Making Space for Conversations That Matter with Laura Prisc: Recent Episodes
Laura Prisc
I believe we are all longing for deeper connection with the people in our lives. We crave acknowledgment that what we do makes an impact. That who we are matters. And I’m tired of the superficial, shallow interactions that permeate most relationships. So, I am stepping off the well-beaten path to create the space to listen and explore. By “creating the space” I mean blocking out some uninterrupted time and choosing to be fully present with someone to engage in a meaningful conversation. Through Making Space for Conversations that Matter, I’ll intentionally engage in those conversations and I invite you to join me. Together, we’ll take the time to explore and discover the brilliance, creativity, and wisdom of my guests through real, honest, and heartfelt conversation about what matters most and how they’re pursuing purpose in their lives. If you’re longing for authenticity, deep meaning, significance, and powerful connection with others, this Podcast is for you!
Get comfy and settle in for your last opportunity to eavesdrop on a new episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter. Listen in as Host, Laura Prisc, tells and abbreviated story about how the podcast came to be and how she knew it was time to release it.
She’s still very much engaged in her work and eager to see what new doors open as Ishe closes this one. You can still easily find her if you’re so inclined. Just drop her a line at laura@lauraprisc.com or connect with her through the links below and let her know what’s on your mind.
Thanks for eavesdropping and have an intentional day!
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
In 2013, Host, Laura Prisc, participated in a workshop series designed to help her create or find her dream job. Part of the process was imagining and articulating what her “dream life” looked like. Eavesdrop on her today, as she takes a look back and what she imagined for her life and work at that time, and how it has unfolded.
Perhaps it will spark your thinking and desire to engage in a similar exercise. After all, wouldn’t you rather be the active driver and voice in deciding what kind of life you want to live, rather than taking on the roles other people think would be best for you (and often in response to filling gaps and needs they have…)?
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
It’s always fun to encounter a kindred spirit – someone on a very similar journey, whose thinking and beliefs are aligned with your own… and that’s exactly what host, Laura Prisc, experienced during this week’s episode, getting to know MaryBeth Hyland.
MaryBeth is striving to bring the essence of what it means to be human back into our lives and work. Her desire was borne of her personal experience, working in a company that looked like it had it all together from the outside, but turned out to be a dysfunctional culture once she was immersed in it.
“I was experiencing too much internal discord to stay,” she explains, going further to say that the awareness that one is out of alignment with others, or an organization is sometimes sudden and sometimes creeps up on you. Either way, it’s uncomfortable and unhealthy to stay.
Having experienced something similar in more than one organization and having to work her way through releasing the guilt and shame associated with the perception of “quitting,” she’s taken some bold and decisive steps to take back her life and work, and to share what she’s learned with the people and organizations she now works with.
Listen in as she shares her story, including how she chose to extract herself from a women’s organization in which she was the 5th generation in her family to be involved. Breaking the cycle, as they say, is not easy even when it’s clear it’s the right decision. It comes with a lot of emotion, baggage, legacy, and expectation.
Take some time to contemplate your core values and discern whether they are truly yours, or you’ve merely absorbed / inherited them from others. Ask yourself, “How did I get here?” and “Is this where I want to be in my life?”
Perhaps you’ll discover it’s time for a change in your life, or you’ll rest assured that you are in fact living a life you desire. Either way, it’s a thought-provoking and engaging conversation.
MaryBeth’s Bio
As the Founder and Chief Visionary of SparkVision, MaryBeth Hyland knows that extraordinary success is rooted in the vision, values, and culture crafted by purpose-driven leaders and their teams. With over a decade of experience, built on knowledge from a BA in Social Work and MS in Nonprofit Management, she’s known for her ability to guide individuals and teams to know, own, and live their values.
And she does that with the understanding that we all have a deep desire to know and return to our most authentic selves – at work, home, and within.
As a certified mediator, mindfulness instructor, and values expert she engages audiences and teams all over the world with her authentic style of facilitation, coaching, and empowerment.
Her recent awards include, “Circle of Excellence,” “Innovator of the Year,” “Top 100 Women,” “Civic Engagement Leader,” and “Leading Women.” She has also been recognized as a leading expert by The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and more.
Author of “Permission to Be Human: The Conscious Leader’s Guide to Creating Values-Driven Culture,” her personal life’s mission is to create spaces where voices are heard, stories are released, and alignment is ignited.
Connect with MaryBeth:
SparkVision
On LinkedIn
Get the Book: Permission to be Human
One of the greatest ways to build your influence and leadership abilities is to lead when you have no official authority. We most often encounter this situation when working with volunteers. Host, Laura Prisc, wasn’t expecting to discover this framework within a hospital, however, that’s exactly what she uncovered when she engaged in a meaningful conversation with Brent Jackson, MD, VP and Chief Medical Officer of Dignity Health, located in Sacramento, CA.
While he was a practicing physician and general surgeon for many years, he decided to step away from his practice and shift into an administrative role. While he’s a member of the health center’s Executive Team, the physicians he advocates for, and guides do not report to him in the typical sense. Turns out, they are contracted through the hospital, rather than actual employees.
As such, Brent had to approach leading them a bit differently than we imagine it working. As the liaison between the Executive Team and the Medical Staff, he sees himself functioning as the voice of the physicians, advocating, supporting, and serving them.
To do that, he focuses on relationship building, which allows him to earn credibility and build trust over time. They come to see him as transparent, reliable, and having their best interests in mind, and that’s how it works.
Not surprisingly, these particular skills – what many would frame as ‘soft skills’ – were not taught in medical school. Medical school teaching was more aligned with the command & control model of leadership, which really doesn’t work well long-term.
It wasn’t until Brent went back to earn his MBA that he saw what he’d been missing. He built new and deeper listening skills, came to understand how much it matters for people to understand why things happen the way they do, and recognizes that each of the people with whom he interacts is having a slightly different experience, with a different perspective about how things work.
It’s a powerful exploration that touches on all things leadership, embracing growth, relationship building, and self-care (hint: one of his practices, which he shares openly, is playing the guitar).
Dr. Jackson’s Bio
Brent C Jackson, MD, MS, MBA, FACS — Dr. Jackson is currently the Chief Medical Officer for Mercy General Hospital, a Dignity Health facility in Sacramento, California. He was a practicing General Surgeon for 15 years before retiring from clinical practice to pursue a career as a physician leader. He went back to school for his MBA while working as a Medical Director for River City Medical Group, a Medi-Cal IPA. He then worked as the Physician Advisor for Mercy General Hospital before being promoted into the VP/CMO role. He finished his MBA in 2020. Dr. Jackson also holds a B.A. from UC San Diego in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, an M.S. in Neuroscience from Case Western Reserve University, and an M.D., also from CWRU. He also served for eight years in the US Air Force Reserves and earned an Honorable Discharge at the rank of Major. In his spare time, he plays guitar, participates in high-performance driving events, and spends time with family, including his four grandchildren.
Connect with Brent:
On LinkedIn
Wayne Mullins is a breath of fresh air; he’s a marketer who focuses on human connection and understands that while the common label for what’s happening online these days – “social media” – is really not social, rather ‘digital.’
“People show up and throw up,” he explains to host, Laura Prisc. Whatever message one feels compelled to share is thrown up on some digital media platform or channel, and the sender gets frustrated when there’s no response, or the response is other than what was desired. It’s not real communication; it’s sound bites, snippets, and surface, rather than deep, meaningful, and real exploration and discussion about the things that are most important to us.
Based on the idea that ‘people do business with people,’ he focuses his work with Ugly Mug Marketing on what his clients are trying to accomplish, then designs a plan to help them achieve that specific goal. He encourages his clients to focus on the results, not the form through which the message is delivered.
Laura shares a similar perspective, learned during her time working in a small advertising agency. She explains how often a client would come looking for a particular form of advertising, and she and the team in the agency would back them up to get to the root of what they were hoping for in an outcome. Begin with the end in mind and work backwards to design the solution; she still uses that approach today with her coaching and consulting clients.
While he’s busy running his business and leading people, he sees himself as a person trainer of sorts, pushing people to grow into their potential. Coming to this awareness was a stretch for him, as it wasn’t addressed in business school! The academic focus was on the elements of the stuff of business, but Wayne soon discovered that the ‘people ARE the business!” So, he now focuses on investing his time, effort, and energy on building relationships and nurturing them.
It’s been said on this podcast before, “if you take good care of your people, they will take great care of your business!” It’s truly that simple! Listen in for this, and so much more insight and wisdom.
Wayne’s Bio
Wayne Mullins is the founder and CEO of Ugly Mug Marketing. Over the past 20 years, he has scaled multiple companies and helped hundreds of entrepreneurs do the same with their companies.
Ugly Mug Marketing has won the praises of some of the leading influencers in the business world, such as, Chris Voss (New York Times Best Selling Author of Never Split the Difference), Neil Patel (Founder of QuickSprout & Kissmetrics), and Ari Weinzweig (Co-Founder of Zingerman’s). Wayne’s work directly influences more than one hundred thousand entrepreneurs annually through his blog, books, and training programs. Wayne has personally worked with clients in over 100 industries - from every corner of the globe. And through his books and training programs, Wayne directly influences more than a quarter million entrepreneurs each year.
Connect with Wayne:
Ugly Mug Marketing
On Facebook
On LinkedIn
Instagram @uglymugmarketing
Snapchat uglymarketing
By phone: 318-290-3430
Recently, I was facilitating a workshop for some middle managers in a health facility when something I suspected was reinforced in a powerful way… In fact, as I reflect on the conversation as it unfolded, there was definitely an undertone of anger and hostility.
They are operating within a paradigm that dictates a certain approach and commitment to work and life; choices are limited and it’s not ok to step outside the lines. However, they are encountering a generation that appears to have decided the predefined box of how work and life is, does NOT work for them.
They are making different choices, choosing not the play the game. It’s creating ripples, and perhaps resentment. Listen in to this brief and solo episode with Host, Laura Prisc, and consider the implications of this issue in your own life and work
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
Conversation about the perils of living on autopilot and how to break the cycle of insanity!
Trite, perhaps, but true… The higher you go in an organization the more isolated you become. On today’s episode, Laura explores a few of the reasons leaders are lonely, often feel isolated, and how to get the support they need to lead effectively and with confidence.
Explore your thinking about leadership by listening to this episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter, with host, Laura Prisc.
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
When someone doesn’t have a clear vision for what they want or are working towards, it’s nearly impossible to make progress. As a productivity coach for entrepreneurs, Todd works with a variety of clients who often have a few things in common: Lack of clarity about what they are striving to create or achieve, inability or unwillingness to make decisions, and no clear plan forward.
He is able to skillfully help his clients discern their focus, make decisions, and craft easy-to-follow action plans. In alignment with Laura’s principle that “One Size Does NOT Fit All,” Todd has a lot of tools and processes at his disposal, from which he picks and chooses based on each client’s specific needs.
His background is as a clinical psychologist, having done significant work in trauma disorders, relationship counseling, and marital counseling, but working with business owners is his sweet spot. “I love the pace, the opportunity to help clients implement quickly, and see a real-world impact,” he explained.
Laura and Todd also explore his youth and some unique experiences growing up, that sparked his interest in personal and professional development. As with any good ‘travel guide,’ he is able to serve his clients well because he’s traveled a similar path.
Todd’s Bio
Dr. Snyder has completed both a Master's Degree and a Doctoral degree at Baylor University's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience in Texas. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Baltimore, Maryland, he moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, (near Chicago) where he currently lives with his wife and two sons.
He has worked as a self-discipline coach, stress-management consultant, and productivity consultant for people all over the globe. Prior to developing his current specialty, Snyder worked as a clinical psychologist in private practice, as a marriage counselor, and as a relationship coach.
Due to word of mouth and a few interviews, he inadvertently became a consultant to business owners in the world of online e-commerce, especially in the areas of integration marketing, productivity, and decision making.
Throughout his career, he has been a student of what he calls "active ingredients" of success. These are the few variables that make the biggest difference when trying to accomplish a specific goal or outcome.
In his various roles as counselor and consultant, he became increasingly aware of the power of decisions to steer people's lives toward happiness or misery, success or frustration. The problem is, when it comes to productivity, most of us don’t feel in control of the decisions we make about where we focus our limited time and energy.
Fortunately, he’s found a solution for that problem. As a student of peak performance, he continuously refines the key insights and mental models that can flip the switch for uncommon results.
You can find Todd here:
Todd Snyder Coaching
Todd on LinkedIn
When I think about leadership, it’s clear to me that I need to lead myself first before I can hope to influence and lead others. Part of leading myself first means being awake enough to know that I’m the causative force in my life. What I’m experiencing is the direct result of my best thinking, decisions, actions, and behaviors before today.
For years, decades even, there was a lot of talk of ‘work-life balance.’ Personally, I think it’s a bunch of hooey! By simply thinking about the number of hours each day holds and the basics of how we typically spend that time – sleeping, working, traveling, eating, spending time with family and friends – we know it’s not possible for that scale to balance!
What I’ve discovered is the concept of Life-Work Integration… I’ve learned to ask myself the question: How can I design and create my whole life – making room for all the pieces-parts I want to fit into it – and feel healthy, rested, creative, and fulfilled? It will require thoughtfulness, intention, awareness, and flexibility… sure! But I think it’s possible.
Discover more about how this works and how it might work for you by listening to this episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter, with host Laura Prisc.
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
Every day, we are faced with numerous choices… who we’re going to be, how we’re going to show up, what we’ll do or not do, what to wear, what to eat, where to go… some days it literally feels endless, and perhaps even overwhelming.
But it’s important, sometimes crucial, even, for you to recognize that the choice truly is yours.
In this week’s episode, Laura shares some personal stories, insights, and ideas on how many choices we are faced with daily and how even indecision is a choice. The consequences may be minimal or monumental, but it’s hard to choose correctly when operating on autopilot.
Truly, the choice is yours… and I hope you’ll make it, purposely, thoughtfully, intentionally… with consideration for the potential outcomes, choosing that which is most desirable and aligned with what you are hoping to create in the world.
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
Wise advice: Learn from those who have actually experienced what you’re experiencing and have successfully found a path forward. When it comes to loving yourself and your body – exactly as you are, and it is, today – Teddey has been there and done that!
As she shares her story with Host, Laura Prisc, Teddey says, “I used to think: There’s something wrong with me and my body.” She didn’t fit the cultural expectations for who she was supposed to be. “I felt like I couldn’t get my life started… I was dancing around opportunities and doing all the things I ‘should’ do to change my body, but it wasn’t working.”
Teddey was on a destructive ‘binge-restrict’ cycle, filled with shame and guilt, when she heard someone speaking about what she had been experiencing, realized it was something ‘real’ that others were struggling with, as well, and she began her path to healing through an intensive therapy program.
She learned to be kind to herself; to develop and follow more nourishing eating habits and other ways of taking real care of herself. In the process, she worked through and healed a lot of old trauma.
Today, she works with women experiencing similar challenges. She uses Reiki, Tapping, and other energetic work along with coaching to help her clients heal themselves.
Laura and Teddey discuss how our culture has normalized a lot of insane beliefs and practices that are so damaging. It’s a deep and rich conversation and hopefully will inspire you to want to come back into yourself and live a more purposeful life.
Teddey’s Bio:
Teddey Hicks is the Food & Body Love Coach. She runs a membership for ambitious women who want an easy and affordable way to stop battling food and develop the confidence to live their best lives and make the money they deserve in the bodies they have right now. Teddey is an intuitive eating coach trained in Reiki, EFT, and hypnosis, and uses all these tools to help her members achieve peace with food and self-confidence.
Connect with Teddey:
Teddey Online
Teddey’s Group on Facebook
Begin with the end in mind. This is sage advice: Discern what it is you are trying to create. Cast a vision and articulate it clearly. Once you’ve done that, you can craft a plan that culminates in the achievement of that goal and one that allows you to “start well.”
This is the jumping off point for today’s episode, a meaningful conversation with Consultant, Don Davis. Davis worked for many years in GE, helping start-ups come to life. As he was contemplating what he wanted to do with his life and work long-term, he recognized he is energized by the entrepreneurial geniuses – people with high energy, curiosity, and a strong growth focus – and wanted to continue working with them. Hence, his consulting firm.
He notes that 90% of businesses die within their first 10 years and goes on to share some of the wisdom he’s accumulated over the course of his career. He and host, Laura Prisc, dive deep into some of those areas, including casting vision, knowing your own strengths, how to build a thriving team, knowing how and from where to receive sound advice, and more.
This is the kind of expertise and insight he offers his consulting clients… and you can benefit from it simply by listening to today’s episode, then follow the links below to get connected with Don.
Don’s Bio:
Don Davis, president and principal of 5280 Life Sciences Consulting, is an expert operations leader with a 30-year career in healthcare and life sciences. After decades of working for companies like GE, BD, and Roche, Don now helps others improve their operational excellence, program and project management, analytics and KPIs, and IT systems and infrastructure, resulting in increased profitability and improved ability to scale their organizations.
Connect with Don:
Don on LinkedIn
Don Online
Don’s Podcast
For Laura McRae Hitchcock, art is a shared experience. The artist begins with a blank canvas (whatever that material or medium might be) and pulls in his or her creativity to create something from nothing. “It’s all energy,” she explains. “I use my whole body when I paint, and my paintings are infused with my energy.”
And if you had a sneak peek into her studio as she’s preparing canvases, you’d see she’s also infusing them with prayers for the viewers – and eventual owners – of her paintings. On the blank canvases, she writes prayers for safety, blessing, joy, love, and more… and then she preps for paint. You may not know it’s there, but you’ll feel it when you see it!
For her, making art is a deeply spiritual act and it’s her way of getting out of herself. She grew up feeling shy and sensitive; recognizing it was getting in the way of her being more fully in the world – to experience it and to impact it – and art has been her way of breaking through those barriers.
Through this conversation, Laura and Laura also dive into the idea and experience of “thin spaces” – the places where it feels as if heaven and earth are both right there and you have this heightened awareness of there being so much more than what you see. Laura shares the inspiration of her Nest Series of paintings as being her recognition she could no longer directly control how safe her children are in the world, as they’ve grown and moved out.
If you’ve ever had a heartfelt or truly visceral reaction to a piece of art, you’ll appreciate this conversation and a view into the heart and thoughts of the artist.
Laura’s Bio
Laura McRae Hitchcock is an award winning, internationally collected visual artist living and working in the low country of South Carolina. She is also a partner and founder of Wild Hair Adventures, a travel company specializing in art workshops and retreats and “traveling like girls.”
Her paintings move between realism and the abstract, in much the same way she moves between the physical experience of being human and remembering who she is as spirit. She believes that artwork creates a portal in which the artist holds space for the viewer to experience the energy of the intention of the art. Through those shared experiences, art heals the heart and soul...whether one does the creating or the looking and appreciating.
Laura lives on a barrier island near Charleston, SC, with her husband of 35 years, and a sweet cocker spaniel named Gunner. She enjoys painting (of course!), spending time with her grown children and 1st grandchild, travel, exploring new places and ideas, collecting lovely sticks, rocks and shells, and gathering with other people for collaboration and celebration.
Connect with Laura:
Laura’s Art Online
Laura on Instagram
Laura on Facebook
Wild Hair Adventures (“travel like girls”!)
While Jeff poses that very question at a later point in today’s Conversation, first Jeff and Laura explore one of the more common threads of discussion around leadership, which starts with the fundamental question: What’s the difference between management and leadership? Today’s conversation dives in with this and an insightful discussion about the activities, tasks, nuances, and expectations for leaders unfolds as Jeff and Laura explore and share their ideas and experiences.
As Jeff has depth of expertise and experience working with CEOs in Healthcare start-ups, the two also dig into the struggles many entrepreneurs face, and both work through with their respective clients – the truth that sometimes the creative genius that conceives and idea for a product, service, or enterprise is not the person who is actually best equipped to carry that idea forward and build a solid, thriving business around.
It’s important to recognize one’s unique gifts, strengths, and contributions… to do the work only you can do in whatever enterprise you’re engaged in, and know that sometimes the best next thing you can do is hand it off to someone else to manage the day to day, or do the marketing and promotion that will allow your creation to shine in the marketplace. This is a tough realization for many, and others understand it intuitively.
Jeff shares some of the questions he asks his clients to allow them to work through their own thinking with greater clarity about what roles they play, how they want to show up in those roles, what others need or want from them. Truly, this is the fundamental work for all of us, and crucial to effective, powerful leadership.
Laura and Jeff discuss life, work, authenticity, Lego, stress-relieving practices, and much more on today’s episode.
Jeff’s Bio
Before becoming a full-time coach and consultant, Jeff spent over 25 years working for some of the most innovative organizations in health care, financial services and employee benefits as both a lawyer and executive. He started out as a hard-charging law firm lawyer and chronic overachiever who had to be the smartest and most accomplished person in the room.
Jeff recognized he needed to change when a series of panic attacks threatened to derail him. In the mid-90s, he began to practice meditation, and later yoga, as a way to cope more effectively with his high stress career. As his practices began to take root, he began a path of deep psychospiritual study that continues to this day.
Jeff discovered to his great surprise that his stress nearly vanished as he got more present.
He also saw that as he let go of his need to be the smartest person in the room, the people he led somehow became more responsive and capable! As he continued to work on his own development, he dedicated himself to learning to teach others the leadership skills that he had considered innate (and at one point, beyond him). His Creating Extraordinary Futures process
is the culmination of his learning thus far.
Jeff has worked personally with internationally known spiritual teachers and coaches such as Peter Fenner, Jack Pransky, Rich Litvin, and Doug Silsbee. He is a Certified Presence-BasedTM Coach and has been awarded ACC certification with the International Coach Federation.
After 13 years in Chicago and almost two decades in Washington, DC, Jeff now lives near Aspen, CO, with his wife and family.
Connect with Jeff and Other Resources:
Jeff Munn Online
Jeff on LinkedIn
Understand Your Builder Profile
Connect with Laura to Understand Your Builder Profile!
The Art of the Brick – Nathan Sawaya
Shannon Pickering is a warrior, a bright light in the world, a wise woman, and gifted coach in numerous areas. Laura and Shannon met when they were both in DC for a week, earning their Gallup Strengths Coaching Certifications several years ago. Since then, Shannon’s life has been a bit of a roller coaster ride, and the two women dive deeply into what happened, how it happened, and how we all might learn something from Shannon’s story and not have to experience the same things. Shannon began her professional life as a Psychologist, which was great in some ways and destructive in others. Feeling lost and longing for something she couldn’t quite define, she shifted into corporate life, ending up in sales. Each of these roles and experiences fed some things, filled some needs, and cut off others. “My mind, body, and spirit just got sicker and sicker, and yet I continued to ignore the signs,” she explains. “Even after I was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases, I ignored it and denied it.” Until one day, Shannon was leading a full-day workshop and some of the participants expressed concern as they thought she looked unwell. She denied it, eventually collapsed, and was transported to the Emergency Department in an ambulance! “I wish I’d listened sooner,” she said. “I very nearly died before I was willing to listen…” Laura explains the idea that our bodies, minds, and spirits are always whispering to us, guiding us, expressing needs and concerns… and if we don’t tune in, don’t listen, don’t heed what we are hearing, we will eventually get walloped with the proverbial 2x4 upside the head! What Shannon experienced is not uncommon. Our inner talents and unique gifts long to be expressed in the world, allowing us to add value and be of service. When we don’t find healthy outlets in which to contribute, we shut ourselves down and a destructive cycle begins… which eventually plays out in very real mental, physical, and spiritual illness. Gallup training was the catalytic experience for Shannon; she finally found a place where her passion and talent collided: She could step into her giftedness, serve at a high level, and move forward with greater clarity about her life and work. And then she experienced some very real and significant resistance: Systemic Lupus – attacking her entire body, including her DNA! At 43 years old, she received what is commonly a death sentence, but she was determined to fight. Learning everything she could about how to heal and nurture her body, her being… she re-emerged and began building a thriving coaching practice. Only to be walloped again with a cancer diagnosis – Stage 3! Laura notes that it’s consistent with doing powerful work in the world; the closer we get to expressing that thing we are called to bring forward, the more resistance we experience. Its explained in Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. The conversation shifts somewhat to more depth into the natural hard-wired strengths both women work to uncover, define, and bring to life in their clients. Shannon expresses the idea that the thing we are criticized the most for, is likely the thing we are meant to share with the world. To hear their deeper insights and encouragement for how you can show up more fully and authentically in your life, listen in and then check out these links: Shannon on Facebook and Instagram @AutoimmuneFoodie Shannon’s Website Online health and wellbeing classes for women The War of Art The Freak Factor Laura’s Strengths Coaching Shannon’s Bio My life has truly been a journey. I am hard-wired for achievement and for many years I worshiped at that alter. I reached every goal I set my sights on attaining, achieving great success in both the clinical and corporate worlds. On the clinical side, I have been a practicing psychologist and career counselor, and I taught psychology at a university. While this was a fulfilling career in many ways, it wasn’t satisfying enough in terms of achievement. So, I jumped into corporate life and for the next 15 years, I held roles in sales, national training, and management for a Global Fortune 500 company. While my inner Achiever was being fed, my inner Empath was suffering. And what no one knew was that I had been suffering with very serious illness for 30 years. You see, by the time I was 44, I had been diagnosed with 7 autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus. I had endured many surgeries, hospitalizations, and procedures, and I had too many doctors and prescriptions to count. My defining characteristic is perseverance: My motto has always been "obstacles fear me." I prided myself on pushing through any adversity. So, I just kept pushing my way through illness after illness, living in fear of anyone finding out that I had a weakness in the form of health issues. What I discovered the hard way is that if you don’t take care of your mind and body and soul, your body will shut you down for maintenance. And by 2014, my body was trying to shut me down permanently. Lupus was attacking my GI tract, my heart and lungs, even my DNA (which is terrifying because you can’t get a DNA transplant). I was completely disabled, I had to retire from corporate life, and I was convinced I would die soon. I was told I needed to start taking chemo and steroids for the rest of life and I needed to accept the relentless progression that lupus was going to make through my body. And do you know what happened next? I said, “To heck with that!” If there was a way out of the inevitable, I was going to find it. So started the next chapter of my life: I spent the next 5 years studying mind-body-spirit wellness and I successfully clawed my life back from the abyss. After 4 years of healing, I was ready to begin a new career. Which is when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. And the rug was once again yanked out from under me. But I accepted the challenge and I am happy to say that as of the end of 2019, I am free of both cancer and autoimmune disease. I don’t even have autoimmune antibodies, which is truly a miracle. And what I treasure today is very different than what I treasured in the past. I am truly grateful for my journey. Facing death has allowed me to truly blossom and release my gifts to the world. During my illness, I obtained several life and health coaching certifications and I am now in my third and final career as a Performance & Wellbeing Coach, the magical career where my strengths and passion collide. My mission is to help people reach greater levels of performance and wellness in their critical work and life roles through improved self-regulation, interdependent communication, and radical heath restoration. My passions include helping people unleash their authenticity, transform suffering into purpose, and achieve true mind-body-spirit wellness so they can release their unique God-given genius into the world. My journey has taught me that having mental, physical, or spiritual illness will prevent you from becoming who you were created to be. I have learned there is something of a blindness in our society to the rich variety of human talents. I meet people every day who believe they have no special abilities or genius talents. Well, I am here to tell you, definitively, that you are unique among all people who have ever lived or ever will live. You have genius talents that are both easy to use and obvious to see if you only know where to look. You are, indeed, a very special snowflake. My passion and purpose is to help people achieve holistic wellness so they are free to pursue their passion and their purpose - because the world craves each of our unique contributions.
