles, and SoulPancake.
As a writer, her debut book ‘Storyteller’ is a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Inspirational Poetry. Morgan is now a full time writer, artist, and musician, and travels to speak, teach, and perform. She is on the board of directors at TWLOHA (To Write Love on Her Arms).
Morgan is originally from Atlanta, Ga. and she and her husband Patrick currently reside just a little south of Los Angeles in Orange County, Ca.
Seth Haines has experienced the grace that comes from a God who lives in mystery, who works through both joy and pain. Seth’s first book Coming Clean: A Story of Faith received a Christianity Today Award of Merit in the publication’s 2016 book awards. Seth’s poetry and prose has been featured in various publications, including In Touch Magazine, Fathom Magazine, Tweetspeak Poetry, and at SethHaines.com. He makes his home in the Ozarks with his wife, Amber Haines, and their four sons. His next book, The Book of Awakening, will be released January 7, 2020.
Twitter: @sethhaines
Instagram: @sethhaines
Rebekah Lyons is a national speaker and the bestselling author of You Are Free and Freefall to Fly. An old soul with a contemporary, honest voice, Rebekah shares her personal battles of overcoming anxiety and depression and invites others to boldly pursue their God-given purpose. Alongside her husband Gabe, Rebekah raises four children, two with Down syndrome. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, Huffington Post, The Tennessean, and Publisher’s Weekly.
The one question Rebekah Lyons hears from those she meets around the country is, “As I begin to experience freedom, what practical steps can I take each day for sustained emotional, spiritual and relational health?”
In Rhythms of Renewal you will walk through four practical rhythms to establish in your life - Rest, Restore, Connect, Create - that will help you discover how to:
-Take charge of your emotional health, and inspire loved ones to do the same.
- Overcome anxiety with daily habits that strengthen you mentally and physically.
- Find joy through restored relationships in your family and community.
- Walk in confidence with the unique gifts you have to offer the world.
Who are you becoming? That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. By outward metrics, everything appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.” It wasn’t the response he expected, but it continues to be the answer he needs.
Mark Nepo moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with his #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called "one of the finest spiritual guides of our time," "a consummate storyteller," and "an eloquent spiritual teacher." His work is widely accessible and used by many and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A bestselling author, he has published twenty books and recorded fourteen audio projects. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation. And in 2016, he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN's SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. In 2017 Mark became a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine.
Recent work includes More Together Than Alone (Atria, 2018), Things That Join the Sea and the Sky (Sounds True, 2017), a Nautilus Book Award Winner and cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2017, The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True, 2016), a Nautilus Book Award Winner, The One Life We're Given (Atria) cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2016, Inside the Miracle (Sounds True), selected by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the top ten best books of 2015, The Endless Practice (Atria), cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2014, his book of poems, Reduced to Joy (Viva Editions), named by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2013, a 6CD box set of teaching conversations based on the poems in Reduced to Joy (Sounds True, 2014), and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen (Atria), which won the 2012 Books for a Better Life Award.
Mark was part of Oprah Winfrey's The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. He has also been interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. The Exquisite Risk was listed by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005, calling it "one of the best books we've ever read on what it takes to live an authentic life." Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He continues to offer readings, lectures, and retreats.
Chris Dombrowski’s nonfiction debut, Body of Water: A Sage, A Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish (Milkweed Editions, 2016), was hailed in The New York Times Book Review; lauded as “finely wrought and profoundly life-affirming” in a starred Publishers Weekly column; drew comparisons to Gary Snyder and John McPhee in the Wall Street Journal; and was called “a spiritual memoir in the tradition of Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” in Orion magazine. Body of Water was named to numerous Best Books of 2016 list, and the American Booksellers Association placed the paperback on its Top Ten Indie Next Picks for 2017-2018.
A recipient of numerous grants and awards, Chris also the author two books of poems, By Cold Water, a Poetry Foundation Bestseller, and Earth Again, runner-up for ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year, both published by Wayne State University Press. His essays and poems have appeared in over 100 publications and anthologies including Poetry, Orion, Outside, The Southern Review, The Sun, Michigan Quarterly Review, Gray's Sporting Journal, Guernica, and Gulf Coast.
For the better part of two decades Chris has taught creative writing to a vast array of age groups, most recently as the William Kittredge Visiting Writer in Residence at the University of Montana. In addition, he has worked as a fly-fishing guide in Missoula, Montana, where he directs the Beargrass Writing Retreat, and makes his home with his loveably feral family. He is currently at work on a second book of nonfiction, tentatively titled The Nature of Wonder, forthcoming from Milkweed Editions.
When we have a decision to make, what we want more than anything is peace, clarity, and a nudge in the right direction.
This simple, soulful practice will help you:
clear the decision-making chaos
quiet the fear of choosing wrong
find the courage to finally decide without regret or second-guessing
If you have trouble making decisions because of either chronic hesitation or decision fatigue, Emily P. Freeman offers a fresh way of practicing familiar but often forgotten advice: simply do the next right thing.
http://nextrightthingbook.com/ comes out April 2, 2019!
Ingrid Fetell Lee is a designer and author whose groundbreaking work reveals the hidden influence of our surroundings on our emotions and wellbeing. As a former design director at IDEO, author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, and the founder of the website The Aesthetics of Joy, she empowers people to find more joy in life and work through design. Her immensely popular TED talk “Where Joy Hides and How to Find it” has been viewed more than 17 million times.
Lee has been featured as an expert on design and joy by outlets such as The New York Times, Wired, PRI's Studio 360, CBC's Spark, Psychology Today, and Fast Company. She has over twelve years of experience in design and branding, having led design programs for Target, Condé Nast, Eileen Fisher, American Express, Kate Spade, Diageo, Pepsico, and the US government, among others. She was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her design work has been exhibited at imm Cologne, Germany.
Justin Whitmel Earley (JD, Georgetown University) is the creator of The Common Rule, a program of habits designed to form us in the love of God and neighbor. He is also a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. He previously spent several years in China as the founder and general editor of The Urbanity Project and as the director of Thought and Culture Shapers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community through arts. He and his wife, Lauren, have four sons and live in Richmond, Virginia. // https://www.thecommonrule.org/
In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean to bar chocolate factory and never looked back.
Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. The only chocolate maker working directly with cocoa farmers on four continents, Shawn travels to regions of Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled authentic single origin. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a “Stake In the Outcome,” a principle he learned from author/entrepreneur Jack Stack.
Recently named by Forbes "One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America", Askinosie Chocolate has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on Bloomberg, MSNBCand numerous other national and international media outlets.
The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other, sharing the Askinosie Chocolate experience by leaving the world a better place than they found it. The company is currently sustainably feeding over 1,600 students per day in Tanzania and the Philippines, without any donations. Founded at the forefront of the American craft chocolate revolution and regarded by many as a vanguard in the industry, Askinosie Chocolate sets the standard: they are one of the few chocolate makers in the world who press their own cocoa butter (to make their chocolate truly single origin) and the only American craft chocolate maker to produce a natural cocoa powder; they were the first American craft chocolate makers to create white chocolate, as well as a chocolate hazelnut spread (says The New York Times: “one spoonful of Askinosie’s Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and all memory of Nutella is gone”).
Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine "One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World." They said, "Why we're fans: The philanthropically-minded chocolate entrepreneur aims to get students thinking about business ethics in a way that could have ripple effects for generations." For his efforts in "Advancing food standards... by creating social, economic, and environmental impact", Shawn was awarded Top Business Leader of the Year in 2013 by the Specialty Food Association. Shawn has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State University. In 2015, Askinosie Chocolate was awarded a complimentary membership to the Clinton Global Initiative for the company’s social efforts around the world. Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author, recently praised the company's model: "[Shawn] has built a practice of creating a worthwhile luxury good that directly benefits people. Not sort of. Not a little. But directly.”
Askinosie Chocolate has received 3 Good Food Awards, considered to be the Oscars of food; 6 silver awards from the Specialty Food Association; and 7 International Chocolate Awards, including the Gold World Award for the Dark Chocolate + Licorice bar. The small team at Askinosie works directly with all of their retailers and sells their chocolate into specialty food stores, luxury boutiques, and high-end grocery chains throughout the US in nearly all fifty states and across the globe.
