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Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 6:19-23Episode Overview:Jesus invites us to see life through the lens of eternity. In Matthew 6:19–23, He challenges us to examine where we are storing our treasure and whether we are living for what is temporary or what lasts forever. This message explores the reality that this world is not our final home and that the way we use our time, resources, and possessions reveals what we truly value. When we set our hearts on heaven, we are freed to live with greater purpose, generosity, and faithfulness in the present.Key Highlights:* Understanding Jesus' command to store up treasure in heaven rather than being consumed by earthly possessions.* Seeing how our perspective shapes the way we live, give, and prioritize what matters most.* Learning to distinguish between the temporary things of this world and the eternal realities of God's kingdom.* Discovering how heavenly-minded living leads to greater impact and faithfulness in everyday life.* Remembering that our hope is not found in what we accumulate, but in the saving work and generosity of Jesus.Call to Action:Take time to examine what your life is truly oriented around. Consider where your treasure, attention, and energy are invested, and ask God to reshape your priorities around what will last forever. Look for practical ways to invest in God's kingdom, His people, and the work that carries eternal significance.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

What does great leadership actually look like? Can you make a difference even if you're in the middle of the hierarchy? "If you think you're too small, you've not spent the night under a bedsheet with a mosquito." In this episode, educator and Deming practitioner Balaji Reddie explains why W. Edwards Deming was far more practical about leadership than many people realize. Drawing on both The New Economics and Out of the Crisis, Balaji shares stories and examples that bring Deming's 17 principles of leadership to life. From creating trust and joy in work to understanding variation, coaching people, and improving systems, this conversation challenges conventional management thinking and offers a clear path toward transformation. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we continue our journey into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today I'm continuing my discussion with Balaji Reddie, who is an educator and trainer in the teachings of Dr. Deming and quality management generally. And the topic for today is Principles of Leadership. Balaji, take it away.   0:00:27.9 Balaji Reddie: Good morning. Thank you so much, Andrew. We had left our last session with that, we'd be dealing with this. And of course, Dr. Deming gave us the outline of Profound Knowledge and he gave us 14 points. He also gave us the deadly diseases and the 16 Obstacles. So people often talk about the diseases, but very often they forget the obstacles. And there are 16 of them which he highlighted for us. And if you think that they're outdated, they're as relevant as they ever were. So you need to keep revisiting those. I think if you start working on removing the obstacles, it's like you're taking your foot off the brake rather than pressing on the accelerator.   0:01:11.3 Balaji Reddie: So you're removing the things that actually stop you before you actually take things forward. But nevertheless, we start with point number 14 where he says, take action to complete, to make the transformation. And he says that there should be a critical mass of people that you need to educate and train and get them on the same page as you are. I'm gonna quote Hazel Cannon here, who is current president of the British Deming Forum. And she talks about the time when she was very young and she attended the Deming four-day seminar, I think in Birmingham. And at the end of those four days, she was overwhelmed as you normally are when you hear how the man speak. And he spoke... He wanted you to make drastic changes. It's not just tinkering here and there.   0:02:08.2 Balaji Reddie: And so she went up to him and she said, "I'm really taken up by what you just said." And then she made a statement, "I'm too small to make these changes in my organization." I believe she worked as a lab assistant in a chemical manufacturing company. They used to make chemicals for cosmetics. So she said, "I'm too small." And Deming just interrupted her and said, "Never think you're too small. If you think you're too small, you've not spent the night under a bedsheet with a mosquito." So make a change where you are and take it from there. So I would like to now quote Dr. Deming from Out of the Crisis. This is Plan for Action: Take action to accomplish the transformation. So he writes there, there are three points and then I'll come to what he writes below that.   0:03:01.8 Balaji Reddie: So he says, "Management in authority will struggle over every one of the above 13 points, the deadly diseases, and the obstacles. They will agree on their meaning and on the direction to take. They will agree to carry out the new philosophy. Management in authority will take pride in their adoption of the new philosophy and in their new responsibilities. They will have courage to break with tradition, even to the point of exile among their peers." So he talks about courage. He talks about courage of conviction. And then he says, "Management in authority will explain by seminars and other means." So I think he leaves it to people of the ways and means. And now today there are a lot of means of doing that. DemingNEXT is one of them. And he says, "To the critical mass of people in the company why change is necessary and that the change will involve everybody."   0:04:00.9 Balaji Reddie: Now he writes something very interesting. He says, "This whole movement may be instituted and carried out by middle management speaking with one voice." So he gave instructions. Why are people saying that he did not tell us what to do? It is just that he expected maybe a lot. And now let's get to that middle management and what he expected. He says here... Let's see here. I'm coming to chapter four now in The New Economics where he says, "A System of Profound Knowledge. The aim of this chapter: the prevailing style of management must undergo transformation." So we just heard that, that what we need to do. And he says, "A system cannot understand itself. The transformation requires a view from the outside. The aim of this chapter is to provide an outside view, a lens that I call a System of Profound Knowledge.   0:04:59.7 Balaji Reddie: It provides a map of theory by which to understand the organizations that we work in." Then he says, "The first step is transformation of the individual. This transformation is discontinuous. It comes from understanding the System of Profound Knowledge." Then he says that "the individual, once transformed, will set an example." So setting an example, I believe, is doing the right thing under adverse circumstances, when you stick to your principles despite the fact that there is an easier way out. As they say, choosing a path between good and bad is easy, you choose good. But good and better, you need to make the right choice. And that needs profound knowledge. "So be a good listener," he says, "but will not compromise. Continually teach other people and help people pull away from their current practice and beliefs and move to the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past."   0:06:02.7 Balaji Reddie: So he explains to us what was needed here, right? And he says this is what we actually need to do. Now I'd like to, I mean, I'll be referring to a document. I don't know how we're gonna get this to people, but for the Principles of Leadership. All right, I think I'll have to send this over to you later, but we will do that. So in the Principles of Leadership, just come to them. I am quoting again from both Out of the Crisis and The New Economics. So you will find this there when he speaks about what needs to be done. Modern Principles of Leadership. And he says, "The modern principles of leadership will replace the annual performance review. The first step in a company will be to provide education in leadership." So that would be introducing people to profound knowledge from what we just heard. Then he said, "The annual performance review may then be abolished." Of course, that will take time. "Leadership will take its place, and this is what Western management should have been doing all along."   0:07:12.6 Balaji Reddie: So he says, "The annual performance review sneaked in and became popular because it does not require anyone to face the problems of people. It is easier to rate them, focus on the outcome. What Western industry needs is methods that will improve the outcome." And he says, "Suggestions follow." So first, institute... The first principle. "Institute education in leadership: the obligations, the principles, and methods." And so I think introduction to the System of Profound Knowledge will help. And then after profound knowledge has been sort of brought to the notice of... Of bringing to the notice of the people then you get into perhaps teaching them about 14 Points, et cetera.   0:07:57.8 Balaji Reddie: Comes the second principle. He says, "Ensure more careful selection of people in the first place." So choosing the people, he says again, now here's where it requires you to understand the purpose of what you're doing, purpose of your organization, purpose of the people you're looking out for and making this change. Because when you know your purpose, you know the aim, then you can choose people in the right way. And I believe he said this somewhere, it's a combination of education, training, skills, and experience. So we need to combine these four factors in choosing the right people. Then he says, after selection of the people, ensure better training and education. So we fine-tune all of their... He says a complete background. He said their aspirations, their goals.   0:08:54.2 Balaji Reddie: I kind of borrowed this idea from a company here in India where they had this thing called roles, responsibilities, and objectives. And they used to meet once in a month, but once in a year they used to decide. So the top management, the HR, would sit down with each and every employee and say that, "In this calendar year, this is what we intend to do and this is what we expect from you." And in turn, they used to ask the employee, "What do you expect from us? Because this is what we want from you." And then the employee had a chance of putting forth what he or she wanted, the management, what help they needed. And I think this is where we have to be... It's a give and take. And they didn't just meet once a year; every month they would meet and the question was, "How are we doing?" not "What have you done?"   0:09:51.1 Balaji Reddie: So I think it wasn't a traditional appraisal. If there was any appraisal, it was appraising what top management were doing or intended to do and not so much the employee. I thought that was a good move. So that's what we need to do here: better training and education. Principle number four states: "A manager understands and conveys to his people the meaning of a system. He explains the aims of the system. He teaches his people to understand how the work of the group supports these aims." Now, here's where, you know, when you talk about, say, hiring people in the first place, when you bring in new employees, I believe that there should be a special session by people inside the company who have stayed the longest, who served the company the longest, especially during their bad days. Because the employees need to know what really happened and how the company survived and how we were resilient, we came back despite all the problems that we had.   0:11:00.7 Balaji Reddie: And the historical perspective, especially if there's someone who's in touch with the founding members, that would be a great boon. I know nowadays we talk about the older companies, obviously none of the founders are there, but if there is such a person, exchanging those ideas with the young employees would definitely make a difference. So they would then understand the purpose, the aims, and how your work supports these aims. I think it's the best way to do that. But what I see right now in companies and I'm being very specific about this, because today when new employees join the company, they have an orientation, they have onboarding, as they call it, but that's done by a rookie, someone who's just joined the company and is just making...   0:11:46.8 Andrew Stotz: [0:11:46.8] Following a checklist?   0:11:48.1 Balaji Reddie: Exactly. Like a PowerPoint presentation. They don't talk about the history of the company. And I think there has to be an emotional connect before there is a logical or an intellectual connect. That emotional connect, I think, then makes you feel that pride and you feel good about coming to work and you say, "Oh, I did not know." So I believe this fourth principle is important in that sense, in the way to do that. Now, he says that... Principle five says he helps...   0:12:19.7 Andrew Stotz: By the way, do you know what chapter are you in?   0:12:23.9 Balaji Reddie: Oh, I have combined.   0:12:27.9 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   0:12:29.4 Balaji Reddie: I took some of the text... Okay. If you want to see here, this is management of people, all right? In that chapter. So I've taken... There are 14 principles there, management of people. In the new edition of The New Economics. It appears...   0:12:48.2 Andrew Stotz: So chapter six.   0:12:50.2 Balaji Reddie: Chapter six, yeah. That's chapter six...   0:12:51.8 Andrew Stotz: Yep.   0:12:52.6 Balaji Reddie: All right. And he talks about pictorial effect of transformation, and then he talks about management of people, role of a manager of people. So there were 14 there, but in Out of the Crisis, the first three which were there, he did not include here.   0:13:10.0 Andrew Stotz: Okay. I just just asked...   0:13:11.0 Balaji Reddie: So I just included those. Yeah. No, so that when people read the book, they could read it clearly, right? So, yeah. So he says now principle number five, which in Economics is principle number two or three, right? He says "he helps his people to see themselves as components in a system, to work in cooperation with preceding stages and following stages toward optimization of the efforts of all stages towards achievement of the aim." So we want optimization, not compromise. So you need to sit together. Just if I were to ask a simple question to you, Andrew, and without thinking, if I were to try to answer this question... Okay. I presume you know how to make a cup of tea.   0:13:58.7 Andrew Stotz: Yes.   0:14:00.1 Balaji Reddie: So what is the first step?   0:14:02.7 Andrew Stotz: For me, boil water.   0:14:04.6 Balaji Reddie: Boil water. And what if I say that's not the first step?   0:14:12.0 Andrew Stotz: Well, first of all, I think you probably have more experience with tea than I do, but I have more experience with espresso, probably. But anyways, go ahead and tell me.   0:14:20.9 Balaji Reddie: Okay. The first question is, whom am I making a cup of tea for? So what I just tried to convey is it's not natural to think about the customer. And so the first step is, for whom is the cup of tea? If it's the person...   0:14:30.8 Andrew Stotz: Grandma.   0:14:40.7 Balaji Reddie: That's right. If she's diabetic, then you would not need sugar. So you gather the ingredients accordingly. If he wants black tea, you don't take milk, right? And that's the point he's trying to say here. When you look at different stages, every every person has a customer. So the first question is, who is my customer?   0:15:07.1 Andrew Stotz: Right.   0:15:07.4 Balaji Reddie: And that part of profound knowledge, understanding psychology, I mentioned this last time, is empathy. The word empathy captures this. So you go to the next process as, "Whom am I doing this work for?" and sit down with that person and say, "What do you expect from me? How may I help you?" And that's what decides what you're gonna do. So this this fifth principle here, that he helps his people see themselves as components, I think this is important. The next process is your immediate customer, and the rest of them are customers in a very oblique sense. But what you do is critical to the next person in line, right? So you always spend extra time with that person and of course the other people down the line who your work is gonna be impacting over a period of time, right? But these are the... This is the first step you find out. So who's my customer? So that's principle five.   0:16:09.0 Balaji Reddie: Principle number six: now this comes under psychology again, that a manager of people understands that people are different from each other. He tries to create for everybody interest and challenge and joy in work. Now, if you look at the theory of knowledge, what exactly did he give us when he brought that component of profound knowledge into play? He says that theory is a statement that conveys knowledge by relating cause to effect. So I repeat, theory is a statement which conveys knowledge by relating some cause to some effect. It fits without fail all the observations of the past and helps us predict the future with the risk of being wrong.   0:17:04.7 Balaji Reddie: So I'm gonna repeat this whole statement again. Theory is a statement which conveys knowledge. How? By relating some cause to some effect. It fits without fail all the observations of the past and helps us predict the future with the risk of being wrong. So no amount of examples can establish a theory, and even one example can lead to either abandonment of the theory or modification of the theory. That's what he kept saying. Now, how does this work? So he says it's a system of learning, and all of us have this built in, right? Now, he came from the school of Clarence Irving Lewis, Mind and the World-Order. And if you read that book, Lewis says all knowledge is a priori, it's based on what you already know.   0:18:00.9 Balaji Reddie: For example, let me take this example here. Now, suppose I were to start describing the road to my house. Now, you've not been here, but if I start saying that the road bends towards the left and then there is a command you get to see, now you start constructing a picture in your head based on what you have already seen. It's not the same. That's your theory, right? And then when you actually visit, you say, "Oh, it's the difference between theory and what I actually saw," and then you change your theory. So theory is... It's natural. All of us think naturally like this. And that's why he says here that people are different from one another and we need to celebrate those differences. All of us are born with the system of learning, but not all of us learn the same way.   0:18:49.8 Balaji Reddie: There are some who learn by watching, there are some who learn by doing, there's some who learn by reading, there's some who learn by writing. For some people, one word is enough. You utter a word and they say, "I got it." And for some people, you have to repeat the statement maybe 10 times, 11 times, and then the 12th time you repeat it, they say, "Okay, I got it." Now, is that wrong? We're just different, right? And that's why he says here that we need to understand the learning process of people. And when you understand the learning process of a person and then put that person in the right job, you'll have to stop that person from working. That was his definition of joy in work. People enjoy their work when they realize it resonates with them.   0:19:40.4 Balaji Reddie: And how does that resonance come in? When you under... And because this is so difficult to do, we just throw the responsibility on them by saying, "Here's the target." So the target actually distracts them when actually you should be working on understanding their learning process. So it's a lot of hard work. And sometimes people are motivated enough to discover it themselves, which is great, but we need to create that atmosphere for them to enjoy their work. So interest, challenge, et cetera, he tries to optimize. Now, here's the key. This is beautiful. He tries to optimize family background, education, skills, hopes, and abilities of everyone.   0:20:21.7 Balaji Reddie: So this is not ranking people, very clear. It is instead recognition of differences between people and an attempt to put everybody in a position for development. I think this is one of the most important principles in getting things done. When I teach this to the HR students in my college, I keep saying that I don't think you should call this science as human resource management, because the definition of a resource is obtain it, shape it, use it, and throw it away. We don't wanna do that. I think we should change the title of that department to Department of Learning, because that's what exactly this is all about, and it's learning in both ways where you are trying to understand their process of learning and in effect, you're trying to understand how the company is going to be learning.   0:21:17.0 Balaji Reddie: So you put this in... So this principle, he says, combine all of these things: family background, education, hopes, I love that word. Because if you see one of the things that people talk about, customer satisfaction, I think Deming was the only person who said customers should be happy. Not just satisfied, happier, right? Now comes the next principle. "He is an unceasing learner." So you can never say, "I know it all." Unceasing learner, he encourages his people to study. And I think this fits Dr. Deming himself. He made no excuses to learn. "May I not learn," he would keep repeating that. And I remember Bill Cooper getting irritated and said, "The last time I met you, you said this, and now you're saying this. I got that on tape." He said, "Well, you got this on tape now." He said that, "I do, I learn. And as I learn," he said, "that could have been under different circumstances that I said that, but I'm saying this."   0:22:22.4 Balaji Reddie: And so you keep learning. And he encourages his people to study. The word is study. And he provides, when possible and feasible, seminars and courses for advancement of learning, encourages continued education in college or university for people that are so inclined. So I think this bit is in many places getting to be a part of the systems in most companies. I've seen that happen now, which is a good sign. But it doesn't end there, there are a lot of other things to do. This was the Principle 7 in the list of 17. Now comes Principle 8, and this is so difficult to look at. He says "he's a coach and a counsel, not a judge." You judge people, they shut up.   0:23:15.4 Balaji Reddie: So he says coach and counsel. When they need help, guide them, show them the path. Sometimes maybe you need some help in doing that, well, go ahead. So that was principle number eight. Principle number nine says "he understands a stable system. He understands the interaction between people and the circumstances that they work in. He understands that the performance of anyone that can learn a skill will come to a stable state." Now, this is amazing. He said this way back in the 1950s when he was in Japan teaching them the control chart, where he took one example where he says that further training to the worker and the process was still in control. And he says, "I think he's reached the limit of his learning. He perhaps needs to be taken to another process or maybe given something more challenging so that we can develop the learning process."   0:24:17.6 Balaji Reddie: So he was speaking about this way back in the 1950s, which today you can say comes under understanding psychology through variation. And he says, upon which furthest the lessons will not bring improvement of performance, and a manager of people knows that in this stable state, it is distracting to tell the worker about a mistake, because he says you'll actually then demotivate someone. So these three principles...   0:24:44.1 Andrew Stotz: Because a mistake may be just normal variation, or are you saying... Okay. Yep. Okay.   0:24:51.0 Balaji Reddie: Yeah. I mean, it could be anything, right? But if you are highlighting that when he's already reached a stable state, it could just work in a detrimental way, the opposite direction.   0:25:05.4 Andrew Stotz: Ultimately you've reached your goal. A steady state is fantastic.   