“You can’t do that.” “You have to do it this way!” “You can’t be good at all of that, you have to choose just one…”
While he doesn’t come out and say it that explicitly, these are all messages Christian Del Rosario likely heard – and, thankfully, ignored – on the way to developing the artistry he creates with his cameras. You see, Christian is one of those rare photographers who is able to apply his unique vision and ability to capture the true essence of his subject – be that a person, animal, object, landscape, or structure – and share it with others in the resultant photo. Truly, he is an artist. And his joy and gratitude for being able to combine his three major passions into his life’s work is evident in his smile, his voice, and the energy he exudes, whether in person or on a podcast recording line. Today, Laura invites Christian to tell the story of how he showed up, said “yes” to opportunity, and created his dream life – traveling the world, working with interesting and fun people, taking breathtaking photographs, and spending time with and supporting animals along the way. Like many other entrepreneurs – and especially in the artist’s arena – Christian didn’t fully grasp the value of what he creates, early on in his work. He often shared his expertise for free, because it came so easily to him and he simply loved to get to do it. He also was wise to continue upgrading his skills, expertise, and tools, so he was able to continually upgrade his offer to those who saw the value he created through his lens. “I try to interpret the view… to see the shot and understand the experience someone else will have when they see the photos I produce,” explained Christian, when Laura asked him to share what he sees and feels as he frames a shot. And if you’ve ever seen his photos, you know he’s truly gifted at it; his intent is evident in his results. While he’s been working as a professional photographer for 11 years, it was only a few years ago when he really gathered his thoughts, got strategic, and focused more clearly on how to continue building the life he desires and that allows him to feed and support his three passions. To-date, he’s experienced 75 countries around the world doing work for a variety of individuals and organizations, including the national travel bureaus in several countries, the United Nations World Tourism Assembly, and other organizations near and far. In fact, just after finishing recording this episode, he was headed for the airport and jetting off to Dallas, Madrid, and London for work (play?!). Listen in on today’s conversation, and you’ll be intrigued to take a look at life through Christian’s lens: Instagram at thechristiandelrosario.com Facebook at Christian Del Rosario and Christian Del Rosario Photography Websites Christian Del Rosario / Attreo Studio Galleries and African Safari 2020 Christian’s Bio Christian combines his passion for photography with his love for travel, animals, and inspiring people. In 2008, Christian decided to follow his passion and make a career shift from the corporate world into professional photography as a full-time career. What started as a pastime has progressed into a very successful business serving clients of industry sectors. Christian has had the distinct honor to work with the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Tourism Boards of several countries, well known restaurants, coffee companies, magazines, top self-development companies, charitable organizations, and of course -- all his friends who have pets. When he’s not writing about himself in the third person or not carrying a camera, Christian likes to go walking with his three dogs, growing Japanese maples in his backyard, and advocating for animals. He's most proud of his experience in learning many different cultures and loves to encourage people to travel through his photographs. He lives in California and wants to have an animal rescue farm one day.
Leading others isn’t easy, nor is it always a comfortable experience, hence not for the faint of heart. In today’s episode, podcast host, Laura Prisc, shares some insights about and one example of when a leader actively – but most likely unintentionally – undermines his or her position, perhaps because their insecurities have gotten the better of them.
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
Over the course of his adulthood, Dave Dean has owned, built, been involved with, bought, sold, or closed 37 businesses; ~11 of them are still in his care today. It all started when as a young man, Dave bought the company his dad started but lost through receivership when it failed. He ‘arrogantly’ (by his own measure!) thought he could do it better. The experience was the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of learning, exploring, discovering, building, and releasing numerous businesses. Fueled by his strengths (Laura is certain he has Input, Learner, Futuristic, Strategic, Connectedness, and Relator in his top 10!), he thinks of himself as a “business butterfly,” preferring the idea of being a ‘business explorer – builder’ to the term ‘entrepreneur.’ When he becomes intrigued by an idea, he dives in and becomes immersed until his curiosity is satisfied. Often, what that means is his giftedness is in seeing opportunity, crafting a vision, designing the big picture concept of how something can be, and then handing off the daily operations and detail work to someone more interested and gifted in handling those aspects of the process. He says he was blessed when he met the man who would become an invaluable business partner while dropping off and picking up his young twin sons at school 20+ years ago! Darren’s skills and interests complement Dave’s nicely and together they are supremely more productive and effective. It’s a perspective and process they share with clients in the Mastermind groups they facilitate, teaching other business owners how to think bigger, explore new ideas, expand their reach, and build satisfying work. Having experienced mentors has been another key to Dave’s success over the years; one has to be aware of those who are achieving the success you desire and be willing to learn from their experience, adapting it to your own needs and situations along the way. Today’s conversation covers a broad range of ideas and topics associated with business including using style and strengths assessments (DiSC, StrengthsFinder, Gallup Builder Profile) within your team, the difference between having a business idea and actually being able to bring it to life (understanding the strengths of the team you need to bring along with you), and how to create real freedom in your life. Nearing the end, Dave shares a story of a current endeavor – working closely with an artisanal chocolatier who is brilliant within his craft, but not as aware of or skilled with the numerous daily tasks and responsibilities of running a growing business. When I asked Dave for his Bio, here’s what he shared with me… "What the hell have you done?" my wife was a little suspicious as I handed her the bunch of flowers...
As it turns out her suspicions were correct, I'd just quit my job as a systems analyst and borrowed £13,000 to buy my father's failed print finishing business from the liquidators. If I'm honest, that may well have been the first nail in the coffin of my first marriage.
That was the start of my entrepreneurial journey, now fast forward to today...
As a visionary and strategist, I enjoy starting and working with others to start new ventures from the ground up and then handing them over to my management teams to run day-to-day because they're usually better than me at doing that!
I've started, developed and grown over 30 small businesses in many different sectors! Fact is, I love doing what I do and was once described as a "serial entrepreneur"... though I'm not sure whether that was a compliment or not? One of my mentors, John Maxwell, says "Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn!"
Well, that's certainly been the case for me. I've had several failures in business - some of them catastrophic, but every one of them provided valuable lessons and helped me grow and develop. This development led me to realize I had experiences valuable to others in similar situations, but I didn't know how I could help them.
The solution presented itself in 2011, when I joined LEAD Wales and experienced coaching for the first time. My coaching journey progressed and led to my earning ICF accreditation then Certification by the US-based, John Maxwell Team.
The result: My team and I have launched an exclusive co-working space and business club for entrepreneurs who want to develop themselves so they can, in turn, develop their staff and their businesses.
Come visit us in Llantrisant (UK) and see what all the fuss is about - contact me to arrange a visit. Resources discussed and connect with Dave here: Dave on Facebook Dave on LinkedIn 729 Renegades Mastermind Groups Priority VA Culture Wins
We don’t always know whom we are meant to be when we are young, but if we are observant, there are clues everywhere. For Libby Scheele, they were obvious in her fascination with color and texture and a variety of materials that could be used in artistic endeavors. When she didn’t have ‘real’ art supplies, she expressed her creativity by arranging rocks and sticks. Today, her work is much more sophisticated, as are her tools… even though they are the basics of an artist: high quality pigmented paints, good paper, sharp pencils, brushes, and permission to take the time required to allow the vision in her mind to emerge. Libby studied art at university, but then was married and had three small children at home; there wasn’t time or space for art. But then she was introduced to the concept of an ‘artist’s date’ by a friend who further encouraged her to carve out some space in her home that was just for her. She did; it was in the furnace room! Not ideal, but it worked… and today she has a more spacious studio room in the home she shares with husband, Paul. In today’s episode, Laura and Libby have an animated and sometimes emotional conversation about how their inner artists called to them, spoke to them, and finally drew them out into the act of creation, even though in the beginning you sometimes have to ‘do it afraid.’ It was also one of the things that drew them to each other at their first meeting. Libby describes it as a “spark when you’re in space with another artist.” Libby shares the story of wanting to create art so badly that she called an artist and asked for a job as her assistant even though she had no experience, no portfolio… just an undeniable desire to learn and a willingness to do whatever it took to move forward. You’ll want to listen in as she shares stories of pivotal moments in her growth and awakening as an artist, of the investments she continues to make in working with artists further along the path who are doing work she admires and longs to do herself, and of how important it’s been to find her own creative style, rhythm, and arena. While Libby would feel compelled to sketch and paint regardless, she is currently driven by an altruistic impulse to create a body of work for her collectors that will, in turn, help to pay off the medical bills of a family member. If you’re interested in learning more about Libby and the things she and Laura discussed today, check out these links: LibbyScheele@Me.com The Artist’s Way Jeffrey Hurinenko – Old Master Techniques Joe Paquet – Plein Air Landscape Painter Libby’s Bio By age 5, it was obvious that Libby was fascinated with color and the world around her. Her parents would often find her sitting outside, patiently watching the sunset, exclaiming that “indigo was the next color.” A retired art teacher, Neola Johnson, became her first mentor at age 8. Neola would ask her questions such as “what is beauty?” and “what is art?” These questions became the start of a passionate search for answers, which of course always led to more questions. Libby attended the University of Minnesota, majoring in Art Education. She spent many years sharing her love of art with children in schools and summer camps. In 1995, she began a career as a mural painter having been trained by muralist Tricia Farrell. It was a joy to bring her client’s artistic dreams and wishes to life. In 2007, she continued her fine art studies at the Hurinenko & Paquet Studio, learning Old Master portrait painting and plein air painting. Libby is a member of the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota and the Minnesota Figure Study Collaborative.
Do you ever wonder why you or someone you know does the things that they do? In this episode, Maureen Craig Mcintosh explains how all behavior is purposeful. It’s our best attempt to satisfy one of our five basic needs. Hear as she describes what those needs are, the choices we make to fulfill those needs, and what it means to be demonstrating or receiving caring habits or deadly habits.
Maureen shares examples of the deadly habits, and explains how they are used to control someone else to get what you want, instead of controlling your own actions. She also speaks about ‘first date’ behavior; putting your best self forward to get what you want, until it is too hard to continually maintain.
Laura speaks to the thought that love and kindness are behaviors that we choose – and it seems that they are now principles that businesses need to teach. She mentions a book called Love Does, and describes how love is an action. The author, Bob Goff, followed up with another book called Everybody Always, which shares the idea that we should always love everyone even when it’s difficult.
Listen as they discuss how all actions are a means to an end, but certain behaviors and habits bring more success than others. Laura and Maureen give examples from their own lives of needing to make a conscious change to the caring habits in order to become the person she wanted to be.
Scientifically, we learn how to externally control our environment at birth. And through life, we have to adapt our behaviors to get what we want. They discuss how we have to change our behaviors and adapt in order to be our most authentic selves.
Maureen dives into the toxic triangle, and describes the negative actions we should avoid. She and Laura also discuss relationships and how to properly navigate these difficult situations.
Hear how these concepts can be shared with today’s youth to cultivate a happier society. Maureen and Laura speak again to the importance of shifting habits to create better, healthier reactions that help us succeed.
Choice implies responsibility. Listen as Maureen and Laura discuss emotions and actions, and how becoming more self-aware can allow us to take control of our lives and become more empowered.
Hear about our Five Basic Needs and how we should change how we go about achieving them as we go through life:
- Survival
- Belonging/Love
- Power
- Fun
- Freedom
Maureen helps us clearly define Caring vs. Deadly Habits and provides examples of associated behaviors. She explains how we should display the Caring Habits, and how we should cope, even when people are displaying Deadly Habits. She helps listeners reframe their thinking: What am I getting when I act this way? How can I behave to get a more favorable outcome?
Caring Habits:
- Supporting
- Encouraging
- Loving
- Caring
- Negotiating Differences
- Respecting
- Trusting
- Accepting
Deadly Habits:
- Blaming
- Complaining
- Nagging
- Criticizing
- Threatening
- Punishing
Resources:
Monctonrealitytherapy.ca
Love Does
Everybody Alway
About Maureen:
Maureen is a former registered nurse with a 20+-year history of working with youth in the field of healthy sexuality, a licensed counseling specialist, certified professional coach, and Senior Faculty Member with the William Glasser International Association, not to mention a great friend of Laura for the past several years.
Isn’t it interesting that, often in our younger years, we feel as if we should be able to “Win the World in a Weekend!” Many of us get caught in the thinking that we have to really make a difference, make our lives count, and so we work, work work. Becoming workaholics, we disguise it as “passion,” and neglect or take for granted the things and people who really matter most.
If we are fortunate, and paying attention, as we grow and experience new things, we come to understand there’s more to life than the work we are doing. This is one of the personal stories Ed shares during this episode with Laura.
As a younger pastor, with a young and growing family, Ed had a sense that his family life was important, but more in the way of having responsibility for it rather than truly understanding it was intended to be a higher priority for his time and energy than his work in the church.
Laura asks him about a particular story he told in his book, One Small Barking Dog, about a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit while tending to his wife who was not feeling well. The experience was beyond his imagination at the time but turned out to create a significant shift in his perspective on his “work” and what he was called to do in the world.
Ed goes on to share several nuggets of wisdom he has gleaned along the journey, including these:
- Learning is like seeds; we need to nurture them and allow them to grow within us first, before passing along what we’ve learned.
- A few minutes of stillness and quiet would re-energize him after a long day at work and before engaging with his wife and children.
- God is everywhere all the time, and often his work is hidden; we don’t get to see what’s really going on in all things around us, but there is definitely more afoot than what we see.
As Laura and Ed near the end of a conversation filled with laughter, insight, and a few Bible verses, Ed shares this thought: “Everyone is in a battle. We have no idea what other people are going through, afraid of, challenged by, or working on… Simply be kind.”
He and Laura both share stories of when an opportunity to be kind presented themselves in their respective lives and how they responded. It doesn’t take much to change the course of someone’s day if we are paying attention to what’s happening around us and who we are with. And, in fact, those simple actions may actually change the course of someone’s life for generations into the future!
Resources Mentioned:
One Small Barking Dog
Other books by Ed Gungor
The Order of St. Anthony
About Ed:
Ed Gungor is a veteran pastor who focuses on philosophy, church history and current trends. He became a follower of Christ as a teenager in the early 1970’s and has been deeply involved in the spiritual formation of others for over forty years. Ed has a passion for authentic transformation; a phenomenon he feels is all too rare in today’s church.
As a kind of “church futurist,” he is constantly aware of the changing needs of the next generation of Christians, the ones who haven’t yet experienced spiritual formation. To effectively communicate the gospel to this group, he believes our notion of “destiny” in the American church needs to be re-imagined. Ed longs to see believers willing to abandon their Christianized versions of the self-important American Dream, embracing instead the miraculous, surprising, and contagious Christianity that comes when they see themselves as the servants of God who find their home with Messiah and his people, as they participate in the mission of God (missio Dei).
Ed is known for his down-to-earth, engaging communication style. With transparency and his own unique brand of wry humor, he cuts through the usual “church-speak”, gleefully slaughtering any sacred cows that distort the true message of Christ. He is the author of several books, including: Religiously Transmitted Diseases: Finding A Cure When Faith Doesn’t Feel Right; The Vow: An Ancient Path Of Spiritual Formation That Still Transforms Today; the New York Times bestseller, There is More to the Secret; and One Small Barking Dog.
Ed and his wife Gail have been married forty-two years. They have four children, eight grandchildren and live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ed currently serves as the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Anthony (dicoceseofstanthony.com).
Leading others can be described and defined in a variety of ways. In today’s episode, podcast host, Laura Prisc, shares her thoughts on what it means to lead and shines a light on one of the most prevalent mistakes organizations make when promoting or hiring someone into a leadership position – especially if it’s that person’s first time becoming responsible for the people on their team.
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
Schedule a complimentary consultation
Laura by email
Request a copy of her book – Are Your Leaders Wide Awake?
On Facebook
If you’re in business, especially a smaller business, you are likely always in pursuit of new prospects and effective methods for connecting with and drawing them into your circle so you can offer your products and services. You’ve also likely discovered there are a variety of marketing methods to use, and the practitioners of each approach will enthusiastically assure you their approach is THE BEST!
The truth is every method has some merit and some will work better for you than others. The key is finding the right approach for you and your business, and the right practitioner or firm that is a good fit for you. Enter, Deb Monfette.
Deb worked in corporate for 2 decades, ranging from product development to customer service and along the way mastered her craft of discovering what matters to customers, honing her skill at discerning what they really needed, beyond the features and benefits most businesses focus on in their marketing efforts.
When she chose to start her own business, she focused her efforts on content marketing because she deeply understands some foundational principles embedded in the decision to buy. During this episode, she shares those principles with Laura, as well as the roadmap she uses with her clients.
Keeping the customer at the heart of the effort, she has created what she calls the Irresistible Content Code and it’s built on the process of C-E-N-T-E-R-ing your efforts, stories, and materials in a way that will powerfully connect with prospects and draw them to you.
She also discusses the stages prospects go through when they are looking for resources to potentially meet a need or solve a problem. Understanding these stages and the principles behind the buying decision will help you discern what steps you need to take in your marketing process to grow.
Here are a few hints: Words matter! Stories are so powerful. Deciding who is the Hero of the story is crucial. Listen in and take advantage of Deb’s experience. And, click the link below to access her Free Offer!
Deb’s Bio:
Deb began her career in a startup at a tech company and worked in technology for over two decades in marketing, design, product development, and training directly with customers. She had to understand them, figure out new possibilities to guide them, earn their trust, and simply help them buy. But instead of digitally, LIVE.
After she left corporate, she became a content marketing writer and consultant working with small-to-large tech companies, soon experiencing one overwhelmed client after the next… Frustrated uncovering ideas, strapped for time without a roadmap, and finding it difficult to attract customers along the sales cycle with content.
So, by combining her content and customer experience, she designed an easy-to-use content framework with the customer at the heart or center. It’s even more critical with the changes sparked by the pandemic.
She now empowers small to mid-sized, growing, B2B businesses to build relationships, trust, and influence digitally with content.
This framework doesn’t rely on bright shiny objects, new trends, and tech. Instead, it allows businesses to get back to the basics and adapt to the changes going on around them in a virtual world. It’s a real strategy for real people.
Her framework is called The Irresistible Content Code.
Connect with Deb and Resource:
Deb on LinkedIn:
Deb on Instagram
Get her Free Resource:
Free Lead Magnet – How to Inject Your Case Studies with Action Power
Uncover the 3+1 Formula and powerup your case studies using the Mighty Workbook
In 2011, Valoria Walker’s mother was nearing her end of life. While Valoria’s sister was her primary caregiver, Valoria provided respite care when she could. There was a point when her mother’s health was in serious decline and she was moved from the hospital to hospice. She had chosen to end her dialysis treatments and did not want to be on a ventilator.
Valoria was there with her. Within a couple of hours, her mother was started on powerful anti-anxiety meds and soon slipped into unconsciousness. Hospice staff explained that “sometimes, they don’t awaken, again.”
While her actually passing wasn’t immediate, essentially, her mother was gone and Valoria and her sister would not have another chance to have those final, oh-so-important conversations with their mother. There was no closure. No goodbye. Valoria’s brother missed the whole experience!
Not surprisingly, this was a powerful turning point for Valoria; one that would change her life and the course of her work. She began working on Advance Planning Directives, to help others in similar situations have a different experience, to help those who were anticipating their own passing to have a say in what would happen and how the process would progress.
Eventually, she found “Doula” training, jumped in, and formed her practice: Doula by Destiny! Her mission is to ensure others don’t have the same kind of experience her family had.
Her time now is spent helping others plan for their transitions thoughtfully, so that the individual’s wishes are known and honored. She gets to know and support whole families. She is able to have potentially uncomfortable conversations that loved ones may avoid.
She notes that while we seem to be getting better about talking about death – before it happens – there’s still a lot of fear and discomfort associated with it. She wants to reframe how we think about, talk about, and experience it.
Listen in as Valoria and host, Laura Prisc, share experiences, insights, and resources that may help you have a different experience when the time comes.
Valoria’s Bio:
Valoria Walker is an Advance Care Planning Trainer and End-of-Life Doula. She is the founder of her private practice called Doula by Destiny. As COVID-19 continued to spread, Valoria pivoted her business to serve patients and caregivers by providing companion calls and virtual meetings.
Valoria partners with organizations to promote the significance of advance care planning for medical emergencies and holistic care at the end of life. Serving as a speaking ambassador to bring awareness of The End-of-Life Doula Movement, her desire is for everyone to achieve comfort and peace at the end of life.
Her recent accomplishments include her interview, Parting Gift, published in the October edition of The Oprah Magazine. She is the reigning Grand Prize winner of the 2019 Boom Competition sponsored by AARP.
Her plans are to continue supporting individuals in various care settings to stay connected to her calling and the community. She sits as an Advisory Council Member, International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA), and End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council Member for NHPCO.
Valoria holds a Master's in Management of Aging Services. She believes receiving a degree is an accomplishment, but having compassion is a gift.
Connect with Valoria + Resources:
Oprah Magazine – Parting Gift
What is a Doula? Article
Let’s Talk Aging Article
Human Composting? Article
Recompose Life – Composting Service
In this first episode of 2021, host Laura Prisc, shares her reflections on and gratitude for 2020 and shares her hope for how 2021 can unfold if we’re all in it together.
She also invites you in to get connected, get acquainted. After all, if you’re going to eavesdrop on her conversations, shouldn’t she get to know who you are?! (wink wink!!)
Laura’s Bio
If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com
You can also find her here:
On Facebook
LinkedIn
Conscious Leadership Partners
One would think that wanting to offer solutions one’s client actually needs – rather than what the business thinks they should have – is the way business works, but we all know that’s not necessarily the case. So, when I stumbled across today’s guest, Max Kabat, and heard about his approach to business, I had to hear more.
Max and his partner own and operate the goodDog agency, providing business strategy and support designed to help their clients get what they actually need, while being conscientious of their collective impact on people and planet. Their approach begins at the beginning – ensuring their clients are clear about the foundations of their business, what they are trying to create, and how to grow strategically based on where they are now.
It’s not unusual these days for entrepreneurs to be involved in multiple business endeavors, and Max is one example of this. He and his wife, a documentarian and photojournalist, also own and operate The Sentinel, which is a multi-dimensional business, as well. The Sentinel produces two local newspapers, one in English and one in Spanish, covering the goings-on of the local Marfa, Texas, region, as well as providing the local perspective on stories from other areas – regional, national, and global.
The Sentinel is also an eclectic gathering place and boutique. They serve coffee, cocktails, taco’s… and sell a variety of carefully curated items, including a custom blend of coffee they’ve developed in partnership with a small roaster from New Mexico.
This conversation spans many thoughts, from storytelling to business, from what it means to build real relationships to why a local news source is important, and from why socially conscious purpose-driven businesses matter to how we can intentionally create space for creativity, collaboration, and innovation.
Listen in as Max and Laura explore a lot of interesting themes and Max shares some really insightful data that will make you think differently about the news and business and the questions each of us should be asking…
Max’s Bio
Max Kabat is co-founder of goodDog, which helps category creating, conscious consumer brands break through plateaus by realigning the business around one core concept and growth consumer. They call themselves Brand Idea Finders & Growth Engineers. With his documentary filmmaker wife he co-owns The Big Bend Sentinel newspaper and The Sentinel gathering space in Marfa, TX. A real-time experiment into how to evolve the business model of local, independent journalism with the community.
Connect with Max:
goodDog
Max via email
Coffee, Cocktails, and The News
Self-limiting beliefs are a universal phenomenon and something that holds too many of us back from fully living into our potential and creating and contributing at higher levels. Host, Laura Prisc, has been exploring the foundations of this challenge – and a variety of methods of releasing or transforming them – to help herself and her clients live fuller, richer, more meaningful lives.
When she first heard of Psych-K, it was while reading Dr. Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief. Dr. Lipton explains that our beliefs are embedded in the cells of our bodies. If we are unaware of or unable to examine, change, or release them, we will be victim to our limited thinking about what we are capable of… and the world will be poorer for it. However, there are ways to make the exact shift we need to.
One of those ways is Psych-K, which Patti Lustig has been practicing personally and sharing with her clients for many years now to great effect. It’s a facilitated process seeking first to discern where we are out of alignment, test what beliefs we hold strongly, and which are weak. Through a process of realignment, we can release those beliefs that don’t serve us and emerge stronger, feeling more confident in ourselves and our abilities, which translates to higher levels of performance and achievement in whatever we choose to invest our time and energy in.
It’s a fascinating concept and conversation. Listen in, take notes, then take Patti up on her offer of a complimentary session.
Patti’s Bio
Patti has coached 100’s of individuals and business owners for the past 21 years. She has a degree in Special Education and Psychology, a master coaching certification, a time management certification, and is a trained Psych-K facilitator. More importantly she has a remarkable life. She lives in her dream home in Florida, 5 miles from the beach with the love of her life, her poodle, Jasper, and her daughter - who lives 10 minutes away. Over her lifetime she has learned, grown, and transformed many times - and loves making a difference for others.
However, 7 years ago and at the height of her business, she was diagnosed with a rare blood disease and told that she could bleed to death easily. She was shocked and unsure how to live her life going forward and spent 6 months depressed, while her business suffered. She didn’t drive anywhere for fear she would have an accident. She didn’t cook for fear she would cut myself. She kept herself very small and isolated, a victim of her circumstances. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to go on.
Then one day on Facebook, she read that Roger Ebert had died; he was a famous film critic who lost his ability to speak and move, yet he remained a functioning film critic for the rest of his life. It was that day, she said to herself, “If he can contribute in his state, I can get up and start living again!” She redesigned her business and has grown it steadily ever since. Now she has exceeded where she was 8 years ago and is loving every minute.
Connect with Patti:
SageThink
Schedule a complimentary session
Patti via email
Call Patti: 612-363-7605
Learn more about Psych-K
Dr. Bruce Lipton
Adam Jones was living in California and doing his dream work as an actor. He moved back to Pennsylvania to spend time with his aging grandmother and got active in creating and promoting events and festivals. During the 2016 election cycle, following a candidate event, he experienced a horrific and life-changing assault.
As Adam shares his story, you’ll have no doubt that our justice system failed in a way that will leave your mouth hanging open in total astonishment and confusion. To say it was a turning point for him is an understatement.
While he’s still on his own journey of recovery and living daily with the after-effects of a traumatic brain injury, Adam is not sitting around idly passing the time. He’s now on a mission to create an active, real-time safety net for the rest of us, which also creates an inalterable evidence trail should something happen that would require police intervention or end up in a courtroom someday.
I won’t spoil the impact of hearing Adam’s story directly from him by sharing more details. Listen in and I guarantee you, you’ll be inspired to help him and his team bring Zeer to life!
Adam’s Bio
Adam David Jones was an actor from NY and California before a man brutally attacked him and tried to rape his friend. A year later, the perpetrator was acquitted by a jury though he was caught immediately covered in Adam's blood and with Adam’s money in his pocket.
Adam chose a different career path after his coma. He has dedicated his life to preventing this from happening to someone else. To do so he started a technology company whose mission is to create a world where strangers no longer have to fear one another, and we are all free to be ourselves; a world where the truth is indisputable and powerful people are held to the same standards as the rest of us.
Resources and Connections:
Zeersafe.com
@ZeerSafe
linkedin.com/in/adam-jones-zeer
The noosphere
Adam via email
We’ve all heard of work-life balance, and it’s the thing we are supposedly longing to attain. But given how one’s typical day actually unfolds, is that even possible? And if it was, is it something we actually desire?
Listen in as host, Laura, dives into a different way of thinking with guest, Keith Campagna, who is on a mission to introduce the idea of Lifework Integration to others.
“It’s the free-flowing exchange of ideas and energy between life and work,” he explains. Through his personal journey – from an often on-the-road sales guy, husband, and father of two boys, Keith found himself in a nearly 180° changed situation! His wife left him, he took on a new job that allowed him to be home with his boys and pay his bills… and found himself immersed in a deep examination of his life, work, and dreams.
With a background in music, he applied a basic truth about stress and creation to his study of how life, work, satisfaction, and creativity all come together. He explains that musical instruments have to be put under a certain degree of stress in order to actually produce the music that moves us.
The same principal can be at work in our lives, and in fact is more likely to produce a life we are actively engaged in, finding fulfillment, and feeling creatively alive. It doesn’t just happen, however; there’s a process involved, and Keith has the tools to help others through it.
Listen in as Keith and Laura explore life, work, creativity, the idea that COVID is an opportunity reframe everything, the concept of money as energy, what it means to be ‘in flow,’ and why we proclaim “Here there be dragons…” when we reach of point of turning back.
Keith’s Bio
As the Chief Sales Officer at The ROI Shop, Keith Campagna spends his time talking with Sales Executives, sales leaders, sales professionals, and sales enablers inside companies of all shapes and sizes.
Since 2006, Keith has sold "software as a service" on behalf of globally recognized companies such as ADP and SAP Concur. Keith's primary focus is on growing the 8-year-old, ROI Shop. At a time when "no-decision" is every sales organization's #1 competitor and selling "value" is most sales rep's #1 challenge, The ROI Shop's value calculators make it easy for sellers to have financial discussions with their buyer champions.