Shawn's book, recently released, co-written with his daughter Lawren, published by Penguin titled "Meaningful Work: The Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul" is an Amazon #1 New Release. Read Seth Godin's review of the book here. He is a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Ava, Missouri and the co-founder of Lost & Found, a grief center serving children and families in Southwest Missouri.
Shawn Achor is a New York Times bestselling author of Before Happiness (2013) and The Happiness Advantage (2010). He is the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University where he delivered lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at Harvard. Shawn has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between happiness and success.
Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Richard’s teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy—practices of contemplation and self-emptying, expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.
Fr. Richard is the author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, and Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi. His newest book is The Universal Christ (coming March 2019).
Ryder Carroll is a New York Times best-selling author, digital product designer, and inventor of the Bullet Journal method.
He's been featured by the New York Times, LA Times, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Vogue, Bloomberg, and others.
Parker J. Palmer is a columnist for On Being, Quaker elder, educator, activist, and founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal. His books include A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life, and Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. His latest book is On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old.
Our fast-paced lives are filled with distractions, frequently leaving us disillusioned and dissatisfied―with ourselves, with others, and even with God. Spiritual practices that used to sustain us fall short when life circumstances bring us to the limits of our self.
Phileena Heuertz' latest book, Mindful Silence, illuminates some of the fundamentals of contemplative spirituality, drawing from a wellspring of wisdom from the tradition and Phileena’s personal experience.
For more information, visit www.mindfulsilence.org.
Morgan Harper Nichols is a writer and artist who makes her work around people and their stories. Her song, “Storyteller” has garnered over 1 million Spotify plays and her self-published book of poetry by the same title is a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Inspirational Poetry. Morgan lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband Patrick Kekoa, and has made her life’s work about creating for the stories of others, through music, words, art, and design. Visit https://morganharpernichols.com/ for more information.
For over 15 years CJ Casciotta has helped some of the world's biggest brands discover their unique identity and share it creatively including Lululemon, The United Nations, MGM Studios, and Whole Foods. His work has been featured on national media including CBS, MTV, Amazon Prime, and The Huffington Post. Recently, he has been sharing his ideas and speaking at places like TEDx, Creative Mornings, STORY Conference, charity : water, and Saddleback Church.
Upon returning to NYC in 2006, having seen the effects of dirty water firsthand, Scott turned his full attention to the global water crisis and the (then) 1.1 billion people living without access to clean water.
He established a small core team in a tiny Manhattan apartment and created charity: water. The organization set out on a big mission, to bring clean water to every person living without it, and an even bigger vision, to reinvent charity with an innovative 100% model and radical transparency, proving every single water project funded.
Twelve years later, with the help of more than 1 million supporters worldwide, charity: water has raised more than $320 million and funded nearly 30,000 water projects in 26 countries. When completed, those projects will provide over 8.4 million people with clean, safe drinking water. Scott was recognized in Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40 list, the Forbes Magazine Impact 30 list and was recently #10 in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business issue. He is currently a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Scott lives in New York City with his wife Viktoria, son Jackson and daughter Emma. Read Scott’s story in his new book Thirst.
Visit cwtr.org/goodtruebeautiful for more information.
Simon Davies has had a fondness for the kitchen from a very young age, growing up in California. His first job, at a local diner, was just to make some spending money as a high schooler. His desire to cook professionally stemmed from late nights cooking for friends at parties and the fun and sense of community that it brought. After attending culinary school and working at several restaurants in the Portland, Oregon area Simon took an internship at Alinea in 2009 and has grown with the company ever since. In his spare time, he enjoys his other passions of painting and music. For more information, visit https://alinearestaurant.com/.
Like all real Pitmasters, Matt Horn got his start in the backyard—his grandmother's backyard. Having developed and refined his meat-smoking techniques in the Central Texas style, Horn took his barbecue to the local farmer's market for a test run and later worked a few festivals. But being a true barbecue aficionado, he wanted to commune with other like-minded obsessives, and thus the underground pop-up Horn Barbecue came to be.
For more information visit https://www.hornbarbecue.com // or http://www.kitchen350.com/story.
Chef John Shields began his culinary training in the St. Louis area, attending culinary school and working in local restaurants. Shields spent two years serving as sous chef at the world-renowned Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago before continuing his career with Chef Grant Achatz at Alinea as sous chef in 2005. During his two years there, Alinea grew from an exciting upstart to one of the best restaurants in the world.
After leaving Alinea in 2008 to pursue the next step in his career, John (and his soon-to-be wife Karen Urie) turned down an offer to lead the opening of a Charlie Trotter restaurant in Las Vegas. Instead they took a bold chance on an opportunity to open a little-known restaurant in the countryside of Southwestern Virginia.
John and Karen moved to Chilhowie, Virginia, in 2008 and were given carte blanche to re-imagine the then-unknown Town House restaurant. Now able to craft their own vision, Chefs John and Karen rebuilt the Town House concept as a modern exploration of imaginative flavor and visual compositions that utilized the wide array of seasonal, locally grown, and foraged ingredients.
In Chilhowie, the Shields found their creative voices and their food quickly gained national attention. In June of 2009, The New York Times published a glowing article about Town House, which was instrumental in vaulting John and Karen to the top tier of chefs and restaurants in the United States. The growing public interest in the food at Town House led to John being named a 2010 “Best New Chef” by Food & Wine magazine as well as a James Beard Award Semi-Finalist in 2011.
After four successful years at Town House and Riverstead Inn, John and Karen decided to return to Chicago to open Smyth + The Loyalist.
“We want to create memories. We want people walking away saying, I’m never going to forget that.” —Chef John Shields
https://www.smythandtheloyalist.com/
Kyle Connaughton began his culinary career in L.A. with an apprenticeship at one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in the city and continued training in both pastry and savory at Spago Beverly Hills, The Dining Room at Ritz Carlton, Lucques, Hama Sushi, and A.O.C. This was followed by several years cooking in Japan for the famed chef Michel Bras and in numerous traditional Japanese cuisine restaurants. In 2006, Kyle joined Heston Blumenthal to become the Head Chef of Research and Development for the Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen. He is a contributor to the "Modernist Cuisine" series, a co-developer of the Culinary Science Bachelors Degree program for the CIA, and co-author of the book Donabe - Classic and Modern Japanese Clay Pot Cooking. In 2014 Kyle co-founded the culinary development firm Pilot R+D with Dan Felder, Dr. Ali Bouzari, & Dana Peck. Kyle is now the Owner-Chef of SingleThread in Healdsburg, CA. https://www.singlethreadfarms.com/
Jedidiah Jenkins is a travel writer, entrepreneur, and Instagram personality. A graduate of USC and Pepperdine University School of Law, Jenkins began his professional career with the nonprofit Invisible Children, where he helped orchestrate multinational campaigns to end the use of child soldiers in central Africa. His parents, Peter and Barbara Jenkins, are the authors of the bestselling A Walk Across America series. He is the executive editor of Wilderness magazine; his work has appeared in the Paris Review and Good magazine; and his journey was covered by National Geographic.
Daniel J. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He served as a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow at UCLA, studying family interactions with an emphasis on how attachment experiences influence emotions, behavior, autobiographical memory and narrative.
Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. An award-winning educator, he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and recipient of several honorary fellowships. Dr. Siegel is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational organization, which offers online learning and in-person seminars that focus on how the development of mindsight in individuals, families and communities can be enhanced by examining the interface of human relationships and basic biological processes. His psychotherapy practice includes children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. He serves as the Medical Director of the LifeSpan Learning Institute and on the Advisory Board of the Blue School in New York City, which has built its curriculum around Dr. Siegel’s Mindsight approach.
Dr. Siegel has published extensively for the professional audience. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and the internationally acclaimed text, The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are (2nd. Ed., Guilford, 2012). This book introduces the field of interpersonal neurobiology, and has been utilized by a number of clinical and research organizations worldwide. Dr. Siegel serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology which contains over sixty textbooks. The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being (Norton, 2007) explores the nature of mindful awareness as a process that harnesses the social circuitry of the brain as it promotes mental, physical, and relational health. The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician's Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration (Norton, 2010), explores the application of focusing techniques for the clinician’s own development, as well as their clients' development of mindsight and neural integration. Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology: An Integrative Handbook of the Mind (Norton, 2012), explores how to apply the interpersonal neurobiology approach to developing a healthy mind, an integrated brain, and empathic relationships. The New York Times bestseller Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human (Norton, 2016) offers a deep exploration of our mental lives as they emerge from the body and our relations to each other and the world around us. His New York Times bestseller Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence (Tarcher/Perigee, 2018) provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one's day-to-day life. Dr. Siegel's publications for professionals and the public have been translated into over 40 forty languages.