0:25:07.4 Balaji Reddie: A steady state. And then now you say if you want him to... Anything better here, I think you need to move him out from there, since maybe he needs to be given something either more challenging or whatever it is. But use of psychology and variation together. If people are saying that he spoke about this in the 1990s, he actually spoke about this in the 1950s in Japan. And I have proof. If you go and check Elementary Principles of the Statistical Control of Quality, the series of lectures that he gave in Japan, you will see this in one of the chapters, very clearly stating what needs to be done.   0:25:47.9 Balaji Reddie: Now we come to the next principle, which is... I don't know how to explain this, but it's amazing. He says that "the leader has three sources of power: authority of office, knowledge, and personality and persuasive power, tact." So authority, that's your title, knowledge, and personality. Now, personality, persuasive power, and tact is more of a personal thing. It is something that is an attribute. Authority is the title you're given. I think the only thing that you can really work on is your knowledge. And he says that a successful manager of people develops knowledge and personality and persuasive power, does not rely on authority of office. He nevertheless has obligation to use his authority, a source of power, for him to bring changes. He says that maybe some drastic changes to equipment, to materials, to methods, and to reduce variation.   0:26:55.0 Balaji Reddie: So he attributes this to a gentleman, Dr. Robert Klekamp, or Klekamp, I don't know how to pronounce that. So he says, "He in authority, but lacking knowledge or personality, must depend on his formal power. He unconsciously fills a void in his qualifications by making it clear to everybody that he's in position of authority, his will be done." So I think he said if things needed to be done and if he's being guided the right way, then he has to bring his authority into power. I think this brings me to one of the interactions he had with... Was it James McDonald at Ford? When he made him stand up and asked him, "What is your job?" And he said, "I'm vice president, manufacturing," and he sat down. Deming said, "Stand up. That's your title, not your job." And then for the next half an hour, he grilled him on what his job was. And after half an hour, he still didn't get an answer. He said, "You don't know what your job is. Do you think other people in the company know what their jobs are? I think you're running a mess here."   0:28:02.2 Balaji Reddie: So Jim McDonald, instead of feeling insulted, took it in a very different way. Though he said, "I did feel that I wanted to resign and just walk out of there," but he said, "I knew this man was onto something." And that kind of thing of authority of office, I think he did not like if people used it for the wrong reason, but he wanted them to develop knowledge, personality. Personality, well, I think again, on the soft side, persuasive power tact. Not all of us have that, but I think we are living in a knowledge economy, so knowledge would be the key here. And he also says that if you're in a position of authority, use this to get the right work done.   0:28:47.3 Balaji Reddie: Then next he says "he will study the results with the aim to improve his performance as a manager of people." So when the system is not getting what it's supposed to do, then he does not put the blame on the people. He says, "I have... I may be going wrong somewhere." I'd like to share an example of my father in Japan. My father was in Japan in 1964, I said this last time. And he was on this Asian Overseas Technical Scholarship, AOTS. And they run these courses even today. They have three-month, six-month, nine-month, and one-year courses. And from what I remember my father telling me, it's integrated in the sense, I think he was there for six months. So during the morning sessions, they used to have classroom training, sitting in a classroom. And in the afternoon, post-lunch, they would go and work in a company, and that was like their intern. And so it was a combination of theory and practice taking place almost every day.   0:30:02.4 Balaji Reddie: Now, what happened there was on the first day... And that's where he started working with Showa Electric, and said they were called the interns. So on the first day, he was taken to the company and was introduced to his supervisor. The supervisor took him on the shop floor and introduced him to the team that he would be working with. And then, while he was leaving, that supervisor said, "I just need to tell you this, that we also form what is called as a quality circle." And this was... The quality circle movement started in 1962, so '64, the quality circle. And so my father said, "I don't know what you're talking about." And he said, "Well, this is something new. So would you like to be a part of it?" Because quality circle is voluntary, not mandatory. They make you a part of the quality, so if you want to be a part of the quality circle. It's not imposed on you.   0:31:05.0 Balaji Reddie: So my father said, "I need to talk to my teacher, my sensei, at the class." He said, "Yeah. You can talk to him." So he went back to the class the next day in the morning, he asked the teacher, the sensei, that this is what they said. He said, "Oh, it's a very good system. You can become a member of the quality circle." So on the second day, he said, "Yes, I'll be a member of the quality circle." "Great," he said. Now, on the third day, his actual work started. Now, they used to make television screens, CRO, et cetera. And one of the steps there was soldering. They had to solder. And the soldering was the dip soldering. You had to take the printed circuit board and dip it into the solder bath and take it out. Of course you were to... There was a technique.   0:31:52.8 Balaji Reddie: And so his job was that. His first job that he was assigned is to do soldering on these PCBs. And so the supervisor himself sat with my father and demonstrated 10 to 15 times how to do it. Then he told my father, "Now you do it." And then he was guiding him, and he made him make around 10 pieces until he said, "Okay. Now you're getting it right." Okay. Now he said the ground rules. If by any chance you press it down too hard or you keep it too long because of the extreme heat, there will be a superficial crack on the PCB. And that would not be something that affects the customer right away, but over a period of time, it can result in the board cracking and the radio not working. So when you see a superficial crack, you're supposed to pull the cord. There was a cord there. And when you pull the cord, the supervisor will come and help you. Fine.   0:32:56.1 Balaji Reddie: Now my father started doing his work, and his fifth or sixth piece developed a crack. Now, he said, I don't want to sound derogatory, but the Indian in me caught up. Should I report this? What would he think? I hardly left this man alone, and his fifth piece is a rejected piece. And he said, I did not want to pull that cord. But then... He said that, he told me, "Please pull the cord," I decided, let me go ahead and pull it. So when he pulled the cord, a red lamp went on there, and there's a big siren that went on. And the supervisor came running and turned off the siren and turned off that lamp and said, "What happened?" My father showed him the crack. So he said, "Okay, no problem." He put it aside. He demonstrated to my father 10 times again how to do it. And then he made him do it 10 times till he said, "Ah, see, you did this." And he got it right. Now he said, "Let's continue production."   0:33:58.8 Balaji Reddie: Now they went away and now my father got it right. After an hour or so, or maybe two hours, they had their tea break. And they were sitting around a table. Now, this was the quality circle. So the supervisor got up and started speaking in Japanese. Now, this was my father's third day there, so obviously he did not understand what was going on. The only thing he knew that they were referring to him because they could not pronounce his name properly. So instead of Reddie, he was being called Leddie. So Leddie-san, Leddie-san, Leddie-san. So my father said, "I knew he was talking about me." And he said, "I felt so ashamed, I was looking down at my cup of tea rather than looking up." And then when I looked up, he said, all of them were looking at him in admiration and the thumbs up sign. And he was wondering what the hell just happened.   0:34:51.0 Balaji Reddie: And at the end of it, when that supervisor stopped speaking, they all clapped. They clapped. And as they dispersed, each one came and held his hand and they went away. And now my father told the supervisor, "What did you tell them? Did you tell them I made a mistake?" He says, "Yes, yes, I did tell them that." He said, "Then why are they complimenting me? Why are they... Why did they clap? Why did they clap for me? Why are they shaking my hands?" He says, "They're shaking your hand, they're clapping, and they're complimenting because you pulled the cord." So he said, "What do you mean?" He says, "Well, we have a saying here, here in Japan, if after explaining to a person 10 times how to do something, if the person still makes a mistake, then there's something wrong in the way I explained it." So this bit over here is he will study results with the aim to improve his performance as a manager. Don't blame the other guy. What am I doing wrong?   0:35:54.0 Andrew Stotz: You hired him, you train him.   0:35:56.4 Balaji Reddie: Yep. So when Jack Welch used to say, "Sack the bottom 10% of the people every year," and he called them dead wood, well, I would say when you hired them, they weren't dead. You killed them. So that was principle number 11. Now principle number 12 is where he combined both variation and psychology together. He said "he will try to discover who, if anybody, is outside the system, in need of special help." So he draws a normal curve. I'll pass on this document to you so you could share it along with the podcast. And he says here that people belong to the system. These are people who need not be ranked. But a person outside the system on the lower side needs special help. People outside the system on the higher side, well, we need to take the system to that level to improve the system.   0:37:08.4 Balaji Reddie: So he talks about that. He says this can be accomplished with some simple calculations. If there be an individual with figures on production or on failures, special help may be only simple rearrangement of work. It might be more complicated. He in need of special help is not in the bottom 5%. He's clean outside that distribution. So he's trying to use the understanding of variation in a very different sense to understanding people. And he says that we try to reduce that variation in performance between people. That's the job of the system. So this is principle 11 and 12.   0:37:51.0 Balaji Reddie: Now you come to principle 13: "he creates trust." And that creates trust, I would believe, it's a two-way process. And he creates an environment that encourages freedom and innovation. That is the environment where people are unafraid to make mistakes. Because we learned that theory is not the opposite of practice; it's a guide to better practice. And we need all of us working together. And that trust, I think, has got a very funny meaning in my country. I keep joking about this. In India, trust is we will lie a little less to each other. But that's not what this is. We need to be straight honest with each other. And honest is you can only do that by example. Like what happened in my case. I remember when we had installed the ERP system in our company, and there are interlocks. And I remember there was a backlogged order. And I knew that because when we did not deliver the order on time, I negotiated with the customer and I got the delivery date postponed.   0:39:08.0 Balaji Reddie: Now I was trying to test the ERP that month. So I said, let me see if the ERP can capture this because it should show it as a backlogged order. But it showed it as an order that was to be delivered on the new adjusted date. And I said, "How did that happen?" Because that should not have changed. And so I called my assistant. I said, "This should be in backlog. Why is it showing me as a spillover order?" And he said, "No, I changed the date." I said, "Why did you do that?" And he said, "No, because the finance guy will get angry with me." And I said, "That is my problem." I said, "When I told you you're not supposed to change that date..." And I removed his administrative powers in changing the date so that he could not change the date in the system.   0:40:01.7 Balaji Reddie: I removed his powers. And he apologized profusely and said, "Please let me." I said, "No." So till the day I resigned, I kept it. I said, "You're not gonna be doing this because it's not a question..." I said... If I had succumbed to that Andrew, they would have lost my trust. They would have thought that, "Oh, Balaji just talks. He doesn't walk the talk." I said, "No, you're not supposed to do this. We are trying to go by a system. Let's go by the system." So I think you can only create trust through example, through demonstration, if I may say so, and especially under adverse circumstances that you need to demonstrate this.   0:40:46.1 Balaji Reddie: Principle number 14: he says "he does not expect perfection." I think that even he said it in principle of variation. Principle 15: he says "he listens and learns without passing judgment on him that he listens to." This is an extension of the previous points. Principle number 16: he will hold an informal, unhurried conversation with every one of his people at least once a year, not for judgment, merely to listen. The purpose would be development of understanding of his people, their aims, their hopes, and their fears. This meeting will be spontaneous and not planned ahead. So there should be no bias, like an audit.   0:41:41.5 Andrew Stotz: Right.   0:41:42.2 Balaji Reddie: And lastly, principle number 17: "he understands the benefits of cooperation and the losses from competition between people and between groups." So these were the 17 principles of leadership, the beginning of transformation. I think there can be nothing more to do than this. He was so clear in what he wanted us to do. I wonder why people say that there was no method.   0:42:16.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. He definitely outlined a lot of stuff there. One of the questions I had for you on that list is, what do you say to people that say that he's kind of a dreamer? The idea that you can sit down with your employees and have this time and everybody's so busy and just talk about your fears and your goals and all that stuff where we live in this age of, we've gotta get the result, we've gotta be focused. How do you respond to that?   0:42:51.1 Balaji Reddie: Well, I say give this a try. All right? You've done it your way, right? You've done it... Let's just forget about it, and you're seeing what's happening. You want a change, you gotta do something different. So why don't you go by what this man is saying? And if you say that, you know, a dreamer or whatever, well, I'd like to quote John Lennon here: "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."   0:43:16.8 Andrew Stotz: Yep. Yep. Yep. And what do you say for people that feel that you gotta have these targets and goals and KPIs to get the most out of people? And when we think about what Deming's talking about, we're talking about this intrinsic motivation. But it's scary for people to think. It's a lot more comfortable to have these goals and structures than what you could argue is a little bit more unstructured. And how do we balance that? And obviously Deming wasn't saying don't have goals.   0:44:02.1 Balaji Reddie: Yeah, yeah. I think Henry addresses this very well in his 12-day course where he has a specific section on goals, et cetera. And he talks about how Deming said that there are some things called facts of life. Facts of life is, okay, we need to turn out, we need to generate so much of revenue this year because we need to pay for all our salaries and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then we need to have some money for the future. So we need to make so much of money this year. Now that's not a goal, that's a fact of life. But when you are bringing that number out and showing that to everyone, please also indicate to them how we intend to achieve that. Don't just leave it to them and say we need to do this.   0:44:54.4 Balaji Reddie: Okay. I'll give an example here. I don't want to sound... It may sound a little self-serving, but okay, take it in the right spirit. I remember when we had our first strategic meeting at my company, and my boss... Okay, was... He said... I think 20 of us sitting in the room and he said, "Last year, our target was 30 million and we're getting there and we're doing a great job. So this year we're gonna aim for 45 million." Now when he said that, I just put my hand up and he said, "Yes." So I said, "Why 45 million?" And he just stared me down and he looked up at everyone and said, "That's it. Meeting dismissed." He just walked out. These are those days when you had... You know the OHP? You know the overhead transparencies, the projector?   0:45:56.9 Andrew Stotz: Oh, yeah. Overhead transparencies, yep.   0:45:58.8 Balaji Reddie: Yeah. So he had the transparencies, and he just took them and walked out. And all the guys came to me, "Are you mad? You're questioning the owner of the company? Are you nuts?" And I was thinking, "God, what did I say wrong?" And then we started going back to our cabins, and when I sat down at my desk, the phone rang, and it was boss. And he just uttered one word, "Come." So when I was walking towards his cabin, I was thinking to myself, "Nice company, nice friends." And then I knocked on the door, and he said, "Yeah, yeah. Come in." He said, "Sit down." And then he said, "Shut the door." He said, "What the hell were you trying to do today? Are you trying to mock me?" I said, "Please, why would I want to mock you, boss? I wouldn't want to mock you. I just wanted to know why 45 million."   0:46:52.9 Balaji Reddie: He says, "All right." And so he took out what is called the blue book, where we have the yearbook, what happened in our country in the last one year. We have these books that get written, right? So he said, "Look, this is growth in our country in industry. This is our... Sector that we are in, and we are in the organized sector in this industry. And the year-on-year growth for the last five years has been this, and this year the expected growth is so much. And can I expect at least 3 or 4% of that growth?" I said, "Of course, why not?" He said, "That, son, is 45 million." So I said, "Why didn't you tell me this? That's all I wanted to know." He said, "You think these asses..." He was referring to my other colleagues... "Would understand?" I said, "Boss, if I can understand, they can understand. It's one and the same." "Okay. Let's meet tomorrow."   0:47:52.1 Balaji Reddie: So the next day we met again. And he said, "Yesterday, when I uttered 45 million, this genius asked me why, and so I'm gonna tell you why." And he went on to explain. After he finished explaining, my sales guy... Sorry, my marketing guy got up and he said, "I have something to share." "Okay, please come forward." He put the transparency. And he had listed there the top 10 selling items in my company based on revenue, based on profits, and based on quantities. Top 10 for each. There were three products that were common to all the three. So obviously he was sending a message to us, that we had to attain our targets, at least by focusing.   0:48:44.8 Balaji Reddie: The moment he showed that, he underlined these three, the sales guy put his hand up and said, "Yes." "That second product you underlined, our competitor is selling it as a package with another product, but we don't seem to have that on our list." So the R&D guy got up and said, "Could you tell me what the part number..." And he says, "It's part number so-and-so." He said, "Hang on, I've already developed that." You know what was happening, Andrew? We were talking to each other. And that meeting went on for three and a half hours. And at the end of the three and a half hours, all of us knew how to attain 45 million.   0:49:23.8 Andrew Stotz: I thought you were gonna ask a question on the second day, "Hey, boss, so 45 million, why is there no market share gain of our business that we're growing faster than the industry?"   [laughter]   0:49:41.4 Balaji Reddie: So anyway, but this was... This is what I think goals should be transparent in this sense, that why are we giving you this number? And more importantly is the discussion that happens is how are we gonna do this? It just doesn't happen by itself, right? And if you leave it to people, they start distorting numbers, right?   0:50:03.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah.   0:50:04.2 Balaji Reddie: As Brian Joiner said, "Distort the data, distort the system, or distort both."   0:50:12.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And we're working on a growth plan for my coffee business.   0:50:19.0 Balaji Reddie: A growth.   0:50:19.6 Andrew Stotz: And really what it comes down to is three things. Number one, are we as the owners gonna hire more salespeople? Because salespeople bring in revenue.   0:50:36.3 Balaji Reddie: Right.   0:50:37.0 Andrew Stotz: Number two, are we as the owners going to develop together with the rest of the team a higher value-added offering...   0:50:50.6 Balaji Reddie: Wow.   0:50:50.8 Andrew Stotz: That we can bring more value than what we're bringing right now, which would bring potential customers to us and allow us to sell more easily. Or are we as the owners going to buy another company?   0:51:07.8 Balaji Reddie: Oh, okay.   0:51:09.2 Andrew Stotz: So those are the three things. And Dale and I have been discussing each one of those in a lot of detail, testing out and debating and discussing. But those are the type that... When it comes to growth, that's just... We know the growth we can produce with no change. And that's in line with the inflation rate or whatever the economic growth, for sure. But as long as we don't lose people on our team or something like that. But to go to our team and say, "How are we gonna grow faster?" Well, that whole point is we can see. Also the other thing is that we can see bigger about the industry sometimes. Sometimes they see something at a small level that they bring back to us and think, "Whoa, wait a minute, that's something valuable." And yeah, so we're getting ready for our final decisions on where we're gonna go with that. But yeah, without that type of change, we're not gonna reach the type of growth that we want to get. And really our idea is 5x growth in five years.   0:52:19.9 Balaji Reddie: Okay.   0:52:20.5 Andrew Stotz: And in order to do that, we have to have a completely different level of quality, service, product, thinking. And so, yeah, it's fun... It's challenging. Anyways...   0:52:32.9 Balaji Reddie: Right.   0:52:33.2 Andrew Stotz: So how do we wrap this up? What is it you want people to take away? You've shared a lot of different stuff. What would you like them to take away from it?   0:52:42.0 Balaji Reddie: Yeah. One, I'm trying to shatter that myth that Deming did not tell us what was to be done. I think he was very clear and we need to reread and reread. And we have to take these as guidelines. You may come up with your own method, but see these as a guideline by and large to put you on the right path. And once you do that, you may develop something which works for you, and that's what he wanted. But let us not just say that he only philosophized about things. I think he was very clear in his head. He just wanted us to do things our own way because nobody understood our problems better than we ourselves. And he was just showing us how to understand things around.   0:53:32.6 Balaji Reddie: He wanted us to know, to understand what we do not know. Through these principles, we can address some of the gaps. Perhaps we were getting a few things wrong. So point number 14, take action to accomplish the transformation. I think it begins with leadership. So point number seven comes into the picture. It begins with training and education. Point number six comes into the picture and it also brings in point number 13, which is learning and development. And education and training is different from learning and development. Training can be very company specific and you can measure the outcomes of training, but you cannot measure the outcomes of development because that takes time.   0:54:19.8 Balaji Reddie: So you need to have some things going in your favor. And for that you need to choose, and he told us how to do that. And yes, he wanted top management to be a part of this because he said those in authority need to do this. But that one sentence that middle management can commence, it can commence there, is a telling statement. So he knew it was possible.   0:54:45.0 Andrew Stotz: That's great. And I like that. Commence. That there's... It's not necessarily gonna be completed by middle management, but middle management can start right now, right where you are. So that's a great way, that's a great way to end with the start. So, Balaji, I want to thank you on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute. And it's an interesting discussion and I'm enjoying it very much. And for listeners out there, remember to go to deming.org and also there, jump on DemingNEXT to continue your journey. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, and that is: "People are entitled to joy in work."   0:55:32.1 Balaji Reddie: Oh, yeah. Andrew, I think saying thank you on behalf of the institute, I am also a part of the institute.   0:55:38.5 Andrew Stotz: Of course. Of course. You are. I appreciate it. Okay.

