Podcasts about Alaska Airlines

Watch Us On YouTube! This week on Miles to Go, Ed and Richard discuss Alaska Airlines' new loyalty program, Atmos, and their new luxury credit card. Plus, Richard details the latest Rent Day promotion for September. And finally, Ed details some more credit card woes in a recurring segment, "Credit Card Catastrophe." Get hydrated like Ed in Vegas with Nuun: Use my Bilt Rewards link to sign-up and support the show! If you enjoy the podcast, I hope you'll take a moment to leave us a rating. That helps us grow our audience! If you're looking for a way to support the show, we'd love to have you join us in our Travel Slack Community.  Join me and other travel experts for informative conversations about the travel world, the best ways to use your miles and points, Zoom happy hours and exciting giveaways. Monthly access Annual access Personal consultation plus annual access We have witty, funny, sarcastic discussions about travel, for members only. My fellow travel experts are available to answer your questions and we host video chats multiple times per month. Follow Us! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milestogopodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@milestogopodcast Ed Pizza: https://www.instagram.com/pizzainmotion/ Richard Kerr: https://www.instagram.com/kerrpoints/    

There's a brand-new premium travel credit card making waves, and it's tied to one of the most consistently top-ranked airline loyalty programs in the U.S. — Alaska Airlines. In this Midweek Mini, Mary Ellen teams up with special guest Betsey from Become Travel Rich (formally Her Alaska Travels) to unpack the launch of the Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Card, a high-end addition to Alaska's lineup that comes with a massive welcome bonus and some surprising perks.Together they dive into what makes this card different, including the new Global Companion Award, how it stacks up against Alaska's existing cards, and which travelers will benefit most. They also cover details like earning categories, lounge access, fee waivers, and the quirks around status points and companion fares. Whether you're loyal to Alaska, fly American as part of the OneWorld alliance, or just want to maximize miles on international trips, this conversation is packed with insights you won't want to missFacebook GroupWonderland On Points BlogFind Us On InstagramMary Ellen | JoAffiliate LinksCapitalOne Venture and Venture X LinksChase Sapphire Preferred LinksFlyKitt- the BEST Jet Lag Solution!30% off the CardPointers subscription!Tripiamo Driving TutorialsOur Favorite Travel NecessitiesWe receive a small commission when you choose to use any of our links to purchase your products or apply for your cards! We SO appreciate when you choose to give back to the podcast in this way!

Jeff was joined by Scott McMurren, owner of Alaska Travelgram. They discuss the new mileage program for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, called Atmos, that just rolled out, some of the changes and benefits of the program, a trip Jeff recently took to Adak, Ravn Alaska's recent announcement that they will cease operations, how that is going to affect rural air service in Alaska, some of the transportation challenges rural Alaska faces, and some great airfare deals currently running. 

In episode 264 of the Simple Flying podcast, your host Channing discusses,Alaska Airlines & Hawaiian Airlines launch Atmos RewardsDelta Air Lines Boeing 737 wing flap partially detaches inflightUnited Airlines crew decides to leave flight before takeoffDelta Air Lines captain rejects Boeing 757Unruly passenger opens door on Volaris flight during pushback

Kent Lewis grew up in the Seattle area. In college he studied business and marketing. After college he went to work for a PR agency but left to go into the digital marketing industry in 1996. Kent has formed several marketing agencies during his career. He is quite up front about challenges he faced along the way as well as what he learned from each issue he faced.   Kent's philosophy about community is quite interesting and well worth adopting. He believes very much in giving back to his community. Today his day job is serving as “Executive Director of NextNW, a non-profit trade association that unifies the Pacific Northwest advertising & marketing professionals interested in professional development, sharing best practices, and collaborative problem-solving”.   Kent gives us many relevant and timely business insights. I hope you agree that this conversation gives us some good business lessons we all can use.     About the Guest:   Kent Lewis, Executive Director, NextNW Lewis is currently Executive Director of NextNW, a non-profit trade association that unifies the Pacific Northwest advertising & marketing professionals interested in professional development, sharing best practices, and collaborative problem-solving. He is also Founder of pdxMindShare, Portland's premier career community, with over 12,000 LinkedIn Group members. With a background in integrated marketing, he left a public relations agency in 1996 to start his career in digital marketing. Since then, he's helped grow businesses by connecting his clients with their constituents online. In 2000, Lewis founded Anvil Media, Inc., a measurable marketing agency specializing in search engine and social media marketing. Under his leadership, Anvil has received recognition from Portland Business Journal and Inc. Magazine as a Fastest Growing and Most Philanthropic Company.  