Dr. Siegel’s book, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation (Bantam, 2010), offers the general reader an in-depth exploration of the power of the mind to integrate the brain and promote well-being. He has written five parenting books, including the three New York Times bestsellers Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain (Tarcher/Penguin, 2014); The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind (Random House, 2011) and No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind (Bantam, 2014), both with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child (Bantam, 2018) also with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., and Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive (Tarcher/Penguin, 2003) with Mary Hartzell, M.Ed.
Dr. Siegel's unique ability to make complicated scientific concepts exciting and accessible has led him to be invited to address diverse local, national and international groups including mental health professionals, neuroscientists, corporate leaders, educators, parents, public administrators, healthcare providers, policy-makers, mediators, judges, and clergy. He has lectured for the King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Google University, and London's Royal Society of Arts (RSA). He lives in Southern California with his family.
Ally Fallon is an author and writing coach that believes a regular practice of writing can change your life. She is the author of 12+ books, is a sought-after public speaker, a coach to hundreds of authors from New York Times Bestsellers to total beginners, and seeks to empower you to become a force of love and change in the world. Her latest book, Indestructible, will be released in November of 2018.
Jessica Honegger is the Founder and co-CEO of Noonday Collection, an author, a podcaster, and a mom to three. Passionate about encouraging others to leave comfort, going scared, and stepping into a life of impact, Jessica joins this episode of Good / True / & Beautiful to share her insights from her book, Imperfect Courage.
Jay Papasan is a bestselling author that serves as vice president and executive editor at Keller Williams Realty International, the worlds largest real estate company. He is also vice president of KellerINK, co-owner of Keller Capital, and co-owner, alongside his wife Wendy, of Papasan Properties Group with Keller Williams Realty in Austin, Texas. For more information go to http://jaypapasan.com/ or https://www.the1thing.com/.
A conversation with Aaron Niequist on his book, The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning.
https://www.aaronniequist.com/
Jonathan Merritt is an award-winning writer on religion, culture, and politics. He currently serves as a contributing writer for The Atlantic and contributing editor for The Week. Jonathan has published more than 3500 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. As a respected voice, he regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets and has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, Fox News, and CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Lisa Gungor started loving music and art as a child. After college, she began recording and traveling with the band that eventually turned into the Grammy-nominated musical collective simply known as “Gungor.”
Lisa now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two beautiful and wild girls, Amelie and Lucie. She continues to write for Gungor, Planet Moon, and The Liturgists, plus contributes to a handful of other publications.
Her first book, The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen, was released on June 26, 2018.
Called "The Brené Brown of Wonder” by Mind Body Green and a “Millennial Motivator” by Fortune, Amber Rae is an author, artist, and speaker whose work invites you to live your truth, befriend your emotions, and express your gifts.
Her writing blends raw, personal storytelling with actionable aha! moments, and has reached over 5 million people in 195 countries. Her public art has spread to more than twenty countries, and she's spoken to and collaborated with brands like Kate Spade, Apple, Amazon, Lululemon, and Unilever. She's been featured in The New York Times, TIME, Fast Company, BBC, ABC World News, Tim Ferriss's blog, and more.
Previously, Amber helped launch six best-selling books as Chief Evangelist of Seth Godin's publishing experiment and started an "accelerator for your life" called The Bold Academy. She lives in Brooklyn and around the world with her fiancé, Farhad.
Amos Smith holds a Doctor of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary. He teaches classes on contemporary Christian Mysticism at the Redemptorist Renewal Center and at various churches in Tucson and has been invited to participate in forums at the University of Arizona. His writing has been published in various newspapers and magazines including The Billings Gazette, The Spokesman Review, Friends Journal: Quaker Thought and Life Today, and Chicago Seminary Press.
Amos published his first book, Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity’s Mystic Roots with Wipf & Stock Publishers in 2013. The book has been well received and reviewed and is part of the curriculum for the Living School of The Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC | Richard Rohr).
Amos’ latest book, Be Still and Listen: Experience the Presence of God in Your Life, was published by Paraclete Press on June 12th, 2018.
The Way of the Essentialist involves doing less, but better, so you can make the highest possible contribution.
The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s not about getting less done. It’s about getting only the right things done. It’s about challenging the core assumption of ‘we can have it all’ and ‘I have to do everything’ and replacing it with the pursuit of ‘the right thing, in the right way, at the right time’.
It’s about regaining control of our own choices about where to spend our time and energies instead of giving others implicit permission to
choose for us.
In Essentialism, Greg McKeown draws on experience and insight from working with the leaders of the most innovative companies in the world to show how to achieve the disciplined pursuit of less.
By applying a more selective criteria for what is essential, the pursuit of less allows us to regain control of our own choices so we can channel our time, energy and effort into making the highest
possible contribution toward the goals and activities that matter.
Chris is a serial entrepreneur with more than 13 years of real estate development and investment experience and has developed over $200M in multi-family, student housing, commercial/industrial, and residential & land development projects throughout Fort Worth and the greater DFW Metroplex. Chris is a visionary with a demonstrated talent in looking ahead at what could be and understanding what must be done today to get there. His ability to conceptualize, raise capital, and execute are only a small part of what Chris brings to the table.
Chris oversees the vision for the company, Fort’s largest deals, capital relationships, executive level recruiting, strategic partnerships, and chairs the investment committee. Creating meaningful relationships and building a team around a vision and Fort’s goals are the most important qualities that make Chris ready for the job. With a belief that investing time in people is the best investment that can be made, Chris has built a strong network throughout Texas that has helped catapult Fort to where it is today. “I want to build a culture that fosters creativity and creates leaders – our goal is to be the absolute best place to work in Fort Worth, because when we have the best people who are encouraged to give their best – we are unstoppable.”
Powers graduated with a BBA in Finance & Marketing from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. Innovative, ethics-driven, people-focused, community-minded and passionate about ideas that matter, Powers’ professional philosophy remains the same as his personal one: “Tell the truth and be nice to people.” As a champion of young entrepreneurship and causes that give our youth better resources, Chris is passionate about serving Rivertree Academy in Fort Worth, the TCU Chancellor’s Advisory Council, and the Ben Hogan Strategic Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council and Fort Worth YPO Chapter. He lives in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Mikal, his daughter Palmer.
Mark Nepo moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with his #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called "one of the finest spiritual guides of our time," "a consummate storyteller," and "an eloquent spiritual teacher." His work is widely accessible and used by many and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A bestselling author, he has published twenty books and recorded fourteen audio projects. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation. And in 2016, he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN's SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. In 2017 Mark became a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine. Recent work includes More Together Than Alone (Atria, 2018), Things That Join the Sea and the Sky (Sounds True, 2017), a Nautilus Book Award Winner and cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2017, The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True, 2016), a Nautilus Book Award Winner, The One Life We're Given (Atria) cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2016, Inside the Miracle (Sounds True), selected by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the top ten best books of 2015, The Endless Practice (Atria), cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2014, his book of poems, Reduced to Joy (Viva Editions), named by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2013, a 6CD box set of teaching conversations based on the poems in Reduced to Joy (Sounds True, 2014), and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen (Atria), which won the 2012 Books for a Better Life Award. Mark was part of Oprah Winfrey's The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. He has also been interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. The Exquisite Risk was listed by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005, calling it "one of the best books we've ever read on what it takes to live an authentic life." Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationships. He continues to offer readings, lectures, and retreats.
The vice president of leadership at LinkedIn claims that the biggest driver of motivation is the chance to serve a larger purpose beyond our careers and ourselves, rather than salary, benefits, bonuses, or other material incentives; companies that are able to successfully focus their people, their teams, and their culture around meaning outperform their competition.