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 6:19-21Episode Overview:In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus invites us to rethink what we value, what we pursue, and where we place our trust. His words are not a warning against enjoying God's gifts, but an invitation to invest in what lasts forever. By contrasting earthly treasures with heavenly treasures, Jesus reveals the wisdom of living with eternity in view. Far from asking us to give something up for His sake, He calls us into a life of greater joy, greater purpose, and greater reward. This message explores why generosity is not ultimately about loss, but about gaining what cannot be taken away.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus' teaching on treasure is about wisdom, not deprivation.• The difference between temporary wealth and eternal riches.• How generosity becomes an investment in God's kingdom and God's people.• What it means to "store up treasures in heaven."• How our spending and giving shape the direction of our hearts.• Why Jesus offers a better return than anything this world can promise.• The connection between discipleship, stewardship, and lasting joy.Call to Action:Take time to examine where your treasure is going and what it reveals about your priorities. Ask God to show you practical ways to invest more deeply in His kingdom, His people, and His purposes. Whether you're just beginning to grow in generosity or seeking to take another step of faith, consider how Christ may be inviting you to exchange temporary investments for eternal ones and to trust Him with more of your heart.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 6:16-18Episode Overview:Matthew 6:16-18 reveals that true fasting is not about drawing attention to ourselves, but about seeking the Father in humility and sincerity. This message explores the difference between outward religious performance and genuine devotion that flows from a heart fully surrendered to God. Through Jesus' teaching, believers are challenged to examine their motives, pursue spiritual discipline with integrity, and trust that the Father sees what is done in secret.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus warns against practicing spiritual disciplines for public recognition• The connection between fasting, humility, and wholehearted dependence on God• How hidden faithfulness matters more than outward appearance• What it means to seek the Father's reward instead of human approval• Practical encouragement for cultivating private devotion in everyday lifeCall to Action:Take time this week to intentionally step away from distraction and seek God in private. Whether through fasting, prayer, or quiet reflection, ask the Lord to shape your heart so that your devotion flows from sincerity rather than appearance. Let your relationship with Him become the foundation for how you live, serve, and love others.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

In this episode of A Tale of Two Hygienists, co-hosts David Torres and Jessica Atkinson sit down with Billie Lunt, RDH, BA, MSDH, to explore the pivotal transition from student to practicing professional—and what it really means to advocate for yourself in today's dental hygiene landscape.   The conversation dives into the gap between school and real-world practice, challenging the mindset many hygienists carry into their careers. Billie shares insight on how to step confidently into your role, define your own standards of care, and navigate the complexities of patient relationships and clinical expectations.   Key topics discussed include: Transforming patient anxiety into health success stories through trust-building and communication   Defining your professional standards and why they matter in everyday practice   The truth behind "practicing dentistry" and what it looks like in real clinical settings   The importance of questioning and aligning your values as a dental hygienist   Bridging the gap between education and real-world expectations   Rather than staying stuck in a student mindset, this episode encourages hygienists to take ownership of their professional identity. Billie offers a thoughtful perspective on how self-awareness, advocacy, and intentional growth can lead to stronger patient outcomes and a more fulfilling career.   This episode is a must-listen for new graduates and seasoned hygienists alike who are ready to elevate their role and confidently advocate for themselves and their patients.   Call to Action Take time to evaluate your professional standards and values. Identify where you can advocate more effectively for yourself and your patients, and begin making intentional changes in your daily practice.   Connect with Billie Lunt:   Email: happyflossertRDH@gmail.com   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billielunt/