After selling his agency in March 2022, he became a CMO for the acquiring firm. Beyond co-founding SEMpdx, Lewis co-founded two agencies, emailROI (now Thesis) and Formic Media. As a long-time entrepreneur, he's advised or invested in a host of companies, including PacificWRO, Maury's Hive Tea and ToneTip. Lewis speaks regularly at industry events and has been published in books and publications including Business2Community, Portland Business Journal, and SmartBrief. For twenty years, he was an adjunct professor at Portland State University, and has been a volunteer instructor for SCORE Portland since 2015. Lewis tours nationwide, averaging 30 speaking engagements annually, including a regular presenter role with the Digital Summit conference series. Active in his community, Lewis has been involved in non-profit charity and professional trade organizations including early literacy program SMART Reading and The Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO).  Industry recognition and awards include Portland Business Journal's Top 40 Under 40 Award, American Marketing Association Oregon Chapter Marketer of the Year, and Top 100 Digital Marketing Influencers by BuzzSumo.   Ways to connect with Kent:   Links https://kentjlewis.com/   And LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kentlewis/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Today. We get to chat with an award winning entrepreneur, and he just told me a really interesting factoid. We'll have to, we'll have to talk about it, just because it is about one of the most fascinating things I've heard in quite a while, and a very positive thing. But I'm not going to give it away, because I'm going away, because I'm going to let him talk about it, or at least start the discussion. I'd like you all to meet Kent Lewis. Kent has been an entrepreneur for a while. He helps other entrepreneurs. He works in the non profit arena and does a variety of different kinds of things. And rather than me telling you all about it, you could read the bio, but more important, meet Kent Lewis and Kent, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Kent Lewis ** 02:05 It's, it's a pleasure to be on the show. Thank you for having me, sir.   Michael Hingson ** 02:10 Now where are you located? I'm based in Portland, Oregon, yeah. So you're, you are up up the coast, since I'm in Southern California. So yes, you know, one of these days I'll be up that way again. Well, Alaska Airlines will fly me up there.   Kent Lewis ** 02:27 Yeah, totally right. Yeah, good   Michael Hingson ** 02:29 to have you, unless you come this way first. But anyway, well, I'm really want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. And why don't we start? I love to do this. Tell me a little bit about kind of the early Kent growing up and all that stuff.   Kent Lewis ** 02:44 Yeah, so I grew up in Seattle, Washington. I think something that's influenced me is that my dad was is, or is, a retired architect. And so there was always this design esthetic, and he was an art collector enthusiast, I should say. And so I was always surrounded with art and mid century, you know, furniture and there's just style was a it was a thing. And then my mom was always in when she was a social worker and went into running nonprofits. And so I grew up around that as well of just giving back. So if you ever heard that common term, you know, learn, earn, return. Start your life you're learning, then you're maximizing your earnings during your career, and then when you in and around later in life, you start giving back, right, returning, right. And I learned from my mom that you never stop you never stop learning. You never stop returning. And my my mantra as an entrepreneur is never stop earning right? So, so I've always been giving back and donating my time, and I've always appreciated sort of good design and well thought out things. And I think that's influenced my career in marketing and as an entrepreneur, business owner, and now more of an advisor, Coach type,   Michael Hingson ** 03:59 well, so growing up in Seattle, did you visit pikes market very often?   Kent Lewis ** 04:04 My dad used to work right, right, like, two blocks away. So I would go there all the time. In fact, I remember when there was just one Starbucks when I was a kid, yeah, at Pike Place Market, and they used to sell large chunks of delicious, bitter sweet chocolate, I know, you know, in the behind the counter, and it was a very hi and you could smell the teas and all that. It was a very different experience, very cool place. And so, yeah, love   Michael Hingson ** 04:33 the pipe waste market. I understand that they don't throw the fish anymore. No, they do. They do. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Maybe it was just during the pandemic that they decided not to do that, but   Kent Lewis ** 04:44 think you're right about that. But they definitely, they, they're still, it's still a major attraction. It's too big of a thing to stop.   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 Wow, that's what I was thinking. And that's just way too big of a thing to to stop. My probably not the greatest fish fish catcher, I've been there, but I. I never caught a fish.   