Fred Kofman’s approach to leadership has little to do with the standard practices taught in business school and traditional books. Bringing together economics and business theory, communications and conflict resolution, family counseling and mindfulness mediation, Kofman argues in The Meaning Revolution that our most deep-seated, unspoken, and universal anxiety stems from our fear that our life is being wasted–that the end of life will overtake us when our song is still unsung.
Kofman claims that transcendental leaders, wherever they are in the hierarchy, are able to put aside their self-interests and help others to feel connected with others on a team or in an organization on a great mission and part of an ennobling purpose. He argues that every organization involved in work that is nonviolent and non addictive has what he calls an “immortality project” at its core. And the challenge for leaders is to identify and expand on that core, to inspire all stakeholders to take part.
Rocky Garza is a people and culture development expert that challenges audiences to consider their motivations, inspirations, and fears. Most describe Rocky’s intimate, reflective approach as truly transformational. He reminds leaders, teams, and organizations that every person is, at their core, just a human. Rocky explores relationship management and humanity through his Personal Identity Mapping service – an examination how and why people do the things that they do. The result is intense clarity and deep learning about the ‘one’ whole person we really are, and the realization that we need to be that same person in every part of our life: as a servant leader, as a respectful partner, as a key teammate, and as a difference maker and engaged member of our families and communities.
Pilot and world champion runner Orville Rogers trained bomber pilots in World War II, flew the B-36 on secret missions during the Korean Conflict, ferried airplanes to remote Baptist missions all over the world, and managed to squeeze in a thirty-one-year career as a pilot with Braniff Airways. After retirement, he and Esther Beth, his wife of sixty-four–plus years, served thirteen months with the Baptist Mission in Tanzania. With her help on the ground, he flew goods and passengers to outposts largely inaccessible by land. Orville took up running at age fifty-one and ran his first marathon six years later. At age ninety, just two weeks after Beth’s passing, he attended his first national meet, where he broke two world records. He holds fifteen world records to date and continues to compete annually. Invariably, he wins. He has two sons, Bill and Rick, and a daughter, Susan, as well as, nine grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
Suzanne Stabile is a highly sought-after speaker and teacher, known for her engaging laugh, personal vulnerability, and creative approach to Enneagram instruction. She is the coauthor, with Ian Morgan Cron, of the bestseller The Road Back to You, and she is the creator and host of The Enneagram Journey podcast.
Most of us have no idea how others see or process their experiences. And that can make relationships hard, whether with intimate partners, with friends, or in our professional lives. Understanding the motivations and dynamics of these different personality types can be the key that unlocks sometimes mystifying behavior in others—and in ourselves.
The Path Between Us, available April 10, 2018, from Suzanne Stabile on the nine Enneagram types and how they behave and experience relationships will guide readers into deeper insights about themselves, their types, and others' personalities so that they can have healthier, more life-giving relationships. No one is better equipped than Suzanne Stabile to share the Enneagram's wisdom on how relationships work—or don’t.
Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture.
She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the award-winning author of ten books, including Grounded: Finding God in the World —A Spiritual Revolution (HarperOne, 2015) and Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks will be released by HarperOne on April 3, 2018.
She regularly speaks at conferences, consults with religious organizations, leads educational events, and teaches and preaches in a variety of venues in the United States and internationally. Her bylines include The Washington Post, The New York Times Syndicate, and The Huffington Post. She has commented widely on religion, politics, and culture widely in the media including USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, FOX, PBS, NPR, Sirius XM, and CBC.
Ashton talks about his daily tips and techniques for leading and living out a life and career of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.
Michael Steger is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology and Applied Social Psychology programs at Colorado State University. He was recently named as an Extraordinary Professor by North-West University in South Africa. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Macalester College and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and Personality Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2005. His graduate work on developing a measure of meaning in life earned him the Best Dissertation Award from the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. He has continued to research the foundations and benefits of living a meaningful life. In addition, he has published research on factors related to achieving well-being, how people adjust to traumatic life events, and social influences on depression. He is the co-editor of Designing Positive Psychology from Oxford University Press, and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace from American Psychological Association Press. His research also investigates what makes work meaningful, and how meaningful work enriches employees and organizations. He currently serves as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Personality, and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals.
Jo Saxton is an author, speaker, leadership coach, church planter and visionary, who empowers women, challenges societal stereotypes and helps people discover who they truly are, by seeing themselves the way God sees them.
A sought-after speaker, Jo has spoken at colleges/universities, churches and acclaimed national conferences including: Q, IF: Gathering, Catalyst and faith-based gatherings across the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Notably, Jo Saxton has also been featured at the esteemed National Day of Prayer.
Ty Clark has been creating in multiple genres since he was 4 years old. Ty grew up in a family imbued by culture. His uncle was Conway “Jiggs” Pierson, the world-renowned Sculptor and Raku artist, who impacted his drive and passion for the arts at an early age. He has been exhibiting nationally for over 15 years and in 2010 was named one of America’s Brightest Young Influencers by Catalyst. Other recipients on the list included Blake MyCoskie (TOMS Shoes), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Scott Harrison (Charity Water), Aaron Cohen (Human Rights Activist), Kyle Korver (NBA), Kohl Crecelius (Krochet Kids), Jon Chu (Director) and Danielle Sturridge (Liverpool EPL).
In search of “The Thin Places”, places on earth where the “Divine Presence” is so strong that they serve as portals from this world to the next, Ty has traveled the globe. He has traveled to 5 continents while spending time living, serving, creating and learning in over 20 countries, and cultures around the world. Ty was recently named one of ten contemporary artists in Austin to watch in 2017 by Culture List. An artist, writer, designer, activist, and filmmaker, Ty has shown his work in over 15 states across the US.
In addition to the influence of his uncle “Jiggs” he studied under American sculptor William Catling while attending Azusa Pacific University’s School of Fine Arts. Also known as SAMO4PREZ, Ty is a founding member of the Veritas Artist Collective, 5D Artists Group, and The ANWA Collective. He has spearheaded collaborations with other artists, organizations, and communities around the world for the past two decades, advancing support and dialogue around issues regarding arts, culture, community building and poverty alleviation.
His work is a representation of his stories, thoughts, prayers and dreams that he has compiled on his journeys, through his friends' stories and his own writings. Ty is a student of music, literature, and film (currently working on 2 feature documentaries), his passion for the history of cultural movements drives his love to create and share on canvas, written and spoken word, through a lens and on screen. He draws on his experience as a leader to facilitate effective communication between diverse groups of people and organizations. Over the years he has mentored a large number of artists and entrepreneurs, volunteered within the arts and local/international community programs, and is committed to sharing his experience, knowledge, and gifts with others.
Dr. Kelly Flanagan is the author of Loveable: Embracing What Is Truest About You, So You Can Truly Embrace Your Life.
Miles Adcox is the CEO/Owner of Onsite, and Milestones at Onsite (extended care center for emotional trauma & co-dependency). Miles speaks nationally on various topics including Emotional Leadership, Inspiration, Communication, Organizational health, Creative Flow, Family Systems, Trauma, and Emotional Wellness.
Miles is a communication, personal growth, and mental health consultant to the music and entertainment industry. He is a featured guest expert on The Dr. Phil Show, and has also been featured on The Doctors, A&E’s Intervention and has been interviewed on codependency, emotional wellness, and family dynamics on several national radio shows. He is a producer of the gripping emotionally transformative documentary in production I’m Done Drowning. Onsite has been featured on 20/20, Good Morning America, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church // Author of Expansive, Enneagram and the Way of Jesus, and Quiet: Hearing God Amidst the Noise // follow on instagram @aj_sherrill
Thad lives in Grand Rapids, MI where he works as a consultant and writes. After spending nearly a decade running sustainable and social businesses, he has shifted focus towards a bigger picture. The conversation is no longer about individual projects or business ideas, but in an ever polarizing society, how do we look at the root causes of systemic issues instead of tirelessly trying to address the symptoms.
https://www.thadcummings.com/
Mike Bagale combines a unique mix of a broadly artistic mind with a calm, pragmatic, and practical approach to running a complex kitchen.
Mike’s artistic interests began in film school, attending Ryerson University in Toronto and the New York Film Academy. In 2002 his interest in cooking began when he enrolled at Florida Culinary in Palm Beach.