In this episode of A Tale of Two Hygienists, co-hosts David Torres and Jessica Atkinson sit down with Billie Lunt, RDH, BA, MSDH, to explore the pivotal transition from student to practicing professional—and what it really means to advocate for yourself in today's dental hygiene landscape.   The conversation dives into the gap between school and real-world practice, challenging the mindset many hygienists carry into their careers. Billie shares insight on how to step confidently into your role, define your own standards of care, and navigate the complexities of patient relationships and clinical expectations.   Key topics discussed include: Transforming patient anxiety into health success stories through trust-building and communication   Defining your professional standards and why they matter in everyday practice   The truth behind "practicing dentistry" and what it looks like in real clinical settings   The importance of questioning and aligning your values as a dental hygienist   Bridging the gap between education and real-world expectations   Rather than staying stuck in a student mindset, this episode encourages hygienists to take ownership of their professional identity. Billie offers a thoughtful perspective on how self-awareness, advocacy, and intentional growth can lead to stronger patient outcomes and a more fulfilling career.   This episode is a must-listen for new graduates and seasoned hygienists alike who are ready to elevate their role and confidently advocate for themselves and their patients.   Call to Action Take time to evaluate your professional standards and values. Identify where you can advocate more effectively for yourself and your patients, and begin making intentional changes in your daily practice.   Connect with Billie Lunt:   Email: happyflossertRDH@gmail.com   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billielunt/

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 6:7-13Episode Overview:In a world shaped by outrage, revenge, and broken relationships, Jesus calls His people to a radically different way of living. Drawing from Matthew 6:14–15, this message explores why forgiveness matters, what forgiveness truly is, and how believers can extend grace even when the wounds run deep. Through the words of Jesus and the power of the Gospel, we see that forgiveness is not pretending sin never happened, nor is it denying justice. It is choosing to absorb the debt rather than demanding repayment. This sermon confronts the bitterness and isolation unforgiveness creates while pointing listeners to the mercy they themselves have received in Christ. Forgiven people forgive people.Key Highlights:• Why forgiveness is evidence of a transformed heart• How forgiveness shines as a witness in a culture driven by revenge• What forgiveness is — and what it is not• Why forgiving does not eliminate wisdom, boundaries, or accountability• How bitterness and unresolved anger quietly shape our lives• The connection between the forgiveness we receive from Christ and the forgiveness we extend to others• Practical encouragement for walking through the difficult process of forgivenessCall to Action:Take an honest look at any bitterness, resentment, or unpaid debts you may still be carrying toward others. Bring those wounds before Jesus and remember the mercy you have received through the cross. Ask God for the strength to forgive, even when it feels costly, and take one tangible step toward extending grace this week — whether through prayer, reconciliation, releasing resentment, or refusing to rehearse the offense again.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 6:7-13Episode Overview:Prayer is far more than a religious routine or a polished performance. In Matthew 6:7–13, Jesus teaches His disciples to come to God as deeply loved children approaching a gracious Father. This message walks through the Lord's Prayer and shows how these fifty-seven words reshape the way we think about God, ourselves, and the world around us. From daily needs to eternal priorities, Jesus gives a prayer that spans every part of life and invites believers into deeper trust, dependence, and communion with the Father in heaven.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus begins prayer with the Fatherhood of God• How the gospel gives believers confidence and freedom in prayer• What the Lord's Prayer reveals about the heart and priorities of God• How the six petitions of the Lord's Prayer cover every dimension of life• Why prayer is not about impressive words but trusting relationship• The connection between God's greatness, goodness, and our confidence in prayer• How the Lord's Prayer keeps believers spiritually grounded and rightly centered• Encouragement to bring every burden, need, fear, and hope to the FatherCall to Action:Take time this week to slow down and pray the Lord's Prayer thoughtfully and intentionally. Let each petition shape your concerns, reorient your priorities, and deepen your trust in the Father who knows your needs before you ask. Bring both the ordinary and overwhelming parts of life to Him, trusting that He is both willing to hear and fully able to help.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 6:1-18Episode Overview:Jesus warns that it's possible to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. In Matthew 6:1–18, He confronts the subtle temptation to seek the approval of people instead of the reward that comes from the Father who sees in secret. Giving, praying, and fasting are not rejected—they are expected. But Christ calls His people to practice righteousness with hearts shaped by humility, sincerity, and a desire for God's glory rather than human praise. This message explores the danger of performative faith, the emptiness of temporary applause, and the joy of living before the audience of One. Through the gospel, believers are not only forgiven for mixed motives, but transformed to pursue the right things in the right way for the best reward.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus says “when” you give, pray, and fast—not “if”• The difference between practicing righteousness and performing righteousness• How hypocrisy can exist even when outward actions are good• The danger of craving recognition from people instead of approval from God• What it means to live before the Father “who sees in secret”• Why earthly praise is a shallow reward compared to eternal joy in God• How the gospel reshapes our motives rather than merely our behavior• The connection between secret devotion and genuine spiritual growth• Practical ways to examine subtle forms of self-glory in everyday faithfulnessCall to Action:Take time this week to examine not only what you do for God, but why you do it. Practice hidden faithfulness where no recognition is possible. Pray without needing to be noticed. Give without seeking credit. Serve without rehearsing how others might perceive you. Ask the Lord to refine your motives and deepen your desire for His approval above every other voice. Live with confidence that your Father sees what others never will—and that His reward is far better than temporary applause.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

In this episode of A Tale of Two Hygienists, co-hosts David Torres and Jessica Atkinson sit down with Melia Lewis, MEd, to discuss the critical role dental hygienists play in supporting patients undergoing cancer treatment.   Drawing from her personal experience with her father's cancer diagnosis, Melia brings a deeply meaningful perspective to the conversation. She highlights the emotional and clinical impact of cancer care, and how dental hygienists can become essential advocates and providers within a patient's healthcare journey.   Key topics discussed include: * Melia's personal journey navigating her father's cancer diagnosis and how it shaped her professional perspective. *Whether dental hygiene should be more formally integrated into oncology care. *The importance of resilience and understanding why the work hygienists do truly matters. *Common oral side effects experienced by cancer patients and how to recognize them. *How hygienists can tailor appointments to better support patients undergoing cancer treatment.   Rather than viewing care as routine, this episode challenges listeners to approach each patient—especially those facing serious health conditions—with intention, empathy, and clinical adaptability. Melia offers insight into how hygienists can elevate their role and make a meaningful difference during some of their patients' most vulnerable moments.   This episode is a must-listen for hygienists who want to expand their understanding of patient-centered care and play a more active role in supporting individuals through complex health challenges.   Call to Action: Take time to deepen your understanding of how systemic health conditions, like cancer, impact oral health. Look for opportunities to adapt your care approach and advocate for patients who may need more personalized support.   Connect with Melia Lewis:   Email: melia@hygieneedge.com   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melia-lewis/

In this episode of A Tale of Two Hygienists, co-hosts David Torres and Jessica Atkinson sit down with Melia Lewis, MEd, to discuss the critical role dental hygienists play in supporting patients undergoing cancer treatment.   Drawing from her personal experience with her father's cancer diagnosis, Melia brings a deeply meaningful perspective to the conversation. She highlights the emotional and clinical impact of cancer care, and how dental hygienists can become essential advocates and providers within a patient's healthcare journey.   Key topics discussed include: * Melia's personal journey navigating her father's cancer diagnosis and how it shaped her professional perspective. *Whether dental hygiene should be more formally integrated into oncology care. *The importance of resilience and understanding why the work hygienists do truly matters. *Common oral side effects experienced by cancer patients and how to recognize them. *How hygienists can tailor appointments to better support patients undergoing cancer treatment.   Rather than viewing care as routine, this episode challenges listeners to approach each patient—especially those facing serious health conditions—with intention, empathy, and clinical adaptability. Melia offers insight into how hygienists can elevate their role and make a meaningful difference during some of their patients' most vulnerable moments.   This episode is a must-listen for hygienists who want to expand their understanding of patient-centered care and play a more active role in supporting individuals through complex health challenges.   Call to Action: Take time to deepen your understanding of how systemic health conditions, like cancer, impact oral health. Look for opportunities to adapt your care approach and advocate for patients who may need more personalized support.   Connect with Melia Lewis:   Email: melia@hygieneedge.com   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melia-lewis/

Send us Fan MailParenting and leadership may look like two completely different roles, but in practice, they mirror each other more than we realize. In this episode, I'm exploring the parallels between raising a child and leading a team, and what both roles teach us about patience, growth, and showing up while we're still figuring it out.From emotional regulation to consistency and learning in real time, this is a conversation about influence over control and presence over perfection. If you've ever felt the pressure to have it all figured out, this episode will remind you that growth happens while you're already in it.What You'll Learn:How parenting and leadership mirror each other in communication, consistency, and growthWhy direction and steadiness matter more than having all the answersHow emotional regulation and modeling behavior shape those around youKey Takeaways:You are always modeling something, whether you realize it or notConsistency and repair build trust more than perfection ever willGrowth happens while you carry responsibility, not beforeCall to Action:Take a moment this week to reflect on what you are modeling in your leadership or at home. When something doesn't go as planned, focus on repair instead of perfection and notice how it shifts trust, connection, and growth.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/

Episode Summary:In this episode of the Emergency Management Network Podcast, Todd DeVoe and Andrew Boyarsky take a hard look at a growing challenge within the profession: not a lack of effort or expertise, but a lack of clarity. Emergency management does extraordinary work across preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery, yet too often struggles to articulate its value in a way that resonates beyond its own circles.Todd and Andrew explore why fragmented messaging weakens the profession's influence at the policy level, limits public understanding, and ultimately affects funding, prioritization, and trust. Drawing on philosophy, leadership principles, and their real-world experience, they make the case that emergency management must begin speaking with greater coherence and purpose, not as a collection of disciplines, but as a unified voice grounded in outcomes that matter to communities.This conversation challenges listeners to rethink how they communicate their work, how they advocate for the profession, and how a shared narrative can elevate emergency management to where it belongs, at the center of decision-making.Key Topics Covered:Clear communication is a professional responsibility, not just a skillWhy fragmented messaging weakens policy influence and funding supportThe gap between what emergency managers do and what the public understandsLessons from philosophy and leadership on the power of a unified voiceEmergency management is a profession of purpose, not just functionMoving from technical language to a meaningful narrative that resonatesWhy This Episode Matters:If emergency managers cannot clearly and collectively explain why preparedness, mitigation, coordination, and recovery matter, others will define it for them, often incorrectly or incompletely. Todd and Andrew argue that this is not just a communications issue; it is a strategic risk to the profession itself.Call to Action:Take a moment to reflect on how you describe your role. Can someone outside the profession understand why your work matters in under a minute? If not, it may be time to refine the message. Share this episode with a colleague and start the conversation about what “one voice” really looks like in practice.Tags:Emergency ManagementLeadershipPublic PolicyCrisis CommunicationProfessional Development This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emnetwork.substack.com/subscribe

Send us Fan Mail Opening a seat at the table sounds simple, but in leadership, it's far more nuanced. In this episode, I'm diving into what it really means to bring people into the room where decisions are made and how to do it with intention, clarity, and purpose.From leadership development to team alignment, this conversation explores the balance between inclusion and discernment. Because bringing people with you is powerful, but only when it's done in a way that actually builds capability instead of creating noise.What You'll Learn:What it truly means to “open a seat at the table” in leadershipWhen inclusion accelerates growth and when it can create confusionHow exposure to decision-making builds stronger, more capable teamsKey Takeaways:Inclusion without intention can dilute clarity and slow progressExposure to real leadership moments builds capability faster than instructionThe goal is not to include everyone in everything, but the right people at the right timeCall to Action:Take a look at your team this week and ask yourself who could benefit from more exposure to how decisions are made. Choose one intentional moment to bring someone into the room, not just to participate, but to observe, learn, and grow.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/ 

Episode Title: From Awareness to Execution: The 7 Pillars of Executive Performance (Series Wrap-Up) Episode Summary: In this wrap-up episode, Scott and Jeff revisit the 7 core domains of executive performance and shift the focus from diagnosing problems to installing systems that solve them. If you've ever felt like your business depends too much on you, this episode connects the dots—and sets the stage for the next phase: building a company that runs without you. 1. Executive Performance Drives Everything “How the leadership goes is how the business goes” Your business ceiling is your leadership ceiling 2. The 7 Domains (Quick Recap) Vision & Strategic Thinking Define the future and map the path to get there Leadership Presence & Emotional Maturity Stay steady under pressure → builds trust Communication & Alignment Eliminate silos → create shared direction Team Engagement & Culture Culture exists whether you design it or not Execution Through Others Don't delegate tasks → delegate outcomes Customer & Stakeholder Stewardship Stay connected while scaling leadership Technology, Tools & Systems Use systems to reduce chaos and increase leverage 3. Awareness Isn't Enough Most founders stop at:

Episode Title: “Systems That Scale: Using Technology, Tools & AI Without Creating Chaos” Episode Summary (Short Description) In this episode of the Trimetric Roadmap, Scott and Jeff break down how founders should use systems, tools, and AI to create leverage—not complexity. They challenge the common fear of systems, unpack the difference between helpful vs. harmful tools, and share practical ways to build systems that actually support both business growth and life quality. Key Takeaways 1. Systems = Freedom (Not Restriction) Many founders resist systems because they feel limiting Reality: everything is already a system—just not always a good one Strong systems act like a skeletal structure, enabling growth rather than restricting it 2. The Core Question Every Founder Must Ask