Kent Lewis ** 05:02 Yeah, that's only got, like, one or two in my life. And I don't, I don't do it much, but   Michael Hingson ** 05:08 Well, well, that's the place to go anyway. So where did you go to college?   Kent Lewis ** 05:13 I went to Western Washington University in Bellingham, uh, just 1020 minutes from the Canadian border, because, in part, when I was in school, it was a 19 year old drinking age in Canada, so I was 20 minutes away from my earlier drinking age. Turns out, I grew up going to Vancouver, BC quite often for the soccer exchange program when I was a real young youngster. So I fell in love with Vancouver, and as I've had been fortunate enough to travel the world a bit, I realized that it was one of my favorite cities, and it still is. It is such a global, amazing egalitarian, like, no matter your color, race, creed, you could be a millionaire or you could be a bus driver. There was no not the same class, classism you see in other US cities or around the rest of the world. It's truly an amazing and it's also, of course, beautiful   Michael Hingson ** 06:04 there. I found that true throughout Canada, and I've enjoyed every Canadian city I've ever been to. One of my favorites is really going to Toronto. I was always impressed as to how clean it really was.   Kent Lewis ** 06:17 You know, that's true. I've been there a couple times in conferences, and I found it to be clean and impressive, you know, and then, but my, one of my favorite, other cities I only spent overnight, there was Montreal. What a beautiful, beautiful place, absolutely stunning. I   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 spent two days in Montreal once when I was selling some products and turn the TV on at 1131 morning that I was there and watched the Flintstones in French. That was unique. That was unique. Cool. How cool is that? Yeah, it's awesome. That was kind of fun. But, you know, so you, you went to college. What did you major in?   Kent Lewis ** 06:58 I majored in business with a marketing concentration, which is great because I ended up doing marketing for a career, and for 22 years ran my own agency, or my own business, basically.   Michael Hingson ** 07:10 So what did you do when you got out of college?   Kent Lewis ** 07:14 I went immediately into the world of public relations agency life. I always wanted to be a found out after college that I, what I really wanted to be was a copywriter, you know, writing ads. I just coolest thing as a kid. I just didn't know that. It's, I didn't realize what it, what it you have to go to Ad School. You can't, you can't graduate regular college and become a copier. At least you weren't able to when I was, you know, back in the mid 90s. So I started in PR because it sounded hard to pitch the media and try and get them to say what you want them to say about your brand, your client and your brand. And that did me well, because when I got in from went from PR in 94 to digital marketing, SEO, search engine optimization 96 my PR background was extremely helpful. You know, in in that, in that whole world. So because doing PR builds Domain Authority, which builds your rankings in Google, and the rest is history. So, so it was very helpful. It gave me a bit of an edge. And then my business background meant I was better equipped to to go from doing the work to managing people, they're doing the work, to doing my own thing, you know, and running a instant running team, I was running a business. So that was super cool. You   Michael Hingson ** 08:38 know, it's interesting. I've especially because of the World Trade Center, but not only, but before it as well, I learned a lot about dealing with the press. And I've, I've watched a lot of press interviews today, and it's, it's amazing how often and then people have said that this is the way you should do it. No matter what the press person asks you, you answer with the with the answer you really want to give, whether you answer their questions or not. And I think that's an interesting approach, and I suppose it can be positive, but especially for for politicians who don't want to answer the tough questions. But I I know that for me, I've always tried to structure my answers in such a way that it gets them to take the question that they originally asked that I might sort of answer and reframe it so that I will answer a lot of times that, for example, talking about blindness and blind people, there are just so many misconceptions about it and and all too often, like first time I was on Larry King lives, Larry was asking questions about guide dogs. And he said, Now, where did you get your guide dog? And I said, from San Rafael, California. He said, well, but the but the main. School is a new is in Michigan, right? And I said, No, it's a different organization. And what we learned after doing that interview was that the way to deal with Larry was to program him and send him questions in advance with answers. Then he did a lot better, because the reality is, he didn't really know necessarily the answers in the first place. It's just amazing how you know how a lot of times it's just shallower. The Press tends to over dramatize. But I appreciate what you're saying about marketing and PR, I've done so much of that over my lifetime, and for so many reasons, in so many ways, I know exactly what you're talking about.   