In 2004 he began working at the Four Seasons hotels and spent 4 years in their programs from Palm Beach, Washington D.C., and Miami, ending up as the Chef de Cuisine of the 5 Diamond Resort at the Palm Beach property. In 2009, after a successful 2-day tryout, he joined the team at Alinea as chef de partie.
His relentless drive and work ethic moved him quickly up the ladder at Alinea. He was a constant creative collaborator in the kitchen and was promoted to sous chef quickly in 2010. It was that year that he cracked the code to ‘floating food’ with the famous Balloon course. Mike was named Executive Chef of Alinea in 2012.
http://alinearestaurant.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mikebagale
In 2005, Shawn Askinosie left a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer to start a bean to bar chocolate factory and never looked back.
Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch, award winning chocolate factory located in Springfield, Missouri, sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. The only chocolate maker working directly with cocoa farmers on four continents, Shawn travels to regions of Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania to source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled authentic single origin. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a “Stake In the Outcome,” a principle he learned from author/entrepreneur Jack Stack.
Recently named by Forbes "One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America", Askinosie Chocolate has also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, on Bloomberg, MSNBCand numerous other national and international media outlets.
The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other, sharing the Askinosie Chocolate experience by leaving the world a better place than they found it. The company is currently sustainably feeding over 1,600 students per day in Tanzania and the Philippines, without any donations. Founded at the forefront of the American craft chocolate revolution and regarded by many as a vanguard in the industry, Askinosie Chocolate sets the standard: they are one of the few chocolate makers in the world who press their own cocoa butter (to make their chocolate truly single origin) and the only American craft chocolate maker to produce a natural cocoa powder; they were the first American craft chocolate makers to create white chocolate, as well as a chocolate hazelnut spread (says The New York Times: “one spoonful of Askinosie’s Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and all memory of Nutella is gone”).
Shawn was named by O, The Oprah Magazine "One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World." They said, "Why we're fans: The philanthropically-minded chocolate entrepreneur aims to get students thinking about business ethics in a way that could have ripple effects for generations." For his efforts in "Advancing food standards... by creating social, economic, and environmental impact", Shawn was awarded Top Business Leader of the Year in 2013 by the Specialty Food Association. Shawn has been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri State University. In 2015, Askinosie Chocolate was awarded a complimentary membership to the Clinton Global Initiative for the company’s social efforts around the world. Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author, recently praised the company's model: "[Shawn] has built a practice of creating a worthwhile luxury good that directly benefits people. Not sort of. Not a little. But directly.”
Askinosie Chocolate has received 3 Good Food Awards, considered to be the Oscars of food; 6 silver awards from the Specialty Food Association; and 7 International Chocolate Awards, including the Gold World Award for the Dark Chocolate + Licorice bar. The small team at Askinosie works directly with all of their retailers and sells their chocolate into specialty food stores, luxury boutiques, and high-end grocery chains throughout the US in nearly all fifty states and across the globe.
Shawn's book, recently released, co-written with his daughter Lawren, published by Penguin titled "Meaningful Work: The Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul" is an Amazon #1 New Release. Read Seth Godin's review of the book here. He is a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Ava, Missouri and the co-founder of Lost & Found, a grief center serving children and families in Southwest Missouri.
https://www.askinosie.com/
Phileena Heuertz is an author, speaker, spiritual director, retreat guide and yoga instructor.
She is passionate about spirituality and making the world a better place. With a rare gift for communicating the dynamics of the spiritual journey, Phileena gracefully guides others toward personal growth, bringing harmony to the active and contemplative dimensions of life.
http://phileena.com/
John Philip Newell, the celebrated author of Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality, is one of the most prominent teachers of spirituality in the Western world.
In 2011 he received the first-ever Contemplative Voices Award from the Shalem Institute in Washington DC in recognition of his work in spirituality and peacemaking. His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over 15 books, including Christ of the Celts, Praying with the Earth, A New Harmony, and his most recent visionary title The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings.
Transformation, identity, authenticity, change, perception, process, beauty, and time, these are the great mysteries that an artist seeks to dissect, understand, experience and somehow convey through their craft. When you experience the work of Kyle Steed this is precisely what happens...a universal truth within you is dissected, better understood, experienced, and conveyed. Known for his public mural works, Kyle always finds a way to change the space, the air, and the atmosphere of everywhere his work has a chance to be offered to the world.
www.KyleSteed.com
Meditator, writer, and speaker, Yung Pueblo, brings clarity and insight to the hidden things burried within the human experience.
Hugo Ortega is executive chef/co-owner of four of Houston’s top restaurants – Backstreet Cafe, Hugo’s, Caracol and Xochi, and winner of Best Chef: Southwest at the prestigious 2017 James Beard Foundation Awards. (He was a finalist for the award for six consecutive years, 2012- 2017.) Ortega has been recognized locally, nationally and globally for his inspirational story and his passion for sharing traditional Mexican cooking and culture.
Ortega’s American Dream story started at Backstreet Cafe, a neighborhood bistro started by Tracy Vaught in 1983. He began his career in the restaurant business first as dishwasher and busboy and later as a line cook before graduating from culinary school and later becoming Backstreet’s executive chef. He and Vaught married, and together, they have created an award-winning Houston restaurant family that also includes Hugo’s and Caracol.
Ortega was born in Mexico City, the oldest of a family of eight children. At 15, he began working at one of several Procter & Gamble factories in Mexico to help support his family. In 1984, he immigrated to Houston with no contacts or job leads, but determined to make a life for himself in America. Slowly, step-by-step, Ortega began to set down roots in the bustling oil capitol. He shared an apartment with several friends, and followed up on leads for jobs in nearby restaurants. He was happy to find his first job, as a dishwasher, at a popular bar and nightclub. While the pay was meager, Ortega grabbed at the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the restaurant business and find contacts to help him improve his English.
Later, Ortega cleaned the floors in office buildings to supplement his income. With an unexpected turn of bad luck, his roommates moved to California and he lost both of his jobs. He had no income and no place to live. A friend asked Hugo if he wanted to wash dishes and Hugo jumped at the chance. The friend took Hugo to Backstreet Cafe, and this is where the turning point of his life happened.
Ortega worked hard, and showed an interest in working in the kitchen. In Mexico, he learned cooking from his mother and grandmother. Ortega was given a position on the line in the Backstreet kitchen, and he continue to advance from there. Impressed by his hard work and dedication, Vaught offered to enroll Ortega in the Culinary Arts program at Houston Community College. He jumped in with both feet.
Ortega graduated from HCC’s Culinary Arts program in November 1992 and assumed the role of chef at Backstreet Café, then executive chef in 1995.
Ortega is passionate about sharing the traditional foods and culture of his native Mexico with diners. In 2002, he opened the critically acclaimed Hugo’s, which brought Authentic Regional Mexican Cuisine to the forefront of dining. In 2013, the Ortega and Vaught opened their third concept, Caracol, a Mexican coastal kitchen highlighting the richness of seafood found along Mexico’s 16 coastal states; and in January 2017 they opened Xochi, which celebrates the flavors of Oaxaca, Mexico, in the new Marriot Marquis Houston Downtown.
Chef Shota began his culinary journey at the age of sixteen, working for a well-acclaimed sushi restaurant in his hometown of Seattle, WA. At the age of eighteen, Nakajima moved to Osaka, Japan to learn about the art of Japanese cuisine. In Japan, Nakajima had the opportunity to work for Michelin Star rated Chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto. As one would expect, this experience changed Chef Shota’s perspective on cooking.
Since returning to Seattle, it has been Nakajima’s dream to convey Chef Sakamoto’s approach to hospitality and Japanese cuisine in the United States.
http://www.adanaseattle.com/
America’s in the midst of a bread renaissance – just ask Publican Quality Bread’s Head Baker, Greg Wade. Growing up outside Milwaukee, Greg was raised baking with his mother and grandmother, but it wasn’t until years later that he discovered his passion for whole grains, long fermentation and all the other things he speaks effortlessly about under the humble guise of “nerding out.”