Timestamps: [00:00] - Welcome & Dallas Recap: Monique introduces the podcast and discusses her recent trip to the Creative Educator Conference in Dallas, hosted by Leila Ammani. [01:00] - The "Too Technical" Talk: Monique shares her initial fears about her presentation being too technical, and how the audience's heavy engagement proved that optimizing for AI is a crucial, "must-have" topic right now. [04:00] - The Shift to AI Discovery & AEO: Why simply being visible isn't enough anymore. Monique explains Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and how AI tools like ChatGPT summarize your content to make recommendations. If your messaging is unclear, you get skipped. [05:00] - Navigating Business Pivots: Monique shares a story about a colleague securing 20% of her business from ChatGPT thanks to a decade of podcast content. She explains why pivoting requires you to intentionally reshape how AI and the internet understand your new brand authority. [07:00] - The Power of the Room & Epic Swag: A review of the Dallas event's incredible atmosphere and memorable swag. Monique shares stories about getting a high-tech battery pack from Jordan Gil, the hilarious "Sisterhood of the Traveling bodysuit" moment with Natalie Frank, and energy supplements from Yasha. [10:30] - Why AI Can't Replace Human Connection: Reflecting on a wall of handwritten notes organized by the event host, Lily, Monique emphasizes that while AI is an essential tool, it will never replace the gratitude, love, and friendships made through genuine human connection. [12:00] - Key Speaker Takeaways: Rapid-fire insights from the conference speakers. Takeaways include Molly on clarity, Jen on embracing your weirdness, Ashlin on misalignment, Stew McLaren's rapid business breakdowns, and Lily on courage. [14:00] - Accountability & Showing Up: Monique opens up about her struggles with perfectionism regarding her unedited YouTube videos, explaining that relaunching the podcast serves as her form of accountability to get her content out into search ecosystems. [15:00] - Visibility vs. Being Understood: Final thoughts on why AI recommendations offer massive leverage for small business owners. Remember: Visibility got you here, but being understood is what gets you chosen. [15:30] - Call to Action: Take the free "Authority Leak Audit" to find out exactly where your brand positioning is breaking down and what to fix first. Resources: Authority Leak Audit - Find out where your brand positioning is breaking down and what to fix first. [ACCESS IT HERE ] The Creative Educator Conference - hosted by Laylee Emadi Speakers mentioned in this episode: Molly Balint | Jen Olmstead | Ashlyn Carter | Stu McLaren | Laylee Emadi   Who Knows You is hosted by Monique Bryan, brand authority strategist for founders and experts who are done being the best-kept secret in their industry. Take the Authority Leak Audit to find out where your positioning is breaking down and what to fix: [ACCESS IT HERE ] Connect with Monique: Website: moniquebryan.com LinkedIn: Monique Bryan Instagram: @moniquebryan Keywords: brand authority, personal brand strategy, expert visibility, AI discovery, answer engine optimization, AEO, founder brand

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 5:31-37Episode Overview:Words are cheap in a world where “yes” often means “maybe” and “no” can be negotiated. In Matthew 5:31–37, Jesus exposes how easily people hide behind technicalities, loopholes, and half-truths while still appearing righteous. He brings clarity to marriage, divorce, and everyday speech, calling His followers to something deeper than legal correctness—genuine integrity. This message confronts the subtle ways we bend truth, break commitments, and lower the weight of our words, while pointing to a life where every promise matters and every word is spoken before God.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus connects marriage, divorce, and oaths under the larger issue of integrity• How a culture of loopholes leads to a low view of commitment• The danger of treating truthfulness in “levels” instead of living with consistent honesty• What it looks like for “yes” to truly mean yes and “no” to truly mean no• How everyday moments—not big promises—reveal the condition of our integrity• Why dishonesty is more than a habit—it's rooted in something deeper• The hope found in Christ, who perfectly keeps every promise we fail to keepCall to Action:Take an honest inventory of your words this week. Where have you overcommitted, softened the truth, or failed to follow through? Instead of brushing it off, make it right—keep your word where you can, own it where you haven't, and begin building a pattern of faithfulness in the small things. Let your commitments carry weight again, starting with the next “yes” or “no” you speak.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 5:27–30Episode Overview:Jesus' words in Matthew 5:27–30 cut deeper than outward behavior and expose the heart. This message explores how lust is not merely an external act but an internal issue that shapes our desires, decisions, and ultimately our lives. With clarity and urgency, it calls us to take sin seriously—not out of fear, but because God intends something better for us. Where conviction brings discomfort, grace meets us with hope, offering both forgiveness and the power to pursue lasting change.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus moves beyond the act of adultery to address the desires of the heart• The difference between temptation, desire, and sin• How unchecked lust distorts reality and damages relationships• Why drastic action against sin is both necessary and wise• The role of conviction as a gift that leads to freedom, not shame• How the promise of something better fuels real, lasting self-controlCall to Action:Take an honest inventory of what influences your thoughts and desires. Identify what draws you toward sin and make intentional changes—even difficult ones—to remove those influences. Don't settle for short-term gratification that leads to long-term loss. Instead, lean into the grace offered through Jesus, and pursue the kind of life marked by integrity, freedom, and deeper joy.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 5:21–26Episode Overview:Anger rarely begins with shouting or violence. It begins quietly in the heart—with pride, resentment, contempt, and the subtle ways we diminish others. In Matthew 5:21–26, Jesus takes the command against murder and exposes the deeper issue beneath it: unrighteous anger. He confronts the attitudes and words that fracture relationships and shows why they matter so deeply before God. Yet this passage does more than reveal the problem. It points to the hope found in Christ, who perfectly fulfilled the law and offers forgiveness and transformation. Because of Him, believers are not left trapped in bitterness but are called to actively pursue reconciliation and peace.Key Highlights:• Why Jesus connects anger, insults, and contempt with the command against murder• How the law exposes the deeper issues of pride, malice, and resentment in the heart• The difference between sinful anger and righteous anger• How conviction of sin leads to freedom when it drives us to Christ• The urgency Jesus places on reconciliation and restoring broken relationships• What it looks like to actively pursue peace with others in everyday lifeCall to Action:Take an honest look at your heart and your words. Where anger, resentment, or contempt has taken root, bring it before Christ and receive His forgiveness. Then take the step Jesus calls for—pursue reconciliation. Refuse to let bitterness grow. Seek peace quickly, humbly, and intentionally in the relationships God has placed in your life.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 5:17–20Episode Overview:Jesus' words in Matthew 5:17–20 can sound overwhelming at first: a righteousness greater than the scribes and Pharisees is required to enter the kingdom of heaven. Rather than lowering God's standard, Jesus reveals something far better—He fulfills it. Every command, every promise, and every detail of God's Word finds its completion in Him. Where the law exposes our inability, Christ provides perfect obedience and a righteousness that is given by grace through faith.Because Jesus has fulfilled the law down to the smallest detail, believers are not crushed by its demands. Instead, they are freed to follow God's commands with new purpose and new power. The same Savior who secures forgiveness also transforms lives. With the burden of guilt removed and the Spirit at work within, obedience becomes the grateful response of those who already belong to Christ.Key Highlights:• Jesus Fulfills the Law and the ProphetsEvery command and promise of the Old Testament points forward to Christ, who perfectly accomplishes what humanity could never achieve.• The Standard Is Perfect RighteousnessScripture makes clear that failing even one point of the law leaves us guilty—showing our need for a Savior who keeps it completely.• A Righteousness Given, Not EarnedThrough faith, the righteousness of Christ is credited to believers, securing entrance into the kingdom of heaven.• Two Misunderstandings of GraceLegalism tries to add human effort to Christ's finished work, while antinomianism dismisses the transforming power of grace.• Freed to FollowThose who trust in Christ's righteousness are not burdened by the law but liberated to pursue obedience out of love for God.• Help for the JourneyThe finished work of Christ removes the burden of guilt, and the Holy Spirit empowers believers to grow in Christlike obedience.Call to Action:Take time this week to reflect on where you are tempted to rely on your own performance before God. Instead of striving to prove yourself, rest in the righteousness that Christ has already accomplished. From that place of grace, ask the Spirit to shape your heart so that obedience flows not from fear or pressure, but from gratitude and love for the One who fulfilled the law on your behalf.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Although using a new URL, activists behind the boycott of Canada's largest bookstore still say that 'Indigo Kills Kids'.A representative for the campaign talks about their choice of language, tactics and targets - most notably the CEO of Indigo Books, Heather Reisman. You'll hear how this Canadian oligarch has proudly poured millions into the HESEG foundation, which actively recruits soldiers for the Occupation Forces, and rewards them for their violence.This connection to the genocide is important, not only in justifying the boycott, but to refute claims Reisman is being targeted for being Jewish.The IKK campaign also respond to critics from the Left side of the political spectrum, and reflects on the work that still needs to be done.Hosted by Jessa McLean and Produced by Santiago Helou QuinteroCalls to Action: Take the Pledge to Boycott Indigo and Demand CRA Revoke HESEG's Charitable StatusRelated Episodes: Machinery of Suppression: Bill C9 and the weaponization of antisemitism (jan 2026) Jews Say NO to Genocide break down the latest suppressive legislation from Carney and challenge the narratives being used to pass it.Answering the Call: Labour for Palestine (jan 2024) L4P representative Anna Lippman on the call from Palestinian workers to disarm Israel and Free Palestine.More Resources: Rabble: Boycott Israel campaign hits Chapters and Mountain Equipment Co-opAssaulted for questioning ‘charitable' donations by billionaire - Yves EnglerCJPME: More on IndigoJust Peace Advocates: Billionaire couple continues to support genocidal armyThe Maple: Indigo's Copyright Victory Opens A New Front In BDS StruggleIndigo Kills Kids WebsiteBe sure to subscribe to our SUBSTACK for even more content.All of our content is free - made possible by the generous sponsorships of our Patrons. If you would like to support our work through monthly contributions: PatreonFollow us on Instagram or on Bluesky

Randy is back! After a break to welcome a new grandchild, Randy returns with a powerful and vulnerable episode that goes deep into the core of The Gap Thinking Framework. Why do we so often self-sabotage when faced with a new opportunity? Why is our first instinct to say, "I can't" or "I shouldn't"? Randy explains that the answer lies in our "BS" (Beliefs and Stories)—the subconscious programming from our past that dictates our automatic reactions. He shares a deeply personal story about how a "lack mindset" instilled in childhood has held him back for decades, and how it almost stopped him from pursuing a major new business venture just yesterday. In this episode, you'll learn how to identify when you are trapped in a "narrow gap" of old thinking and how to consciously widen that space to choose a different path. Randy challenges the idea that you need to know the "how" before you act, arguing that faith and a belief in your own ability to choose are the real keys to success. This is a masterclass in moving from being a habitual thinker on autopilot to becoming an active thinker who designs their own life. Mentioned in this episode: The Gap Thinking Framework, beliefs and stories (BS), self-sabotage, lack mindset, triggers, narrow vs. wide gap, faith, decision-making, Henry Ford quote, personal development. Ready to identify the patterns that are holding you back? Take the free Gap Thinking Framework Assessment at richmind.co     Key Takeaways: The Gap Thinking Framework is about controlling the critical split-second window between a trigger (stimulus) and your reaction. Most of our life is lived on autopilot, but we can't afford to let our big life decisions be made by habitual thinking. Your "BS" (Beliefs and Stories) are the subconscious programs, often formed in childhood, that dictate your automatic reactions to new opportunities. A "narrow gap" occurs when you instantly revert to old, safe beliefs of "I can't" or "I shouldn't," leading to self-sabotage. You don't need to know the "how" before you take action. The key is to step out in faith and belief, and the resources will appear. Randy shares a transparent example of being triggered by an old "lack mindset" while researching a new business venture and how he overcame it. The famous Henry Ford quote, "Whether you believe you can, or believe you can't, either way, you're correct," is the foundation of this episode.     Questions Answered in This Episode:   Why has there been a break in the podcast episodes? (Hint: A new grandbaby!) How do my childhood beliefs and stories affect my adult decisions? What is a "narrow gap" and how does it lead to self-sabotage? Why do I automatically think "I can't" when presented with a big opportunity? How can I stop letting my past define my future? What do I do when I'm triggered by fear and doubt? Why don't I need to know the full plan before I take the first step? How can I shift from being a "habitual thinker" to an "active thinker"?     Key People, Concepts, & Terms: People: Randy Wilson, Henry Ford, David Neagle. Concepts: The GAP, Gap Thinking Framework, Beliefs and Stories (BS), Self-Sabotage, Triggers, Patterns, Narrow Gap vs. Wide Gap, Habitual vs. Active Thinking, Faith, Lack Mindset, Abundance. Call to Action: Take the free Gap Thinking Framework Assessment at richmind.co

Speaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Matthew 5:1–6Episode Overview:In this sermon on Matthew 5:1–6, we enter the opening words of the Beatitudes and discover a pathway that begins with spiritual poverty and leads to deep, lasting joy. Jesus declares that the kingdom belongs not to the self-sufficient, but to those who know their need. From being poor in spirit to mourning sin, from meekness to a hunger for righteousness, Christ reveals both the pardon He freely gives and the progress He graciously produces. This message invites us to receive the riches of Christ and to walk in the transforming work of His Spirit.Key Highlights:• Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit (Matthew 5:3)The kingdom is given—not earned. Spiritual bankruptcy becomes the doorway to divine abundance. Jesus offers Himself as the righteousness we lack.• Blessed Are Those Who Mourn (Matthew 5:4)Honest grief over sin is not despair but the beginning of comfort. God meets repentant hearts not with condemnation, but with compassion.• Blessed Are the Meek (Matthew 5:5)Meekness is strength under God's direction. Those who are humbled by grace become teachable, responsive, and ready to inherit what God promises.• Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness (Matthew 5:6)The Christian life is not only about being pardoned but about longing to grow. Christ satisfies those who desire to become more like Him.• Pardon and ProgressJesus does not merely forgive—He forms. The One who removes our burden also reshapes our hearts.Call to Action:Take time this week to sit quietly before the Lord. Ask Him to show you where you need to acknowledge spiritual poverty, where you need to grieve sin honestly, and where He is inviting you to hunger for greater righteousness. Don't try to fix everything at once. Let the Spirit gently direct you toward one area where growth is needed. Receive Christ's grace there—and walk forward in obedience, trusting that the One who pardons also empowers.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Speaker: Dane BurgessScripture: Matthew 5:1–10Episode Overview:In this message from Matthew 5:1–10, we hear Jesus publicly redefine what it means to live a truly flourishing life. On a hillside before the crowds, He declares blessing not over the powerful, the impressive, or the self-sufficient—but over the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, and those who hunger for righteousness. These words are not a checklist to complete or a ladder to climb. They are a declaration of what happens when the King takes residence in a person's life. The good life begins not with performance, but with open hands before Christ.Key Highlights:• A New Vision of the Good LifeJesus overturns common definitions of success and announces that true flourishing belongs to those who recognize their need.• Receiving Before OverflowingThe first Beatitudes describe empty hands—poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger for righteousness. The latter reveal what grows from a heart transformed—mercy, purity, peacemaking, steadfast faith.• Kingdom Reality in the Present Tense“Theirs is the kingdom of heaven” is not a distant promise alone, but a present reality for those who belong to Christ.• Transformation, Not PerformanceThis is not behavior management or moral self-improvement. It is the fruit of encountering the King who gives what we cannot produce ourselves.• Christ Fulfilled What We Could NotJesus embodied the Beatitudes perfectly—becoming poor, mourning, meek, and forsaken—so that we might receive mercy, comfort, and the kingdom.Call to Action:Take time this week to examine what your life is truly resting on. Where have you been performing, striving, or quietly building on shifting sand? Come honestly before Christ with open hands. Confess your need. Ask Him to re-anchor your heart in His mercy and righteousness. Then extend what you have received—practice mercy where you would normally demand repayment, pursue peace where tension exists, and hold your circumstances loosely because you are held securely by the King.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Send us a textSome years pass quietly, but others leave a mark, and 2025 was one of those years. In this deeply personal episode, I'm reflecting on the growth, challenges, and quiet victories that have shaped me as a leader, mother, wife, and human. From running my first 10 miles to navigating tough leadership seasons, this is a conversation about becoming, not arriving.Whether you're reflecting on your own year or simply looking for encouragement in your journey, this episode is a celebration of growth, softness, strength, and becoming more of who you're meant to be.What You'll Learn:How growth can feel uncomfortable in the moment but powerful in hindsightWhy emotional resilience matters in both leadership and motherhoodWhat it means to celebrate wins that no one else seesKey Takeaways:Growth often feels like stretch, not strength, until you look backLeadership and motherhood aren't separate journeys, they shape each otherConfidence is built quietly through trust, consistency, and self-compassionCall to Action:Take a moment to reflect on how you've changed over the past year. What quiet victories are you proud of? What version of yourself are you growing into? Share this episode and tag @GingerBiz to celebrate your year of becoming. And if you loved this episode, leave a rating or review to help more women grow alongside us.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/

host: Alyson Stanfield In this coaching-style episode, host Alyson Stanfield coaches Ebony Iman Dallas through the challenges of building a sustainable public art career while navigating motherhood, a regional market, and the fear of rejection. Ebony makes 90% of her income from public art but struggles with systems, marketing that highlights events instead of her work, and waiting for opportunities instead of creating them. If you've ever felt stretched between creative work and life responsibilities—or stuck in a local market—you'll recognize yourself here. HIGHLIGHTS 01:30 Ebony's journey from advertising to opening the first art gallery in post-war Somaliland to full-time public art practice 06:10 How Ebony's income breaks down: 90% public art, 10% studio sales 08:30 Why she needs both institutional recognition and sales to spread her messages about Black Oklahoma history 16:30 Ebony admits she has no systems for tracking proposals and keeps everything in her head 21:10 Her graphic memoir Through Abahay's Eyes aims to clear her father's name and show healing is possible 30:20 The critical marketing shift: promote primarily—over events 33:10 Building a VIP list and postcard strategy to stay visible with the right people 40:50 Why fear of rejection keeps your dreams small 44:00 Weekly accountability check-ins take the emotion out and make it a numbers game 46:20 The three main takeaways: accountability structure, VIP postcard strategy, and intentional art-focused marketing ACTION Take one of these strategies and put it into action this week. Reach out to one curator or gallery director. Start your VIP list of people who should know about your work. Or schedule a weekly check-in with an accountability partner to share what you've applied for. RELATED EPISODES Remove Barriers to Buying Your Art (237) How to Guarantee that People Remember You with Skip Hill (187) Risk, Rejection, and Resilience with Christine Aaron (114) To read more, see images, find resources mentioned, and leave a comment, visit https://artbizsuccess.com/shape-opportunities ⭐️ Connect with Ebony and see more of her art: https://ebonyimandallas.com

A Christian Wellness Episode on Identity, Healing, and God's Unshakeable Love Introduction: What You'll Learn & Who This Episode Is For If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, unseen, or just not like yourself lately, this episode is a gentle but powerful reminder of who you are — and whose you are. Today, we dig into 8 Bible passages about God's love that can completely reshape your identity, your emotional health, and even the way you care for your body. This episode is especially for you if: You feel spiritually dry, discouraged, or disconnected You're battling fatigue, stress, inflammation, or chronic symptoms You want a deeper understanding of God's heart for you You crave more peace, hope, and confidence in your everyday life You're a Christian woman who wants to feel better naturally — beginning with your soul You will walk away with deeper clarity about God's unshakeable love, how He sees you, and how this truth can transform your health, habits, and mindset. ✨ Before We Dive In: Reset Your Energy the Faith-Filled Way If you're exhausted, overwhelmed, dealing with inflammation, or struggling with low energy, don't miss the Reset Your Energy Workshop. Learn what's actually going on in your body and how to start feeling better naturally — with a biblical foundation.

Send us a textIn today's episode, we're exploring the honest, human truth that you can be the same person at your core while showing up differently in different spaces. The steady, composed leader who walks into work each morning isn't the exact same version who walks into a home full of toys, coffee cups, and a child with freshly self-cut bangs, and that doesn't make you inconsistent. It makes you whole.We talk about the identities we carry, the emotional gear-shifting between roles, and why both strength and softness are essential to becoming the person you're growing into.What You'll Learn:Why it's normal, and healthy, to show up differently at work and at homeHow leadership requires composure while home invites vulnerabilityHow motherhood, marriage, and leadership shape each other in real timeKey Takeaways:You can be authentic without being identical in every spaceDifferent environments call forward different strengthsThe tension between roles is evidence of growth, not inconsistencyCall to Action:Take a moment today to reflect on the versions of yourself you bring to work, home, and every place in between. What strengths does each version hold? Where are you growing? If this episode resonated with you, share your thoughts on Instagram and tag @GingerBizPodcast , I'd love to hear what part of your identity journey stood out most.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is Judges 16:1-3 "Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. The Gazites were told, 'Samson has come here.' And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, 'Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.' But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron." — Judges 16:1-3 Samson walked straight into Gaza—the heart of Philistine territory—to spend the night with a prostitute. On the surface, he got away with it. At midnight, he ripped the city gates from their foundations, carried them on his shoulders, and walked away like a man untouchable. But Gaza wasn't just any city. Then and now, Gaza has been a hotspot of conflict—a place where compromise, corruption, and resistance to God's people have festered for generations. What Israel tolerated in Gaza back then still plagues them today. It's a sobering reminder that sins left unchecked don't just fade with time—they multiply. Samson thought he was strong enough to dip into enemy territory and walk away. In reality, Gaza became another crack in his armor, another step toward downfall. That's how temptation works. It whispers, "You're strong enough. You can manage this. You'll be fine." But every compromise weakens us. Every trip into enemy territory costs more than we realize. You can't flirt with sin and expect to walk away unscathed. The little compromises we excuse today often grow into the strongholds that enslave us tomorrow. God calls us not to manage temptation, but to flee from it. ASK THIS: Where are you tempted to flirt with sin, thinking you can handle it? How has "getting away with it" in the past made you careless toward temptation? What compromises have you tolerated that now feel like strongholds? What escape route do you need to take before the fire burns you? DO THIS: Identify: One temptation you've been "managing" instead of fleeing. Confess: That one temptation, honestly to God today. Action: Take one concrete step to remove access to that temptation (delete, block, avoid, or confess). PRAY THIS: Lord, I admit I've played too close to the fire. Forgive me for flirting with sin. Give me the wisdom to run from temptation and the strength to rely on You instead of myself. Amen. PLAY THIS: "God, Turn It Around."

Welcome back to another edition of the Imagen Golf Podcast! I am your host, Daniel Guest, and as always, we are here with one simple mission: to help you play the best golf of your life, simplify this crazy game, and get you having more fun on the fairway.If you're driving to the course right now, or maybe you're stuck in traffic dreaming of the weekend round, turn up the volume. Today we are going to talk about a visual cue that is so simple, yet so misunderstood. It's a "silent killer" of power for so many amateurs, but when you get it right... oh man, it changes everything.I'm talking about your knees. Specifically, seeing the light between them.So, let's dive right in. I was reviewing some swing analysis videos earlier this week with our students, and I noticed a pattern. It's the classic "power leak."We all know we need to rotate, right? We hear it all the time. "Turn your hips," "Load into the right side," "Coil." But what does that actually look like?Here is the problem: Most golfers, when they try to turn, they actually slide. Or, they do the opposite—they collapse.Imagine looking at a golfer from face-on (looking right at their belt buckle). When they take the club back, if that lead knee (the left knee for righties) collapses and touches the right knee, what happens? You've lost your base. You've got no tension. You've got no torque. You're just... soft.Onthe flip side, if you keep those knees frozen like two pillars of cement, you can't turn at all!The Golden Visual: The "Window of Light"Here is the visual I want you to "Imagen" today.When you make a proper backswing—a true rotation around your spine—your lead knee moves inward and points toward the golf ball, while your trail leg straightens just a tiny bit (but stays flexed).If you do this correctly, looking from face-on, there should be a distinct gap of light between your knees.Why does this matter? Why is that "light" so powerful?1. It Proves You Are Rotating, Not SwayingIf you sway to the right (sliding your hips), your knees often stay the same distance apart, but the whole structure shifts. You haven't created power; you've just moved your zip code.But when you rotate, that lead knee works away from the target. It creates a dynamic angle. That "light" between the knees tells me that your hips have turned deep, but your feet are still grounded.2. It Prevents the "Knee Kiss"I see this a lot with senior golfers or people trying to get a "long" swing. They let that left knee collapse all the way until it touches the right knee. If your knees are kissing, you are in big trouble. You have zero resistance. You can't fire from there. You have to re-plant the heel, shift the weight, and then turn. It takes too much time.Keeping that daylight between the knees means you have maintained width in your lower body.3. It Creates "Torque"Think of a rubber band. To shoot it far, you have to pull one end back while holding the other end stable. That space between your knees? That's the tension in the rubber band.If the space disappears (knees touch), the rubber band goes slack. If the space doesn't change (no turn), you never stretched the rubber band.The "Flashlight" DrillSo, how do we feel this? I want you to try this next time you are on the range or even in your living room.Step 1: Take your setup.Step 2: Imagine there is a flashlight strapped to the inside of your right knee, shining at your left knee.Step 3: As you swing to the top, don't let your left knee block that light. And don't let your left knee run away from the light.Step 4: Feel the left knee move towards the ball, while the right hip goes back.You should feel a stretch in your right glute (your butt cheek). If you look in a mirror, you should see daylight—a nice, athletic gap between the legs.Key Takeaway: The lead knee moves, but it respects the space of the trail knee. They are neighbors, but they don't live in the same house!When you maintain that gap, you are loaded. You are ready to transition. From there, all you have to do is plant that left heel and let the hips unwind. But if you've collapsed that gap, you're stuck.Final ThoughtsGolf is a visual game. At Imagen Golf, we believe that if you can see it, you can do it. Stop worrying about degrees of rotation or complex biomechanics for a second. Just look for the light.Next time you film your swing, pause it at the top.Do you see daylight between the knees?Does it look athletic?Or does it look like your legs are tangled up?Keep that space. Keep that tension. That is where your power lives.All right, that's it for today's quick tip! I hope this sheds some "light" on your backswing—pun absolutely intended.Get out there, keep it simple, and as always... get the clutter out of your head so you can play the game you were meant to play.For more tips, head over to imagengolf.com, check out our lessons, and let's get you dialed in.Until next time, keep imagining better golf!Here is the "Window of Power" Practice Plan, designed to help you lock in that proper rotation and maintain the gap between your knees.⛳ The "Window of Power" Practice PlanFocus: Creating Lower Body Stability & Torque Goal: Eliminate the "Knee Kiss" and create space for a powerful transition.Daniel Guest: "Welcome to the practice tee! We aren't just hitting balls today; we are building a structure. Remember, we want that daylight between the knees at the top of the swing. That gap is your battery—it's where the energy is stored. Here are three drills to help you feel it."Drill 1: The "Bucket Barrier" (Tactile Feedback)Best for: Golfers who habitually collapse the lead leg.This is the ultimate 'anti-collapse' drill. We are going to put a physical obstacle in the way so your lead knee literally has nowhere to go but the correct direction.The Setup:Take your normal stance with a mid-iron (7 or 8 iron).Place a standard range bucket (standing upright) directly between your legs, positioned right between your knees.Squeeze the bucket slightly with your knees at address to feel engagement.The Action:Take a slow backswing.The Goal: Rotate your hips and shoulders to the top without your lead knee knocking the bucket over.Your lead knee should move forward (towards the toes) and slightly inward, but the bucket prevents it from collapsing all the way to the trail knee.Why It Works: If you knock the bucket over, you know you've lost the "light" and the tension. Keeping the bucket standing forces you to turn your hips around your spine rather than sliding them.Drill 2: The "Wall Slide" (Rotation vs. Sway)Best for: Golfers who sway off the ball instead of turning.Often, the knees stay too close together because the golfer is sliding sideways. This drill ensures you are rotating deep into the right hip, which naturally creates that athletic gap between the knees.The Setup:Stand with your back to a wall (no club needed).Your heels should be about 4–6 inches away from the wall.Get into your golf posture.The Action:Cross your arms over your chest.Make a backswing turn.The Goal: Feel your right butt cheek (trail glute) slide back and touch the wall.At the same time, keep your left butt cheek off the wall.Why It Works: When the right hip goes back (touching the wall), it pulls the right knee slightly straighter (but not locked). This movement naturally creates space between the knees. If you slide sideways, your hip won't touch the wall, and your knees will look weak.Drill 3: The "Freeze & Check" (Visual Confirmation)Best for: connecting the 'feel' to the 'real'.This builds the mental image we talked about in the podcast.The Setup:Set up in front of a mirror (face-on view) or set up your phone to record face-on.If you don't have a mirror, use a window reflection.The Action:Swing to the top and FREEZE. Hold it for 3 seconds.Look at your knees.Check 1: Is there daylight between them?Check 2: Is the lead knee pointing generally toward the ball (or slightly behind it), rather than at your right foot?Check 3: Do you feel pressure on the inside of your right heel?If you see the light and feel the pressure, hit the ball from that frozen position (at 50% speed).Why It Works: This programs your brain to recognize the correct position. By hitting the ball after freezing, you are teaching your body how to unleash the power stored in that "gap."