Keith keeps busy as a single father of two boys, 12 & 13, and he is also building out his passion project, called "Lifework Integration." Lifework Integration is a progressive employee development program helping CEOs, Sales and HR leaders, as well as anyone else turn stress into a competitive advantage.
Resources and Connections:
Keith on LinkedIn
Keith online
Talk to Keith
The ROI Shop
Learn from Napoleon Hill
Learn from Dr. Joe Dispenza
Learn from Dale Carnegie
Learn from Deepak Chopra
Flow
Flow Book
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
For decades, companies large and small, near and far have been using behavioral-based interviewing processes when seeking to fill positions. The results have been great, good, and sometimes simply awful! Certainly, past behavior is a good indicator of future performance, but it doesn’t answer the question of whether the candidate you’re talking to is actually interested in or motivated to do the work you need done!
Destiny Quinn has been on the hiring end of this equation for many years – doing direct recruiting and working with teams tasked with interviewing and hiring to fill positions. Her insights into how poorly this process is handled most of the time are eye-opening and provide a clear path forward for how to do it better.
Because most companies don’t invest in training internal interviewers how to interview well, and really get to the heart of what’s needed for a particular role, and how to screen for it, interviewers are kind of “winging it.” They want to do it well but aren’t sure how.
In these cases, interviewers tend to ask easy questions and often make hiring decisions because the candidate seems a lot like them. That may seem like a good plan, but you will end up with a team – or organization – filled with people who share skills, approaches, and thought processes, when what would be more powerful is a team of people who share your values, fit in your culture, but have different skill sets and think different thoughts; this builds your ability to do critical thinking, problem solving, innovate, and create.
The bottom line to success: Hire people who are already highly motivated to do the work you need done. Ensure they have the resources and support to do the work. Then get out of their way!
Destiny’s Bio
Destiny is a Talent Acquisition Leader offering strategic top talent acquisition processes, management and organizational development expertise; proven to create employee-oriented, high-performance cultures emphasizing goal attainment, diversity, productivity, and superior workforce optimization. She utilizes a process-oriented approach to improve various organizations in cross-cultural, rapid-growth environments and facilities with leading-edge staff training programs.
Currently leading the Talent Acquisition department at PlanSource, a SaaS organization headquartered in Orlando, FL, Destiny provides situational coaching, managing all aspects of delivery to ensure individual and team goals align with broader HR and overall company strategies and goals. She is committed to delivering continuous improvement based on internal and external best practices, while adhering to standard processes and policies. In addition, working collaboratively with select hiring teams throughout the organization to fill key senior-level positions.
In her downtime, Destiny loves to learn, be with family and friends, and is a huge NY Giants fan (which obviously makes her a bit sad these past few years)!
Resources and Connections:
Destiny on LinkedIn
PlanSource on LinkedIn
Destiny by email
Motivational Based Interviewing Book – Carol Quinn
One might imagine significant differences in how people learn across different global cultures. That was the starting point for Laura’s conversation with Daniela Sebova, who completed her doctoral work earlier this year having researched that very question. Interestingly, we share more similarities than we might think.
Daniela set out to discover what it was in a learning experience that actually created a mental shift – a noticeable change in our mental models and mindsets – making the learning both meaningful and memorable. Her research was thorough, involving a global company with locations and employees in North America and Southeast Asia. She conducted interviews, observed training experiences, and tested theories.
Along the way, she was reminded of how we have to get out of our comfort zones in order to learn and grow, willingness to be vulnerable requires a sense of psychological safety, and if we are willing to truly engage in meaningful conversations, we can shift our thinking and come together to connect and create something larger than ourselves.
Listen in to discover what she learned and how you can apply it in your life and work.
Daniela’s Bio
Daniela is the founder of Agilita Global, a leadership consulting company. Agilita Global provides leadership consulting and coaching services to help organizations and individuals assess, develop, and leverage their leadership capacity. AG’s services are based on the concept of Functional Leadership Development™.
Daniela developed the concept of Functional Leadership Development™ based on
extensive research of the leadership construct, leadership development, and transformational learning. By applying a functional approach to leadership development, she helps her clients unlock the leadership capacity in themselves and in their organizations.
Daniela holds BA in Political Science from Purdue University, MSc in International Banking and Financial Studies from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a Doctorate in Education in Organizational Leadership Studies from Northeastern University. Her doctoral research was focused on understanding the process and the outcomes of leadership development programs in global contexts.
Originally from Slovakia, Daniela has lived, studied and worked internationally and considers herself to be a global citizen. She is passionate about building “bridges” between people in her personal and professional life, understanding that while we are all unique, at the core, we are much the same regardless of where we come from. Daniela loves to travel and explore new places, but one of her favorite places is her home country of Slovakia where all her family still lives.
Connect with Daniela:
Daniela on LinkedIn
Agilita Global
Daniela on Facebook
By phone: (704) 942-5665
By email dsebova@agilitaglobal.com
“Fundamentally, we are sense-makers… looking for patterns in what’s going on… which we use to create our models of the world,” Marc explains, as he and Laura jump into a conversation about the lenses we use to view and experience the world through.
We have two agents at play in our minds – one is the creative storyteller, and the other is the editor – that selects the stories that make the most sense. But it’s important to understand that many of the lenses – values, beliefs, stories, ideas, thoughts – we use are biologically inherited and/or absorbed through our early childhood influences and experiences. We may not be consciously aware of the filtering those various lenses provide and what that means for how we move through our lives.
If we are willing to expose ourselves to others’ lenses, perspectives, experiences, and stories, we may recognize two key truths: We have more in common with others than we imagine, and our experiences/lives will be much fuller, richer, healthier, and creative when we are open to including, listening to, and engaging with others who appear to be different than us.
The effectiveness of this approach is evident in work and at home, researched through team science studies, as well as in business operations. Marc shares an insightful – and somewhat frightening – story about some catastrophic events in the airline industry.
The bottom line: There’s value in bringing different perspectives to the table, whether that’s in someone’s home or in a boardroom. Each of us has something of value to contribute and there’s power in sharing the cognitive burdens of life and work with others.
Listen in for deeper insight into the greatest waste on the planet, why psychological safety is crucial, what Agile processes are and how they are used in business, and how to build learning into the foundations of whatever projects we might initiate.
Marc’s Bio
Marc says: “I'm a native Californian, who like many in the history of our state has been lucky enough to find new and interesting ways in which what I find interesting has turned out to be what some folks find useful. That's how our state has reinvented itself so often.
I'm currently leading groups that do what is called "agile transformations" in organizations - which, to me is simply a way to put people and common sense front and center. I'm exploring ways of making procedural change in organizations tie to behavioral, and, ultimately, mindset change.
For me, the most I've learned about dealing with people has come from raising my sons. They’ve taught me patience, empathy, and how to decide that if no one is bleeding, it's not really a crisis."
Connect with Marc and other resources:
Marc on LinkedIn
Sociocracy
Embracing Agile Article
We are Spiritual beings having a physical experience! If you’re like host, Laura Prisc, you’ve wondered, and maybe even asked, what your purpose is in being here – on the planet, living this life. Much of Laura’s life has been lived in search of the answers to those and other big questions. So, it’s no surprise that when she and guest, Jennifer Urezzio, met, they hit it off and jumped right into this conversation. When Jennifer began asking those questions, she received deep insight into her work, which is helping others tune into themselves, recognize their personal Soul Language, and use that knowing to frame how they show up in their lives and work. “This makes Soul tangible, in yourself and in your business,” she explains. “It allows us to put words to that thing we know deep within…” it’s what’s true about and within us… and it’s speaking to each of us all day, every day, if only we’d tune in and listen! Soul Language helps us understand our mission in life – what we’ll be known for here, and our ‘soulful personality,’ how we show up and use our unique gifts with others. As Jennifer aligned more and more with her inner voice, what she calls Divine Voice, she was able to clearly articulate the concepts of Soul Language and how it works in life and in business. She went on to (literally) write the book and develop a program to expand this knowing and way of living with others. Today, there are a number of certified Soul Language practitioners helping others connect more deeply with themselves. One way to do this is to create a daily sacred practice that works… When we feel separate from our higher power, that separation shows up in our lives as lack, pain, and suffering. Participating in a daily sacred practice that fits who you are will allow you to create in a more powerful way, feel more at peace, and know that you are safe no matter what challenge may appear in your experience. As a spiritual renegade, your sacred practice needs to be flexible. This conversation will have you asking some of those big questions, if you aren’t already engaged in that exploration. And if you’re ready to discover and align with your Soul Language, Jennifer is ready to help! Jennifer’s Bio Jennifer Urezzio is the founder of Soul Language – a paradigm that puts tangibility to Soul so a conscious connection can be established to enable crystal clear decisions for success. Jennifer is also a master intuitive and the author of two best-selling books. Currently, she has trained over 30 practitioners worldwide in Soul Language. At this time there are over 5,000 individuals all over the world connecting to their Soul Languages. Jennifer has worked with and supported hundreds of successful, highly creative individuals with resolving blocks in their creative process so that new opportunities can be received and created. Her clients consistently relate how Jennifer provides an environment where they feel safe to open up and be vulnerable. She helps them regain their strength and express their big purpose and mission. Jennifer has even been described as “liquid nitrogen” because she has the ability to see the core of possibilities within each individual’s energy field. She is a master at asking the soul-searching questions that allow individuals to understand and perceive new pathways of success and greatness in their lives. In just one session, clients report that new possibilities open up for them which allows them to express their creativity, stardom, and greatness in whole new ways to the world. Many of Jennifer’s client reviews can be found at: https://bit.ly/2Ec2MOd. Connect with Jennifer: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferurezzio https://www.facebook.com/SoulLanguage/ https://www.instagram.com/soullanguagefounder/ https://twitter.com/SoulLanguage https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferurezzio/ http://www.youtube.com/c/JenniferUrezzio www.soullanguage.us By Phone: 862-368-5877 FREE GIFT: https://www.soullanguage.us/sacredpractice/
Paul Scheele is on a mission to unleash your personal genius, to reintroduce you to your natural brilliance. He does that work through a multitude of vehicles – live and digital programs, the written word, in small groups and one-on-one. One of his tools is called a Paraliminal. Literally, that means Para = Beyond and Liminal = threshold of your conscious and nonconscious mind (nonconscious = everything beyond our conscious awareness). Paraliminals are digital recordings that allow listeners to reconnect with the internal resources and knowing that will allow us to be, do, and have more of what we long for in our lives. Host, Laura Prisc, has been using a library of Paraliminals for several years as part of her personal growth, vision casting, and goal achieving efforts. Based on the power they’ve held for her, she wanted to share them with you. If you’ve never listened to one, it’s a unique experience, indeed. Each recording focuses on a specific topic, like weight loss or memory or creativity. There are two voices – each one speaking (separately, and in an intriguing way, together) to the left and right hemispheres of your brain. Paul shares his process for developing and recording them, and introduces a new tool he’s developed, which is in its “soft launch phase” at the time of recording. The JoySpring App is designed to create a habit of betterment for users, through several brief interventions throughout the day. JoySpring combines mindfulness, meditation, hydration, and tapping to effect shifts in emotion; in addition, there are several short “sleep induction” tracks that allow you to shift from the busyness of your day into a sound and restful sleep state. This is truly a Masterclass in how your mind works; have a pen and notebook handy, so you don’t miss any of the wisdom shared. Paul’s Bio Paul R. Scheele, Ph.D., is the CEO of Scheele Learning Systems, a company dedicated to helping leaders create more brilliant results through transformative learning. His expertise in human development, leadership, and transformational change has influenced leaders around the world for more than 35 years. Dr. Scheele’s programs in accelerated learning, problem solving, creativity, communications, and leadership development have been used by individuals and organizations worldwide. He is the author of the bestselling books, PhotoReading, Natural Brilliance, and Drop into Genius. Dr. Scheele is also the founding partner of Learning Strategies Corporation, a premier publisher of personal development programs. His published work includes over 70 learning programs that have been translated into more than 19 languages and purchased by enthusiastic clients in 185 countries. Connect with Paul: Scheele Learning Find Paraliminals Paul’s Programs JoySpring App Learning Strategies
As we grow in our careers and expertise, we develop certain behavioral patterns and routines and come to rely on certain skills we've invested a lot in developing because they've served us well -- in a number of situations over a number of years... and then one day, not only do they not only NOT work, they've actually become destructive!
Making it worse is our inability to recognize what it is that's causing us to stumble. We often make assumptions about how others are experiencing us or what they know about who we are and what we're capable of. What if our assumptions are wrong?
Knowing that we "can't see the picture when we're in the frame," we need some way to discover what's really going on and how we can make adjustments that will get us back on track.
In today’s episode, host, Laura Prisc, walks through the 20 behaviors that consistently get us stuck in our career growth, as defined by Executive Coach, Business Leader, and Author, Marshall Goldsmith, and discussed in his best-selling book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There.
Laura also offers insight into some of the behaviors that threatened to get her stuck along her career path. Get ready to take notes… This episode will be eye-opening, for sure.
Today’s episode is a reading of this previously published article, by the author and your host, Laura Prisc. Following is the text, although Laura may have strayed from it a time or two in the recording! Leave a comment and let her know what you think…
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but the long-term impact of that is likely far less significant than that from the words we use against each other!
Yes, I’ve taken some liberties with that old childhood chant, devised by some well-meaning adult, no doubt, and implanted in the minds of countless children across the globe as a talisman against hurt, pain, and suffering.
I LOVE books; they make me feel rich! So, you can imagine my joy at getting to spend time in conversation with someone who shares my love of books!
Like so many arts and crafts, bookbinding, restoration, and conversation is a dying art. Fortunately, there’s Heather Rudolph. Formerly a middle school art teacher, Heather learned bookbinding because she wanted to teach her students how to craft their own sketchbooks and journals.
That effort led to a newspaper story on her unique approach and lesson plan. The article sparked a phone call from a retiring bookbinder – restorer who wanted to pass on her supplies and expertise, as she was retiring. Heather jumped at the chance; her first lesson in the binding process was powerful enough that she knew she wanted to know more.
The retiring pro also passed along her client base… and Heather’s new profession was off to the races, as they say, even if she didn’t fully appreciate what was unfolding. Wanting to learn more and deepen her expertise, she took another, longer class the understand more about restoration and conservation. “It’s much more than just taping torn pages, or regluing covers,” she explains – in case you were wondering!
Another newspaper article was written, picked up by the AP, and splashed across newspapers around the US. New clients started calling, bigger projects came along… and eventually, Heather’s newfound passion became her full-time job! She now lives and works in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, who is picking up the trade. “He’s a restorer, as well,” she explained. Although, his first love was old motorcycles.
There’s so much involved in real restoration and conservation; and so much more at risk. Many of her clients are bringing her treasured family heirlooms, books with deep sentimental value that have been passed through several generations and need a lot of meticulous and gentle work.
She’s a detective, researcher, historian, artist, caretaker, teacher, and so much more… Listen in and see what you learn from Heather.
Heather’s Bio
Heather Rudolph has a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and a Master’s in Art Education. She taught visual arts for 15 years, including two years abroad in Thailand, teaching elementary art at a private American school.
During her period as a teacher she started taking classes on bookbinding to share with her students. Shortly thereafter, she was introduced to retired bookbinder, Julie Schleier. Their relationship developed into a mentorship, educating Heather on the many aspects of book conservation and restoration. Heather opened her West Virginia business A Stitch in Time Bookbindery in 2018, and just recently opened Armaria Bookbindery with her husband, Robert Rudolph, in Columbus, Ohio.
The ancient trade of bookbinding is a dying art. Not only does Heather protect the history of books but she is preserving the lost art of bookbinding. She believes it is important to remove the automatic methods of machine and go back to using one’s hands. Manufactured products lose the human touch, creativity, and quality. They are artificially mass-produced, lacking in originality. Heather and Robert want to produce unique handmade work with superior quality.
“I discovered a new passion and craft in bookbinding. My appreciation for the process to build a book by hand forces me to slow down, be present, and focus. Each book comes with a personal story. I always enjoy hearing the history of the person’s book and sentiment it has to them.”
Connect with Heather:
A Stitch In Time Bookbindery – West Virginia
Armaria Bookbindery
On Facebook
By Phone: 304.916.8008
Alyse Snyder is one of those people we hear about who knew from a very young age what she wanted to do when she grew up; she felt called to healing, medicine, and helping others. This was, at least in part, because of her walking through her mother’s experience of having a back injury when she was young, and the journey they went on in search of treatment options beyond surgery.
Along the way, they discovered Acupuncture, which provided amazing outcomes – both emotionally and physically – for her mom, and sparked Alyse’s curiosity about Chinese Medicine. Upon entering college, she finished her Bachelor’s in two years, her Master’s in four, and went straight into training for her Doctorate in Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture.
She explained to Laura how we are energetic bodies and when we have physical and/or emotional traumas, there is residue from the experience embedded in our cells, which eventually present as illness in some form. Functional Medicine is a more holistic approach to treatment, as it takes into account the body as a whole, and practitioners map treatment plans based on that holistic approach with a focus on getting the body’s systems back into homeostasis or healthy stability.
As all things evolve over time, today her practice is centered on what’s officially called Advance Allergy Therapeutics (AAT), or what she says is really more closely defined as “Sensitivities,” as an individual may experience a sensitivity to a specific substance, but not actually be “allergic” as it’s strictly defined.
AAT is a non-invasive, precision-based practice incorporating acupressure, muscle testing, and kinesiology. Using a specially designed USB arm-cuff, she is able to test for sensitivities that don’t necessarily show up in bloodwork. The treatment protocol using a tapping process that repatterns the body’s electrical signals, rather than relying on pills, shots, or supplements.
Essentially, it’s very individualized diagnosis and treatment. It’s a fascinating conversation, that just skims the surface of Dr. Snyder’s expertise and experience. It will leave you wanting to know more.
Dr. Snyder’s Bio
Dr. Alyse Snyder is a licensed acupuncturist in the states of Texas and California with more than a decade of wellness experience. She is a board-certified Diplomate of Oriental Medicine, the highest designation given by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM).
Alyse’s practice includes Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT), acupuncture, neurotransmitter testing, targeted nutritional therapy, and sound healing. She completed her doctorate in Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and is obtaining her certification in functional medicine from the Institute of Functional Medicine.
Alyse received her undergraduate education in North Carolina where she studied Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Eastern Studies, and Chinese Language. Using this strong science and eastern education, she went on to earn a Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (MTOM) at the prestigious Emperor’s College in Santa Monica, California, and graduated in 2005 with Magna Cum Laude honors.
During her clinical internships at University of California at Los Angeles and the Venice Family Clinic, Alyse treated both children and adults struggling with mental health issues. Alyse studied under world-renowned expert and practitioner of Chinese Medicine, Giovanni Macciocia, and began to specialize in treating psycho-emotional disorders such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, and attention disorders. Her passion for working with these disorders and love for treating children naturally led to helping children diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety issues.
She advanced her training with the addition of Acutonics, a treatment that utilizes sound vibration for healing and offers Acutonics treatments in conjunction with her acupuncture sessions. She has adopted a style that incorporates Japanese acupuncture techniques: gentle insertion and very thin needles that allow for practically pain-free treatments.
In 2012, Alyse moved to Austin, Texas. During her first two years in the state capital, she suffered from debilitating respiratory allergies. Her search for relief ultimately led her to Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT). AAT uses muscle testing to see what items might be causing stress to the body. After 8 non-invasive, individualized sessions, her allergies dissipated and she was able to resume a normal life, free of the flu-like symptoms, joint pain, and fatigue that she had experienced for two years. So compelled by the success of the treatment, in 2015, Alyse incorporated it into her own practice and became the second AAT practitioner in Austin.
She is ecstatic to offer her patients and all allergy sufferers with this unique therapy that provides rapid, long term results without the use of drops, shots, needles, or supplements.
Alyse is a highly intuitive and heart-centered wellness advocate who believes in the power of energy, intuition, and self-healing. When not in the clinic, Alyse enjoys traveling, writing, yoga, seeing music. and being outdoors with her children.
Connect with Dr. Snyder:
Dr. Alyse Snyder Online
On Instagram
“We walk through life together with people who’ve been dealt a difficult hand,” explained Dan Fowler. It was such a simple thing, so humbly stated, it stopped podcast host, Laura, in her tracks! This simple sentence personifies who Dan Fowler is, how he thinks about and cares for people, and how and why he’s building his business, Reunion Shoes, in New Orleans.
Reunion Shoes happens to make and decorate (for lack of a better description of the artwork his team sends into the world) simple canvas sneakers. That’s the outer expression of what’s going on. Inside, however, lives are changing.
Dan is working under the umbrella of the Restoration Initiative, a non-profit incubator, providing space and support for small businesses committed to creating social good before other, more common business goals. Specifically, he’s working to support people who don’t live in traditional housing, who need access to certain kinds of support services (drug and alcohol rehab, counseling, medical care, and faith support, just to name a few).
The idea is to meet the needs of people – as they define them, rather than having services pushed upon them – and support them as they create the life they desire, learning to become self-sufficient, building dignity and respect along the way, and contributing to their communities in new ways.
It’s a deep and heartfelt conversation that touches on the ideas of asking, “How can I help?” as opposed to assuming we already know what’s best for someone else. It’s about taking baby steps that grow into considerable waves of change in a neighborhood or community. And it’s the personification of creating something with a great deal of consideration and intention.
If you thought your ideas were too insignificant to make a difference, I dare you to eavesdrop on this episode and walk away with that thought unchanged!
Dan’s Bio
Dan Fowler is the founder and director of Reunion Shoe Company, a social enterprise focused on hiring and supporting folks coming out of homelessness. He has worked in the homeless community in a variety of capacities, including advocacy, one-on-one ministry, and working alongside various systems of care. Dan graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University New Orleans. Dan grew up in Florida and has lived in New Orleans for the past 6 years. He loves tacos, old cars, and his wife, Audrey.
Connect with Dan:
Buy Some Shoes!
Reunion Shoes on Facebook
The Dream Manager Book
If you’re familiar with the concept of Adverse Childhood Events (ACE score) and their impact on how children navigate life and become adults, you’ll be astounded by Tabitha’s story. She’s been through too many of those experiences one would hope to never encounter: Abusive father, divorce (her parent’s, and later, her own); raised by a single mom, who passed when Tabitha was only 15; dropped out of high school; teenage pregnancy; loss of faith… the challenges sound so overwhelming.
And yet, they do not define who Tabitha Holliman is today. She’s not only survived, she’s thriving. She truly is the personification of resilience and is on a mission today to help other women grow into their personal resilience, as well.
Today, she’s a happily married mother of four. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting, and has a busy Tax Accounting practice. She’s learning to homeschool. She helps small businesses implement systems that allow them to grow and thrive. She coaches women through some really difficult times in their lives. And she recently developed and presented a multi-week online program – The Resilient Woman Series.
Listen in as Tabitha shares her story, the lessons she learned along the way, the support she encountered, and some powerful words of wisdom. This episode will allow you to reframe the way you view, attach meaning to, and experience a multitude of events in your own life.
Tabitha’s Bio
Tabitha Hollimon is a Georgia native, a Georgia Peach! She is married to Joe and they have 4 children. She has a Masters's Degree in Accounting and more than a decade of tax accounting experience. She specializes in working with small business owners and entrepreneurial individuals who seek to expand their financial business knowledge.
She also has a passion to support families, especially women, whether stay-at-home moms or career women. She has dedicated 10 years to women's ministry and children's ministry. Tabitha has made a stride to facilitate community and networking as one of her superpowers. She has a heart for people!
Connect with Tabitha:
Resilient Woman Series
Tabitha via email
Tabitha on Facebook
Tabitha’s Tax Accounting Services
When you talk with Cesar, you recognize quickly he’s an expert in his field. He’s worked in the Oil & Gas industry for decades and he has the technical side of his work down pat! But he hasn’t rested on that expertise. About halfway into his tenure, he realized there was a lot more going on in his workspace that hadn’t been addressed in his education or work experience to that point.
With a desire to help his colleagues understand the real implications of all the data they all collected, studied, and made decisions from, Cesar started studying, again. The missing pieces were connected to sociology and psychology; essentially, the insight into understanding the human dynamics and how to use that to improve work environments and outcomes.
Laura and Cesar explore a number of ideas, including some of the universal truths Laura has discovered over the course of her work and learning journey: Intent does NOT Equal Impact, One Size does NOT Fit All, Self-Awareness is the foundation of Emotional Intelligence… and one of Cesar’s favorites: Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know!
If you’ve been wondering what you might not know, you’ll definitely want to listen to this episode carefully, and likely more than once; it’s a mini-masterclass in emotional intelligence.
Cesar’s Bio
Cesar Ramos is a Subject Matter Expert in Project Controls, also providing Oracle P6 & Risk Training & Consulting for the Oil & Gas industry.
His career began in construction, then shifted into engineering and front-end engineering of Onshore, Offshore, and Subsea work. He’s been responsible for Project Controls, Planning/Scheduling, Risk Analysis, Progress Measurement, Earned Value, Cost Control, Procurement, and Estimating over the course of his 20 years in the field. He dedicated the half of his career pursuing the expert level knowledge of advanced Planning/Scheduling methodologies & the future of Earned Value, before beginning to explore the human element that is present in all roles, industries, and businesses.
Connect with Cesar:
Advanced Planning Analytics
Cesar via email
Joe Sinnott has led and interesting life, and it’s early, yet! Originally from New Jersey, he found himself living on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, as an engineer fresh out of college! While it wasn’t just as he’d expected, the experience gave him several significant blessings.
First, the company he worked for very serious about safety, as one would hope, especially in that line of work. But the training Joe went through instilled some foundational thinking practices within him that extend far beyond just safety and still impact who he is today and how he shows up.
Second, he has one of those great “How I Met Your Mother” stories to share with his children! Because his job required that he be geographically distant and somewhat isolated, he was surrounded only by people there to do a job. So, when he decided he wanted a romantic relationship, he had to get creative. He and his wife connected online and spent a lot (A LOT!) of time exchanging long and deep emails about the more significant issues in life – building intimacy through vulnerability.
Third, as the company was preparing for internal leadership changes, Joe recognized opportunity coming and used that awareness – plus time and space – to imagine what his next phase of work might look like. Because he was open to possibility and not in a pressure situation, he was able to step into his current work from a place of resourcefulness, possibility, and creativity.
Listen in for more about Joe’s journey, the work he’s doing today – Coaching emerging leaders in Oil & Gas, so they can live and lead more meaningful lives.
Joe’s Bio
Joe Sinnott is an executive coach and the founder of Witting Partners, where he equips emerging energy industry leaders with the practical tools needed to successfully navigate the ever-present volatility, intensity, and generational gaps that can quickly rob them and their stakeholders of motivation, engagement, and productivity.
Joe also hosts The Energy Detox podcast, where he helps listeners sustainably produce the figurative energy needed to lead themselves, their organizations, and their families toward a more satisfying future by identifying and flushing away the hidden—and often toxic—barriers to peak performance.
Joe’s coaching leverages his technical background and his 14 years of energy industry experience, first as an offshore field engineer for global oilfield services company Schlumberger, followed by a variety of leadership positions at EQT, America’s largest producer of natural gas.
A twin dad, chemical engineer, and 2005 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Joe currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife Becky and their 4 children.
Connect with Joe:
Witting Partners: Fueling Sustainable Leaders
The Energy Detox Podcast
Joe on LinkedIn
I haven’t met a person yet who hasn’t had some kind of struggle with developing and sustaining healthy eating practices, and Ricki Heller is no exception. As she describes it, she grew up with the ultimate junk food diet – TV dinners, mac & cheese, and lots of baked goods. Which was fun until it wasn’t!
Eventually, she developed Candida, which is an overgrowth of a naturally occurring yeast we all have in our bodies. At normal levels, this is ok… overgrowth, however, can make you very, very sick, as Ricki experienced and describes in today’s episode. It was truly debilitating.
Her path forward was either an extremely restricted diet or be very, very ill. What would you choose? Surely, this is one of those “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” experiences.
Ricki learned to cook with healthy, nutritional, whole foods from scratch and has developed significant expertise in developing recipes that she’s published in cookbooks and through her blog. Taken a step farther, she’s shared what she’s learned about how one can create and sustain a healthy eating plan through one-on-one and small group coaching programs.