Kent Lewis ** 10:47 Yeah, yeah. That's, yeah, it's, it's a fascinating world that I've, that I've, you know, been live, living and working in. And I, yeah, I'm impressed, yeah, Larry King Live. That's pretty cool. And, you know, hopefully you've helped people just side note, you know, get a clear understanding of what it is, what it is both like to be blind and then how you navigate this world successfully, as if you're, you know, fully sighted. You know,   Michael Hingson ** 11:18 well, one of the things that I actually learned over the last couple of years is something that I've actually written an article and had it published about, and that is that we've got to change our view of disabilities in general. People always say, well, disability is a lack of ability. And I say, and I always say, No, it's not. And they say, Well, yes, it is. It begins with dis. And I said, then, how do you equate that with disciple, discern and discrete? For example, you know they begin with D is the reality is, disability is not a lack of ability. You think it is. But I've added to that now when I point out that, in reality, every person on the planet has a disability, but for most people, their disability is covered up. Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, or at least we give him credit for it back in 1878 so for the last 147 years, all we've done is spent so much time improving on the technology that provides light on demand, which just covers up your disability, but it's still there. And I realized that one day I was at a hotel in Los Angeles at three in the afternoon when we had a power failure, and everybody started to scream, even down in the lobby, when they had all these nice big windows that were letting in all sorts of light, but it wasn't giving them the light that they wanted and the amount that they wanted, and people panicked. So I realized then, oh, well, now the reality is they're light dependent, which is as much a disability as my light independence is. It's just that it manifests itself differently, and there are a whole lot more light dependent people than light independent people. But we've got to really change our definition and how we view it. So   Kent Lewis ** 12:58 that's really insightful. It's good to think about.   Michael Hingson ** 13:01 Yeah, it's kind of fun. But, you know, so, so where did you, where did you go off and go to work in the in the marketing world? So you did? You didn't go to Copyright School? Or did you? No, no,   Kent Lewis ** 13:13 I just know. I once I talked to the creative director at this agency in Seattle where I did my first internship. He's like, Yeah, you'd have to go back to art school. And I was like, what school I just finished? So, you know, it didn't really matter. And we So, with that said, we, you know, I moved into PR, and then I moved to down to Portland from Seattle, because I could actually get a paying job because the internship I did three months full time, virtually, basically no pay, I found a low paying job instead in Portland. So I moved I only knew one person here in Portland, my cousin. She's still here. We both have families now, and I know a lot more people, but I basically have, since moving here to do my second agency job. I've been, I've been a part of 10 agencies in my career. I've been, I founded two, co founded two, fired from three and exited the four that I created, or co, co founded, basically. And so right now I have a consultancy. I could say that's my 11th agency, but I don't even really count it as an agency. I'm just a fractional CMO, you know, marketing advisor at this point, just a few hours a month, because my my day job as of January, is running a nonprofit called next northwest.org which is a it's a trade organization for marketing and advertising and creative community, the creative services world. And it has 119 year history in Portland. And now it's, it's now expanded to five states and into Canada. And so I've got this I'm working. I manage a board of, you know, decent sized board, and a decent sized advisory. Committee that I created, and just the last couple months, and we do learning events for the creative community and networking events and celebrations, like, you know, awards, award shows to celebrate the work. So that's kind of my day job. And then I also speak and write a lot you and I share a passion for for education and learning and sharing knowledge. And so I've been, I've probably averaged 25 speaking engagements a year for the last 20 years, and last year was 30. For instance, I fly yours, mentioned your your travel. I'm flying to Tampa on Sunday to present on Monday, on a panel about AI in the senior care space, for instance. And then I come back and I, I, you know, got it. I got one or two more. But I, you know, I typically do a dozen fly flying gigs, and then I do a lot of webinars and local gigs as well.   Michael Hingson ** 15:55 So what are you what are you going to say? What are you going to say about AI in the senior care space?   