Send us a textPersonal growth doesn't always come with fireworks. Sometimes, it unfolds in quiet, tender moments, like choosing patience with your child, letting go of anxious habits, or learning how to lead with trust. In this deeply personal episode, I'm sharing the layered transformation she's experiencing as a leader, wife, mother, runner, and woman.If you've ever felt yourself changing in subtle but powerful ways, or if you're in a season of becoming, this episode will speak to your soul. It's an honest reflection on what it means to grow in public, in private, and in the in-between.What You'll Learn:What leadership looks like beyond the job titleHow personal growth shows up at work and at homeWhy becoming the next version of yourself takes grace, grit, and intentionKey Takeaways:Delegation is about trust, not just task distributionGrowth in leadership is inseparable from emotional maturityLoving yourself quietly and consistently is powerful and necessaryCall to Action:Take a moment today to ask yourself: Who am I becoming? What small shift have I made lately that I'm proud of? Write it down. Celebrate it. Becoming is the work, and you're doing it. If this episode spoke to you, tag @GingerBiz and share your journey. You never know who might feel encouraged by your becoming too. And don't forget to leave a rating or review—it helps others find the show and grow alongside us.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/

Send us a textSometimes leadership feels like running alone on a quiet trail, no crowd, no applause, just the steady rhythm of doing the right thing when no one's watching. In this episode, Katy opens up about her personal running journey and how it mirrors the emotional reality of leadership, messy, unglamorous, and absolutely worth it.If you've ever felt like your hard work goes unnoticed or like you're leading in silence, this episode will remind you that the behind-the-scenes moments are where the real growth happens. This is your permission slip to keep showing up, even when no one's clapping.What You'll Learn:Why great leadership often happens without recognitionHow to lead with integrity when no one is watchingThe power of consistency and internal motivationKey Takeaways:The quiet work is often the most meaningful and transformationalLeadership is about showing up, even when the applause is absentGrowth and credibility come from consistency, not validationCall to Action:Take a moment today to reflect: Where are you showing up consistently, even without applause? What “training runs” are building your strength as a leader? Write down a quiet win you've had this week, no fanfare, just you acknowledging the growth.If this episode spoke to you, tag @GingerBiz and share your quiet leadership story. Your journey might encourage someone else to keep going too. And don't forget to leave a rating or review, it helps more quiet leaders find the show.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/ 

Why This Episode Is a Must-Listen Are you intrigued by the intersection of passion and profit in wine collecting? This Inspired Money episode, hosted by Andy Wang, brings together top minds from wine auctions, investment platforms, and market experts for an eye-opening look at how wine has become a bona fide asset class. Whether you're a seasoned collector, investor, or simply wine-curious, this discussion unpacks strategies to maximize both enjoyment and value. Episodes like this are packed with insights that demystify the fine wine market, reveal what really drives price appreciation, and share hard-earned advice on avoiding costly mistakes. Meet the Expert Panelists Nick Pegna is the Global Head of Wine & Spirits at Sotheby's, bringing over 30 years of international experience in building and leading fine wine businesses across Europe and Asia. Formerly a senior executive at Berry Bros. & Rudd, where he helped shape global markets and co-led Hong Kong's successful campaign to abolish wine duties, Pegna now oversees Sotheby's record-setting global auction and retail operations. https://www.sothebys.com Callum Woodcock is the Founder and CEO of WineFi, a London-based investment platform that combines institutional-grade analytics with expert curation to make fine wine investing more transparent and accessible. A former J.P. Morgan asset manager with degrees from the University of Bristol and the University of Cambridge, he's leading WineFi's mission to position fine wine as a data-driven, tax-efficient, and inflation-resilient asset class. https://www.winefi.co Amanda McCrossin is a sommelier, media personality, and creator of @sommvivant, where her wine-focused content reaches over 450,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Formerly the Wine Director at PRESS Restaurant in Napa Valley—the world's largest collection of Napa Valley wines—she's now a leading voice in wine education and storytelling, hosting the Wine Access Unfiltered podcast and appearing regularly at major global wine events. https://www.amandamccrossin.com https://www.sommvivant.me Robbie Stevens is the Head of Broking at Live-ex, the global exchange for fine wine, market data, and insight. On a daily basis he deals with the largest fine wine buyers and sellers globally, offering them data-driven intelligence and opportunities to trade. With over a decade at Liv-ex and experience across global wine markets, as well as regularly sharing his experience on the international stage, speaking at conferences such as Vinexpo and the National Association of Wine Retailers, he combines deep knowledge of the fine wine market with strong industry perspective. https://www.liv-ex.com Unfortunately, Dustin Wilson was not able to make this episode but appears on "The Art of Wine Pairing: Elevating Retirement Gastronomy with Fine Wines" from April 2025. Dustin Wilson is a Master Sommelier, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Verve Wine, a modern retail and hospitality brand with locations in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Known for his role in the SOMM film series, Wilson has also launched Après Cru, a firm supporting the growth of visionary restaurant concepts. https://ny.vervewine.com Key Highlights 1. Disciplined Bidding at Auctions Nick Pegna reveals why preparation and strategy, including setting a maximum bid and understanding total costs, safeguard buyers against emotional overspending: "The most careful and frequent buyers at auction have a strategy. They've planned what they're looking to bid on...across multiple auctions." 2. Secondary Market Liquidity Drives Investment Value Callum Woodcock emphasizes the importance of focusing on wines with proven resale liquidity, not just brand prestige or critics' scores. Data-driven models and decades of market transaction history are now key to "blue chip" wine selection. 3. Storytelling Fuels Scarcity and Demand Amanda McCrossin illustrates how narrative and personal connection make certain bottles iconic and drive up their market value, citing Napa's Screaming Eagle as a prime example. "Scarcity is really only informed by storytelling...what has made Napa Valley so successful is the storytelling element." 4. Transparency and Technology Are Raising the Bar Robbie Stevens shares Liv-ex's role in fostering trust: from vetting merchants, digitizing provenance, to benchmarking prices. The expansion of data access and seller management tools allows collectors to track market movements and optimize timing for liquidation. Call-to-Action Take a look at one item in your own collection, wine, art, or even another collectible, and think about it like an investor. What makes it valuable? How would you verify its authenticity, track its performance, and decide the right time to sell? Just doing that exercise will give you a new lens for appreciating your investments, and maybe even inspire your next move. Find the Inspired Money channel on YouTube or listen to Inspired Money in your favorite podcast player. Andy Wang, Host/Producer of Inspired Money

Send us a textSomewhere between the back-to-back meetings, the unread emails, and the endless performance goals, many leaders lose something vital, joy. Not fleeting happiness, but that deep sense of meaning, energy, and lightness that makes you remember why you started in the first place.In this episode, we're diving into the very real emotional toll of leadership and how to rebuild joy, not through grand gestures, but in small, intentional moments that bring back creativity, connection, and purpose. If you've ever thought, “I love what I do, but it doesn't feel good anymore,” this one's for you.What You'll Learn:Why joy is a strategic leadership tool, not a luxuryThe most common “joy drainers” in the workplaceSimple, powerful ways to rebuild lightness in your leadershipKey Takeaways:Joy fuels creativity, connection, and resilience, it's not optionalLeadership doesn't have to feel heavy all the time, even in high-pressure rolesProtecting your joy allows your team to feel safe, inspired, and connectedCall to Action:Take five minutes today to reflect on where joy has faded in your work, and how you might invite it back. Whether it's a small celebration, a handwritten note, or simply pausing to laugh with your team, joy doesn't need to be scheduled. It just needs space.If this episode encouraged you, tag @GingerBiz and share what joy looks like in your leadership journey. And if you haven't yet, leave a rating or review to help more leaders find the show.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/

Each passing year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) gains more urgency. More and more biomes around the world are approaching what scientists call tipping points — the Amazon chief among them. Hosting the 30th edition of COP in Belém, one of the Amazon's biggest cities, therefore represents one of the most significant responsibilities Brazil's diplomacy has taken on in recent times. This week, we are joined by experts with distinct and diverse backgrounds to discuss the climate challenges facing Brazil and the world ahead of COP30. They are:Adriana Ramos: Executive Secretary of the Socio-Environmental Institute, a civil society organization that monitors indigenous lands and other environmentally protected areas across Brazil, working both with governments and on the ground. She represented the Brazilian Forum of NGOs on the Amazon Fund Steering Committee from 2008 to 2013 and served on the Executive Board of the Brazilian Association of NGOs.Carlos Nobre: One of the world's leading climatologists, he is a researcher at the University of São Paulo, co-chair of the Scientific Panel for the Amazon, and a member of academies such as the World Academy of Sciences. He co-authored the research that earned the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 and was also responsible for creating some of Brazil's main government climate centers, as well as the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in the Amazon. Natalie Unterstell: President of the Talanoa Institute, a Brazilian climate policy think tank, and member of the COP30 Adaptation Council and the accreditation panel of the Green Climate Fund. She holds a master's degree from Harvard Kennedy School and has served as a negotiator for Brazil in global climate talks, helping lead Brazil's climate policy development.Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on The Brazilian Report.Send us your feedbackSupport the show

Send us a text In today's episode, we're diving into one of the most underrated superpowers in leadership and life: deep, intentional listening. From building trust and diffusing conflict to strengthening culture and deepening relationships, listening is more than just a soft skill, it's a strategic one.We explore what it means to really listen (not just hear), how to bring presence into conversations, and how small shifts in your leadership rhythm can have a big ripple effect. Whether you're leading a team, running a business, raising kids, or simply trying to be a better human, this episode is your reminder that listening matters.When people feel heard, they feel valued. And when they feel valued? Everything changes.What You'll Learn:Why deep listening is one of the most powerful tools in leadershipThe difference between hearing and truly listeningSimple strategies to become a more present, intentional listenerKey Takeaways:Listening builds trust, strengthens culture, and inspires creativityPresence is more powerful than advice, silence can connect more than wordsThe moment someone feels heard, they soften, open up, and trust againCall to Action:Take a moment today to truly listen to someone. No advice, no fixing, just be fully present. Then reflect on how it felt. If this episode resonated with you, share your thoughts on Instagram and tag @GingerBizPodcast so we can hear what stood out to you.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/ 

In this episode, you'll hear:

Raising sons isn't just about teaching them how to throw a ball, change a tire, or land a job. Those things matter, but they're not eternal. What matters most is passing down faith. Sons don't just inherit your last name—they inherit your example. They're watching how you treat their mother, how you handle stress, how you walk with God when life gets hard. And the truth is, you'll either raise sons who follow Christ—or sons who follow the world. Today, we're talking about the sacred calling of raising godly sons.Our springboard for today's discussion is:“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)Training isn't passive—it's intentional. You can't raise godly sons by accident. It means showing them what it looks like to pursue Christ day in and day out.Your sons need to see you pray. Not just at the dinner table, but in the trenches of life. They need to see you opening the Word, not just carrying it on Sundays. They need to see how a godly man repents, how he asks forgiveness, how he leans on God in weakness.It's not about being perfect—it's about being present. Your sons don't need you flawless; they need you faithful. They don't need you to have all the answers; they need you to point them to the One who does.And here's the truth, Brother: raising godly sons takes courage. The culture will do everything it can to disciple them if you don't. But you have the authority, the responsibility, and the privilege to shape their hearts for God. Your words, your example, and your prayers will echo in their lives long after you're gone.Remember this—sons often become what their fathers model. If you want them to love Jesus, show them what it looks like to be a man after His heart.Question of the Day:What kind of spiritual legacy are you leaving for your sons—and what will they remember most about your faith?Mini Call to Action:Take time today to pray over your son—or if you don't have a son, pray over a younger man in your circle. Speak life, blessing, and faith over him.Prayer:Father, help me to raise my sons to know and love You. Teach me to model faith, integrity, and humility in front of them. Let my example point them toward Christ and away from the world.Let's Get To Work!Sons don't just inherit your name—they inherit your example. Leave them an inheritance that lasts for eternity.Thanks for reading My Reasons To Believe! This post is public so feel free to share it.My Reasons To Believe is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myr2b.substack.com/subscribe

From the very beginning, passivity has been man's greatest temptation. Adam's first failure in the garden wasn't eating the fruit—it was standing silent while the serpent deceived his wife. And that same temptation still stalks men today. It whispers, “Stay quiet. Don't rock the boat. Don't get involved.” But passivity leaves gaps the enemy loves to exploit. God is calling His men to reject passivity, to step up, and to lead with courage even when it feels uncomfortable.Our springboard for today's discussion is:“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” — 1 Corinthians 16:13 (ESV)Passivity shows up in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it's staying silent when your family needs your voice. Sometimes it's ignoring sin instead of confronting it. Other times, it's choosing the easy road of comfort instead of stepping into the hard work of responsibility.But the call of God on a man's life is the exact opposite. Paul's words here are active, not passive: Be watchful. Stand firm. Act like men. Be strong. These are battle commands. They're reminders that following Christ means taking action when others shrink back.Rejecting passivity doesn't mean being loud or aggressive. It means being alert, engaged, and willing to take responsibility. It means initiating prayer in your home, stepping into leadership in your church, and protecting your family spiritually when the enemy comes knocking.Brother, passivity may feel safe, but it always costs more in the end. Silence today can turn into bondage tomorrow. When men refuse to lead, the enemy gladly will. But when you stand firm in faith, speak truth in love, and act with strength, you slam the door in the enemy's face.The world says, “Do nothing and keep the peace.” God says, “Stand up and fight for what matters.”Question of the Day:Where are you tempted to stay passive right now—and how is God calling you to step in with strength?Mini Call to Action:Take one step of initiative today. Lead a prayer, start a conversation, or confront a compromise you've been avoiding.Prayer:Lord, forgive me for the times I've chosen silence over courage. Teach me to be watchful, to stand firm, and to step up when You call. Make me a man who rejects passivity and embraces responsibility.Let's Get To Work!Passivity builds weakness. Responsibility builds warriors. Step up, Brother—the world needs men who will not stand silent.Thanks for reading My Reasons To Believe! This post is public so feel free to share it.My Reasons To Believe is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myr2b.substack.com/subscribe