She says it’s important to create boundaries and stick with them. The key is to make the choices for the healthy options so routine, so habitual that they simply happen in the moment and you don’t even have to think about them; this is an auto-pilot program that works in our favor!
The key, however, is getting to the root of our thinking about food, the relationship we develop with it over the course of our lives and understanding what triggers we encounter that can send us down unhealthy paths. In her mind there are three key ideas or actions to take: Address the food itself and eliminate what is bad for you; become aware of the habits we form around eating and certain foods; and learn to recognize the emotions we have around eating and certain foods.
When you understand the triggers or initiating events, then you can make more mindful choices about what will truly feed and nourish you. Ricki is a wealth of information on this topic, so settle in and get ready to learn!
Ricki’s Bio
Ricki Heller, R.H.N, PhD, is a healthy eating coach, educator, writer and whole foods recipe developer. She helps people with dietary restrictions love food again without feeling deprived, so they can focus on healing and focus on living their best lives.
Through her coaching and online programs, Ricki shares her passion for living well without sugar, gluten, eggs, or dairy and teaches people how to thrive no matter their dietary restrictions.
She is also the author of four books, including Sweet Freedom, which was recommended by Ellen DeGeneres, and the bestselling guide and cookbook, Living Candida-Free. She contributes frequently to various magazines and websites, as well as appearing regularly on TV and podcasts.
Ricki is also a dog mom, pop culture fanatic, and die-hard chocoholic. She lives with her husband and two fur babies, Chaser and Zoey, just north of Toronto.
Connect with Ricki:
Ricki Online
Get her Free Tool here
Subscribe for weekly emails with recipes and health info!
Coaching with Ricki
Join the Sweet Life Club
Do you recognize this person? Relentlessly driven, often exhausted, setting extremely high expectations for herself (himself), never quite meeting them, unhappy, frustrated, short, and at the end of it?!! That’s close to how Jen Sherwood describes her previous existence.
In this episode, Laura and Jen dig into some of the pressures we all seem to face in life, and those particularly experienced by women – media representations of what it requires to be beautiful, healthy, young, attractive, polished, professional, etc… It’s unrealistic, sometimes damaging, and not conducive to living a healthy, satisfying life if we allow ourselves to get caught up in those expectations, measures, practices.
While Jen was that perfectionist, never-quite-meeting-expectations, young mom twenty years ago, she finally woke up one day and decided she wanted to feel better. Her journey started with a therapist, expanded to a coach who “rocked my world,” she says… and eventually brought her to a place of discovering what fills and feeds her at a deep level.
Choosing to invest in herself, her sanity, and her future, Jen earned her coaching certification and left her job as a Pediatric Audiologist and how helps women reconnect with themselves and live better lives.
“I’ve had so much self-doubt,” she explains. “When I’m vulnerable, there are so many more rich experiences…” She goes on to blast the myth about our practice of “armoring up” to go out and face the world as if we are all powerful, have it all together, and cannot be hurt by others. The truth is, we carry this heavy armor, but it doesn’t actually protect us; we still experience the hurts of life.
Jennifer’s Bio
Jennifer Sherwood works with women who are overwhelmed, feel pulled between the demands of work and home, rarely make time for themselves, and worry that this is as good as it gets. She helps them move themselves up on the priority list so can build a life they LOVE, not just tolerate.
Jen is a certified coach, speaker, and blogger. She is passionate about women making time for themselves so they can show up in their lives the way they want to...not stressed and resentful.
Jen holds a master’s degree in Audiology (aka hearing science) and her previous career focus was in pediatrics, which means she knows a thing or two about working with women, moms, and families in times of stress or uncertainty.
Connect with Jennifer:
Jennifer Online
Jennifer on Facebook
Jennifer on Instagram -- @jensherwood22
Discovering your “superpower” and finding your perfect niche – that sweet spot where you get to do really good work and have a lot of fun doing it – is often an iterative process. We try, learn, shift, learn some more… and along the way we narrow, redefine, explore, and discover what we’re good at and what we enjoy doing. At least if we are in the process of exploring and seeking.
And that’s what happened for Jen Liddy. Born curious, she loved learning. The first in her family to attend college, she thought there was only one recipe for success and she seemed to be missing “the” elusive magical ingredient. By allowing herself the freedom to ‘dip her toes in and see how it goes…’ she eventually realized the truth. There isn’t just one recipe for success; as unique individuals, our paths will be different and our niche’s will be, as well.
And she’s tried a few… from HS English Teacher to partner in a fitness studio, into Life Coaching, and now in her sweet spot – Business Development Coaching. Serving women business owners who are in the middle of their business and feel like the business is running them instead of the other way around.
Her unique gifts allow her to deeply listen and pull out the core language we use to express what we need and then how to create the powerful messaging in response. The ideal outcome is helping a client craft that messaging that allows her to connect with her ideal clients, so they can do powerful work together.
Jen shares some of the challenges and lessons encountered and learned along her journey. She shares insights into what she’s learned that has been helpful for her. Together, Jen and Laura discuss some of the tools they use in their coaching practices to help those who come to them.
Jen’s Bio
After making the terrifying leap into entrepreneurship from education, Jen Liddy learned how grow a business from the inside out via a brick & mortar fitness studio.
She learned all. the. lessons. the hard way… so much so that eventually her business ran her instead of her running it!
Now, as a Business Development Coach, Jen teaches women how to grow businesses that work for them and their life. Learn more and connect with her below.
Connect with Jen:
Jen Online
Instagram -- @JenLiddyCoach
Jen on Facebook
Donald Miller’s Storybrand
It’s inevitable; no one of us is immune to this experience. At some point, our lives will be turned completely upside down… sometimes because of a decision we made or an action we took and sometimes due to circumstances beyond our control.
As the saying goes: We don’t get to choose what happens to us; we get to choose how we respond to what happens to us. And that makes all the difference! Maria has experienced a few upheavals in her life and today she shares some of what she’s learned through the process.
For her, it’s actively attending to “how we bounce!” She encourages her clients to take stock of the tools in their possession: Assess your core values – they will guide you to make decisions based on what matters most. Take time in solitude to listen to your own inner wisdom. Learn through experience by adjusting, adapting, and innovating along the way.
Laura and Maria also dig into the idea that sometimes the stuff we pick up and carry through our lives isn’t “our” stuff, isn’t our responsibilities; recognizing and releasing is key here. Their collective wisdom and insight guides you to this:
Do the best you can in the moment.
Reserve the right to be smarter tomorrow.
Make new choices when you know better.
Find an experienced guide to help you grow through the upheavals and transitions in your life.
Maria’s Bio
María Tomás-Keegan is a Career & Life Coach for Women, specializing in transitions—what she calls “the Upside Downs of Life.” Her 30-year career in corporate management, coupled with her experience navigating many personal life-changing events along the way, has evolved into compassion for women who feel they need to be super-human. Family, friends, community, and career make for a full plate, and many women feel the need to be perfect at all of it, all the time. You’re not alone!
She is an award-winning author of Upside Down to Right Side Up: Turning Transition into Triumph, speaker, and producer and host of an international TV podcast on VoiceAmerica TV called Tips for the Transition.
Connect with Maria:
Maria Online
Maria’s Podcast
Maria’s FREE ebook
Maria’s other ebooks
If you’ve not heard the term, “Headtrash,” before… you’ll recognize it as “stinkin’ thinkin’” or the voice in your head that tells you you’re not good enough, not able, not worth it… what have you. Laura thinks of that voice as a personal Gremlin and it taunts us with self-limiting beliefs far too often. It’s the stuff that keeps us smaller than we are meant to be, and from taking risks, exploring new things, and going on adventures.
Jon jokingly says, “If you’re going to make excuses, as least make them World Class!” He shares the story of how he recognized his personal headtrash and over time was able to overcome and release much of it.
It starts in numerous ways, but shows up when we compare ourselves to others, berate or belittle ourselves and accomplishments, use words like “never” and “always…” anything that turns into negative self-talk. Looking back, Jon recognizes his intense experience with it began when he was only 11 years old.
His belief that no one could possibly like him if they knew what he was really like shaped his thinking, his behaviors, and his actions over much of his life. He spent an enormous amount of time, effort, and energy in building just the right persona – wearing the right clothes, doing the right kind of work, having the right address, driving the right cars, and belonging to the right groups.
As you can imagine, it was exhausting and hard to maintain. It wasn’t doing much for his personal relationships, either.
Listen in and learn how Jon discovered his personal headtrash, the practices he’s put in place that helped him release that line of thinking and step into his life in an authentic way, and which allow him to do the work he does today – helping businesses increase revenue.
Jon’s Bio
Jon Keel has developed a reputation as a results-oriented Business Advisor, having been involved in this arena since January 1997. In addition to being CEO and Founder of Improved Results (www.Improved-Results.com), which he founded in 1997, he co-developed the Xavier University MBA E-Business program, where he taught Online Marketing and E-Commerce.
He frequently speaks to audiences about performance-based marketing for online and offline businesses. He has written numerous articles and has appeared on several TV and radio news and talk programs. He co-developed the first pay-per-click search engine bid management software and wrote the first book on pay-per-click search engines, “Instant Web Site Traffic.”
With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Engineering, Jon moved to Cincinnati in 1971, with the Procter and Gamble Company. He left P&G in 1973, to work for The Henry P. Thompson Company, and over a 22-year period became the owner and President/CEO. He sold his interest in the company in 1995. In 1987, he received an MBA from Xavier University. He currently resides in Dublin, Ohio, with his wife of 48 years, Colleen.
Connect with Jon:
Jon online
The 14-Day Slingshot Challenge
5 Marks of a Man – book
The term “Mastermind” is used in a lot of different ways by a lot of different people, which makes it hard to know what someone really means when they say it. Laura asking Dave to define it from his perspective is the start of another engaging conversation on this week’s episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter.
Dave references Napoleon Hill’s work, from Think and Grow Rich, which says that a mastermind is a coordinated effort toward a definite purpose; a group of like-minded individuals coming together to think, explore, learn, grow, maybe even solve a few problems along the way. And says his thinking about what structure it takes has loosened up a bit over time.
These days it could be a group of people engaged in a book study. It might be a group of people who engage in deep discussions on a consistent basis, exploring the meaning of life or other such topics. It might be a focused group of business owners who come together to grow themselves, their businesses, and each other’s businesses in the process. Whatever the details of the members and the focus, it’s often marked by deep bonding between members and the development of a safe space in which to be vulnerable. There’s also an element of accountability built in, which creates an environment of real progress over time.
“We all have flaws and challenges,” he says. “We need to know we’re in an environment which is safe for growth.”
Laura and Dave dive deeper into how a mastermind might function and Dave shares a process and format he’s used in groups he’s facilitated and participated in. That leads into some discussion about online marketing strategies and tactics, values-based behaviors, and more.
When I asked Dave for his Bio, here’s what he shared with me…
"What the hell have you done?" my wife was a little suspicious as I handed her the bunch of flowers...
As it turns out her suspicions were correct, I'd just quit my job as a systems analyst and borrowed £13,000 to buy my father's failed print finishing business from the liquidators. If I'm honest, that may well have been the first nail in the coffin of my first marriage.
That was the start of my entrepreneurial journey, now fast forward to today...
As a visionary and strategist, I enjoy starting and working with others to start new ventures from the ground up and then handing them over to my management teams to run day-to-day because they're usually better than me at doing that!
I've started, developed and grown over 30 small businesses in many different sectors! Fact is, I love doing what I do and was once described as a "serial entrepreneur"... though I'm not sure whether that was a compliment or not?
One of my mentors, John Maxwell, says "Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn!"
Well, that's certainly been the case for me. I've had several failures in business - some of them catastrophic, but every one of them provided valuable lessons and helped me grow and develop. This development led me to realize I had experiences valuable to others in similar situations, but I didn't know how I could help them.
The solution presented itself in 2011, when I joined LEAD Wales and experienced coaching for the first time. My coaching journey progressed and led to my earning ICF accreditation then Certification by the US-based, John Maxwell Team.
The result: My team and I have launched an exclusive co-working space and business club for entrepreneurs who want to develop themselves so they can, in turn, develop their staff and their businesses.
Come visit us in Llantrisant (UK) and see what all the fuss is about - contact me to arrange a visit.
Resources discussed and connect with Dave here:
Dave on Facebook
Dave on LinkedIn
729 Renegades Mastermind Groups
It’s been many years ago, but once upon a time, Sherrie Dunlevy had a baby boy named Brandon. He lived just 29 days. “He made a greater impact on so many lives in just 29 days than some have in a lifetime,” she explains.
The aftermath of Brandon’s passing was unexpected in so many ways. Lifelong friends vanished. People they would never have imagined would, showed up. Instead of allowing herself to get caught up in the obvious question of “Why did this happen to us, to me?” Sherrie moved on to asking: “What now?”
She took a close look at her life, her work, her marriage, her relationships, and decided she wanted to live a life of purpose and passion. And she wrote a book – How Can I Help? – to offer others insight into how they might help someone in grief, or going through difficult times, when the right words are elusive.
She’s since done a lot of work helping others understand, sit with, and move through grief. “Grief is the loss of anything we hold dear,” she explains. “It might be death, a divorce, loss of a job, a medical diagnosis… and we need to learn that it’s ok – healthy – to talk through these things, even when it’s hard or the words fail us.”
And, feeling called to be an inspirer, she’s focused on being what she calls an “Inspirationista”! Not only does she share the “inspiration strikes” she receives, but she seeks out other sources of inspiration and shares them, as well. Striving to live an authentic life – who she was truly meant to be – and hoping to model that behavior for others, Sherrie is a dynamic force of energy.
Sherrie’s Bio
What is an “Inspirationista”? Well, for Sherrie Dunlevy, it’s a way of life. A calling. A symbol for stepping into greatness and helping others to be their best selves despite what might have happened in the past. Sherrie is a bereaved mother, author of the book, “How Can I Help?” and has leaped headlong into this vocation following a lengthy career as a Radio and TV news personality.
Sherrie now spends her time putting good into the universe and bringing positivity to people through her Facebook Group All Things Awesome, as host of the Grief Anonymous Podcast, and through her talks and workshops. She believes all of us have the power to make a positive impact in this world if we choose to step into love!
Connect with Sherrie:
Sherrie Online
Sherrie by email
Sherrie on Facebook
Sherrie on LinkedIn
Get the Book – How Can I Help?
Dr. Ron Gharbo is an expert in the body-brain connection and in today’s conversation, he endeavors to help Laura understand the intricacies of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and how it is intimately connected with and an indicator of one’s emotional intelligence (EQ), which is highly correlated with success in leadership.
Recent advances in wearable technologies give Dr. Gharbo predictive insight into an individual’s energy reserves, which allows him to assess whether they are physically equipped to deal with physical and emotional stresses.
“Energy is finite,” he explains. If an individual actually understood his or her personal “energy bank,” he or she could make better decisions about what to engage in or take action on. “If you knew your reserves were low, would you still take this action?” is a question he poses as he walks Laura through how it works.
HRV is incredibly sensitive and requires skilled interpretation into the physical and emotional variables that impact it. Practitioners can gather enough data over time to understand an individual’s HRV and make healthy modifications through exercise, breathing, and mindful awareness.
Dr. Gharbo takes this level of insight and information to a new level when he expresses interest in doing a large-scale experiment within a corporation allowing participants to self-modulate behavior and HRV through a phone app. It’s a fascinating conversation and an intriguing idea for sure; if you’re in HR and want to take him up on this experiment, connect with him below.
Ron’s Bio
Raouf (Ron) Gharbo D.O. is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) and Neuromuscular Electrodiagnostic Medicine and is faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of PMR, the hub for the National Veterans Administration Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium.
In 2020, Dr. Gharbo submitted a novel approach to whole health: Autonomic Rehabilitation: Adapting to Change. Dr. Gharbo was the clinical HRV expert for the largest randomized control trial for inducing cardiorespiratory synchronization to reduce chronic pain. He gave the keynote address at the 50th Anniversary for the Academy of Applied Psychophysiology in 2019, the Richard Baer Lectureship at The Ohio State University Medical Center 2018. His submission, on reproducible placebo analgesia at the International Conference on Opioids in 2017 was selected as a top presentation.
He is Riverside Health System faculty for the emerging leaders program. He speaks to all new health system providers and through ANS Health, LLC, he coaches athletes, coaches, and corporate leaders on the Physiology of Leadership and sustainable high performance. He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award for Physicians for Peace for leading medical missions. He was Ohio State University's top male scholar-athlete in 1988 and the University's first walk-on All-American wrestler.
Connect with Dr. Gharbo:
Dr. Gharbo on LinkedIn
Follow his posts on LinkedIn with #autonomichealth
Feedback on Dr. Gharbo’s Expertise
With 27 years of nursing experience, Yvonne Heath has seen a lot, and not the kind of “a lot” most of us would choose to witness or experience. She’s worked in numerous aspects of health care, including the Emergency Department, ICU, Chemotherapy, Palliative Care, and Hospice. She has come face-to-face and heart-to-heart with grief, whether with a patient or through supporting their loved ones through some of the most painful moments of hurt and loss. And not just the painful moments in others’ lives, but in hers, as well. At one point, her teenage son was spiraling into drug addiction, she was raising 4-year-old twins, and working full-time as a Chemo Nurse… For a while she “went steady” with Red-Red Wine, attempting to numb her feelings so she could keep moving. Inspired by real-life physician, Patch Adams, she decided to offer a different approach, one that allows our humanness – heart and humor – to come into the room. “We all experience these hard, heavy feelings,” she explains. “Emotion is energy in motion; it has to move through us…” We need to allow those feelings to show up and sit with them; how we move forward in our lives is determined in large part by how to approach and embrace or avoid grief. What she learned along the way is that we need each other, especially in times of grief. And even when we have no idea what to say or do, we can always “Just Show Up” and be there with people, hold the space for them to experience what we’re experiencing, and love them through it. Eventually, what we need to do or say will become evident… but in the meantime, we let others know that loss – of whatever kind (job, home, health, marriage, loved ones…) – doesn’t need to isolate us as we attempt to navigate our way through. She shares some signs of grief, as it often comes disguised as something else; part of the armor many of us take on in our attempts to not be vulnerable. She also speaks of the dreaded “polite conversation” many of us engage in when we know someone has been through something traumatic because we’re not sure what to say, and perhaps we’re afraid if we discuss it frankly, it may touch us, as well. Yvonne’s Bio Yvonne has been a registered nurse since 1988, working in ten different hospitals in the US and Canada in many areas including emergency, intensive care, chemotherapy and hospice. She became disheartened by our society’s reluctance to talk about, plan, and prepare for grief and life’s challenges—causing excessive suffering in life and at the end of life. She suffered, too, not knowing how to do it differently. In 2015, she took a leap of faith, left her nursing career and blazed a new trail. By helping us prepare BEFORE, she brings heart and humor to grief, death, and dying. She shares her message as an Inspirational Speaker, with her book Love Your Life to Death, as a television and radio host, and through social media. In 2019, she delivered her TEDx Talk: Transforming Grief, by Just Showing Up. Driven by her vision that everyone lives, grieves, and dies well, Yvonne is traveling and helping great organizations along the way. Connect with Yvonne and other resources: Yvonne online – Love Your Life to Death Yvonne’s TEDx Talk www.getreadyforgrief.com www.ijustshowedup.com Patch Adams A Man Called Ove
It began a number of years ago, when John and his family attended a new church plant in Chicago; an offshoot from the home church in Oak Park. Their gatherings were a bit unconventional by “church” standards, but so were the attendees, John among them. When the “experiment” was ended, many chose not to return to the home church; its style and structure no longer met their needs. As a member of a musical community in the West Chicago area, John knew there was a desire for deep spiritual conversation and exploration among his friends and fellow musicians that wasn’t being fed through existing gatherings. On a trip to Ireland, John received what he calls a “Memo from the Head Office,” which eventually coalesced into the Sunday Family Dinner plan. With his friend and business partner, Perry Marshall, he created a unique space for people to explore and discuss spirituality – and connected topics – unrestricted by the confines of formal religious practices. Once a month, on a Sunday evening, they invite a small group of people to join them at a friend’s bar for dinner, drinks, and music. John speaks for 15-20 minutes on a topic he’s been contemplating, and meaningful conversation unfolds. The theme is aligned with James 1:27, which tells us to “take care of widows and orphans.” For John, this raises some interesting questions, like: How do we decide where we come down on protecting the system versus taking care of those most at risk? Where is the line between government responsibility and personal responsibility? How do I move into this kind of time (this episode was recorded in the middle of COVID lockdown) … is it time to work on our lives, relationships, health...? No one of us is unidimensional. We are multidimensional, multitalented, creative, and complex. John Fancher is one of those people whose multi-facets are on display and quickly recognized. He’s a poet, a thoughtful reader, a contemplator of the meaning of life, a seeker of purpose and truth, a rock-star guitar player, a part-time pastor, husband, father, friend, and marketing consultant. The combination of all these things (and so many more that I haven’t experienced yet…) made it clear to me, a meaningful conversation with John would be a journey of unexpected twists and turns, insight, deep thought, and fun – and it was! John’s Bio John is a writer and marketing consultant who works closely with his good friend and renowned business consultant, Perry Marshall. John is a part-time rock star and part-time pastor of a church-but-not-a-church that meets in a bar/art gallery. John loves to travel, especially to Ireland, which is his adopted Fatherland. He has three grown children and lives with is his wife, Jay, in the most rocking suburb of Chicago, Berwyn, IL. Connect with John and Resources: John by email John online Perry Marshall online Richard Rohr online
If you’ve not heard it before, “There’s no Growth in the Comfort Zone and no Comfort in the Growth Zone!” Jon shares some of his personal growth journey – initiated by a simple question from his young daughter – and the subsequent realization that he wasn’t doing the real work he feels called to.
More awake, he went on a journey to discover who he really is, what he cares about, what he’s called to create, and how best to do that. Through that process, he came to understand that to create real change, we have to shift our consciousness, and that requires some level of stretch and the willingness to go beyond our personal comfort zone. For him, those shifts came a little more readily when combined with some kind of outdoor experience and some level of physical challenge.
He’s carried that wisdom forward and built his work around it, creating those kinds of experiences and opportunities for meaningful shifts for his clients. Through his Energy Leadership training, he’s developed his ability to really tune-in to people and understand not just their words and articulate thoughts, but also the undertones and unspoken ideas beneath the actual conversation.
It’s a conversation that will draw you in and hold you close, spark your thinking, and hopefully awaken your longing to live a more intentional, purposeful, wide awake life!
Jon’s Bio
Jon is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and Learning Consultant, Energy Leadership Index™ Master Practitioner (ELI-MP), Customer Acquisition Specialist, Certified Top Producer Consultant Sales and Leadership Coach and the first "Conscious Human Performance Strategist."
He specializes in teaching conscious human performance techniques, and strategies that game-changing companies and individuals can use to immediately increase performance, engagement, sales, leadership, health, and high-value connections.
An experienced coach, consultant, facilitator, and creator of high-impact coaching and training solutions, Jon has a passion for evolved educational experiences that impact human performance. His true enjoyment comes from helping others push and challenge themselves to step outside their comfort zones, pursue their legacies, and tap into what makes them feel alive and awakened inside.
Connect with Jon:
Jon Christian Online -- Zerkers (Free Assessment here!)
Jon on LinkedIn
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZerkersLLTTF
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zerkers
Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Zerkers-Adventure-Challenge-Group-Red-Bank-NJ
You might think it would be all about the babies, and for some midwives, that may be true. For Ellie Durant, it’s about caring for women; being there to support and encourage them in one of the most intimate experiences of life.
“Women have complicated stories,” she explains. “And the most interesting bits seem to be related to pregnancy and childbirth.”
Ellie shares her story of how she came to be caring for women, beginning in her late teens studying nursing. A hardwired Learner, prone to dive deeply into the ideas and topics that capture her interest, Ellie would spend hours in the local bookstore reading whatever she could find in her field; she would even be so bold as to bookmark her place, put the book back on the shelve, and hope it would still be there the next time she could drop in!
Looking back, Ellie recognizes a long line of nurses in her family, including her mom, who worked in the neo-natal and maternity units during her career. So, perhaps this ‘caring for women’ comes naturally to her.
During this conversation, Laura and Ellie talk about birth, what it means to be a midwife – literally and in practice, some of the issues Ellie (and numerous other midwives she knows) have experienced while in practice: Staff shortages, bullying among midwives, communication breakdowns, etc.
Ellie speaks with clear conviction about her purpose in doing the work, caring for women, and creating space for them to have the kind of birth experience they desire when possible. She also shares some of the work she’s done in building an actively engaged community of midwives, a space for them to speak freely, share ideas and experiences, get support, be a support, and continue to share information and grow together.
Ellie’s gentle voice and clear passion for her work will draw you in and hold you close. You don’t want to miss this episode!
Ellie’s Bio
Ellie is a trained midwife and published author. She provides career support through writing and coaching, and her work is often about respect for the most vulnerable person in the room.
Ellie has spoken at events such as The Royal College of Midwives Conference and has shared a stage with midwives such as Sheena Byrom (OBE) and obstetrician Michel Odent. Ellie will be returning to practice in September 2020 and holds a position as an NHS support worker to help with the coronavirus pandemic.
Connect with Ellie and Other Resources:
Curious about Midwifery? Click Here
Ellie on Facebook
Ellie’s Group on Facebook – Midwives in the Making
Author – Midwife, Becky Reed
If you’re a consultant, coach, or some kind of solo-preneur who offers some level of professional service to your clients, how do you build your business?
Well, if you watch and listen to all the self-proclaimed marketing gurus, you ‘build your list’ and buy Facebook ads and Google ads. You create and sell digital programs and products that produce an amazing ‘passive income.’
If you’re one of the fortunate consultants for whom that works well, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of us, that whole cyclone of thinking and activity can become what feels like a never-ending black hole of marketing activity that sucks the life out of you and drains your bank account.
Enter Dov Gordon, a consultant who helps his clients build their businesses by becoming what he calls “Under the Radar Leaders” in their industry. The foundation of his philosophy is so simple, it could easily be dismissed if it didn’t work so well!
On this episode, Laura and Dov dig into the space of what it means to purposefully build healthy, long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that facilitate the exchange of products, services, and payment for value. He shares his framework for the 4 Types of networks he builds and helps his clients build to facilitate the growth of the work each member is doing.
He shares his experiences and lessons learned over the course of his own professional career, going from the point of “not knowing what I didn’t know…” to consciously understanding his process, discerning what worked and why, what didn’t and why, and making course corrections along the way.
If you’re in any kind of consulting business – where what you offer is your expertise and experience – you have to listen to this episode!
Dov’s Bio
Dov Gordon helps consultants and experts get ideal clients. Consistently.
There are millions and millions of consultant/coaches who are really good at what they do. But they're not charismatic guru types. And they never want to be.
They LOVE their work. And all they want is a consistent flow of great clients. Clients who value their expertise, AND who value who they are as people. And pay them well for it.
Dov and his small team take a tactic-agnostic approach. They help you build a strong strategic foundation and to apply to it to build a simple, client-getting system that is best for YOU.
Dov has been a guest on The Art of Charm, John Jantch's Duct Tape Marketing podcast, Jeff Goins's podcast and dozens of others.
You can learn more about Dov's work at https://ProfitableRelationships.com
Connect with Dov and Other Resources:
Get a quick free training: https://profitablerelationships.com/laura
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConsistentFlowOfClients/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dovgordon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DovGordon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dovgordon/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/DovGordon1
If you’re a business owner who occasionally – or frequently – takes your team off-site because you want them to think more creatively, work more collaboratively, be more innovative, and possibly even have more fun working, why would you even consider taking them to a beige, boring off-site conference room or meeting space?
If you’ve done that, and wondered why they weren’t more creative, collaborative, innovative, or playful, nor was the meeting any more fun or interesting or productive than the ones you’ve held previously in your own conference room… The answer couldn’t me more obvious to Mark Henson, Founder of sparkspace in Columbus, Ohio.
It all a couple of decades ago when Mark was working in a design firm. So many who visited the firm noted that they were a bit envious about the fun, funky, colorful space the design team and staff got to work in every day. In fact, some companies actually asked the firm to use their conference rooms for team meetings…
It sparked Mark’s thinking that there was opportunity there, and so it began. sparkspace was born in a 900 square foot space that Mark set up to be meeting friendly and tested his idea for a year. It was a tremendous hit and he needed more space
sparkspace has expanded several times and today encompasses 10,000 square feet for six different sized- and themed-meeting rooms that are unlike any meeting space you’ve ever been in.