Kent Lewis ** 16:01 That's a great question. So what my focus as a marketer is, here's how you can use AI to streamline and automate and maintain or improve quality. So it's not meant to it's not a secret hack, cheat code to lay people off. It's a It's get more out of your current resources, basically, and do more with less, and do it more effectively. That's kind of, that's, you know, that's my, what I'll be talking about is the how you know how to use it for research, ideation, content creation, content editing, reporting, synthesizing information, customer service, that kind of thing. So I only have, you know, it's a panel event, so I'm only doing like a 10 to 15 minutes part, and then there are other presenters doing their part, and then we have a little Q and A, usually, I'm a sole presenter on whatever topic, usually digital marketing or employee engagement, which is what I got passionate about. Once I sold my agency. After 22 years, I became an employee at that the agency that acquired my company, and I was immediately underwhelmed and disappointed in what it was like to be an employee, and wanted to fix it. So that's what I had been focusing on when I given a choice. I want to evangelize. You know, what I learned from my experience, and I've done a good amount of research, and, you know, two weeks ago, I presented in Portland on the topic to entrepreneurs. Then the next day, I flew to Denver and did the same presentation to a group of agency owners. And then the next day, I did a webinar for similar group of entrepreneurs, you know, so three versions, three days in a row, a 3060, and 90 minute version. So,   Michael Hingson ** 17:42 pretty fun. Yeah. So how many books have you written?   Kent Lewis ** 17:47 Ah, I knew you'd say that so or ask that. I have not written any books, but I have, darn but I've written, you know, probably 200 articles. I could easily AI them into some sort of book, if I wanted to. You know, I went from writing 80% to 90% of my art content was on digital marketing for the first 20 years. And then the last 10 years, I focused almost exclusively on writing about entrepreneurship and and business ownership, leadership and employee intention, retention, engagement. And, you know, so I mostly syndicate my articles, like business journals, occasionally in Ink Magazine, etc. So if I were to write a book, it would be about the business side of things, instead of the second, I would write something about digital marketing. Not only am I no longer an expert, and consider myself an expert relative to others, those books are outdated the second they're printed, right? So, so it doesn't make sense to really write a book on digital marketing, and everything's already been said, etc. So, so if I wrote a book, it would be probably more on the employee engagement side versus anything. But I will say that I don't know if you know who Seth Godin is. He's the number one marketing blogger in the world. He's written many best sellers, Purple Cow, permission, marketing, etc. He's remarkable guy. And I had was fortunate to talk with him and then meet with him over lunch in New York City 15 years ago. And he said, after our two hour lunch, he charges $75,000 for speaking engagement. So it gives you a sense of who he is. He has for for 20 years. And so he said, Kent, you've got a book in you. I was like, I wish you hadn't said that, because now I don't want to, I don't want to disappoint him, right? So there you go.   Michael Hingson ** 19:31 Well, if you write one at some point, you have to send us a picture of the cover and we'll stick it in the show notes whenever. Yeah, that sounds great, but yeah, I you know, I never thought of writing a book, but in 2002 we went to the AKC Eukanuba canine championship dog show in Orlando. It was in December, and among other people I met there. Here I met George Berger, who was at that time, the publisher of the American Kennel Club Gazette, and he said, You ought to write a book. And I went, why? Well, because you you have a great story to tell. You should really write a book. Well, it took eight years and a lot of time sitting in front of Microsoft Word to get notes down, but eventually I met someone named Susie Flory who called because she was writing a book called Dog tails. And it was a story of what she wanted to write stories of, actually, 17 different dogs who had done some pretty interesting and miraculous things. And she wanted to write a story about my guide dog at the World Trade Center, Roselle. And she said, Tell me your story, if you would. And I did. And when we were done, there was this pause, and then she said, You need to write a book. And since I've written books, I'll help you. And a year later, underdog was published, and it became a number one New York Times bestseller. So that was pretty cool.   Kent Lewis ** 21:01 That's fantastic. Congratulations. Very impressive.   Michael Hingson ** 21:04 And then last year, well, in 2013 we published a children's book called running with Roselle, but more adults by a thing kids, because it's not a picture book, but it tells the story of me growing up and Roselle growing up, and how we met, and all that. So it isn't really as much a World Trade Center book. But then last year, we wrote, live like a guide dog. And the intent of live like a guide dog is to say to people, look fear is all around us, and so many people just allow themselves to be paralyzed, or, as I say, blinded by fear, so they can't make decisions. They don't learn how to control it. But if you learn how to control fear, you can use fear as a very powerful tool to help you stay focused, and you'll make better decisions. So we use lessons I learned from my guide dogs on my wife's service dog to write, live like a guide dog. And so it is out there, and it's it's a lot of fun, too. So you know, it isn't the easiest thing to write a book, but I would think you have a book in you, and you should, well, I   Kent Lewis ** 22:03 appreciate that vote of confidence. And hey, I mean, you did it, and you had an amazing story, and you've done it multiple times. Actually, it's great inspiration for me.   