After enrolling in The Illinois Institute of Art's Culinary Program, Greg began to notice a void in the Chicago dining scene – excellent restaurants had the desire to serve quality breads made from hydrated doughs and whole grains, but they were hard-pressed to find the space and expertise necessary to bake in their already-bustling kitchens. From that epiphany, Greg found his first home as a baker at Wicker Park’s Taxim, where he specialized in breads and pastries. As his knowledge continued to grow, Greg joined the opening team at Girl & the Goat in 2010. Wade excelled under Chef Stephanie Izard’s tutelage, and in 2013, he moved to Little Goat to oversee bread baking at Girl & the Goat, Little Goat and Little Goat French Market.
Now at the helm of Publican Quality Bread, Greg works hand in hand with Chefs de Cuisine, farmers and retail owners to develop breads to fit restaurant menus and storefronts within and outside the One Off family. Since joining our team in 2014, Greg has grown Publican Quality Bread from a seedling operation within the kitchen of sister restaurant Publican Quality Meats, to a full-fledged wholesale wing. In 2017, Greg’s passion and skills were recognized with a James Beard finalist nomination for Outstanding Baker, alongside people he’s admired greatly throughout the course of his career.
As Publican Quality Bread’s Head Baker, Greg oversees the bread program for all of One Off Hospitality Group, with a focus on whole grains and fermentation. Apart from his day-to-day leadership, Greg is an active member of the local, regional and national farming communities – every July, you can find him leading a two-day Bread Camp along with Marty and Will Travis at Spence Farm in Fairbury, IL. Online, you can witness his technique and commitment to ethical, quality ingredients in the newly released documentary, Sustainable.
Publican Bread Co. -https://www.publicanqualitybread.com/greg-wade/
Sustainable Documentary on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/80134814
Creator of Fearing’s Restaurant and author of The Texas Food Bible, Chef Dean Fearing is known as a “Father of Southwestern Cuisine” and has spent his life cooking for people who love good food.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and following 20-plus years at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dean opened his own Fearing’s Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas in 2007. Since then, he and his popular menu favorites have been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Food and Wine, Southern Living, Forbes, Fox News, Bon Appétit, Garden & Gun, Robb Report, The Food Network, Guitar Aficionado and more. He was recently recognized as a “Pioneer of American Cuisine” by The Culinary Institute of America, and was also presented with the Silver Spoon Award for sterling performance by Food Arts.
Dean is a restaurateur who likes to spend as much time as possible at his restaurant. Most days, he can be spotted in Fearing’s wearing a signature crisp white chef’s coat with colorful boot embroidery, blue jeans and brightly-hued, custom-tooled Lucchese cowboy boots. When not in the kitchen, he is often found strumming his vintage Fender Telecaster guitar, one of a collection of several dozen guitars and amps, playing songs from the album created by his all-chef alternative country group, The Barbwires, or by his Dallas-based Lost Coyote Band. He is also known to spend his spare time searching the countryside for Texas culinary inspiration. The state’s rich variety of peppers, dried chilies, jicama, cilantro, tomatillos, fruits and vegetables, cheeses, Gulf seafood and Hill Country wild game play a major role in Dean’s ever-changing cuisine.
http://fearingsrestaurant.com/
Michael Tusk is the Chef and Owner, along with his wife Lindsay, of two of San Francisco’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, Quince and Cotogna. His approach to Italian and French regional cuisine is refined and modern, taking inspiration from the seasonal bounty of Northern California and his close relationships with local purveyors.
A native of New Jersey, Tusk graduated from Tulane University with a degree in Art History and attended the Culinary Institute of America
in Hyde Park, New York. After completing his studies, Tusk left for Europe to gain experience in Michelin-starred restaurants throughout France and Italy. His experience in Italy’s Barbaresco region resonated most profoundly and was the catalyst for his sustained interest in Northern Italian regional cuisine.
Tusk returned to the United States in 1988 and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area where he contributed to the success of some of the
country’s most pioneering, influential restaurants including Stars and Chez Panisse. In December 2003, Tusk and his wife Lindsay opened Quince, and the restaurant quickly became one of San Francisco’s top fine-dining destinations. In November 2010 they opened Cotogna, a bustling, rustic Italian restaurant adjacent to Quince.
The James Beard Foundation has recognized Tusk’s contributions to the industry and named him “Best Chef: Pacific”. Under Tusk's helm, Quince has also been awarded four stars by the San Francisco Chronicle, three stars from the Michelin Guide and is a distinguished member of Relais & Châteaux.
Quince - http://www.quincerestaurant.com/
Cotogna - http://cotognasf.com/
Relais & Châteaux -https://www.relaischateaux.com/us/chef/michael-tusk
Tyson co-founded Uchi in 2003 as the restaurant’s Executive Chef. Before Uchi, he was a passionate student of the Japanese sushi tradition, training for more than 10 years in a variety of roles from dishwasher to head sushi chef in Tokyo, New York, and Austin, under two different sushi masters. Formative years were spent at Musashino, one of Austin’s top sushi restaurants, where he completed an intensive traditional apprenticeship under owner Takehiko Fuse. The two spent time in Japan, where Tyson experienced the food and gained technical skill. Fuse challenged him to learn the Japanese language, which helped Tyson learn more about the cuisine. He later trained at Bond Street, one of the busiest sushi restaurants in New York City. After Uchi opened in 2003, Tyson was recognized as one of Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs of 2005. In 2010, he opened Uchiko and in 2011, he celebrated the release of the Uchi Cookbook. Later that year, Tyson also received a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest.
https://uchiaustin.com/
Sleeping At Last is the moniker of Chicago-based singer-songwriter, producer and composer, Ryan O’Neal.
Sleeping At Last can be heard frequently on popular TV Shows and Films such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, The Fault In Our Stars – Trailer, Grey’s Anatomy, So You Think You Can Dance, Criminal Minds, Bones, The Vampire Diaries, J.J. Abrams & Alfonso Cuaron’s Believe and many more.
Show notes:
Sleeping At Last http://www.sleepingatlast.com/
The Sacred Enneagram by Chris Heuertz https://gravitycenter.com/sacredenneagram/
What is the Enneagram? https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/
Jer Swigart is a social innovator, an organizer, a professor, and the cofounding director of The Global Immersion Project, a peacemaking training organization that forms, equips, and mobilizes individuals and communities to enter any kind of conflict to heal rather than to win. He was the founder and lead pastor of The Open Door Community, a courageous collective of people pursuing God’s dream for the San Francisco Bay area, and he is a contributing author to a number of books that focus on theology, leadership, justice, and reconciliation.
A modern-day peacemaker, Jer has found himself contending for restoration in beautifully bizarre corners of our global village. Whether in the tribes of northern Pakistan, the slums of India, the red-light districts of Southeast Asia, the violence of Israel and Palestine, or the racial injustice of his own neighborhood, Jer loves people in a way that disarms violence and dismantles divides. His engagement within national and international conflicts has formed him into a guide for the church as she seeks to leverage her influence as an instrument of peace in our world.
A sought-after speaker, Jer frequently teaches in the areas of peacemaking and conflict transformation, faith and culture, neighbor and enemy love, spiritual formation, culture creating, and innovative leadership. He completed his undergrad at The University of Northwestern-St. Paul and has an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary, where he received the prestigious David Allen Hubbard Award. He currently resides with his family in Bend, Oregon.
Linkg to Mending the Divides - https://www.amazon.com/Mending-Divides-Creative-Conflicted-World/dp/0830844848
Christopher L. Heuertz was first introduced to the Enneagram in the slums of Cambodia. Since then he has trained under some of the great living Enneagram masters including Father Richard Rohr, Russ Hudson, Marion Gilbert, and Helen Palmer, and now teaches the Enneagram in workshops and retreats around the world. Chris is an International Enneagram Association Accredited Professional. He and his wife Phileena live in Omaha with their puppy Basil, and you can join him on Facebook and Twitter in his intentions to love on the margins.
Find more information on Chris and his latest book, The Sacred Enneagram, at https://gravitycenter.com/sacredenneagram/.
Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981. Brian is also the author of several books, including, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, and Beauty Will Save the World.
For more information on Brian and his books, visit https://brianzahnd.com/books/.
Aaron McHugh is a writer, podcaster, adventurer and author of the best-selling book, Fire Your Boss: A Manifesto to Rethink How You Think About Work. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that constantly interweaves rhythms of play and adventure. That includes road trips in their 1974 VW Bus, aka The Joy Bus, catapulting them into many father-daughter adventures together.