But it’s not just about the fun, funky décor and amenities. Mark and his team are truly obsessed with providing exceptional hospitality. “We want our guests to feel truly welcome in our space,” he explained. “Even if this is their very first visit, we want them to feel as if they’ve been there before, they are truly welcome, and we are fully at their service.”
This episode touches on the fun and creative nuances in business and moves into other topics including leadership, personal and team development, how important it is to take time to reflect on experiences to extract the depth of the lessons contained within them, and much more.
Mark’s Bio
Mark Henson is the chief imagination officer of sparkspace, a company that sparks new thinking with its unique conference space and inspirational programs for teams and individuals.
After graduating from Oklahoma Christian College with a degree in Mass Communications, Mark worked as a radio personality, marketing director, copywriter, and a brainstorming facilitator for some of the world’s most successful brands.
20 years ago, Mark designed and launched sparkspace as a full-time facility dedicated to helping teams have more meaningful conversations about overcoming challenges, building relationships, and creating better futures.
In March of 2017, Mark released his first book, Ordinary Superpowers: Unleash the Full Potential of Your Most Natural Talents. The purpose of the book is to help you discover the talents that create the most positive change in your life, the lives of others, and the world around you.
Mark lives in Upper Arlington, Ohio, with his wife, 2 teenagers, and a black cat who rules the whole house.
Connect with Mark and Other Resources:
www.sparkspace.com
www.asuperpoweredlife.com
Dan Sullivan – Strategic Coach
Lisa Flores knows something about building long-term relationships, creating powerful memories with food and environment, and making people feel included, welcome, and special. She is the Sales and Marketing Manager for the Columbus Hospitality Group in Boston, which owns and operates seven dining establishments. While the menus and designs of the various spaces might be quite different, what doesn’t waver is the intentional building of warm, welcome spaces and delectable meals, created with the diners in mind. “While it may appear we are serving meals, what we’re really doing is creating memories,” Lisa explains. Whether it’s a dinner for two or an intimate wedding for 60, Flores and her team strive to create an all-encompassing experience – as close to perfect as possible – in keeping with the spirit and essence the clients want to share with each other and their guests. And if repeat business is any measure, they do their job quite well. “We created a really memorable wedding for one of our couples several years ago, and every year they dine with us on their anniversary. Our chef prepares them a mini-replica of their wedding cake each year, and it’s a lot of fun for all of us,” she says. Our conversation today covers a lot of ground. Like building a healthy and family-style culture, which isn’t easy to do in most businesses, let alone the restaurant and event industry; many of the Group’s employees have been with them for 20 or more years. If you want to discover their secrets – and maybe apply them in your own work – settle in and have some fun eavesdropping on my conversation with Lisa today! And the next time you visit Boston, look her up at one of their restaurants. Lisa’s Bio
A passionate connector, entrepreneur, and hospitality marketing leader, Lisa Flores has spent close to two decades building one of Boston’s most celebrated hospitality groups, Columbus Hospitality Group. Today, CHG includes seven premier restaurants; Mistral, Teatro, Sorellina, Mooo, Ostra, Bar Lyon, and L’Andana, as well as two hotel properties: XV Beacon Hotel and the Inn at St. Botolph.
A graduate of Boston University with a degree in Business Management, Lisa has parlayed her insightful and meticulous style into a career dedicated to delivering unforgettable events and dining experiences. From concept to design to flawless project management, every experience Lisa leads and executes is a true marriage of the brand’s promise and the guest’s vision. As Director of Sales and Marketing for CHG, Lisa also spearheads all brand and communications strategy and execution.
Her approach to marketing strategy, on and offline engagement including media relations, influencer engagement, and social media, as well as brand management has its foundation in her deep commitment to personal connections and relevance in the market. Lisa ensures she is not only trend-watching and responding, but at the forefront of a constantly evolving market that demands highly personalized experiences for each guest. Her commitment to putting the guest at the center of her strategic vision has helped to drive the growth and performance of the Columbus Hospitality Group since 2001.
In 2016, Lisa founded the for-profit organization, SERV (Society for Event Planners: Restaurant Venues) where she serves as President and Founder. The organization is dedicated to creating a network for hospitality professionals to knowledge-share in an effort to grow and develop their respective businesses and further the development of the industry. SERV, which now has chapters in Boston and New York, has been featured in The Boston Globe and Boston Common Magazine.
Since leaving Texas for Boston in 1998, Lisa has devoted her personal time to supporting causes that connect to her community and inspire others. For more than a decade, Lisa has volunteered and fundraised for Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, a national non-profit serving quadriplegics and people with mobility impairment where she helped raised close to one million dollars. Her commitment to serve others and build connections in the community has also driven her to commit time to The Women’s Lunch Place and other local Boston charities. In spring 2019, Lisa joined the Board of Overseers for the Boston Ballet.
Connect with Lisa www.chgboston.com www.mistralbistro.com www.servsociety.com
We all know that Mardi Gras in New Orleans looks like a huge party; some of you may have even experienced it in person. But were you aware that there’s a whole lot more going on behind the scenes, in the community, and what you might not know could astound you?! Yes, there are parties. Yes, there are parades. Yes, it can get a little crazy. But it’s so much more than you would imagine and the work for some of the Krewe’s goes year-round. Each Krewe has a purpose, a history, and a process for naming each year’s parade royalty. And that’s just the beginning. Royalty comes with a lot of responsibility, requiring an additional “crew” of helpers. There are events to attend, funds to be raised, themes and designs to be conceived and produced, and loads of work to be done. There’s history, and backstory, and tradition, and rules, and processes. When I was first introduced to Racquel, it was through a dear friend. What she didn’t tell me up front was that I was speaking with Royalty! Not just as a Princess in a long-established Mardi Gras Krewe, but also in the music world, especially in New Orleans. Racquel is musically gifted, from a musical family. Her father was a musician, singer, and producer who owned a recording studio. He wrote his special song, called New Suit, in honor of the Mardi Gras costuming tradition and Racquel used it as the theme for her reign this year, in honor of her dad. There’s so much learn about this fabulous, colorful tradition and the people who keep it alive and growing… You’ll just have to listen in to catch it all – including how to get to ride on one of the parade floats next time you’re in NOLA during Mardi Gras! I guarantee that Racquel’s vibrant personality, knowledge, and drive will keep you entertained even while you learn something new. Racquel’s Bio Born and raised New Orleanians, Racquel Turbinton-Bruno and her husband Sean M. Bruno were crowned as Prince and Princess of the Zulu Mardi Gras Parade in 2020. Befittingly, Racquel was born into a New Orleans musical family which made significant contributions to the Mardi Gras tradition. Racquel’s father, Wilson Turbinton, better known to the musical community as “Willie Tee” (of the band “Willie Tee and the Gaturs”) wrote and produced a song for the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indian Tribe entitled “New Suit,” as well as several other hits that are heard throughout the city during parade season. The song is an anthem to the Mardi Gras Indian experience as it references their annual tradition of creating a new costume in preparation for unveiling during carnival time. Racquel’s father was the pioneer of putting music behind Mardi Gras Indians; a trend which was soon imitated by other tribes who followed this practice. Racquel experienced having her “New Suit” created for her reign as Princess and dedicated it to her father as a tribute in honor of his musical works. Professionally, Racquel is a Senior Event Manager in the hotel industry, planning and executing details of conferences in the Corporate and Association Markets. Racquel was inducted into the Hilton Corporation’s “Circle of Excellence” in Catering and Event Management. Racquel’s professional event management skills paired well with organizing a successful, enjoyable, and memorable experience for the Zulu Province Prince Krewe during Mardi Gras 2020.
His first visit as a guest discussing ‘how to scale the new shared economy’ was so well received, Laura welcomes Joel Hodroff back. In this episode, they expand their conversation to dig into what collaboration and creativity as a foundational principle in business could mean for our economy.
Joel explains how even though millions of people lost their jobs in the 2008 downturn – and there will likely be similar statistics associated with our current situation with COVID-19 related effects – we didn’t actually lose our creativity, skill, expertise, or wealth. It all doesn’t just disappear when the economy takes a nose-dive.
It’s a matter of how we frame it, think about it, and live into it.
With that in mind, he poses the question: What if competition was about the health and well-being of our communities and planet, rather than the idea that we must “crush” others in business who offer the same products or services we do?
Laura introduces a business simulation game – FreshBiz – she facilitates with some of her clients. It’s designed to bring out the paradigms we operate from in how we approach life and business, how we think of and use (or hoard) our resources, and how there is more opportunity for wealth, growth, success, creativity, and collaboration than we imagine.
The two discuss ideas around cooperation in business, retooling ourselves to take on new kinds of work when our current skills are no longer in demand, how to distribute workloads more realistically and lower worker stress, and create healthier, more sustainable systems that allow us to build healthy communities, deeper relationships, and enjoy higher levels of creativity and innovation.
There’s so much depth in this conversation, it’s hard to give you just a taste. Eavesdrop on this one and let us know what new ideas you have!
Joel’s Bio
Joel Hodroff believes that emerging business models based on cooperation and sustainability have the power to solve our most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. He asserts that win-lose competition over money—which modern society inherited from an era of scarcity—is now impeding greater economic security and increased happiness for individuals, families, and communities in the US and around the world. Consider that today’s oftentimes stressful workplaces, schools, and community organizations can become organizing centers for personal growth and healing, social innovation, and sustainable community economic development.
In 1997, Joel was issued a US patent for his novel dual currency pricing, accounting, and transaction settlement system. The system was designed to reward socially valuable activities such as community volunteerism, youth academic performance, unpaid domestic labor, and so forth. The systems stretch dollars (or other national currencies) utilizing a Business-Community Wealth Accounting Protocol to turn underutilized business capacity—such as empty restaurant tables, empty college desks, and off hours at the movies—into new economic resources for healthier families and communities.
Joel has been a social entrepreneur and environmentalist for over 30 years, launching Solar Consultants, Inc., in 1983; Dual Currency Systems in 1993; and cofounding Responsible Minnesota Business in 1998. He was a Minnesota Finance and Commerce Innovator of the Year in 2005 and a Visa Thought Leader / Innovation Provocateur in 2007.
Joel has stayed the course with his economic vision for over 25 years through every imaginable entrepreneurial near miss, wrong turn, and outright failure! He is currently playing for (and praying for) what is termed “a 25-year overnight success story.” Joel’s personal mission is the pursuit of unlimited human potential through unconditional love in community. He believes that the profit motive can be harnessed for the good of humanity and the natural environment.
To learn more, please check out Joel’s dual currency white paper (written just before the 2008 mortgage industry meltdown) Sustainable Prosperity Now! Awakening a Green Revolution of the Heart http://www.dualcurrency.com/Awakening.pdf and/or reach out through his LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelhodroff/
Joel can also be reached at: joel@scryp.io
More:
Your Money or Your Life (book)
Walden Two (book)
Stranger in a Strange Land (book)
FreshBiz Game
The Weekly – NYC Taxi Medallions
The Weekly – GM Leaves Lordstown
What happens when everything in your life is running at warp speed for extended periods of time? Things begin to come apart. That’s what happened in Heather Rider’s life.
Living in Austin, Texas, Heather worked in High Tech, and felt as if she needed to be always “on.” Her marriage broke down and she went through a divorce. Her daughters were 2 and 5, at the time, and now she was a single mom. She developed an Autoimmune reaction and that was her wake-up call.
Rather than taking antibiotics and hoping they would heal her, Heather started to research what else was available. She wanted a natural approach to healing, making diet changes, introducing supplements thoughtfully, and taking a chance on seeing an “energy healer.”
Her experience was amazing, as she describes it and she knew she needed ‘more of that!’ She realized she needed emotional healing, in addition to physical healing. Her journey led her to becoming a Reiki Master, offering healing to women who find themselves in situations similar to where she had been.
Heather and Laura explore energy healing, Reiki, clairvoyance, empathic gifts, clairsentience, and spirit guides. It’s an intriguing, thought-provoking conversation. We hope you enjoy it.
Heather’s Bio
Heather Rider, known professionally as The Energy Synergist, is an anxiety specialist who personally overcame high-functioning anxiety while working in a demanding tech job. She now works with clients from all over the world who want to take a nontraditional, holistic approach to healing anxiety.
She regularly writes and presents on the issues of perfectionism, high-functioning anxiety, and other anxiety related topics.
For More:
www.theenergysynergist.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hrider/
https://www.facebook.com/TheEnergySynergist/
https://www.instagram.com/the.energy.synergist/
When anxiety creeps in – and even on peaceful days – self-care is crucial. Listen in as Kelley and Laura engage in a heartfelt talk about this basic need we all have.
What is self-care? At its most basic, it’s things like nutrition, hydration, good rest, medical and dental care. At a higher level, it’s taking time daily to notice how you are actually feeling and attending to those feelings, as appropriate. Its practicing mindfulness, raising one’s awareness of the little messages, hints, and clues our minds and bodies give us about the state of our being.
“Little things add up,” explains Kelley, as she tells Laura how she was introduced to mindfulness practices in her 20’s… Her coach suggested she brush one tooth at a time! Developing this practice required her to slow down, be ‘in her body,’ and attend to what she was doing in the moment. It’s paid dividends in multiple ways. And now she thinks of it as one way of making a deposit into her ‘self-care savings account.’
Laura and Kelley dive into how awakening happens when something no longer works for us and we have to step back and notice what’s going on. They explore the practice of putting on ‘body armor’ each day in order to go out into the world and do whatever it is we do. And they touch on the concept of ‘front stage vs. backstage’ personas and the work we do around impression management.
It might appear to be a casual conversation, but the topics are rich, deep, and thought-provoking. Listen in and let us know what you hear.
Kelley’s Bio
Kelley is a professional coach, speaker and facilitator whose works with individuals, teams and organizations in a wide variety of industries including Healthcare, Technology, Higher-Education and Non-Profits. She is trained as a Certified Positive Psychology Coach (CPPC), Appreciative Inquiry practitioner and certified in the EQ-i suite of Emotional Intelligence Assessments through MHS.
Kelley’s background in sociology keeps her curious about the interplay of agency and structure and helps her to notice both institutional and self-imposed barriers to success. She is also a credentialed member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and served on her local ICF Board for five years, most recently as the Past President of the ICF-Greater Austin Chapter.
When she’s not working, you can find Kelley out on a run, volunteering in her community, reading and drinking coffee at the downtown library, spending time with friends, family, and neighbors, and traveling to new and exciting places. Although native New Englanders, Kelley and her husband call Austin, TX, home while their two adult sons now reside on opposite coasts.
For More:
Email Kelley
Vantage Coaching
Kelley on LinkedIn
Having spent much of her younger life as a “force-aholic,” Melissa is no stranger to fear. She often found herself thinking along the lines of “do this or else…” which I imagine we all would agree is not a healthy, inspiring, or strong beginning point for anything creative to emerge from.
“We are not conditioned from a young age to reflect and see who we are,” she explains to Laura in this episode. Going on, she shares a story of an experience in High School, when the students in her class took a career aptitude assessment. She wanted to go into Physical Therapy and the HS Counselor discouraged her, saying she wasn’t cut out for that kind of work.
Because she hadn’t – yet – built her self-confidence and clear awareness of who she is and what she’s capable of, Melissa went into the IT field instead, spending years there – mastering the work, but not loving it – before breaking free to do what she loves most: Serving entrepreneurs, coaches, trainers, and leaders build success as they define it.
Through this deep conversation, both Laura and Melissa share stories, connections, and insights. Specifically, Melissa shares her process for recognizing and releasing fear when it shows up: 1-Recognize it, 2-Love on it, 3- Do a Truth rant, 4-Act!
Fear is a universal experience; we won’t eliminate it, but we can change how we experience and engage with it. We can reframe what it means for us, and Melissa offers a simple process for doing just that.
Melissa’s Bio
Melissa V. West is the founder and CEO of Xtreme Results, LLC, a powerful catalyst for business and life transformation. She encourages business professionals to rediscover their purpose and passion and empowers them to create an amazing business and life of their dreams. She helps them get unstuck and out of their own way and so they can do the fulfilling work they are meant to do.
She shares this message worldwide through coaching, training, mentoring, and keynote speaking. Melissa took her passion and level of contribution to a whole new level by becoming business partners with John C. Maxwell--the #1 leadership expert in the world.
For five years she served as a faculty member for the John Maxwell Team where she helped over 12,000 professionals from more than 140 countries build their own coaching, speaking, and training businesses.
Melissa is a 2x time author. Her first book was: Your Daily W.O.W. – Words of Wisdom That Will Inspire, Energize, and Empower You Every Day! Her second book was: Hot Pursuit: Chase Your Dreams With Passion and Live an Exceptional Life.
She is an accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC) which is recognized by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She graduated from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), where she earned her Certified Professional Coach and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner accreditations. She also holds a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Melissa lives with her husband, Chris, and two beautiful daughters in Raleigh, North Carolina.
For More:
XRCoaching.com
Melissa on Facebook
Melissa on LinkedIn
Your Daily W.O.W. Book
Hot Pursuit Book
Pain is so much in our worldview these days, as we are dealing with an opioid epidemic and pain management clinics and practitioners are everywhere we look.
What if we could reframe what we understand about pain and recognize it for what it really is: Sensations in our bodies that we don’t like…? That’s the approach Greg Mack takes in his work, helping people who aren’t fully responding to medical interventions, who are willing to try another approach through exercise and physical conditioning. As Greg explains, “pain” is a physical sensation we experience and describe… attaching a variety of words and meanings to, but it isn’t an actual tangible thing we can measure. Each person’s experience with it is unique and subjective. What I might consider a 10 on the accepted pain scale may be only a 3 for someone else.
Greg experienced the “fitness spark” when he was a Navy diver and engineer on a nuclear submarine. There were rigorous fitness requirements attached to this position and divers were subjected to regular readiness reviews to retain their positions. As a result, Greg and a partner started a fitness business, teaching others how to retain readiness, define nutrition guidelines, and recommending specific supplements to meet individual goals. Eventually, Greg attained a personal trainer certification and began expanding his understanding of and expertise around fitness, including creating fitness processes for people with extensive restrictions to their mobility. A hard-wired learner, Greg learned from and blended techniques, processes, and modalities from a number of different health-related practices to create his own muscle restoration processes and practices. He’s like the Sherlock Holmes of the human body, seeking a full understanding of the information available within each person who seeks his help. His goal is to help each individual regain control over their body, improve their ability to reach and hold certain positions, and develop strength to live a fuller life. Greg’s Bio As Founder and CEO, Greg's vision for Physicians Fitness LLC was shaped 28 years ago while working as a lay assistant to chiropractic physicians in a sports medicine clinic. It was during this tenure that he noticed the unfortunate reality that most of the patients of the clinic were there, and frequently returned, as a result of poor physical conditioning. The medical and chiropractic staff encouraged these patients to participate in exercise and fitness programs but did not have the time nor resources to effectively assess, develop, and implement a safe, global health-fitness plan. Greg wanted to provide a solution. As a graduate of the Navy's Nuclear Engineering School, Greg used his foundation of engineering skills, his enthusiasm for fitness, academic certifications – Medical Exercise Specialist and Personal Trainer, and his experiences working with a wide variety of medical professionals (physical therapists, osteopaths, surgeons), to develop the "Mobility/Stability Profiling Method" of pre-exercise physical assessment. He has developed a variety of novel strategies and tactics for improving the motor control of individuals such that they move better, feel better, and live better. His experience working in such diverse venues as community gyms and medical practices enhanced his awareness of the wide gulf that exists between the medical community and fitness facilities, particularly for those individuals trying to recover from, and manage, a diagnosed disease. This led to the development of a comprehensive documentation and communication system that coordinates biomechanical improvement and fitness programs for individuals with diagnosed diseases from the medical community, the core of Physicians Fitness operations. Greg's involvement in the fitness industry includes authoring articles for fitness and medical publications, presenting relevant topics to fitness professionals at continuing education conferences, and achieving the "Master Level" designation as a personal fitness professional from IDEA. Greg received the IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year Award for the year 2003 and is currently the Chairman of the IDEA Personal Trainer Committee, an influential body steering important issues related to fitness professionals. He is a member of the Medical-Fitness Network Education committee. Greg is also the Founder of, and Lead Instructor for, Exercise Professional Education, LLC, a Columbus, Ohio-based continuing education provider for several industry certifying bodies. Greg has been in full time practice for over 16 years and his involvement in the fitness industry includes authoring articles for fitness and medical publications, presenting relevant topics to fitness professionals at continuing education conferences, and achieving the "Master Level" designation as a personal fitness professional from IDEA (www.ideafit.com). Greg received the IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year Award for the year 2003 and is currently the Chairman of the IDEA Personal Trainer Committee. For More: Physicians Fitness Austin Muscle Restoration – One of Greg’s Students
Greg on LinkedIn The Gift of Pain Book
Pain is so much in our worldview these days, as we are dealing with an opioid epidemic and pain management clinics and practitioners are everywhere we look.
What if we could reframe what we understand about pain and recognize it for what it really is: Sensations in our bodies that we don’t like…? That’s the approach Greg Mack takes in his work, helping people who aren’t fully responding to medical interventions, who are willing to try another approach through exercise and physical conditioning. As Greg explains, “pain” is a physical sensation we experience and describe… attaching a variety of words and meanings to, but it isn’t an actual tangible thing we can measure. Each person’s experience with it is unique and subjective. What I might consider a 10 on the accepted pain scale may be only a 3 for someone else.
Greg experienced the “fitness spark” when he was a Navy diver and engineer on a nuclear submarine. There were rigorous fitness requirements attached to this position and divers were subjected to regular readiness reviews to retain their positions. As a result, Greg and a partner started a fitness business, teaching others how to retain readiness, define nutrition guidelines, and recommending specific supplements to meet individual goals. Eventually, Greg attained a personal trainer certification and began expanding his understanding of and expertise around fitness, including creating fitness processes for people with extensive restrictions to their mobility. A hard-wired learner, Greg learned from and blended techniques, processes, and modalities from a number of different health-related practices to create his own muscle restoration processes and practices. He’s like the Sherlock Holmes of the human body, seeking a full understanding of the information available within each person who seeks his help. His goal is to help each individual regain control over their body, improve their ability to reach and hold certain positions, and develop strength to live a fuller life. Greg’s Bio As Founder and CEO, Greg's vision for Physicians Fitness LLC was shaped 28 years ago while working as a lay assistant to chiropractic physicians in a sports medicine clinic. It was during this tenure that he noticed the unfortunate reality that most of the patients of the clinic were there, and frequently returned, as a result of poor physical conditioning. The medical and chiropractic staff encouraged these patients to participate in exercise and fitness programs but did not have the time nor resources to effectively assess, develop, and implement a safe, global health-fitness plan. Greg wanted to provide a solution. As a graduate of the Navy's Nuclear Engineering School, Greg used his foundation of engineering skills, his enthusiasm for fitness, academic certifications – Medical Exercise Specialist and Personal Trainer, and his experiences working with a wide variety of medical professionals (physical therapists, osteopaths, surgeons), to develop the "Mobility/Stability Profiling Method" of pre-exercise physical assessment. He has developed a variety of novel strategies and tactics for improving the motor control of individuals such that they move better, feel better, and live better. His experience working in such diverse venues as community gyms and medical practices enhanced his awareness of the wide gulf that exists between the medical community and fitness facilities, particularly for those individuals trying to recover from, and manage, a diagnosed disease. This led to the development of a comprehensive documentation and communication system that coordinates biomechanical improvement and fitness programs for individuals with diagnosed diseases from the medical community, the core of Physicians Fitness operations. Greg's involvement in the fitness industry includes authoring articles for fitness and medical publications, presenting relevant topics to fitness professionals at continuing education conferences, and achieving the "Master Level" designation as a personal fitness professional from IDEA. Greg received the IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year Award for the year 2003 and is currently the Chairman of the IDEA Personal Trainer Committee, an influential body steering important issues related to fitness professionals. He is a member of the Medical-Fitness Network Education committee. Greg is also the Founder of, and Lead Instructor for, Exercise Professional Education, LLC, a Columbus, Ohio-based continuing education provider for several industry certifying bodies. Greg has been in full time practice for over 16 years and his involvement in the fitness industry includes authoring articles for fitness and medical publications, presenting relevant topics to fitness professionals at continuing education conferences, and achieving the "Master Level" designation as a personal fitness professional from IDEA (www.ideafit.com). Greg received the IDEA International Personal Trainer of the Year Award for the year 2003 and is currently the Chairman of the IDEA Personal Trainer Committee. For More: Physicians Fitness Austin Muscle Restoration – One of Greg’s Students
Greg on LinkedIn The Gift of Pain Book
While trust and engagement are crucial to any enterprise in the best of times, at the time of this episode’s recording (March 2020), the world is struggling to deal with the COVID-19 virus, and these foundations of business and relationships are truly being tested beyond the norm. David and Laura enjoy an insightful, engaging, and laughter-filled conversation about principle-centered leadership and employee engagement. Each share stories of companies they’ve worked with whose values – both good and less-than-desirable – are on full display in how they treat employees, their communities, and even how they engage with suppliers. David outlines the 4 Pillars of Engagement as taught and implemented through Blaze Performance Systems when working with clients: Feeling Valued, Connected, Understanding Contribution, and Growing. David and Laura also discuss the most common waste in business: Human Talent. You can tell the two are in their element in this episode, as they speak from years of experience, with insight, wisdom, and obvious joy in the work they get to do with companies large and small, near and far. David’s Bio David is an achievement-oriented professional with extensive experience in organizational development, operations management, and human resources. He has served as a Business Owner, Executive, and Leader at some of the world’s best organizations. He received his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Human Resources Management from Liberty University and also holds a Master’s in Philosophy. David is the co-author of the new book “The 3 Keys of Execution. Simple Ideas. Extraordinary Results,” which was recently listed #6 on INC’s Summer Must-Read Books list. He has worked in the Execution space for 15 years with organizations as diverse as Wal-Mart, Toyota, Samsung, Marriott, Clayton Homes, and HCA. Thousands of people have been touched by David’s ability to help them grow and improve their results. David maintains a close relationship with virtually all of the clients he was worked with over the years. Organizations, when engaging David, will see immediate results. David will be quick to tell you, there is no such thing as a former Marine. David overcame a life-threatening spinal injury while serving in the Marines and he has a love for veterans, which is motivating and contagious. He is always going out of his way to serve those who have served and spends a lot of his free time volunteering in Veteran’s homes and in the local VA Hospital. Another thing you will find when working with David is his contagious laugh. David has an innate ability to connect with all levels in an organization and it all begins with his smile. He gets people and he is a master at getting results. For More: Blaze Performance Solutions David on LinkedIn
3 Keys of Execution Book
“Once you’ve tasted significance, success will never be enough." ~ John C. Maxwell That statement, made by leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, near the end of a transformational leadership mission trip to Guatemala, really had an impact on Dr. Dorothy Bonvillain. She’s been contemplating it ever since and is using it as the foundation for the work she does today. Dorothy has lived one of the most interesting lives I’ve heard stories from. She’s been a military wife for 50 years, having traveled the world, raised her children, earned her PhD in Leadership & Educational Administration, and built a career that allows her to use her considerable gifts and strengths in a way that’s making a difference in the world. Today’s conversation begins by touching on an article Dorothy wrote recently describing a particular challenge in today’s world, and especially for military spouses. What do you do when you are alone, because your spouse is on some extended deployment, you feel lonely and abandoned, and in the course of your work a member of the opposite sex finds you attractive and propositions you? In her case, she was working in a shop as a salesperson and men were coming in to purchase gifts for their sweethearts (Valentine’s Day, perhaps?). As Dorothy was helping them make appropriate selections for wives and girlfriends, some of the men took an interest in Dorothy and attempted to seduce her. Knowing what mattered most to her, Dorothy remained strong and resisted the temptation, but she understood that for many others, the temptation may be too strong, and some would fall. Today, she’s focused on helping military spouses define their core values, which is how one discerns what’s ok and not ok when faced with a choice. She works to help them discover their gifts and interests so they can find fulfilling work or build a business that allows them some sense of consistency and value when their lives are frequently unsettled through relocations and new assignments. She’s asked herself: “What would I have wanted a Sr. Military person or wife to have told me when I was young and just starting this life?” And as she comes up with the answers to that question, she fills in the blanks and shares the wisdom with those who are now in the shoes she once wore. Dorothy’s Bio Dr. Dorothy is a Certified Coach and Founder of Warrior Family Legacy Foundation (WFLF). The mission of WFLF is to Build Families and Create Legacy for military families through Personal Growth & Development, and to connect the philanthropic community to veteran and active-duty families for additional support. Dr. Bonvillain earned her PhD in Leadership & Educational Administration at American University, Washington, DC. and has continued to invest in herself as a Coach, Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur. With fifty years of service as the wife of an Army Ranger, Dr. Dorothy has a passion to serve as a ‘Voice of Wisdom’ for our global military community and people who love them. Her mission is building stronger families and inspire them to go from ‘surviving to thriving.’ In her book, Loving Your Life: 7 Steps for Military Wives, Dorothy offers practical steps in seven key areas of life. Her children’s book, Wally Goes to School, introduces children (age 7-11) to leadership principles and the value of mentorship by parents, grandparents, and teachers. Dorothy’s experience crosses a broad, global spectrum, in part: * Television Producer/Host: Access Tucson TV: "Military Wives: Serving Those Who Serve" (2015), “Learning to Live on Purpose” (2013-2014). * Presenter/Keynote Speaker: Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program, Intercultural Management Institute, American University, ‘Women in Business’ Cochise College, ‘Sisters & Brothers in Arms’, Ft. Huachuca, AZ * Special Consultant to Minister of Education, Sultanate of Oman: Team Lead and sole American, International Research Team. * Program Manager: Embassy of Saudi Arabia & National Council on US- Arab Relations, Washington, DC. * Trainer/Curriculum Developer: General Dynamics Information Technology, Cultural Awareness/Cultural Competence. * Chief of Partnership: TRADOC Culture Center, ISC Consulting Group. * High School Principal, Sierra Vista, Arizona.