Michael Hingson ** 22:16 Well, I'm looking forward to reading it when it comes out. You'll have to let   22:20 us know. Yeah, will do so   Michael Hingson ** 22:23 you at some point, switched from being an employee to being an entrepreneur. How did that all happen? Why? Why did you do it? Or what really brought that about?   Kent Lewis ** 22:38 Well, I kept getting fired.   Michael Hingson ** 22:40 So why'd that happen?   Kent Lewis ** 22:42 Yeah, so that's the fun part. So I I've never been fired for cause like a legit clause. I'm a high powered, high performer, and so I actually, that's why. So the first time I was fired was by the guy that invited me to co found an agency. His name was Ryan Wilson. He was my he was my boss. And then he was fired by our larger agency. He ran a team that I worked on. I worked for him. I was inspired by him. I I was mentored by him. I thought the world of him. So when he came to me three months after he got fired, it was about, it's always about a girl. So he he basically, he got divorced. And so this other woman, they met at the office, and they were soul mates, and they he had to clean up his life. And he did, and he said, I've got an agency die. I've got two clients ready to sign. I need key employees, and you're one, one of them, then I would hope you would join me. I said, No, the first time he got his act together. I said, yes, the second time, and that. So I we built an agency together with, you know, we start with six people. I brought in two other people and another gal that ran the PR side. I was running the digital side. She brought in somebody said we had six of us on day one, and a year later, we didn't have a formal share shareholder agreement for our percentage of the company that went from being worth zero to being worth a few million dollars, and we felt that we should have something in writing, and before he could, we could get something formally in writing. My, my other partner, she, I didn't really want to do the business with her, but I didn't really have a choice. I want to do the business with him. She said, I'm asking for more equity. I said, Okay, I feel like that's fair. I think we've earned it, but, and I'll, I'll be there with you, but I wouldn't have done this if she hadn't said, I'm going in. Are you with me? So when I we asked, she asked me to make the ask. I wasn't necessarily prepared or thinking about it, and it really offended him. He was really mad, and he was playing to fire her, and by me teaming up with her, he felt, you know, slight. And he fired us both, and the next week, I started anvil, my agency, Anvil Media, that I ran for 22 years, I did a couple other starts, one with a college friend and a guy I had met at that that at one of the first, one of the earlier agency agencies I'd worked at. He and we, he and I and my college buddy started an email marketing agency in 02 and then I decided, well, this isn't for me, but I now learn it's not that scary to hire employees. So then I started hiring employees at anvil and late 03 and so I ran anvil with employees for, you know, 20 years. Two of those first two years were just me and some contractors and and then, oh, wait, I started a second agency because I needed a more affordable solution for my partners in small business called Formic media. Ran that for five years before I merged it with with anvil. But in between, I was also fired. When I first started anvil, I was it was just a hang of shingle in 2000 to do some consulting, but I wanted a full time gig, and a year later, I had an opportunity to run my my team from the agency. I was fired from that company. That agency was sold to another agency for pennies on the dollar. And when my old boss died, rest in peace, we hadn't really cleared the air yet, which is it still is one of my greatest regrets. You know, for nine months we didn't talk, and then he passed away. Everybody peace, not before he passed away, I was able to get, yeah, his his soul mate. They weren't married yet, but they were going to get married. She told me that two weeks before he died, he expressed regrets and how we had ended the relationship, how he had fired me, and he was looking forward to reconnecting and re engaging our friendship. And so that made that meant the world to me. I had a lot of peace in knowing that, but I so the first the second place I got fired was this agency again about a girl. So the first time was a girl telling me, you need to ask the boss for more money or more equity. And I did, and that offended him. And the second time was my girlfriend at the time, who's who moved over from that agency to the new agency where my my old boss died before he could really start there. She was dating on the side the Creative Director at that agency, and he'd