For information on his Reboot gathering, visit https://www.aaronmchugh.com/rebootworkshop/
Gideon Tsang is a pastor at Vox Venaie. He leads this community in Austin, TX as they are collectively learning to find ways for love and life to intersect and coming to understand how we can do more together than we can do alone.
He joins us in this episode of let the music play podcast as we discuss his personal reflections what community is and how it can be a gift to the world.
Vox Veniae - http://voxveniae.com/
@GideonTsang - https://www.instagram.com/gideontsang/
Sister Joan Chittister has beautifully been a conduit for the message of faith, hope, and love for over 60 years. Following the heritage and order of Saint Benedict, Sister Joan has become one of today's leading spiritual voices, bringing her energy and fiery spirit to everything she does. It's through this voice that builds bridges across all religions that Sister Joan joins us at Let The Music Play Podcast as we discuss discovering the presence of the divine under our very feet and how we can honor and celebrate the humanity of everyone whose path we intersect.
In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we’d rather avoid, and even more importantly, how the Divine can meets us in that pain.
Roger W. Thompson has become a better version of himself because of the time he has spent in natural wonders of mountains, deserts, and oceans. These are sacred places, where God still speaks through the wild. He records his thoughts by journal through these travels in We Stood Upon Stars, providing insights of the American wilderness and how, if we listen, its Voice will speak truth into our doubts and searches.
Mike Morrell is the Communications Director for the Integral Theology think-tank Presence International, co-founder of The Buzz Seminar, and a founding organizer of the Wild Goose Festival.
He curates contemplative and community experiences via Relational Yoga, the ManKind Project, (H) Opp and Authentic North Carolina, taking joy in holding space for the extraordinary transformation that can take place at the intersection of anticipation, imagination, and radical acceptance.
Mike is also an avid writer, publishing consultant, author coach, futurist, and curator of the book-reviewing community at TheSpeakeasy.info.
His latest work, which he co-authored with Fr. Richard Rohr, was The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation.
Shane is an executive coach, sought after speaker, and author of several award winning books. His most recent is Cats Don’t Bark: A Guide to Knowing Who You Are, Accepting Who You Are Not, and Living Your Unique Purpose (Hachette, 2015). Through his unique coaching techniques, trainings, and workshops he unlocks purpose, potential, and creativity.
John Mark Comer lives Portland, OR, with his with wife Tammy and their three kids – Jude, Moses, and Sunday.
He's the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church, right in the center of the city (by Powell's Books if you've ever been to Portland).
John Mark is also the author of numerous books; My Name is Hope, Loveology, Garden City, and his most recent, God has a Name.
Dr. Kelly Flanagan is the author of Lovable: Embracing What Is Truest About You, So You Can Truly Embrace Your Life. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist and co-founder of Artisan Clinical Associates in Naperville, IL. He writes and blogs regularly about the redemption of our personal, relational, and communal lives. Kelly is married, has three children, and enjoys learning from them how to be a kid again.
A gifted pastor, teacher, writer, and leader, AJ Sherrill has over 15 years of pastoral experience in diverse church settings across the nation. He is the author of Enneagram and the Way of Jesus, Quiet: Hearing God Amidst the Noise (2014), and Urban Disciple: Following Jesus through the Gospel of Matthew (2013). AJ holds two masters degrees in theology and a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary.
REV. JAMES MARTIN, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth. Father Martin has written for many publications, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a regular commentator in the national and international media. He has appeared on all the major radio and television networks, as well as in venues ranging from NPR’s Fresh Air, FOX’s The O’Reilly Factor, and PBS’s NewsHour to Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. Before entering the Jesuits in 1988, Father Martin graduated from the Wharton School of Business and worked for General Electric for six years.
Beth Winterburn's work is characterized by bold, gestural brush strokes and minimalist detail. As a nod to her analytical roots in photography and architecture, she approaches each piece with a mathematical mindset - counting evens and odds, balancing lights and darks, visually "slicing" the composition into thirds and fifths. She approaches her work as if it's a problem to solve: combining and contrasting elements with and against one another to create a cohesive yet dynamic piece. Beth's work is an exploration of contrast, tension and resolve. Methodical by nature, she challenges her own ideas of control by experimenting with materials, allowing them to behave as they naturally would, with subtle direction. Each canvas, piece of paper or panel is an invitation to engage - to feel, to react, to explore the tension and resolve of each and every element and property used to build it.
Beth joins us in Episode 53 at Let the Music Play Podcast as we discuss process, the why behind her work, and her story of crafting a career through a medium she enjoys and is passionate about.
Rebekah Lyons is the author of Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning and You Are Free: Be Who You Already Are (released February 21, 2017.)
She is a mother of three, wife of one, and dog walker of two living in Nashville. She’s an old soul with a contemporary, honest voice who puts a new face on the struggles we all face as we seek to live a life of meaning.
Through emotive writing and speaking, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety, depression, and consumer impulses—challenging people to discover and boldly pursue the calling God has for them.
As a self-confessed mess, Rebekah wears her heart on her sleeve, a benefit to friends and readers alike.
Aaron Niequist is a worship leader, song-writer, and pastor in the Chicago area.
After leading worship at Mars Hill Church (Grand Rapids, MI) and Willow Creek Church (Barrington, IL), he created A New Liturgy - a collection of modern liturgical recordings.
Currently, Aaron is curating a discipleship-focused, formational, practice-based community at Willow Creek called The Practice.
Aaron McHugh writes and speaks about how restore balance and discover your path to a well-lived life.
He's also an Ironman triathlete, a mountaineer, and a student of curiosity.
Aaron joins us in this episode of Let The Music Play Podcast, as he teaches and describes for us what it looks like to live and find "a third way" in our lives.
After living in a season of stillness and solitude, Jay Shetty took his experience as a monk in India to empower his passion and hope for the world...making wisdom go viral.
In the last 10 years Jay has helped more than 10,000 people find their purpose through ancient wisdom. Jay has developed workshops and delivered keynotes to empower people to successfully apply mindfulness techniques in their lives.
Jay's video "Changing the world begins with us" featured by The Huffington post received 10 million + views in just 5 days of launch.
His work has also appeared on BBC Radio London, BBC Asia Network, and Shortlist Magazine.
Jay joins us in this episode of let the music play podcast, as we discuss the journey of awakening to the reality that happiness is an
inside job.
This episode highlights a number of our guests and the conversations we had with them around the topics of love, hope, beauty, wonder, mystery, and whimsy.
The song provided in this episode is "Saturn" from Sleeping At Last.
James Finley, Ph.D. lived as a monk at the cloistered Trappist monastery of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where the world-renowned monk and author, Thomas Merton, was his spiritual director.
Currently, Jim leads retreats and workshops throughout the United States and Canada, attracting men and women from all religious traditions who seek to live a contemplative way of life in the midst of today's busy world. He is also a clinical psychologist in private practice with his wife in Santa Monica, California.
In this episode Jim shares his insights and reflections on the work of Meister Eckhart.
Before age 30, Erin Loechner built a fan base of one million women worldwide and earned the title “The Nicest Girl Online” as she was praised for her authentic voice and effortless style. Though she received applause from The New York Times, friends and family, she was still left wanting more.
In her upcoming book Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path (Zondervan, January 10, 2017), Loechner shares her journey away from fast, fame and frenzy to a new-fashioned lifestyle of less. Less want, more contentment. Less busy, more rest. Less pressure, more happiness. Less striving, more acceptance. Less fast, more slow.
Mike is a friend of imperfectionists and second chancers. For the past 15 years he has focused his work on helping people flourish in their lives by helping them be passionate about their not-so-perfect stories.
Mike is also the founder and Chief Chance Officer at People of the Second Chance. This non-profit organization is guided by this lofty ideal: that every person on earth deserves a second chance.
Mike speaks and writes on topics of identity, shame and how to turn our hurts and hang-ups into an unfair advantage.
His work has also been featured on Good Morning America, Fox News and in the New York Times.