Dr. Bonvillain’s published work includes: Loving Your Life: 7 Steps for Military Wives; Traditional Handicrafts of Oman; Wally Goes to School; and What’s in Your Wiggle, as well as articles in professional journals. She can be contacted at: www.warriorfamilylegacyfoundation.com or dorothybonvillain@gmail.com. For More: Megan Macedo Man’s Search for Meaning -- Book Christian Simpson
"Success requires a certain amount of discomfort, pain, and suffering. If you want results, you have to be OK with that." ~ Evan Jensen While he’d been interested in health and fitness for a long time, writing for health and wellness newsletters and magazines was his day-job, Evan Jensen shifted into running because of a friend. It was in St. George, Utah, and the friend was talking a “big game” about running the local marathon. Evan thought, “It can’t be that hard!” And decided to give it a try. He discovered there was a powerful draw for him in running and kept at it. After 30-40 marathons, it had become easy to him. He was sure there must be something more than that… There was – is! It’s called Ultramarathon Running and while there are a few routes/races that are somewhere in between 26.2- and 100-mile runs, Evan prefers the long runs! In his first 100-mile run, near Seattle in 2011, he dropped out at 88 miles – having been attempting to compensate any way he could for some excruciating shin splints that made themselves known at the 60-mile mark! Not wanted to do permanent damage to his body, he did the smart thing and dropped out. But it ate at him. He knew he could do it; he’d just have to take a different approach to his training, nutrition, and preparation. To-date, he holds the record for the Most Finishes at the 100-Mile Mountain Lakes Run, held south of Portland, and he’s not interested in relinquishing that distinction anytime soon. Listen in as he tells the story of his literal, mental, and emotional journeys of these runs and how they help him maintain his inner equilibrium in times of stress and hardship. Evan’s Bio Evan Jensen is a freelance copywriter for health and fitness businesses. He’s the editor for MakeaLivingWriting.com, a blog about the business and craft of freelance writing. He’s also an award-winning journalist, personal trainer, and ultramarathon runner. Evan holds the record for the most finishes at the Mountain Lakes 100-Mile Ultramarathon in Oregon. When he’s not on a writing deadline or catching up on emails, he’s chasing his three kids around or training for another 100-mile race. And there’s one more thing…Evan and I worked together when he was a communications intern at a health insurance company about 20 years ago! For more: The Healthy Copywriter https://thehealthycopywriter.com/wellnotes-wellness-newsletter/ Make a Living Writing www.makealivingwriting.com email: evan@thehealthycopywriter.com
On today’s episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter, an interesting thing happened. We began a conversation about one thing and along the way took a few sharp turns and ended up on a completely different topic! But isn’t that the way great, organically-unfolding conversations go? We started with this: How does one become the magician behind the curtain, turning voice-based sound recordings into something powerful, audiologically attractive, and easy to listen to? If you’re Phyllis Nicholls, Founder of SoundAdvice Strategies and the woman leading the production team that produces this – and numerous others – podcast, you take a bit of a circuitous route! Prior to the rise and global expansion of the internet and all its relevant technology, it would have been nearly impossible for someone like me – someone who felt compelled to share her message with a much larger audience – to have her voice heard beyond a local speaking engagement I might book. Today, thanks to technology and Phyllis’ following the dots along her journey, this podcast has been heard around the globe. From the US to China, from India to South Africa, from Ghana to the Philippines. We ended up discussing leadership, communication, emotional intelligence… and several other topics near and dear to my heart. The bottom line: Always be in the process of learning, growing, reinventing yourself and you’ll be ready to adapt to whatever curveballs life sends your way. Phyllis’ Bio Phyllis Nichols is the founder of SoundAdvice Sales and Marketing and the co-creator of the SoundAdvice podcast. She’s on a mission to help women business owners build connections with great messaging through podcasts.
Connect with Phyllis here: Website
Dr. Robert Rohm had an experience I think many of us have faced at some point in time. He was absolutely confounded by the behavior of one of his daughters… and in his attempt to figure it out, he got received some really clear guidance, which led him to focus his time, effort, and energy on understanding others. That spark moved him into a whole new focus for his life and work. Dr. Rohm is the Founder of Personality Insights, a company that has him traveling the globe working for organizations and companies large and small helping people learn about personality. While there’s certainly a depth of self-awareness hidden in what he teaches, his purpose and recommendation to participants is to help us see, hear, and understand others better. His teachings on the DiSC Profile allow his students to understand others better so they are able to communicate with the people around them in a manner that will lead to better outcomes. Essentially, the idea is to meet others where they are; don’t expect them to come to you or adopt your style. While it’s masquerading as a meaningful conversation, today’s episode is really a MasterClass in understanding others and effective communication. So prepare to take notes, and likely you’ll want to listen to this one more than once because there are so many golden nuggets. Enjoy! Dr. Rohm’s Bio Dr. Robert A. Rohm is a world-class communicator and keynote speaker who entertains and enlightens audiences with his keen insight into relationships and personal development. Dr. Rohm has profoundly impacted the lives of millions through his presentations designed to raise people’s awareness and appreciation of differing perspectives. For nearly 30 years, people have laughed and learned with Dr. Rohm as he pours himself into his high-energy, high-impact presentations that continue to enable people around the world to develop and improve their communication and leadership skills. His powerful presentations continuously evolve to offer greater insights into enduring principles for understanding self and others. Since earning his Ph.D. at the University of North Texas in Higher Education Administration and Counseling, he has conducted seminars and training for audiences as large as 70,000 people. He has shared the platform with other great speakers like Zig Ziglar, Les Brown, President George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, Peter Lowe and Lou Holtz; as well as celebrities including Joe Theisman, Johnny Cash, Tricia Yearwood, Glen Campbell, Howie Mandel, Miss America Heather Whiteston, and Dionne Warwick.
He is known as the most "invited back" speaker, because his message applies so well for business as well as for personal use. He is a bestselling author who has written or co-written over twenty books. Dr. Rohm has conducted workshops and seminars on human relations and behavior for numerous schools, churches, businesses and international companies. In 2011, Dr. Rohm gave a live presentation for PBS Television. Connect with Dr. Rohm here: Dr. Rohm Online Personality Insights Connect by Phone: 770-509-7113
Maybe you’ve stepped in to help your parents navigate a later season in their lives, or perhaps you are nearing the age when Medicare is in your immediate future… Regardless of the circumstance, I don’t think anyone would argue with you about how complicated, confusing, and sometimes frustrating it can be when trying to understand how it works and what you need to do to stay on top of your – or their – health care needs. Meredith worked as a nurse for years, first in the West Indies, then Canada, and the US. Eventually, she specialized in Emergency Nursing, then shifted to working as a Case Manager. It was at that point, as her focus was helping specific patients understand their conditions, navigate the health care system, and become informed, proactive participants in their own care plans that she really understood the intricacies of health care coverage. “When patients don’t know what they don’t know, they don’t even know what questions to ask and that can make all the difference in the care they receive and how it impacts them financially,” she explains. Her experiences in these various settings and roles gave her a firsthand perspective on how devastating it can be when people don’t understand their coverage, haven’t engaged in financial planning, and experience a significant health event. This awakening moved her to invest in training to become a health insurance advisor and she and her husband founded Advent Choice Insurance and Consulting. Together, they are on a mission to change that experience, educating Medicare-eligible individuals and their families about all the intricacies and nuances of their coverage, medical terminology, and how to navigate the health care system. Listen in and learn how your zip code may determine your coverage, the difference between being admitted for “inpatient care” versus “observation,” how experimental treatments are defined, and much more. When you’re finished with this episode, you’ll be wishing Meredith lived in your neighborhood! Meredith’s Bio
Meredith’s love and devotion to others started on the beautiful island of Jamaica. She completed her basic nurse training at the University Hospital of the West Indies School of Nursing and later specialized in Emergency Room Nursing and Education. Meredith had the privilege of practicing nursing in Canada and several States in the US.
Meredith’s experience as an Emergency Department Nurse over the last 13 years gave her a firsthand view of the devastating impact poor insurance coverage and inadequate financial planning have on the lives of many individuals.
Meredith’s most recent role as an RN Case Manager propelled her to seek solutions for the issues plaguing healthcare delivery. She realized that in order to improve healthcare access and affordability, patients must be proactively engaged in understanding their health and available resources. She believes healthy families are more financially stable and are better able to support and care for each other.
Meredith and her husband are both crossed-trained as health insurance advisors and are the founders of Advent Choice Insurance and Consulting, which provides Medicare education, engagement, and enrollment services to individuals, businesses, and healthcare facilities.
Meredith has a passion for education and is committed to lifelong learning. She obtained her Master’s in Nursing Leadership and Management at Walden University and serves on the South Apopka Community Development Association, also volunteering with other local community outreach programs. Meredith enjoys spending time with her spouse, gardening, practicing photography, and running behind their three vivacious children! Connect with Meredith here: Advent Choice Insurance Consulting Meredith on LinkedIn Email Meredith
She didn’t come to it on purpose; it was an add-on, so to speak, that touched her so deeply, she had to know more. And through that exploration, she entered a new phase in her life and added a whole new facet to the work she does in healing. Kristin Ponzi is a Licensed Massage Therapist, with specialization in Myofascial Therapy. While attending a retreat with some of her colleagues, they experienced a private session with a guy who does sound healing using a variety of instruments and meditation. It was one of those supremely profound experiences that literally changes the course of your life. Kristin shares the story of this experience, the visions and guides she encountered during her meditation, and the journey she’s been on to share that experience with the people she serves in her practice at Essence Body Work in Columbus, OH. She uses Himalayan Bowls, which create specific sound waves – vibrational frequencies that influence the brain wave states her clients drop into while working with her. Essentially, her goal is to create deep relaxation and to restore equilibrium in the body. After all, “when you are 80% water, if you’re dehydrated, information doesn’t move through your body very well,” she explained to Laura during their conversation. Their conversation takes a few turns, dipping into meditation, expectation, sound frequency and the vibrational impacts on everything around us, the difference between coaching and mentoring, and our responsibility when raising children! While these topics may seem disparate, the conversation is powerful and flows through them all with ease and connection. Kristin’s Bio Kristin Ponzi is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Sound Therapy Practitioner, and the owner of Essence Body Work. She received her massage therapy license over 18 years ago, after switching paths from a corporate career to a profession where she could connect with and help others and has been happily touching people’s lives ever since! She specializes in the John F. Barnes Myofascial Release Approach and Vibrational Sound Therapy.
Her goals, through myofascial release and vibrational sound therapy are to help people to return to their active, healthy lives, and to help them cultivate a deeper relationship with the essence of who they are! Resources discussed and connect with Kristin here: www.EssenceBodyWork.com www.Facebook.com/EssenceBodyWork Glenfiddich Ad – Watch Sound Vibrations! Previous Podcasts Referred to: Dr. Paul R. Scheele Sharry Edwards Louise Elliott
Part of Sanni’s backstory is this: “A few years ago, I was working full-time at a software company in Seattle when I decided to quit my job and begin living a more transient, outdoor-oriented life. My time on the road made me realize how often we make life decisions according to a template – one that was not chosen for us or designed for us, simply a product of what is usually done. But I believe that life starts happening when you make it, and it can be perfectly your creation. Too often we hold back simply because we're not sure of what's possible…” Since leaving full-time corporate work, Sanni has built a coaching business and is the co-founder of an experience series called OutWild… a combination of personal growth and outdoor adventure (which often challenges us and leads to deeper insight and understanding – more personal growth!). She’s also what Laura considers an “intrepid communicator.”
Laura invited Sanni in for a Conversation That Matters, because her first exposure to Sanni demonstrated her willingness to wade into real, timely, authentic, vulnerable communication about things that really matter to her. It’s a rare trait and one Laura believes we all long to develop and wish for in the people we are close to. Over the course of their conversation, Laura and Sanni share philosophies, ideas, and experiences with their respective coaching clients and the work they feel called to do in the world. One commonality is their shared understanding that “what everyone else is doing isn’t necessarily right for us.” Far too often, we follow the paths others tell us we “should” be on, and “should” feel lucky to take… but that doesn’t always lead us to where we – as unique individuals – are supposed to be. They also discuss self-awareness, the prevalence of “busy-ness” that is consuming our lives and making us less effective and creative than we are meant to be; they dive into what it means – individually – to meditate or seek stillness and just listen… and Sanni introduces the concept of taking “a slow walk” when it’s time for a time out. Sanni’s Bio Sanni McCandless has built a career around the intersection of life design and the outdoors. She works primarily as a transition coach for outdoor-focused individuals who want to create more tailored, intentional lifestyles and find agency in their own lives. In her work, she helps people overcome the doubts and concerns that constantly get in the way of living fearlessly and feeling fulfilled. Sanni challenges clients to communicate more honestly with those around them and achieve goals that have been on the back burner for far too long. Sanni is also the cofounder of Outwild, a community and event series which aims to provide people with the space and tools they need to create more outdoor, value-driven lifestyles. Sanni currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she enjoys year-round rock climbing and endless desert views. You can also find Sanni & other resources here: Sanni Online Sanni on Instagram Outwild Free Solo Movie Blake Cason – Pivot Wellness
The human body is so much more complicated than we imagine. It’s not just a collection of discrete systems (respiratory, circulatory, muscular, etc.) operating independently. Rather, we are an interconnected, integrated, extremely complicated organism. And what’s going on with us physically is not caused only by physical experiences, but also by our mental and emotional states. And because it’s the foundation that allows us to be, do, and create whatever we aspire to in life, it’s crucial that we take the best care of it that we possibly can. That’s where Brandon O’Connor comes in. Brandon O’Connor is a Muscle System Specialist and owner of Austin Muscle Recovery, in Austin, TX. He works with clients experiencing a wide variety of issues – some of them genuinely just physical, and many of them complicated by mental and emotional issues that become trapped within our bodies, exacerbating existing conditions and sometimes creating new ones. Each client presents differently, and Brandon’s expertise is in the observation of how each person moves and carries themselves coupled with an intense and detailed evaluation to determine the full extent of the physical manifestations of illness, disease, and the impact of mental-emotional stress or trauma on the body. The result is a highly-individualized treatment plan to rebuild and strengthen that person’s muscular system, prior to moving the client along to his colleague who develops highly-individualized exercise plans to further develop and restore that person back to health. And it’s all based on the client’s desired outcome – the state of physical health they aspire to achieving. Laura observes that having someone this observed and knowing is appealing and can leave one feeling a bit vulnerable at the same time. We all want to be truly seen, heard, and understood, but knowing that another person is observing us closely and can detect where we are out of alignment, maybe feeling weak or unsure can also leave us feeling a bit exposed. Laura and Brandon also explore the topics of supplements, muscle testing, resistance, and the variety of health concerns people come to him with. If you’re curious about your body and want to get some insight from the “Sherlock Holmes of the Muscular System,” (as Laura thinks of him), you’ll want to eavesdrop on this conversation. Brandon’s Bio For the last 18 years, Brandon has been helping people live a better life through resistance-based exercise and Muscle Restoration. His passion for exercise started at age 15, when he began lifting weights for sports. That passion grew to the point that he wanted to help others reap all of the benefits he found through regular strength training.
With that purpose in mind, Brandon started a personal training practice in 2001, which started a journey to find the best possible solutions to help clients achieve their goals. Along the way, Brandon discovered radical interventions involving muscle testing and specific hands-on techniques to produce dramatic results in real time. It was a ‘game changer’ in his work, leading to the discovery of his niche: Helping those who were suffering the effects of traumatic injuries, surgeries, and disease states to return to fuller health.
Brandon founded Austin Muscle Restoration in 2009 and the Autoimmune and Injury Gym in 2015, where he and his team put their knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology, and Biomechanics to work on a daily basis. In 2018, Brandon became an instructor for the Muscle System Specialist Program instructing others in radical muscle recovery.
He holds the following certifications: Muscle System Specialist, Master Level Muscle Activation Techniques, Master Level Resistance Training Specialist, ISSA CPT, NASM CPT, NASM PES, Cooper Institute CPT. You can also find Brandon here: www.AustinMuscleRestoration.com Facebook @AustinMuscleRestoration Instagram @AustinMuscleRestoration
More than 20 years ago, Dawna DeSilva began the process of learning what it meant to be a Prayer Servant in her church; today, she travels the world speaking, teaching, and providing Sozo sessions for people in all walks of life from nations far and wide. If you’re wondering what a Sozo is, so was Laura when she first heard the term a few years ago through a marketing mentor she was working with. In this episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter, Dawna explains what Sozo means, where the word originated, how it’s used – more than 100 times in the New Testament! – and how she and her team of trained Sozo facilitators use the process to help people like you and me find healing, truth, and relief from the lies that keep us from becoming our fullest selves. Sozo is not counseling. It’s really an exploration process which brings your core beliefs to the surface and allows you to discern what they are rooted in, whether they are truth or lie, and how to release the ones that bear bad fruit. During the process, participants also learn how to discern for themselves whether the voices in their heads are speaking God’s truth or some other “truth” that may not be based in fact, truth, or reality at all! You see, we all make up stories about what’s going on in our lives and the world around us; we need to, to make sense of it all and have some sense of security in what often can be a confusing and chaotic life. Our brains are actually wired to look for evidence of what we believe, so it can reinforce our thinking and behaviors. But the stories aren’t always right and true, and when that happens, we are led astray, make bad decisions, choose wrong paths… and create messes! The Sozo process allows us to remove the faulty lenses we’ve been viewing the world through and see with new eyes through the lenses God uses; the result is a new mindset that allows us to move through our lives in a healthier way. Dawna and Laura also dip into the ideas of the difference between expectation and expectancy, how we should be impacting the world rather than allowing it to always impact us, and to have more awareness about the energy and messes we allow ourselves to be exposed to day in and day out. Dawna’s Bio Dawna De Silva is the Transformation Center Overseer and Global Representative at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, and the author of Sozo – Saved, Healed, Delivered.
Dawna founded and co-leads the International Bethel Sozo Ministry, Bethel’s inner healing and deliverance ministry which began in 1997. Bethel Sozo has exploded throughout the world with teams ministering around the globe bringing people freedom, deliverance, and closer connections to God.
Dawna has been ministering with passion and purpose for the past twenty years in her pursuit of equipping and empowering the church to walk in freedom and wholeness of body, soul, and spirit. Dawna’s prophetic and discernment gifts have allowed her to mine treasures from God’s kingdom. With her gift of teaching, she is able to easily translate these revelatory insights into practical, useful, and lasting tools.
Dawna stewards, treasures, and protects her connection to the Holy Spirit and loves flowing with Him while ministering. From this place of intimacy with Him, she releases healing and a tangible awareness of the Lord’s presence. She carries a breaker anointing that is coupled with her strength as an activator that brings group deliverance as she ministers the Word of God.
Her curriculum on Shifting Atmospheres has become a much sought after tool equipping the saints to discern, dispel, and displace negative spiritual forces around them and to partner with and release heaven on earth.
Dawna is an international selling author. Look for her upcoming book Warring with Wisdom, which will be released mid-2020. You can also find her here: On Facebook Dawna Online
This week, Making Space for Conversations that Matter Host, Laura Prisc, reproduces a lesson she shared recently with a women’s organization focused on economic and leadership development. In “Are You Wide Wake? What it Means to be a Conscious Leader,” Laura shares the story of the painful experience she went through that was her awakening; an experience she describes as “being stripped naked and paraded through the town square at lunch time!” She goes on to provide a clear overview of the four foundations of Conscious Leadership: Self-Awareness, Other-Awareness, Vision-Focus, and Living and Leading with Intention. Conscious Leadership is the topic of Laura’s book, written specifically for Senior Leaders who are responsible for High Performance teams and organizations who find themselves stymied by the complications inherent in leading a diverse group of people. If this is you and you’d like a copy of her book, you can request it here: www.consciousleadershippartners.com You’ll also find, there, an opportunity to request a free consult with Laura to dive deeper into your leadership challenges. Laura’s Bio If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com You can also find her here: On Facebook LinkedIn
It’s no surprise, we were built to move; our bodies house and move our consciousness around and if we have any interest in living a full life, we need to be ever aware and taking care of this miraculous form we’ve been given. Master Myoskeletal Therapist, Matthew Smith, jumps into this conversation with the idea that modern conveniences make things so easy for us that we no longer have to move much. It’s intensified in businesses that focus on efficiency and minimization or elimination of what’s considered extraneous movement. So, while we might be creating tools, systems, and processes that allow us to be more efficient and productive, we should be aware it’s taking a toll on our bodies that we will pay for over time. Matthew goes on to explain that just 10 minutes of intentional movement and exercise a day can be as effective as an hour-long workout. The key is ensuring your movements and form are correct and that you’re not creating undesirable alignment and movement patterns in your body that will cause pain and other issues over time. “You can’t build fitness on faulty movement patterns,” he explains to Laura. As a Myoskeletal Therapist, Matthew works with muscle, fascia (connective tissue), and bone in an effort to help his clients achieve appropriate body alignment, posture, and long-term flexibility for optimal health. Listen in as Matthew shares his learning journey, highlighting the many experts he’s studied with along the way, and why he’s on a mission to help people live fuller lives with strength and flexibility. If you’re interested in learning more about what a Myoskeletal Therapist is and does, check out these links: BodyLogic (Matthew’s Clinic) Erik Dalton Myoskeletal Rolfing – Dr. Ida Rolf Dr. Vladimir Janda Matthew’s Bio Licensed and practicing for 16 years, Matthew Smith is a well-known massage therapist with excellent regional references. He is a skilled practitioner of Deep Tissue, Myofascial Release, and Energy modalities, and is certified in CranioSacral therapy. Matthew also holds a Master Therapist diploma in Dalton’s Myoskeletal Alignment Technique (MAT), and is passionate about providing deep, specific work that focuses on recognizing and correcting chronic pain and postural problems and improving athletic performance. The opioid epidemic has brought unique challenges to our communities, including Matthew’s practice. He welcomes all individuals, with all backgrounds and needs. Matthew began studying MAT in 2011 with the “big binder” of techniques and dense readings on the guiding principles of manual therapy. Each module since has become more refined, more fun, and more easily applied. Erik Dalton has done the field of massage therapy an enormous service by distilling osteopathic assessment and treatment into a cohesive set of techniques and making them available to massage therapists—the practitioners who still use touch as the primary method of interaction with their patients. The depth of knowledge that MAT training provides is valuable not only for its effective hands-on techniques, but also for its attention to principles of anatomical assessment, movement retraining, and manual application. Away from manual therapy, Matthew enjoys metal sculpture, restoring and riding vintage Vespas, travel, cooking, exercise, and the outdoors.
The Japanese practice of “shinrin-yoku” literally means ‘forest bathing.’ Essentially, it’s about reconnecting with nature in a deep, personal, primal, visceral way. It’s about re-engaging with nature as the living entity it is, as opposed to taking it for granted and using it for our purposes.
Julia started The Forest Bathing Club in the San Francisco Bay area after returning to California following design school in NYC. Having spent so much time in a big city, she realized her soul was calling out for it; she had lost her way of ‘being’ in nature and needed a reawakening. The mental and physical effects of being so disconnected were very real for her and had to be addressed.
As a designer, innovation strategist, and futurist, Julia experienced a sense of what Environmental Philosopher, Glenn Albrecht, called Solastalgia: Existential distress caused by environmental change… often embodied in a sense of powerlessness or uncertainty. Julia said what she had learned about who she was and the work she was doing didn’t feel true to her anymore.
“Nature is innovation,” she explains to Laura. “We need to remember it… remember it’s already here. The Original Instructions are hidden in plain sight… we simply have to tap into them.” They include asking for permission, engaging in reciprocity rather than ‘doing to…’
She encourages others to consider the Earth as a person we are in relationship with, and as with any healthy relationship, we need to spend time together, accept one another as each is, offer and receive gifts, and spend time in conversation… not just speaking, but also actively, deeply listening. We need to revisit and reclaim our individual relationships with nature.
“If you watch kids, they have a way of being in nature… they do it intuitively, inhabiting their animal body,” she explains. They experience awe and are energetic and appreciative of what they discover in nature; we need to experience that and allow it to seep into our bones, our bodies, our very being. This practice can help us uncover the limiting beliefs that keep us small and remind us of our true nature, our true power.
If we allow ourselves to be fully present in our world, we will notice that whatever is in bloom will grow to its fullest potential with no fear, insecurity, worry about what other flowers, trees, bushes, etc., are doing around them. It’s not a competition. There’s room for all of us to be in full bloom.
Julia shares some insight about the medicine wheel, in which each point on a compass is a phase or cycle of our growth, experience, wisdom, and engaging in the world in various roles. “Unfortunately,” she says, “we become ‘olders’ not elders. We need the full circle – youth brings energy and elders bring wisdom.” But to offer that wisdom we need to be open, connected, engaged, learning, growing, and understanding… not simply taking up space.
Laura and Julia wind down the conversation with a brief discussion of the transformation process as observed in butterflies – from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. In the chrysalis stage, the process is governed by “imaginal cells” which having the knowing of the new form coming into being. Perhaps the kindred spirits we meet along our journey are like imaginal cells in our lives, there for a reason to help us as we are becoming the next best version of ourselves.
If you’re interested in learning more about Julia’s work and the Forest Bathing Club, check out these links:
The Forest Bathing Club
Julia’s Work
The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing – Julia’s Book
Psychology of Place
Julia’s Bio
Julia Plevin is a nature connection guide and author. As the founder of the Forest Bathing Club, she has more than a decade of experience guiding individuals and groups of people into the forest, where the practice of shinrin-yoku helps calm the mind and create space for wellness and prosperity.
Julia taps into the power of Nature to design transformative healing experiences. Through studies with Shamanic Reiki masters, Shugendo Buddhist monks, Mayan elders, Bhakti yogis, and Renewal rabbis, she has developed a unique program that both respects and transcends tradition and brings us back into direct connection with Source. Having healed herself from a decade-long saga of chronic illness through connection to Nature, Julia believes that true healing happens when we take our healing into our own hands and is passionate about empowering people to tap into Nature as a way to heal themselves. Whether you’re an urban dweller or a mountain resident, Julia’s practice aims to help improve our lives through deeper connection, alignment, and attunement with Nature.
Julia’s work has been covered widely in outlets such as CNN, Outside Magazine, Business Insider, The New Yorker, and Sierra Magazine, and the Forest Bathing Club has more than a thousand members from around the world. Her first book, The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World, came out in 2019 (Ten Speed Press).