been there over 20 years. And so when I started there, I saw something was up, and I was like, Is there anything going on? She's like, No. And so eventually I just broke up with her anyway, because I just it wasn't working, even if she wouldn't admit that she was having a side relationship. But I was eventually fired because he was a board, you know, he was on the board. He was, he wasn't my boss, per se, but he was one of the senior partners, and they just wanted me out. You know, she might have money. Wanted me out. He definitely wanted me out. So that was the second time I got fired. And then the third time I got fired was it kept the stakes get given, getting bigger. When I sold my agency 14 months later, they fired me, really, not to this day, not for any cause. It's that they asked me to take an 80% pay cut a year into my buyout, and I and then I they were going to close my Portland office, which I was, I own the building, so I didn't want to lose my own myself as a tenant, so I offered to reduce my rent 30% so I basically, for two and a half months, worked for free for this agency that had bought my agency. So they were making payments to me. I was carrying the note, but they they couldn't. A year later, they're like, I'm sorry. So they a year later, I took a pay cut for two and a half months, and when I asked them, you know, when am I getting back to my pay? They said, Well, you know, we can't guarantee. We don't have a path for you back to your full pay. And I was like, Okay, well, then I told my wife, let him inform them that we're going to go back to, we are going to go back to our full rack rate on our rent. And when I, when we notified them, they they totally, they totally fired me. So they canceled the lease, and they fired me, and so they so it. And you know, I, my team was slowly being dismantled, a 10 of us, 11 of us, I guess 10 or 11 us went over, and within a year, there were only two wait. Within two years, there was only one person left on my team. So it was a really sad, sad experience for me. It wasn't as hard to sell my business as I thought. It wasn't as hard, you know, just emotionally, it wasn't as hard to sunset my brand after 22 years. Wasn't easy, but it was way easier than I thought. What was hard for me was watching them was was closing the office. It broke my heart and and then watching them dismantle my team that I spent, you know, two decades building, most of that team was within 10 years, the last 10 years, last even five years of of our business. Us. There was a relatively new team, but we were so tight, and it was just heartbreaking. So, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 30:09 yeah, wow. So what do you think was your biggest mistake in running your own agency?   Kent Lewis ** 30:19 That's a great question. I think the biggest, biggest mistake was not understanding the Hire great people and get out of the way. Lee Iacocca, you know, to paraphrase him, I hired great people and I got out of their way. But what I didn't do was make sure they had all the proper training, alignment of core values that they had, there was enough trust between us that they could come to me with they were struggling or failing. Apparently, I was a fairly intimidating figure for my former my young recruits, but most of that time, up until the last five years, I always had a senior VP my right hand. I hired her with the attention that she might take over the business someday, she was totally creating a wall between me and my employees, and I didn't know it until 2012 and so, you know, I had 10 years to try to undo what she had created the first 10 years, basically of a fear based management style, so that that didn't help me, and I didn't believe it. I didn't really see it. So then I rebuilt the company, and from the ground up, I blew it up in 2013 so 10 years after of having employees, 13 years of having the business, I completely dismantled and blew it up and rebuilt it. And what did that look like? It started with me just not wanting to go to work in the building, and I realized I can't quit because I'm the owner, so I have to fix it. Okay? I don't mind fixing things. I prefer to fix other people's problems instead of my own, but I really a lot of people do, right? Yeah. So I wrote a credo, basically, what would it take for me? What are, what are it got down to 10 truths, what? What are the truths that I need to go into work and that others around me, co workers, team members, need to also agree on so that we can work together successfully. So it went from being about clients to being about the team and being about accountability. And you know, it was so it was so decisive. It was so radical for my current team that had been with me five to 10 years of they lose clients, I get more clients. And I eventually told them, I can't replace clients as fast as you're losing them. It's not a sustainable business model, so you need to be accountable for your actions and your decisions. That's the new anvil. You and you're out. I gave them 72 hours to think about it and sign it. Signed literally to these credo. It's not a legal document, it's just a commitment to credo. And half the team didn't sign it, and they quit. And then within 12 months, the rest of the team either quit or we've I fired them because they did not fit in the new anvil. And it's