Agency is your power of choice - your capacity to intentionally influence your life and circumstances. It means you're the author of your life, exercising control over your choices while recognizing you can't control every circumstance or other people's behavior.Three Key Aspects of Reclaiming Agency:Build Skills and Expand Capacity - Stay open to ongoing learning, discovery, and education. Surround yourself with people doing brave inner work. Acquire new ideas and practices that help you grow beyond your current bubble. Build nervous system regulation skills and healthy patterns.Live on Purpose - Develop strong self-knowledge and self-trust so you can walk out your values and vision. Use your strengths and gifts meaningfully in the world. Become awake to your impact - what you pour into yourself spills over into the world around you.Practice Hope in Action - Take radical ownership of your life without handing your power of choice to others. Hope isn't just a feeling - it's a way of thinking and being that requires action. You have multiple pathways forward; step into the light you have rather than waiting to see the whole path.Agency is intimately connected to your nervous system capacity. When you're regulated and resourced, you have greater access to choice and can pause between impulse and response. Reclaiming your agency shifts you from surviving to thriving, from autopilot to living on purpose.Learn about my cycle of self-awareness + self-compassion + imperfect action = agency in episode 62.Learn more about self-awareness in episode 63.Learn more about self-compassion in episode 64.Learn more about imperfect action in episode 65Join the Brave + Beautiful Community this Autumn - doors are open! https://www.alifeinprogress.ca/community/Get the resource to help you practice Imperfect Action: https://www.alifeinprogress.ca/how-to-practice-imperfect-action/Practice Hope-In-Action: https://www.alifeinprogress.ca/what-is-hope-and-why-i-practice-hope-in-action/

The shift from summer to fall is bittersweet. Today's prayer and devotional remind us that as we say goodbye to long, sun-drenched days, we also receive the crisp winds, colorful leaves, and rich harvests that usher in a new season of God’s design. Scripture reminds us that the seasons are not random but intentional. God set them in motion for His purposes, each one accomplishing His will (Ecclesiastes 3:1, Psalm 104:19). Even when change feels unsettling, we can take comfort in knowing that God holds every season—and our hands as we walk through them (Isaiah 41:13). Fall reminds us that beauty often emerges in the midst of transition. Just as the leaves burst into brilliance before fading, we are reminded that God can bring purpose and radiance out of life’s changes. Your Daily Bible Reading: "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." – Genesis 8:22 Key Takeaways God created the seasons to fulfill His purposes and remind us of His order and care. Fall’s beauty points us to the eternal light of Christ, our true source of life. Change can feel unsettling, but God lovingly holds our hand and steadies us. Every season carries lessons, blessings, and reminders of His faithfulness. Let’s Pray Together Dear Father, thank You for the beauty of fall and the reminder that You are in control of every season. Help me savor the changes with gratitude, holding fast to Your hand through every transition. May I see this season through Your eyes and trust Your will is being accomplished. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Calls to Action Take a quiet walk this week and notice how God’s glory is revealed in the changing leaves and crisp air. Write down a change in your life that feels difficult right now and pray for God’s perspective on its hidden beauty. Share this devotional with someone who loves fall and needs encouragement during a season of change. Related Resources Finding God in Every Season of Life – Crosswalk.com 10 Bible Verses about God’s Creation – BibleStudyTools.com Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This year marks twenty-four years since the events of September 11, 2001. In today's prayer and devotional, we remember that though decades have passed, the grief, memory, and impact of that day remain deeply etched in our hearts. Nearly everyone remembers where they were when tragedy struck, and as a nation — and as people created in God’s image — we carry both the sorrow and the call to remembrance. In today's devotional, Cally Logan leads us in five heartfelt prayers: for the families who lost loved ones, for the survivors, for the memory of the fallen, for our nation, and for peace in our world. These prayers not only honor those directly impacted but also point us to the God who keeps record of every tear and whose compassion is unending. As we pause today, let’s choose to remember — not only the events of that day but also the way God’s presence sustains us through grief and how His love compels us to seek peace with one another. Today's Bible Reading “Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll — are they not in your record?” – Psalm 56:8 Key Takeaways Families of the fallen still need our prayers for comfort and peace. Survivors carry both visible and invisible scars; we can pray for healing and strength. The memory of the lost — including first responders and ordinary citizens who acted heroically — deserves to be honored. Our nation needs God’s wisdom, unity, and revival to remain a “city on a hill.” Lasting peace in the world can only be found through Christ, who transforms hearts. Let’s Pray Together Heavenly Father, on this day of remembrance, we lift up families who lost loved ones, survivors who carry wounds, and our nation as it seeks unity. Comfort those who grieve, strengthen those who struggle, and help us honor the memory of the fallen. Lord, bring peace to our hearts and to our world. Let us never forget, and let us always turn to You as our hope and refuge. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Calls to Action Take a moment of silence today to pray for families affected by 9/11. Share this devotional with a friend or family member as a way of remembering together. Subscribe to Your Daily Prayer for more guided moments of prayer and Scripture reflection. Resources & Mentions Where Is God When Bad Things Happen? Crosswalk.com Why We Must Remember 9/11 – Christianity.com Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Title: The Perseverance of The SaintsSpeaker: Rob BerrethScripture: Hebrews 10:32-39Episode Overview:In this sermon from Hebrews 10:32–39, we are reminded that the Christian life is both wonderful and hard—and that perseverance is essential. Using vivid illustrations like the grueling Barkley Marathons, the message calls us to look back at God's past faithfulness, look forward to the eternal reward, and keep looking to Christ in the present. Endurance isn't about white-knuckled effort, but about remembering who we are in Christ, where we're headed, and the One who sustains us along the way.Key Highlights:• Look Back Often (vv. 32–35): Remembering the early days of faith stirs passion and courage to endure trials. Hardship in obedience always brings joy, never regret.• Look Forward Always (vv. 36–39): The Christian life is a long-distance race with eternal reward—Christ Himself and life with Him forever.• The Need for Endurance: Perseverance is fueled by faith, the promise of God's Word, and the encouragement of fellow believers.• The Great Reward: We endure because Jesus is worth it. He is our better possession, our abiding joy, and our coming King.Call to Action:Take time this week to reflect on both where God has carried you and what He has promised ahead. When life feels heavy, remind yourself of the moments He has strengthened you in the past—and let that fuel fresh faith for today. Fix your eyes on Jesus, trusting that He will bring you to the finish line.Redeemer Church211 Northshore Dr. Bellingham, WA 98226www.redeemernw.org

Question for you Thrivesters: what happens when you strip away the numbing and finally face your life - raw, unfiltered, and ready for change?In today's powerful episode, I sit down with Samantha Parker, entrepreneur, digital creator, and sober super-mom who isn't afraid to speak the truth about what it really takes to thrive after addiction.We talk about the moment that changed everything - a stinging sentence from her young son when he was sick - and how that heartbreaking moment led her to a path of radical honesty, personal responsibility, and eventually finding true peace.Samantha shares the highs and lows of her sober journey, how running became her therapy, and why rest isn't something women should have to earn.We cover:The exact moment Samantha knew she had to get soberHow to start showing up for yourself - even if you've let yourself down beforeWhat thriving really looks like (spoiler: it's not always pretty)Letting go of guilt, hustle, and perfectionThis episode is your permission slip to pause, breathe, and remember who you are.Your Call to Action:Take five quiet minutes today to reflect on a habit, relationship, or story that might no longer serve you. Ask yourself: What would freedom feel like?You don't need all the answers here Thrivesters, just a little honesty and a lot of self-compassion.Then go out there and thrive like you mean it! Links & Resources:Follow Samantha Parker on Instagram @thesamanthaparker and TikTok @thesamanthaparkerSamantha's website: www.thesamanthaparker.comJoin the Thrive Hive and receive the Weekly Buzz: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/MurXaK9Grab my best-selling book Unmute Yourself: Amazon linkFollow me on Instagram: @nancy_medoff

Send us a textAs leaders grow, so do their responsibilities, and sometimes that means doing less, not more. In this episode, I'm opening up about what it really looks like to loosen your grip, delegate with purpose, and create space for your team to rise. From the emotional challenges of handing off work to the practical mindset shifts that make it possible, this episode is full of lessons from the leadership trenches.Letting go doesn't mean losing your impact, it means multiplying it.What You'll Learn:Why holding on too tightly can hold your team backHow to delegate with trust, clarity, and confidenceThe emotional side of letting go, and how to reframe itKey Takeaways:Leadership isn't about doing it all, it's about enabling others to growTrust builds stronger systems and more sustainable teamsLetting go can expand your influence, not diminish itCall to Action:Take 15 minutes to reflect: What are you still holding onto? What could you delegate with intention this week? Screenshot this episode and tag @GingerBiz with your biggest leadership shift or takeaway!Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/ 

☀️ Optimists are Attractive & Exercise Smashes Breast Cancer PodcastFIVE PRIMARY POINTS of this WEEK's PODCAST* Protect Your Brain and Immune System – Your Vitality GatekeepersA 17-year study of 45,000 people found that a youthful brain and immune system cut mortality risk by 56%. Daily choices like vigorous exercise, quality sleep, reducing processed meat, and training your mind through learning and social connection directly rejuvenate these systems. * Action: Exercise 20+ minutes 4x/week, prioritize sleep as a non-negotiable, and challenge your brain daily.* Lifestyle Beats Pharmaceuticals for Cognitive HealthA two-year, 2,111-person study showed that structured programs combining exercise, nutrition, social engagement, and health coaching improved cognitive function more than self-guided approaches. Billions have been spent on dementia drugs with little effect—your daily habits are the real intervention. * Action: Move, eat nutrient-rich foods, strengthen social bonds, and follow preventive health strategies starting now.* Do Less, Better – Focus Creates VitalityBrad Smith's advice from the Campbell Trophy Summit: stop chasing everything. Pursue fewer goals and execute them at the highest level. Vital people are focused, not frantic. * Action: Identify your top one or two priorities this week and eliminate distractions to execute them with precision.* Victimization is a Thief – Own Your ResponseSteve Young's story of moving from resentment to mastery drives home a key vitality principle: we don't choose adversity, but we can choose how we respond. Playing the victim drains energy and performance. * Action: Identify one area where you've been in “victim mode” and flip it into proactive ownership today.* Vital Span > Lifespan – Add Life to Your YearsTrue longevity isn't just about living longer; it's about living better. Optimism, purpose, social connection, and even simple habits like five deep breaths an hour all extend your vital span. * Action: Take the 99-second challenge right now—reach out to three friends or family members just to connect. It's a small step with massive impact on vitality and longevity.Copyright VyVerse®, LLC. All Rights Reserved. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vitalityexplorers.substack.com/subscribe

Send us a textWe live in a culture that praises hustle, rewards overachievement, and glorifies saying “yes” to everything. But what happens when your ambition starts to outpace your actual capacity? In this honest and powerful episode, I'm diving into the tension between wanting more and being able to hold more, without burning out.I share personal reflections and experiences navigating seasons of saying yes to too much, how that affected my leadership, and how I've learned (and am still learning) to lead from a place of both purpose and sustainability. This episode is a must-listen if you're feeling stretched, driven, and a little worn down.Let's explore how you can honor your drive and your limits—and lead from a place of clarity, balance, and intention.What You'll Learn:How to recognize when ambition is pushing you past your limitsWhy capacity isn't just about time, but energy, health, and supportFour practical ways to realign your leadership with your current seasonKey Takeaways:Just because you can doesn't always mean you shouldYour leadership is stronger when you lead from presence, not pressureSaying no is an act of alignment, not failureRest, margin, and white space aren't luxuries, they're essentialsCall to Action:Take five minutes to reflect on your current commitments. What's fueling you? What's draining you? Journal your answers or tag @GingerBiz with your thoughts, we'd love to hear how you're making space for sustainability in your leadership journey.Listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.______________________________You can find me here:Instagram: @gingerbizWebsite: https://www.katymurrayphotography.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TipsandTricksforyourbusinessX: https://twitter.com/GingerBizKMLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-murray-ginger-biz/

Just as deceptive weeds can creep into a healthy garden, pride often sneaks into our hearts, growing unnoticed among our accomplishments and even our service to God. Annie Yorty uses a vivid gardening metaphor to help us recognize how pride takes root and how we can humbly invite God to weed it out. Through reflection, Scripture, and prayer, we’re reminded to give glory to the true source of all our gifts: God alone. Themes Explored: The subtle danger of pride Recognizing the difference between self-glory and God-glory Daily humility as spiritual “weed control” Confession and dependence on God for heart inspection Living for God’s glory over our own Scripture Reference Jeremiah 9:23 (NLT) “This is what the Lord says: ‘Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.’”

On this Memorial Day, we pause to reflect on the true meaning of this solemn holiday—not just a day of rest and recreation, but a time to remember and honor the men and women who laid down their lives in service to our country. Lynette Kittle takes us back to the origins of Memorial Day, offering historical perspective and spiritual comfort for those grieving their loss. Through Scripture and prayer, we are reminded that while their sacrifice brings sorrow, it also points to the ultimate hope we have in Christ. Themes Explored: The history and purpose of Memorial Day Honoring military sacrifice with reverence and gratitude The eternal hope for those who die in Christ Comfort for grieving families The call to remember freedom's cost Scripture Reference John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”