Journaling has been a source of desire and frustration for Laura for many years; she longs to do it in a powerful way, “worthy of the paper” she journals on. For this reason, she engages Louise in conversation, as Louise has developed a powerful journaling process. “It’s a process and a practice. You have to grow into it just like anything else,” Louise explains. “The easiest way is to start with lists… Do’s & Don’ts, Pro’s & Con’s. Then use it to dig deeper into what you’re thinking about.” Louise explains the power of the Reticular Activating System (RAS) operating in our brains, as the mechanism for how we notice and tune into that which we are focused upon. For example, when we buy a car, we will “suddenly” begin to notice how many more of that exact model and color of car are on the road. It’s not that everyone else bought the same car at the same time; they’ve been all around us all the time, we simply were not tuned in and alert to notice them before. We can use the RAS to bring more of what we desire into our lives, by being alert and tuned into those things, which makes us more aware of when they show up, and journaling is a great way to tune in and stay focused. Louise encourages Laura to find or create an energetic, uncluttered, positive space in which she can rest, meditate, pray, and journal routinely. She also provides a series of questions one might ask when journaling to prompt thinking and exploration. Laura and Louise also explore what prayer is and how it plays into journaling and creating the lives we desire. If you’re interested in learning more about Louise and the things she and Laura discussed today, check out these links: Louise Online – Brain Power Pyramid (book and course) OR Career Power Shift Connect with Louise Sound Meditation on Facebook Louise’s Bio Louise Elliott, Chief Transformation Officer and Founder of CareerPowerShift, LLC, is a Leadership & Career Coach who works with successful leaders to discover their uniqueness, purpose, and direction so that they can impact their families, workplace, and communities that matter most to them. Louise is hugely committed to the success and growth of others with strong compassion. Her innovative and honest style brings energizing perspective for professional career growth through workshops, keynote speaking, and individual/team coaching. Louise offers Concierge Services that Transform Lives with Inspiration, Impact, and Reward. Workshops and coaching services build on communication, leadership, and personal growth. Louise was on track to be a technology executive in a Fortune 500 financial institution, when her passion for accelerating the success of her colleagues led her to leave her position and dedicate her life to the success and growth of others. Louise’s vocational shift has enabled her to lead and coach 100’s through career upgrades and shifts. Louise now pursues energizing and motivating people to discover the joy within and to realize true success. It is Louise’s dedication to embrace the fuel inside you which is greater than any obstacle. She is passionate about empowering individuals to overcome their self-limiting obstacles through self-investment strategies to achieve career success. Whether you are an individual, a manager, or an executive, Louise can help you overcome struggles and gain clarity in your career path. Louise has a BS in Management Information Systems and an MA in Industrial Organizational Psychology. She is a Certified Coach, Trainer, & Speaker; an Executive Director of The John Maxwell Team; an Igniting Souls Master Coach; and a Certified Human Behavior Consultant with Personality Insights, Inc., able to administer personality profile assessments and provide training on the DISC Model of Human Behavior for personal growth and development.
Like Laura, Melissa Hart found refuge, safety, and a sense of freedom in books that was missing in her childhood. She and Laura connected because of a shared love of books and the idea that “books make me feel rich.” Laura reached out to Melissa after reading an essay Melissa submitted to Real Simple magazine about building a Little Free Library in her yard in Oregon. Laura has always loved seeing them, and sometimes longs for one of her own, so when she saw an opportunity to connect with someone who had built one, a great conversation was soon in the works! As the conversation flows, Melissa introduces the idea of Bibliotherapy – using books in an intentional way for connection, recognition, healing, and understanding. She first learned of the concept in an independent bookstore that arranged its books by topic rather than author, so readers could quickly find stories that resonated with their personal experiences and allowed them to feel seen, heard, understood. Melissa decided to try it in a more intense way when her adopted daughter was struggling in school. She had experienced significant loss in her young life and was not settling in at school, so Melissa rearranged her life to be able to home school with a curriculum built around literature. Then one day, she saw a Little Free Library in a park and was mesmerized! Loving the generosity of it – “Take a book! Leave a book!” – she knew she wanted one of her own. So, as a family, they built one, using old windows from their house, and placed it in their yard. “It’s always a great surprise,” she explained. “You never know what you’ll find in it…” As people are taking and leaving new books and magazines frequently. It’s become yet another connection and bonding opportunity for their close-knit neighborhood. And Melissa has even come to planning her daily runs to ensure she passes other neighborhood libraries, often using it as an opportunity to exchange books from one to another, ensuring an ongoing mix and variety in what’s available. As for Melissa’s daughter, Bibliotherapy has proven to be a powerful healing tool… Perhaps it’s something you might find solace and healing in, as well. Listen in as Melissa and Laura discuss the power of books and share some of their favorites, then share your thoughts: Melissa On Facebook Melissa Online Instagram and Twitter @WildMelissaHart Melissa’s Bio Melissa Hart is Contributing Editor at The Writer Magazine and author of Better with Books: 500 Diverse Novels to Ignite Empathy and Encourage Self-Acceptance in Tweens and Teens(Sasquatch, 2019), plus the award-winning middle-grade novel Avenging the Owl (Sky Pony, 2016). Her essays have appeared in Real Simple, Woman's Day, Spirituality & Health, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, Working Mother, and numerous other publications. She lives in Oregon with her husband and daughter, five chickens, three cats, and one very patient terrier.
Legacy isn’t necessarily in the past. If we could reverse-engineer our lives with a focus on how we want to show up, and how others experience us, we could create our legacy on purpose, explains business consultant and career coach, Jeff Saperstein. In this paradigm we are living into our lives with the end in mind: How do you want to be remembered? What do you want to be remembered for? Because the truth is you get to choose, and you are creating your legacy every day in what you say and do and how you say and do it. Jeff goes on to highlight the extreme toll we pay when we compartmentalize our lives and believe we can show up in various roles differently. For example, if we create a work persona that is different than our ‘at home’ persona, and may be different, still, from our ‘out with friends’ persona, we are wasting a lot of effort and energy in playing those roles, which inevitably leads to burn-out. The determining factor is our awareness and willingness to be internally directed – aligned with our values, beliefs, and desires, rather than allowing external agents and forces to decide who we will be and how we will show up. First, of course, one has to have thought into and defined his or her core values and made the decision to stand by them regardless of the situation or people involved. This is, in effect, intentionally choosing to take off our masks and stand in our authentic power. Then we get to embody our values in our everyday behaviors, words, and actions. Laura and Jeff go on to discuss the prevalence of ‘contrived urgency,’ the prevailing behavior of being busy for busy-ness’ sake; of trying to to do it all and having it all done by tomorrow! Jeff encourages us to be a whole person through focus and specifics and spend some time in reflection on each facet of our lives: work, family, friends, spirituality, finance, health, etc… and recognize where we are in alignment and doing well, or have developed thinking and behaviors that are disharmonious to what we want to create for our lives. They go on to dive into some of the tools they both use with coaching clients to help them see and understand the clues to recognizing and developing each person’s unique strengths for greater contribution and satisfaction in life and work. As they near the end of their conversation, Jeff offers this wisdom: First uncover, then discover yourself! Meaning each of us has to peel back the layers to see all that lies within us, then discover what it means, what it allows us to offer, and become… and know that along the way it sometimes requires unlearning and relearning beliefs, ideas, behaviors that will serve us in healthier ways… so we can live our legacy forward – on purpose and with intention! You can learn more about these ideas and the tools Jeff and Laura use at these links: Jeff On Facebook Jeff online Jeff on LinkedIn Jeff’s Podcast – Interconnected Individuals Carla Harris TED Talk – Finding a Sponsor The Start-Up of You book StrengthsFinder Explore Strengths with Laura Jeff’s Bio Jeff Saperstein helps highly educated, high performance, business professionals transition to find work that matters to them. Jeff is a San Francisco Bay Area based business consultant, author, university teacher, career coach, and podcaster, who empowers people to navigate their careers to lead a successful, happier life. Jeff is particularly attuned to mirroring and reflecting feelings, emotions, and awareness in his intuitive listening ability and to connect the dots. He has a three-stage approach to coaching: self-awareness for your operational values and aspirations; market reality exploration; and building you network and online presence to bring the right opportunities to you.
How many of us would have the courage to turn our backs on what was soundly forecast as a future payout of several million dollars in retirement and stock options to follow what our spirit was calling out to do? The answer to that question is quite clear – just look around at the people you know, see, and read about. Not many. But that doesn’t apply to Jordan Gerding. And his story is even more remarkable considering his is not even 30, yet. He just recently left his job in the family construction business his grandfather and father have been building for decades, to venture into the unknown and uncertain world of entrepreneurship. It might sound scary – and maybe even unwise – to those who need the certainty of a regular schedule, structure, and paycheck. For those who march to a different drummer, and are awake and attuned to their own inner voice, staying in the imagined ‘safety’ of a steady job can actually be a very life-sucking, soul-killing choice. Jordan didn’t make the leap blindly. In fact, he was very methodical, strategic, and conscientious about the financial implications of his choices, potential, and future, then crafted an exit strategy that he presented to the company’s Board before putting his plan in motion. Today’s conversation is perfectly representative of how real-life, meaningful conversations unfold organically. While Laura and Jordan started off exploring how he mapped out his future (rare for many, and rarer still for someone so young!), they find themselves exploring self-awareness, coaching, and the various tools they each use to first understand themselves and then share that gift with others in their lives and work. If you’ve ever heard your inner voice calling you to something else, something beyond the ‘norm,’ something that might even scare you a little (or a lot!)… If you’ve asked yourself, “Should I follow my calling / passion, or do what everyone else says I should do?” You owe it to yourself to spend this next hour with Laura and Jordan and contemplate the lessons that arise… Really consider the idea of trading comfort and boredom with pursuing your passion and enjoying the fullness of life. You can learn more about the tools Jordan and Laura use at these links: Jordan On Facebook jordangerding@gmail.com StrengthsFinder Explore Strengths with Laura Enneagram Kolbe Assessment Perry Marshall 80/20 Sales & Marketing Book Jordan’s Bio Jordan is a young man who has recently stepped out of his corporate job with his father's general contracting construction business, Gerding Builders, into the adventure of self-employment. He is entering into a career as an executive coach to pursue his passion of helping business owners and entrepreneurs understand their unique giftings, strengths, and passions and then developing their team around them to support them in their weaknesses and blind spots. In stepping into his own business, Jordan is now a fourth-generation business owner in his family. He takes great pride in the legacy of his family in business that focused on valuing relationships, honesty, integrity, character, and leveraging resources to help those who cannot help themselves. Jordan has been especially impacted by his father, Tom Gerding. He watched his father join on as a partner in the company he currently serves as CEO over and grow it from a high 7-figure revenue business to breaking the 9-figure revenue mark while growing their net profit percentage to double the industry average. His father did this without compromising his values of integrity and character, focusing on relationships first (both within the company and outside of the company), and giving back to the community. Jordan has the practical experience in holding fast to his character and values in an industry where profit margin percentages are in the single digits, contract language is tight, and mistakes can quickly add up to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. In his last year with Gerding Companies, Jordan was the Project Manager over more than 20 million dollars-worth of work with over 90 subcontractors (other companies hired to do specific scopes of work) between the projects. He has first-hand experience in balancing maximizing profits for the company, prioritizing savings and service for the client, and standing up for subcontractors when additional payment is deserved for additional requested work; all while not sacrificing integrity, character, or values. Jordan knows that the business world is no fairy tale, and his coaching and guidance comes from real world application and results. He desires to bring the insights he has gained from watching and working closely with his father along with the high impact tools gained from trainings and certifications to help high integrity, high character business owners and entrepreneurs take the helm in their industries with the goal of making integrity and character the expectation in the business world not the exception.
When you discover who she is and what she does, having a conversation with Sharry might be a little unsettling… it might leave you feeling a little exposed and vulnerable. You see, Sharry hears frequencies most of us don’t, at least not without the help of sensitive sound measuring devices or equipment. Which means she’ll recognize things about you that you may not even be aware of, or might hope no one will notice! “I grew up in Appalachia in a place with no electronic or manufactured sound,” she explains. “So, I was immersed in all the sounds of nature and I grew up really hearing trees and animals… all living things vibrate.” And anything that vibrates emits vibrational frequencies, which translate to sound, and that means it can be measured. Essentially, each and every one of us has a signature sound. Our voices reveal our health, personality, emotional state, and so much more about us than we might imagine. Sharry uses this information – and it’s all mathematically based – to help people understand themselves at deeper levels, heal their bodies, change their beliefs, and make improvements in various areas of their lives. Over the course of 30 years of collecting voice prints (300,000 voice prints in her database), doing research, and analyzing the data, she is able to discern patterns that align with various illnesses, disease patterns, hormonal imbalances, etc… and while she isn’t in a position to say she uses this technology to “treat or cure” anything, she has countless stories from the people with whom she’s worked to demonstrate she’s tapped into something very powerful. And she’s not alone in her work. Over the course of her conversation with Laura, she highlights the work of other researchers in science and medicine who are also exploring the power of sound frequency in various healing modalities. This is one of those conversations that the written word won’t do justice to… You really have to hear it yourself. So, get comfortable, settle in, and listen to Laura and Sharry digging into the secrets hidden within our voices. Then spend some time in Sharry’s world at these links: Sound Health Portal Sound Health Options On Facebook Holosync Technology Anthony Holland – TEDx Talk – Shattering Cancer with Resonant Frequencies Molecules of Emotion Book Just for fun – Watch this short video of music making Whisky dance! Sharry’s Bio Sharry Edwards has been accused of being too scientific by some, too esoteric by others. In actuality, she is a bridge between both fields of inquiry. Sharry is the acknowledged pioneer in the emerging field of Vocal Profiling using BioAcoustic Biology. For many years she has provided the leading-edge research to show the voice as a holographic representation of the body that can be used to change the face of medicine. Sharry asks that we imagine a future in which we can be individually identified and maintained through the use of frequency-based biomarkers that keep us healthy and emotionally balanced. Her work at the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology has shown that we can each have dominion over those frequencies by individual mind management or a simple remote control that is completely programmable. Using the unique techniques of Vocal Profiling and evaluation, emotional as well as physiological issues can be revealed and addressed. Her work with the human voice reveals that people who share similar traumas, stresses, diseases, toxicities…share similar, if not identical, vocal anomalies. She brings together ancient knowledge with modern ideas of harmonics and frequency relationship theories to show that math can be used as a form of predictive, diagnostic, and curative foundation for wellness. Through entrainment of the frequency grids of the brain, the body can be programmed to support its own optimal form and function.
Imagine having Alzheimer’s take over your closest loved one and framing it as “The Incredible Journey”! That’s been Patti Hanrath’s response over the past four years as her husband, Joe, has fairly rapidly ‘disappeared’ due to early onset of this disease. The first red flag that something was wrong was easily chalked up to stress and perhaps fatigue; but the second clear sign came only a couple of weeks later as Patti and Joe were playing a card game with friends. It took the medical community nearly a year to accurately diagnose what Joe was experiencing, and while it was devastating, it was also a relief. Patti says, “It was a relief to know what we were actually dealing with… it was finally concrete.” And the knowing allowed them to make decisions about how they would move forward before they found themselves in crisis-mode. In their early 50’s, they were empty-nesters and in a place financially to do the things they’d been wanting to do: travel, experience life, spend more time with their kids and grandkids, set money aside for later, and continue to do the work in the businesses each of them had built and enjoyed doing. But in that first moment when Joe became frustrated attempting to make a simple math calculation – something he did many times a day, every day, for most of his adult life… all of that was gone. Change has been more pronounced in their lives as a result. They closed Joe’s custom home building business and sold their own dream home and moved into town where they are closer to friends, family, and resources. All along the way, Patti has been proactive in seeking and asking for help in a variety of forms, so from the outside looking in, the journey has been smooth, thoughtfully planned, and not marked by what we usually imagine when we think of how one would deal with this situation. But what one sees from the outside is not the truth of what’s going on inside. As her role in Joe’s life shifted from wife to caregiver, Patti set two goals: To ensure Joe had the very best care possible, and that she ‘would not go down with the ship.’ She’s allowed herself time and space to mourn their losses at each step along the way, to focus on living moment-to-moment and day-by-day, and to frame everything she’s experiencing as a lesson she needs to learn that is, in some way, preparing her for the next season in her life. They hit a significant turning point recently, when Joe reached a stage of needing more full-time care than Patti could give, as the situation was becoming debilitating to her health, as well. And in that moment, they received a miracle. The story is ongoing, and it’s already bearing fruit. Her experience is allowing Patti to develop and share lessons and tools that can help others “Thrive through Adversity,” which she is using in her Coaching and Leadership Development practice. To learn more, listen in on today’s conversation, then look Patti up: Kinergy Leadership Connect by email (patti@kinergyleadership.com) Patti’s Bio Patti Hanrath has been on a lifelong journey of learning; doing it her way. Early in life she learned the importance of mentorship, being mentored and mentoring others. After a twenty-four-year career of leading customer service teams in the Banking industry, she became a leadership coach and started her own business, Kinergy Leadership. Patti’s passion now is to come along side professional women who are going through some kind of life adversity. Through her own experiences and her training as a Leadership Coach, she helps them navigate their own journey to Live Life Fully and Boldly. Influenced by both her Grandmother and her Father, she came to understand that you reap what you sow. Today, it is her children and grandchildren that inspire her by giving back to her what she provided for them: love, support and encouragement. It is her journey with her husband Joe, who is living with Alzheimer’s, at the early age of 57, that has brought her to understand the true impact of Living Life Fully. In the words of one of her clients: “Patti is an example of living fully to the highest degree. She navigates life with admirable grace.”
This week, Making Space for Conversations that Matter Host, Laura Prisc, takes to the airwaves solo as she contemplates the ideas of ‘common sense’ and ‘common courtesy’ and raises questions about whether they are actually common or rare. It’s an interesting, thought-provoking session, in which she invites you – dear listener – to participate in the conversation. What are your thoughts on how common ‘common sense’ and ‘common courtesy’ really are? Send your thoughts, insights, and stories to her at laura@lauraprisc.com. Laura’s Bio If you’re not already familiar with her and are curious about who Laura is, what she believes, and what she feels called to create in the world, take a few minutes to peruse her website, read her blog, and listen to the other podcast episodes posted there. www.lauraprisc.com You can also find her here: On Facebook LinkedIn
You’ve probably experienced this: You’re working hard at creating something new, feeling like you’re building momentum and then, WHAM! You’re kicked back by something unexpected… sometimes something really devastating. You might say you were ‘frustrated…’ That’s how Artist, Connie Moeller, described her reaction when she received her breast cancer diagnosis a few years ago. She had finally given herself permission to spend her time painting, bringing some beauty and a sense of peace to others through her work, and then this… Frustration and a sense of disbelief that it could actually be happening to her. Connie’s mom and sister both died from breast cancer, so it wasn’t unthinkable that Connie might also develop this insidious disease, but she had been very actively focused on doing all the things she could do to be as healthy as possible. It wasn’t enough. But today, cancer-free and rebuilding her strength, she says she’s thankful for it. The experience made her stronger, forced her to be vulnerable in numerous ways, allowed her to share a story that touched the lives of countless others, and to come closer to God in the process. This is just part of the story of today’s episode of Making Space for Conversations that Matter. Over the course of this funny, poignant, and inspiring conversation, Laura and Connie cover topics including: Art and creativity as an aid in healing, what it means to release yourself to the flow of what’s seeking to emerge from you and being transformed in the process, confronting the feelings of selfishness and inadequacy in claiming what your spirit is calling you to become, and how when we are in the flow of our gifts we can fully expect to experience resistance, roadblocks, and obstacles. They also spend a little time discussing the power of erroneous beliefs and thinking about what we are capable of, the meanings of things, and how society tells us we are supposed to do life. This episode will warm your heart, have you gazing at Connie’s paintings, and wishing you’d taken the time to brew a good cup of tea before you settled in to listen! To jump right to the resources discussed, look here: The War of Artbook Tamarack (Artist’s Collective / Gallery in WV) Connie Mae Art Studio Melody Allen Studio You can also find Connie and her art on Facebook and Instagram – ConnieMaeStudio Connie’s Bio She says… “I love nature and find beauty in the ordinary, such as how sunshine hits a leaf, how a drop of water reflects color, and how light and shadows create design. I love the process of exploring detail, slowing down to discover and translate the beauty I see into a painting. In a world of stress, struggle, and hurry, beauty brings hope, and I desire to share hope and a sense of peace with others through my paintings.” West Virginia artist Connie Mae Moeller grew up hiking in Michigan's woods, drawing and painting from her experiences. She majored in fine art at Spring Arbor University and received additional education at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art. Her early works were accepted into juried shows and galleries receiving honorable mentions. For several years, Connie's artistic attention was devoted to teaching art classes. Since moving to West Virginia in 2012, she enjoys the state’s wild and wonderful outdoors, and her art celebrates the beauty she finds. Her paintings have won awards and been accepted into several juried shows. An active member of her community, she has served on her local council for the arts and contributes to educational art programs. Professional memberships include Tamarack: The Best of WV & Allied Artists of WV. To peruse Connie’s impressive list of Awards and Notices, click here.
Laura sets the stage for today’s conversation by reminding Chad of when they first met, several years ago, and she was struck by how different his business and office space was. She was attending a 2-day workshop in Columbus, and the Choice Recovery office was a field trip / live demonstration of inspired thinking and leadership in action. She reminds him of how he had a Think Tank rather than a conference room, and initiates an exploration of his mindset, practices, and beliefs around business, leadership, culture, growth, and how he thinks about people. “If you don’t know yourself, there’s a huge disconnect in your ability to lead,” explains Chad Silverstein, as he and Laura talk about how he’s created – and is creating – success in his life and how it extends to everyone with whom he works. Chad explains how, even though he’s responsible for the success of his businesses, he’s never focused on the income. “It’s (revenue) the result of what you’re doing with the people, with your growth, and the growth of your team,” he says. He goes on to share some insights into his personal growth journey, working closely with his coach, Chet Scott, Founder and CEO of Built to Lead. Laura notes that Chad’s leadership style and commitment to investing in his own personal growth and that of his team is unique, in that so many people end up in leadership positions they are unprepared for, unwilling to take the time and make the effort to invest in their own growth, and sometimes view developing their people as a way to “fix” them when things aren’t going smoothly. They talk about what it means to craft one’s OPUS (vision, values, beliefs, etc…), share it with others, encourage others to craft their own, and work together to create bigger things in the world. This heightened level of awareness drives Chad to do most things opposite of standard business practices. His team works flexible schedules, is known for holding each other accountable, and are encouraged to discover what lights them on fire and are supported in pursuing it – even when it takes them away from his company. One example he shares is the story of one of his Collection Reps (Choice Recovery is a collections agency – one unlike any you’ll have ever encountered!) wanted to change the world. After some exploration, Chad gave her the job of helping people find jobs so they could actually pay their bills. It started slowly, but the growth has been remarkable. Six years in, they’ve helped 700 people, and started a second business called [re]start, which is now changing the way employers and candidates connect and fill open positions, based on objective knowledge about one’s unique abilities and best fit in work roles. Essentially, as Chad says, he watches what’s going on in the world and businesses around him and does his best to think into and do it differently! To learn more about Chad and his work, look here: [re]start Choice Recovery (collections) Learning Platform Built to Lead
Chad Silverstein, founder and CEO of Choice Recovery, Inc., [re]start, LLC, and Platform Partners, LLC, has worked in the Healthcare Accounts Receivable industry for 22 years. Chad has developed and refined his personal philosophy throughout his career and integrated them into his businesses and relationships with clients, teammates, and his community, focusing on: purpose, responsibility, kindness, and love.
Chad has participated in many leadership and career development programs that have been catalysts for his growth, including graduating from several Dale Carnegie Development training courses, engaging his team with EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), joining Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach Game-Changer Entrepreneur Program, weekly executive coaching with Built to Lead, and becoming a Kolbe Certified Consultant.
● 2013-2019 CEO Magazine and Business First Top Work Place winner - 7 years in a row ● 2016 Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for Ethics Winner ● 2016 Columbus Business First ranked Choice the #1 best medium size business to work for in Central Ohio. ● 2017 Columbus Business First ranked Choice the 2nd best place to work in Central Ohio ● Nationally recognized Insidearm.com Best Places to Work winner in Collections 2013-2016 ● 2019 Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist
Laura and Trivinia share a conversation about how it is when you feel like you don’t fit in someplace and what the implications and consequences of that feeling are. Laura shares a story of taking a job because she really wanted to work with a particulate HR Director and how she knew on the first day it was the wrong fit; she spent nine months feeling as if she was wearing someone else’s clothes every day, which were “the wrong size and wrong style.” Trivinia relates and shares some of her own experiences of wanting to fit in, not feeling as if she did, and trying to not shine a spotlight on herself to stand out and feel even more inappropriate. Like most of us, she longed to feel “chosen, accepted, welcomed…” and instead often felt rejected. Her solution, for much of her life, has been to “eat her feelings…” She says she’s been gaining and losing the same 70 pounds for many years! Elaborating on her personal experiences, it may be thinking one’s eyebrows are too thin (as she does), which extends to her concluding she is “not enough” in the ways that seems to matter to others in our society. The truth is: We all struggle with this kind of deficit-thinking, even men. But this mindset is of our own creation, because nothing that grows naturally (except people) compares itself with any other living thing around it – not plants, not animals, not insects… They all grow to their fullest expression and expansion, boldly and without apology. But as humans, we obsess over perceived flaws and shortcomings and allow those thoughts to keep us small and sometimes in hiding. The conversation shifts to rethinking traditional work practices, diving deep into self-awareness, understanding what each individual has to offer, and working to find complementary partnerships with others, so we can do more together. Both Trivinia and Laura have a depth of knowledge into a variety of self-awareness assessments including Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinder, Enneagram, and Kolbe, and the two discuss how they are invaluable in their fields of expertise. Trivinia has spent the last several years building Priority VA, identifying, training, and providing expert-level virtual assistants for a broad list of entrepreneurs around the US. Originally, thinking it would allow more time for family and to provide extra support to one of her daughters, she realized she had created just the opposite! Her business had become nearly all-consuming, and because she runs it out of her home, there’s no getting away from it! Her wake-up call was when she asked one of her daughters if she’d like to earn some extra money working in the business, and her daughter’s response was “no” because she saw it taking too much from her mom’s time and energy already! That’s when Trivinia and husband/business partner, Chris, decided to stop chasing significance and status and focus on “slow.” Admittedly, there’s an impact on the business and revenue, but they are able to enjoy their family and what they consider a higher quality of life as a result. She goes on to offer a couple of tips on how others might make a similar shift. Her final message and recommendation is a powerful one. Listen in on Laura and Trivinia’s conversation and let us know how your perspective on work and life are affected. The learn more about Trivinia and her work, look here: Trivinia’s Web Site Priority VA – Virtual Assistants Resources Discussed: StrengthsFinder Laura’s Strengths Coaching - Individuals Laura’s Strengths Coaching – Teams/Organizations Enneagram Book Alter Ego Effect Book Trivinia Barber Bio Trivinia Barber is a real-world business development pro who helps entrepreneurs scale their business, sharpen their leadership, and build great teams. In 2012, she founded Priority VA, one of the world’s leading virtual staffing agencies, because most businesses operate at the expense of the owner’s sanity. The answer? Build teams you can trust. Trivinia and Priority VA have provided Executive Virtual Assistant Support to some of the most influential thought leaders and entrepreneurs including Amy Porterfield, Michael Hyatt, Ray Edwards, Mike Kim, Gary Nealon, Lauren Pawell, and Todd Herman. Her clients also include numerous small to mid-size businesses, as well as high growth corporations. The key to Trivinia’s expertise is her proprietary framework The Momentum Method™, which helps businesses navigate the interplay between their products, people, and processes to achieve greater growth and more efficiency. An in-demand speaker, Trivinia has shared her expertise at numerous events around the US and abroad, including Amy Porterfield’s B-School Experience, Puerto Rico Masterminds, Influence & Impact, 90 Day Year Live, and Mastermind Talks, an exclusive entrepreneurial community curated by Jayson Gaignard. Trivinia has been a featured guest on over 40 top-ranked business podcasts including Screw the Nine to Five, Entrepreneur on Fire, and The Daily Grind with Colin Morgan. She also hosts her own top-ranked podcast, Diary of A Doer. Trivinia lives with her husband, daughters, and two dogs on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia, where traffic stops for snakes in the road and the occasional art parade. When she’s not working or traveling, you can find her 90ft underwater on her latest wreck scuba dive.