Rory Vaden is the world’s leader on defining the psychology around modern day procrastination, called Priority Dilution™ - in fact, he coined the term. He speaks and consults on how to say no to the things that don’t matter, and yes to the things that do. His client list includes companies and groups such as: Cargill, The Million Dollar Roundtable, P&G, True Value, YPO, Wells Fargo Advisors, Land O’Lakes, Novartis, and hundreds more. His insights have recently been featured on/in: Fox News, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Inc, Fortune, and the New York Times.
At the age of thirty Jedidiah Jenkins got on a bicycle and road from Oregon to Patagonia. Sixteen months later he arrived in Patagonia and he is now sharing his insights on choosing your own life and living with intention.
Now serving as the executive editor of Wilderness Magazine, Jedidiah joins us in this podcast as we discuss his journey with Mystery, his love affair with metaphors, and how to cultivate a life of wonder and awe in the magic of the mundane.
Ashton shares some of the words, ideas, beliefs, and mantras he's gathered and used over the years.
Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of nine books, including her latest, Grounded: Finding God in the World—A Spiritual Revolution
Diana regularly speaks at conferences, leads educational events for religious leaders, and teaches in a variety of venues.
She also writes at The Huffington Post and The Washington Post and comments on religion, politics, and culture in the media including USA TODAY, Time, CNN, FOX, PBS, and NPR.
Diana joins us in this episode of Let The Music Play Podcast as we discuss how to connect the dots of awe, action, and compassion, how we may collectively relocate our idea of God to reground our lives, and how we can be moved by the Love that enlivens the earth and the Mystery that is with us, for us, and ahead of us.
Miles Adcox is the CEO/Owner of Onsite, and Milestones at Onsite (extended care center for emotional trauma & co-dependency). Miles owns and operates Onsite Music Publishing. He also owns and manages Experiential Adventures and A & N Properties. He co-founded Peak Performance Brain Training and co-owns H Financial Services. Miles co-founded a long-term trauma program in California. He also co-founded a Trauma certification program for therapist and practitioners and runs the American Society of Experiential Therapist (ASET) organization certifying and training experiential therapist all over the world.
Miles is a communication, personal growth, and mental health consultant to the music and entertainment industry. Miles is the host and consulting producer of Fox’s The Daily Helpline and is a featured guest expert on The Dr. Phil Show. He is also been featured on The Doctors, A&E’s Intervention and has been interviewed on codependency, emotional wellness, and family dynamics on several national radio shows. He is a producer of the gripping emotionally transformative documentary in production I’m Done Drowning. Onsite has been featured on 20/20, Good Morning America, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Glennon Doyle Melton is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Carry On, Warrior and her latest memoir, Love Warrior, which was released September 6th. Glennon is also the founder of Momastery, an online community reaching millions of people each week. She is the creator and president of Together Rising—a non-profit organization that has raised over four million dollars for families around the world through its Love Flash Mobs, which have revolutionized online giving.
Glennon is a sought-after public speaker and her work has been featured on the TODAY Show, The Talk, OWN, and NPR and in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Glamour, Family Circle, Parents Magazine, Newsweek, Woman’s Day, and in other television and print outlets.
Glennon currently lives in Florida with her family and joins us in this episode of Let The Music Play Podcast as we discuss coming to know crisis as an invitation and how we confront the pain in our lives to claim the beauty of our days.
Shauna Niequist is the author of Cold Tangerines, Bittersweet, Bread & Wine, and Savor. Her latest book ,Present Over Perfect, was released on August 9th of this year.
In this episode, Shauna shares her journey ‘from exhaustion to peace, from isolation to connection, and from hustling and multi-tasking to presence’.
For much of Tyler Merrick's life he has been a successful entrepreneur and benefactor for good across multiple platforms and organizations. Yet in 2008 Tyler found himself at a professional crossroads wanting to help more people through his business endeavors and be a catalyst for change in a continually inward consumer centric culture.
The answer was simple... "products for good!"
"If people are going to buy things, lots of things. Then let's use those things they purchase to help change the world around us. Let's make everyday products for everyday people to solve everyday problems around the globe".
In 2008, Tyler Merrick became a Social Entrepreneur and Project 7 was born; a company dedicated to making 'Products for Good".
Mike Radparvar is one of the co-founders of Holstee. Their mission is to help people live a reflective and intentional life. They do this by creating art that inspires reflection and words that encourage action.The Holstee Manifesto has been viewed over one hundred million times online and The Holstee Subscription explores one mindful theme each month through art, words and action. Visit Holstee.com for more information.
Sleeping At Last is the moniker of Chicago-based singer-songwriter, producer and composer, Ryan O’Neal.
Shane Claiborne is a co-founder and board member of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped birth and connect radical faith communities around the world.
His work has appeared in Esquire, SPIN, Christianity Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has been seen on everything from Fox News and Al Jazeera to CNN and NPR. He’s also given academic lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Liberty, Duke, and Notre Dame. Currently, Shane speaks regularly at denominational gatherings, festivals, and conferences around the globe.
Riffs, insights, and revelations on interacting with the now in the midst of the mundane and everyday experiences of being human.
Aaron McHugh is a writer, blogger, podcaster, and career liberator. He is mastering the art of living a sustainable work-life balance that includes rhythms of play constantly woven in. Aaron joins Let The Music Play Podcast in episode twenty-four as we discuss the world through his metaphors, his story of overcoming The Resistance and burnout, and what he calls our "emotional caloric expenditures".
Parker J. Palmer, founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Promise of Paradox, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy.
Benedictine monk Fr. Ed Leahy shares the inspirational story and mission of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey.
Rob Bell is a bestselling author, international teacher, and highly sought after public speaker. At age 28 he founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, and under his leadership it was one of the fastest-growing churches in America. In 2011 he was profiled in Time Magazine as one of their 100 most influential people. Rob was featured on Oprah’s 2014 Life You Want Tour and has spoken at events all over the world. He and his wife Kristen have three children and live in Los Angeles. On March 8, 2016 Rob released his latest book, How To Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living.
Robbie Seay is best know for his career as a songwriter, recording artist & worship leader. Founding the Robbie Seay Band in 2001, RSB has released 7 albums including the critically acclaimed 2007 EMI release "Give Yourself Away". Songs from these recordings have been featured in multiple tv shows and movies including American Idol, One Tree Hill & numerous shows on the ABC network. In this episode we also share his cover of "I Went Up To The Mountain" by Patty Griffin.
"Throw off your tiredness. Let me show you one tiny spot of the beauty that cannot be spoken. I am like an ant that has gotten into the granary, ludicrously happy, and trying to lug out a grain that is way too big." Rumi
Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. Fr. Richard is the author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Simplicity, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, and Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi.
Jay Papasan is a bestselling author, Vice President of Rellek Publishing, co-owner of Keller Capital, and co-owner, alongside his wife Wendy, of Papasan Properties Group with Keller Williams Realty in Austin, Texas. The books he’s helped craft have collectively sold over 8 million copies. His most recent work with Gary Keller on The ONE Thing has sold over half a million copies worldwide and garnered more than 350 appearances on national bestseller lists, including #1 on The Wall Street Journal’s hardcover business list.
Phileena Heuertz is passionate about spirituality and making the world a better place. With a rare gift for communicating the dynamics of the spiritual journey, Phileena gracefully guides others toward personal growth, bringing harmony to the active and contemplative dimensions of life. In this episode, our conversation revolves around the conversation of cultivating stillness, silence, and solitude with our lives.
As we approach 2016, Ashton's bring a new look into goal setting and establishing a theme for your new year.
This is a short episode with Ashton riffing on the beauty that unfolds with uncertainty, mystery, and Divinity.
In this episode Ashton discusses his waltz with autumn and the awakening metaphor it can be for all of us. Music this episode is War On Drugs & the books mentioned in this episode are Falling Upward - Richard Rohr, Rising Strong - Brene Brown, and Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better - Pema Chodron.
This podcast Ashton discusses gathering the dots of insight, information, and enlightenment.
In this episode we talk about losing the proverbial scorecard and opening our lives to the possibility and abundance that surrounds us.
This podcast we talk about gaining awareness to the things that on our metaphorical radio dial and how they play into our being, lives, relationships, and businesses.
In this episode we discuss the crayons we left in kindergarten and how we can reclaim them, Seth Godin and his book Linchpin, and the music of Sleeping At Last.