“Fear of failure plagued me since I was a kid… but I learned to feel the fear and do it anyway!” Explains Aaron Brown as he and Laura kick off this episode. “I’ve learned to move into it – whatever ‘it’ may be – knowing there is possibility and presence within the fear.” In this specific case, Aaron was describing the fear he felt when he had an opportunity in 2018 to participate in a small, private “Shark Tank” experience during a John. C. Maxwell Leadership event. His intention, upon registering for the event, was to simply relax and enjoy the experience, soak up some wisdom, and enjoy spending time with interesting people. That, however, isn’t exactly what happened! When the opportunity came up, he asked himself, “is it worth the effort?” The opportunity was to pitch an idea for a business endeavor in a ‘shark-tank’ format in front of Leadership Expert, John Maxwell; Shark Tank Entrepreneur and Investor, Barbara Corcoran; and the 100+ attendees at the event. Deciding the answer was ‘yes,’ as he would have an opportunity to bless the Ascent Recovery Center (opening in September 2019), a drop-in support center for people unable to commit to a resident-based full-time recovery program that would provide community, support, education, etc. He assumed he’d be competing against a large group, but when he got that call that his idea was accepted, he discovered he was one of only three people whose ideas had been selected. The other two ideas were a 3D Modeling System used to diagnose health issues in the hearts of babies, and the other was an Activity Center for mentally disabled persons. He knew the competition was going to be tough, as his perception is that raising funds for addiction recovery is often difficult. He prepared and practiced; he knew he had to really grab their attention and make a meaningful impression in just two minutes. He was more nervous than he remembers being before, as well as excited by the opportunity and the audience. He dove in, did his best, and got through it – doing it afraid! Then the moment of truth… John and Barbara deliberated and then Barbara was to announce the winner. It was Scott Tolar, who had pitched the Activity Center. What happened next will surprise and inspire you! Scott was in a position to be generous, and so he was. His generosity inspired John and Barbara to join in and share some of their wealth, as well. You’ll have to listen to hear the outcome of this, but let’s just say a few seeds of kindness, generosity, compassion… have more power than you imagine and can spread much farther, too! At Laura’s urging, Aaron dives more deeply into how he “did it afraid” and what works for him in these kinds of situations – Defining Moments, as he calls them. Listen in as Aaron shares his tips for doing it afraid and how being willing to step into vulnerability opens doors, creates opportunities, and allows us to be more fully who we were meant to be. The learn more about Aaron and his work, look here: St. Paul’s Ascent Recovery Services John Maxwell Exchange Event My Year of Yes (book) Aaron Brown Bio Aaron has been a pastor for 28 years and led Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church in Joplin for 25 of those years. Saint Paul’s is a church with three locations and a staff of 60. His skills include communication, team building, leadership development, vision casting, systems, community involvement and media usage. He led his church through 5 capital campaigns and 5 building projects including reconstruction after the 2011 tornado. Aaron brings a sense of humor and practical wisdom to leadership, believing that the role of a leader is in large part looking ahead and identifying obstacles and opportunities. His personal mission is “To do God will with people I love.” Aaron serves on the boards of Ascent Recovery Residences, The Ozark Center, and JOMO Adventures. His hobbies include cycling, card magic, and fixing broken stuff. He is married to Janet and they have two daughters and one dog.
Ever enjoy one of those seemingly serendipitous introductions that turns into a strong connection and a lot in common? That’s what happened with Laura met Joel Hodroff through a mutual friend.
Joel is a Money Innovator, Serial Entrepreneur, Visionary Thinker, and an excellent “step-down transformer” – meaning he can make the complex very simple and easy to understand when it comes to finance, money, and economics. He shares some insight into how the expansion of mobile apps and social media has really changed how money, employment, and economics work… and unfortunately, we’re still in a win-lose situation.
Joel explains how the on-going win-lose competition paradigm in business today is borne of scarcity thinking, which is crazy as there is actually a lot of wealth and a lot of abundance. The key is how we view and understand it and how we choose to approach life, work, and business. In fact, there’s so much excess capacity in a lot of things – transportation, lodging, professional skills & expertise… but we need to continue working to create fair exchange systems to monetize it.
He goes on to outline a business-to-business dual currency system in which a person could earn “community service dollars” to exchange – along with some amount of $$ -- for goods and services; a more sophisticated barter system, if you will, as the old-time exchange of chickens for someone to build a wall at your house is so impractical!
Joel is collaborating with some other experts and they have created an accounting protocol for how this exchange system could work and are currently working to build the infrastructure to allow it to scale. They believe this new shared economy will make a significant difference in how we think about, use, and exchange assets, services, professional expertise in a more productive way.
Laura connects the idea to a business simulation game she uses as a tool in her work, which magnifies our win-lose paradigms and introduces the concept of “Win to the Winth Power” thinking and collaboration; essentially creating a shift in approach where two people, organizations, or businesses come together and create something that allows both parties to win, along with another larger community, as well.
There’s a lot to be learned about the truth of what happens with wealth when the economy takes a dip, as well as new ways of thinking and behaving in this new shared economy.
The two discuss several resources and books, which you can find here:
The Big Short (movie)
Your Money or Your Life (book)
Walden Two (book)
Stranger in a Strange Land (book)
The Lean Startup (book)
Joel Hodroff Bio
Inventor, business revolutionary of the heart, economic futurist
Joel Hodroff believes that emerging business models based on cooperation and sustainability have the power to solve our most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges. He asserts that win-lose competition over money—which modern society inherited from an era of scarcity—is now impeding greater economic security and increased happiness for individuals, families, and communities in the US and around the world. Consider that today’s oftentimes stressful workplaces, schools, and community organizations can become organizing centers for personal growth and healing, social innovation, and sustainable community economic development.
In 1997, Joel was issued a US patent for his novel dual currency pricing, accounting, and transaction settlement system. The system was designed to reward socially valuable activities such as community volunteerism, youth academic performance, unpaid domestic labor, and so forth. The systems stretches dollars (or other national currencies) utilizing a Business-Community Wealth Accounting Protocol to turn underutilized business capacity—such as empty restaurant tables, empty college desks, and off hours at the movies—into new economic resources for healthier families and communities.
Joel has been a social entrepreneur and environmentalist for over 30 years, launching Solar Consultants, Inc., in 1983; DualCurrency Systems in 1993; and cofounding Responsible Minnesota Business in 1998. He was a Minnesota Finance and Commerce Innovator of the Year in 2005 and a Visa Thought Leader / Innovation Provocateur in 2007.
Joel has stayed the course with his economic vision for over 25 years through every imaginable entrepreneurial near miss, wrong turn, and outright failure! He is currently playing for (and praying for) what is termed “a 25-year overnight success story.” Joel’s personal mission is the pursuit of unlimited human potential through unconditional love in community. He believes that the profit motive can be harnessed for the good of humanity and the natural environment.
To learn more, please check out Joel’s dual currency white paper (written just before the 2008 mortgage industry meltdown) Sustainable Prosperity Now! Awakening a Green Revolution of the Heart http://www.dualcurrency.com/Awakening.pdf and/or reach out through his LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelhodroff/
Joel can also be reached at: joel@scryp.io
Today, Laura dives deep into a conversation about navigating transitions, understanding mental health, and exploring other perspectives with Retired Command Chief Master Sergeant, USAF, Lefford Fate. Laura and Lefford first met when both were serving on the Presidential Advisory Council of the John Maxwell Team, and the two have shared numerous interesting and meaningful conversations over the years.
When Laura asks Lefford to tell the story of how he ended up in prison, Lefford jumps right in, but quickly steps back to offer a little perspective. As a young man in the US Air Force, working in the mental health field already, he explained how he nearly lost himself when his mom passed away at the very young age of 49. He was able to get the help and support he needed to grieve and go through his loss but found himself in a similar place years later when his father passed. His Commanding Officer, a Psychiatrist, acknowledged all Lefford was going through and asked if he needed help, and Lefford was afraid to admit that he did; the stigma of any type of mental illness was strong then and persists today.
After he retired from the Air Force, Lefford recounts how he was working in a Geriatric Mental Health Facility in Sumter, SC, when he received a call from the Corrections System to come do some work in the prisons. He says he quickly realized he had no idea what was going on… inmates were dying at an alarming rate and many of them were mentally ill.
He tells the story of a particular inmate who was in prison as a result of having been taken advantage of by others who recognized his mental deficiency (he was in his 30’s but with the intellectual capacity of a 9-year old, not really able to understand that what they were telling him to do was wrong, nor aware of the consequences of his actions). This young man’s condition was deplorable, and he’d not had his medication for some time. This experience was heart-wrenching, eye-opening, and shocking, and it set Lefford on a path toward understanding why things were the way they were and what could be done to make change.
As they discuss the current state of mental health, resiliency, and suicide rates, Laura and Lefford make a few shifts in the course of their conversation, digging into potential causes – fear of being ostracized, ridiculed, excluded or labeled as “less-than,” resistance to being or feeling vulnerable, and the unknown of what may come next if you tell the truth about how you’re feeling or your mental state.
They consider the idea of shifting perspective and language toward building ‘mental wealth,’ similarly to how we now think about focus on one’s overall physical health with a view toward prevention and maintenance. Lefford shares some insight gleaned through Malcolm Gladwell’s research for his bestseller, Blink, which explains how we instantaneously and subconsciously make assessments about situations we find ourselves in and react to. This makes sense from a first-responder perspective, when you may not know what you’re really walking into… but there is training available to help our first responders have a clearer perspective and make better situational decisions.
Moving on to the idea of “no one is the worst thing they’ve ever done,” Lefford and Laura share stories and discuss the need for grace, compassion, and thinking into the potential consequences of one’s actions is an invaluable practice, and one we need to be helping our young people learn. Lefford introduces the concept of getting in front of things – more thinking on the front end before acting – rather than playing catch-up and trying to fix things after the fact.
Lefford shares his belief that every single one of us is in some form of transition at any given moment and we each need some grace, some compassion, and some mercy. He encourages Laura – and listeners – to be helpful and ask for help when you need it. One in five (1:5) people struggle with mental illness and 2-3 of them are under some major stress right now – regardless of age, race, culture, religion, income or wealth – and we have to shift our perspective on how we see, interpret, and handle these issues if we want to change what’s going on in the world.
As they close their conversation, Lefford shares a recent insight he learned from Motivational Speaker and Teacher, Bo Eason, who says “we are afraid of being great – of allowing ourselves to claim we want to be the best in the world at ____________ (fill in the blank with your heart’s desire).” Laura explains her belief about fear of vulnerability and how she is working to teach the concept of Confident Vulnerability and uses a tool she’s developed called Your Unique Lens.
About Lefford Fate
Professionally, Command Chief Master Sergeant (Ret) Fate has led, mentored, and served thousands of military members and their
families. He spent nearly 31 years in the US Air Force. Lefford served as Command Chief for the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, SC, as the lead advisor and mentor for 5,000 personnel in 19 squadrons and tenant units operating at 85 F-16 planes. Prior to that post, he served as the Command Chief for the 505th Command and Control Wing in Hulbert Field, Florida. He is a past recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 devices, the Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 device, the Air Force Achievement Medal/ Meritorious Unit Award, the USAF Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and 6 devices, the Air Force Recognition Ribbon/Numerous Campaign Medals for service in Southwest
Asia and Global War on Terrorism, the SNCO of the Year, and the Mental Health SNCO of the Year (Europe). Since retiring from the military, he was the program director for a geriatric mental health program, Director for Health Services for the SC Department of Corrections and is currently the Director, Support Services City of Sumter. He is a best-selling Author who co-authored a book called Success Starts Today with Jack Canfield, and Pathways to a Positive Mental Attitude with Don Green. His TEDx Charleston (SC) talk on Correcting Corrections has over 500,000 views. With all those accolades, he says his greatest accomplishments are being a husband, father, and grandfather.
www.leffordfate.com
https://www.facebook.com/lefford.fate
When Laura and Linda first met, at an event several years ago in Florida, Laura was surprised to hear Linda was leading the Leprosy Mission Scotland. She, like many others, had been under the impression leprosy had been eradicated; upon discovering that was not the case, Laura became curious and engaged Linda in today’s conversation about her work and what’s happening with the disease.
Over the course of this conversation, the women cover a number of topics including the vision for the organization’s future work, what can be accomplished when a group of passionate people come together focused on a common cause, why developing yourself and your people is the key to success, and how self-care feeds everything!
Linda has been with the Leprosy Mission Scotland for 21 years, starting as its Executive Director and growing into the organization’s CEO. In her role, she travels the world to connect with colleagues, raise funds, evaluate the organization’s operations, and meet with and learn the stories of the people who have been diagnosed with this disease.
Like so many others, Linda learned the hard way that self-care is required if you have any intention of being productive, effective, and having any kind of staying power in whatever role you play. The pervasive thinking that putting in long hours, always putting the business first, is some kind of ‘badge of honor,’ is nonsense in Linda’s experience.
“God designed us to take time out for rest and relaxation, to enjoy the splendor and wonder of his creation,” she explained. “We plan down time for machines and maintenance of equipment and systems, but not for ourselves.”
It’s with this perspective that she is leading her organization and has built that mindset into her culture. Her team does not work when they are on holiday, and the understanding is that if you leave a message or send an email to someone who is out of the office for this purpose, you won’t get a response until they return to work.
“I use humor to get this message across,” said Linda. “My ‘out of office’ message is in the voice of my laptop, explaining in a Reply email that ‘Linda went on holiday and left me here in the office…’” Her focus on connecting with and attending to the needs of the people in her work and life are evident in her practices and communication.
Linda educates Laura on the current state of Leprosy, how many people are diagnosed with it daily (the number is staggering if you stop to think about it), the mindset issues associated with contracting and treating the disease, and what the Leprosy Mission is striving to achieve: Leprosy defeated and Lives Transformed.
Listen in as Linda shares her insights about inspiring her team – “People are keen to be part of a winning team and they want to make a powerful impact.” She speaks to the idea of and focus on working herself and her colleagues out of a job when the disease is no longer an active health issue. And how she’s invested in her own personal growth and the intentional development of not only her team, but her colleagues in the other Leprosy Mission organizations around the world.
In the end, Linda says she wants her epitaph to read: “She made a real difference.” As you listen in on today’s conversation, I’m sure you’ll agree, Linda Todd has already made a real difference and continues to do so.
About Linda Todd
Linda is the Country Leader and CEO of The Leprosy Mission Scotland. She joined TLMS as Executive Director in March 1998. Linda has extensive leadership, fundraising, coaching and management experience gained from over three decades of working in the Voluntary Sector and continual professional development. She is a Diploma-qualified member of the Institute of Fundraising, a Chartered member of CIPD, and a John Maxwell authorized Coach and Speaker. Under Linda’s leadership, TLMS holds Investors in People Platinum. She plays an active role within the Global Fellowship, currently chairing the Member Review Working group; a member of the TLM Trust India Board, and the reference group for the Leadership Development Program. Linda also plays an active role within Scotland through various umbrella-organizations – The Scottish International Development Alliance and the Institute of Fundraising Scotland.
She lives on the south side of Glasgow where she attends Auldhouse Community Church. Other areas of service include the position of Treasurer for Glasgow Street Pastors and a member of Thornliebank Community Council. Other than her faith, her three great passions are her pug, Carletto (who thinks he’s another member of the staff team), her bolt-hole in the East Neuk of Fife, and The Leprosy Mission Scotland, though not necessarily always in that order!
The Leprosy Mission Scotland
Warning: This episode touches on the topics of prostitution, drug addiction, and human trafficking – subjects that aren’t suitable for young people.
Laura first became aware of Judge Herbert when she attended the Global Leadership Summit in 2018; there was a short video during the Summit with Judge Herbert talking about his work in CATCH Court in Columbus, Ohio. She was intrigued by a story he shared about a conversation with his daughters about finding one’s Purpose in life… and then elaborated on the work he’s doing.
Judge Herbert explains that he’d gone through the book The Purpose Driven Life several times and had been frustrated, as he’d not felt as if he’d found his purpose. Then he was teaching his daughters and taking them through the book a chapter a week on Sunday evenings. This was frustrating, as well, as one of his daughters seemed determined to undermine the process. When he asked her why, she said it wasn’t a good study and she put him on the spot, asking what his purpose was.
Judge Herbert recounts stumbling through his response about his work on the bench, as a Judge… and hoping it was good enough. Later that night, as he prepared for bed, he prayed for guidance, asking “God, how can I serve you better? What’s my purpose?” He says after that, “things started happening.”
As a Municipal Court Judge, Judge Herbert oversaw domestic violence cases in his courtroom. He tells the story of one day in court, there were 36 cases brought before him and all of them women who looked broken and lost. The stories of their existence told through the bruises, cuts, burns, and handprints on their faces and bodies; and the men associated with their cases professing their innocence and explaining how it was all “their” (the woman’s) fault…
Then one woman came before him who had been arrested for prostitution and he looked closely at her and wondered why she looked like the other women – the victims of domestic violence? This drove him to do some research into the backgrounds of women arrested for prostitution and he began to see them differently and to ask different questions.
Laura reminds him of a previous conversation they’d had, where he explained shifting from thinking: “What did you do?” – what did they do to get arrested and land in his courtroom, to thinking: “What happened to you?” – what happened in your life that brought you here today?
He says it was a big shift in his brain to change his thinking and begin to recognize the trauma these women and girls have experienced. He learned to understand that in their lives, no one, no place, nothing is safe. He began to really recognize their fear and how, because of it, they will completely shut down, which means they aren’t open to help.
This new understanding sparked recognition that there was opportunity to treat them differently and create a different kind of court system for them, similar to approaches taken with persons who have mental health disorders, drug addiction, and even military veterans. Courts had been experiencing better outcomes in those arenas, so he believed he could change the way human trafficking victims are handled in the legal system.
In alignment with a bible verse, CATCH Court was born:
“22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 -- NIV)
CATCH stands for “Changing Actions to Change Habits,” and the women who go through this 2-year probation process have the opportunity, support, and resources to release the habits of whom they used to be and to become a healthy, new version of themselves. They have a safe place to live, surrounded by safe and supportive people. They have access to drug and alcohol addiction treatment, group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Trauma Treatments.
Laura notes that the work the Judge is doing is similar to how she defines leadership, in terms of influence. She says every single person has the opportunity to influence at least four people each day, and that number is likely much higher than only four! Influence may be as simple as where two people go for lunch on any given day, to bigger things like problem solving, beginning a new project, and changing people’s lives. CATCH Court is changing so many peoples’ lives and the implications and ripple effect is much deeper and farther reaching than likely any of them imagine. Lives are literally being saved, families reunited, and significant change is in motion.
Judge Herbert explains that many of these women and girls become drug addicts to numb themselves from the screaming they hear in their heads, which comes from the early sexual traumas they’ve been subjected to by people they should have been able to trust. Not one of them comes into the life of drug addiction, prostitution, or being trafficked by choice. He also stresses that regardless of where you live, human trafficking is happening, likely even within a mile or two of your home!
He dispels the thinking that human trafficking and prostitution are different, with the latter being less horrific, citing a statistic that 92% of the women in the sex trade are trafficked. They’ve been sold into it – often by family members, or by people (men mostly) taking advantage of a drug addiction or helping to create a drug addiction to keep them enslaved in the business. These women and girls are literally transported and flown to cities around the nation, especially when there are big sporting events, large conventions, and conferences… and you could find them in every hotel, airport, and conference center you see.
He now articulates his purpose as being here “to see and change the dialogue about how women are and have been treated since the beginning of time.” He clarifies that prostitution is not the oldest “profession” in the world, rather it is the oldest “oppression” in the history of the world. He feels driven to really look at people and truly “see” who they are and what they’ve been through, rather than taking the easier and more common path of judging and condemning.
To learn more about the work Judge Herbert is doing in CATCH Court, check out these links:
www.catchcourt.org
caught in Columbus
Channel 10 Presents CATCH Court
Making a big life change is today’s topic. Laura’s guest, Kyle Heeter, shares her personal story of finding work she loved, falling out of love with it, and eventually making her way into new work she loves, again! During the course of this conversation, Laura and Kyle examine their beliefs about what is possible for all of us. Be sure to listen to the end, or you’ll miss a fascinating discussion about energy healing.
Kyle shares how she loved nursing but didn’t feel like she was making the connection with people she wanted. She decided to stop and listen to what she really wanted. It wasn’t easy to admit to herself that she was anxious and nervous. She struggled to figure out how to leave a job she didn’t like.
A health scare helped her make the change. A second time, she had a knee injury that helped her realize she wasn’t happy and had to leave that job. Lesson learned: It takes time. Paying attention to your emotions isn’t easy, and often can feel confusing. But it’s worth the effort.
Making a change is healing and a significant part of the journey. Even (maybe especially) when know you have to make the change, but don’t always know exactly what’s to come.
What do you do when your comfort zone is no longer comfortable? Kyle shares how she’s learned to recognize the discomfort for what it’s saying to her. Her tips are sure to help you, too.
Taking time to be still and listen is key to paying attention. Today’s culture doesn’t always reward inward work and the decision to slow down and listen.
What do we do when we realize that some of our long-held beliefs aren’t right for us? It’s powerful to acknowledge and taking small steps can help you get shed what no longer fits. Subtle, small changes count and often lead to major transformation.
We can all relate about having confidence when we make changes. We want to feel good about it, but often worry that others may not understand. Kyle shares a personal story about how she was able to move past the fear.
Kyle shares her journey to becoming an energy healer and what it’s like to work with her. Part of her process is evaluating what the energy of your body is saying. She can then help to clear out energy areas and allow a flow of better energy.
It’s a process of opening to universal energy.
Contact Kyle:
Website
Resources:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Field by Lynn McTaggart
The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
About Kyle:
Kyle Heeter has worked as an RN/BSN in intensive care, emergency room, and family practice clinics for 20 years. Today, she is a Healing Touch Practitioner providing energy work both on-site and long distance through her private practice, Shift Energy Work.
Kyle has found her passion for healing in providing heart-centered, intuitive, and holistic energy work. She believes that with mindful intention, we can change our vibrational patterns and habitual responses in order to become whole and that we each have the potential and power to consciously participate in the process of awareness, change, and growth.
She lives in Fayetteville, West Virginia, with her husband and two incredible children.
Paul shares the concept of the ‘disorienting dilemma.’ It’s what happens when we aren’t taking the steps for what we want to be, do, or have, even when we are very focused on what we want and the changes we’d like to see. Hear how he outlines the 3 key components:
- Known vs Unknown
- Future Negatives
- Immunity to Change
Laura gets some great advice about something she’s been resisting. Paul outlines a key question that can help all of us get to the source of the resistance we are experiencing.
Paul explains how we can learn to listen to our mind and body to get the answers we need using our non-conscious resources. This is a game-changer!
The discussion about recognizing habitual problem-solving modes is a great first step to shifting your mindset.
Paul shares several ways that we can access our non-conscious mind for answers and solutions. They are fascinating and practical steps that anyone can use.
Learn how to access your Guardians of Change (Heart, Mind, and Will) so they can become your Guardians for Change. This is fascinating work that anyone can do if you are willing to make space for that conversation.
The conversation within can be one of the most important. Having a trusted listener can help us create a safe space to explore and get new insights.
Resources:
MIT Dialogue Project
Website
About Paul
Paul R. Scheele, Ph.D., is the CEO of Scheele Learning Systems, a company dedicated to helping leaders create more brilliant results through transformative learning. His expertise in human development, leadership, and transformational change has influenced leaders around the world for more than 35 years. Dr. Scheele’s programs in accelerated learning, problem solving, creativity, communications, and leadership development have been used by individuals and organizations worldwide. He is the author of the bestselling books, PhotoReading, Natural Brilliance, and Drop Into Genius.
Dr. Scheele is also the founding partner of Learning Strategies Corporation, a premier publisher of personal development programs. His published work includes over 70 learning programs that have been translated into more than 19 languages and purchased by enthusiastic clients in 185 countries.
Laura and Sheri have a great story about how they met. It demonstrates how simple things can and do make an impact.
Sheri shares her story and how she literally crashed and could not wake up! She had her “dream job” but realized she had a great career, not a great life.
“Stop spending 100% of your time on 10% of your life!”
How do we make that change? How do I stop spending my life focused on just 10% all the time?
In her book, Exponential Living, Sheri outlines the 9 Principles she discovered that allowed her – and will allow you – to live a peaceful life, while continuing to live exponentially.
In her conversation with Laura, Sheri outlines the 3 core tenets that helped her make that change:
- Pursue Peace – that’s where your power lives
- Choose Clarity – ideas can develop, and
- Live Courageously – embracing what you are here to do
A key factor to success: Committing to consistency. She explains the difference between committing to the goal or committing to consistency and why it can hold us back.
She also outlines 3 steps to break up with inconsistency! It isn’t about doing more or being better at time management. Her process helps you make real change.
Every moment is the opportunity to make a new choice. We can start fresh and stack the cards in our favor.
Sheri explains how she dealt with her fear and depression. As a result of her own experience, she is now on a mission to help others keep their cup full.
Peace is the new success
Laura and Sheri wrap up with learning to celebrate. It’s part of filling up your own cup and recognizing when it is time to recharge.
About Sheri
For over 17 years, Sheri served as Founder and Chief Partnership Strategist of GLUE® Inc, (www.glueinc.com) a strategic consulting firm committed to “developing profitable partnerships for products and personalities”.
The company’s client list included blue chip businesses, professional athletes, nonprofit organizations and celebrities like: CVS/pharmacy, BMW, T-Mobile, Atlanta Hawks, NBA Entertainment, Porsche, Alonzo Mourning Charities, The Ludacris Foundation, BET Networks, Chevy, WNBA, Turner Network Television (TNT), Converse, NIKE, and many more.
Prior to launching my business, I created and executed innovative marketing campaigns that led to sales of over 30 million albums worldwide for Toni Braxton, TLC, Usher, and Outkast.
Connect with Sheri:
Exponential Living Community
YouTube
Laura speaks with guest Stephen K. De Silva. He is on a mission to end poverty. He explains how he has discovered the secret to understanding the root cause of poverty and the way to see it eradicated in our lifetime.
He sees money as a spiritual power. As such, money exaggerates what people believe, in either lack or abundance. Much of the financial training we receive is skills-based. Stephen wants to add the belief work to the skills training so old behaviors and habits don’t return.
Be sure to find out the three things that affect our money mindset. This applies to all of us, regardless of our personal means.
We often use money as a way to develop a persona. It is used to make what we believe about ourselves show up in our lives. Stephen explains how that can be positive and affirming or defeating.
Hear how you can use your energy to exaggerate the positive aspects of financial energy.
The discussion of core beliefs will help you understand how each of us has developed a set of financial beliefs. Some are likely positive, and others may be beliefs that work against our best interests.
Stephen shares how past clients have been able to discover where and how their limiting beliefs around money began. This will help you understand how to discover your beliefs about money and change them to serve you now.
Learn how this can be generational and how you can break the cycle.
Laura and Stephen talk about freedom and liberty and how to understand the difference between the two. It will help you recognize your options and how to make the best choices.
The episode ends with a short blessing from Stephen to everyone who is listening.
About Stephen:
Stephen K. De Silva began his professional career in 1985 as a certified public accountant. From 1995 until 2017, he ran an exclusive service company specializing in nonprofit accounting and ministerial income tax preparation, while simultaneously leading a growing team as chief financial officer and member of the senior leadership team at Bethel Church of Redding.
After years of working with clients, Stephen discovered a key to success. Beginning with five basic principles, Stephen created Prosperous Soul Ministries, today’s seminal voice in the area of capacity, wealth, poverty, and greed. The goal of these materials: To make the world a wealthier place by teaching the end of poverty and greed.
Stephen’s unique blend of experience, training, and integrity make him a pioneer expert in the subject of money. Now as a full-time international speaker, author, and thought leader, Stephen releases hope, momentum, and generosity to replace financial trauma, confusion, and fear.
Connect with Stephen:
Website
Resources Mentioned:
The Millionaire Mind (Millionaire Mindset)