funny because everybody else that I brought in didn't even it didn't even register. The credo was so unremarkable to them, because we were already aligned by the time we hired them, we'd done our research and the work to know who fit, and so they didn't register. So eventually we just dropped the credo was no longer needed as a guide or a framework. It's still on the website, but, but you don't, you know it doesn't really matter. But that's what I got wrong, is I did not build the trust. I did not have I had processes in place, but but without the trust, people wouldn't tell me how they felt or that they were struggling. So a lot of process wasn't recognized or utilized properly. So I rebuilt it to where and rebuilt the trust to where the team that was with me when I sold I was very close with them. There was 100% trust across the board, a mutual respect, arguably a mutual love for the craft, for each other, for the company, for our clients, and it was a lot of fun to work with them. I didn't sell because I was unhappy. I sold because I was happy, and I thought now's a good time to go and find a good home. Plus my wife was my operations manager for five years, and she wanted out. Frankly, I thought it was easier to sell the business than try to replace my wife, because she was very good at what she did. She just didn't like doing it, yeah? And she also didn't like, you know, me being her boss. I never saw it that way. But once she explained it, after I sold, she explained, like, you know, you boss me around at work, and then you try to boss me around at home, and I'm not having it. You pick one? Yeah, so, so I was like, I think, like, I bossed you around. And she's like, Hey, you just, it was your company. It was always going to be your company. And, you know, that's fine, but you know, I want to move on. I was like, Okay, why don't we just sell and so that, yeah, they the operational people. And so it took her, took that load off of her. She's worked for. Nonprofit now, so she's happy, and so that's good.   Michael Hingson ** 35:05 Well, it also sounds like there were a lot of people that well, first of all, you changed your your view and your modus operandi a little bit over time, and that's why you also got you fired, or you lost people. But it also sounds like what you did was you brought in more people, not only who thought like you, but who really understood the kinds of goals that you were looking at. And so it was a natural sort of thing. You brought in people who really didn't worry about the credo, because they lived by it anyway.   Kent Lewis ** 35:38 Yeah, that's exactly right. And that was, that was my lesson. Was, you know, I always knew there's a concept called Top grading. You know, you thoroughly vet client, you hire slow and you fire fast. Most entrepreneurs or business owners hire fast and fire slow, and it's very, very expensive and but, you know, I got that part and I just better. I was far better at, I was far better at, what would I say, creating processes than kind of feeling, the love? And so once I figured that stuff out, it got a lot it got a lot better.   Michael Hingson ** 36:16 It's a growth thing. Yes,   36:18 exactly, yeah. Well, you   Michael Hingson ** 36:21 have something, and you sent me something about it. You call it Jerry Maguire moment. Tell me about that.   Kent Lewis ** 36:28 Yeah. So that's, you know, I just, I just sort of backed into the story of just being unhappy. But what ended up happening more specifically that Jerry Maguire moment was putting my son to bed in March of 2013 and I mentioned that feeling of not of dread. I didn't want to go to work. I was frustrated with my team, disappointed in my clients, not appreciating the work we were doing, frustrated with some of my partners. You know, in the business, I felt disconnected from the work of digital because I'd worked on the business for longer than I'd worked in the business by that point, and so I just, it was, it was, I was a bit of a mess. And I realized, like, I need a reason to get up and go to work in the morning. And that's when I came up. I was inspired by Jerry Maguire's manifesto from from the movie, and apparently you can find it online. It's a 28 page manifesto. So I ended up distilling into those 10 truths that we called the credo, and so what happening is just again to recap, it took me a like a couple days. I had instant clarity. I like I fell asleep like a rock. Once I realized I had a plan and I had a framework, I felt better about it, even though there was much work to do. So as I mentioned, you know, half the team quit within the first week, the other half bled out over the next year. That meant 100% employee turnover for two years in a row. As like as I upgraded my team, that was painful. I had to hire three people in order to keep one good one. You know, as I as I search, because we don't have formal degrees in the world of digital marketing, right? So it's hard to find the talent, and you want to hold on to the good ones when you get them. So it took a long time to get the team dialed. Meanwhile, my clients got tired of the turnover. As I was trying to figure it out, they started leaving in droves, and so in 2014 in March, a year later, exactly, I lost my five biggest clients in a 30 to 45 day period. So I lost, you know, 40, over 40% of my revenue vaporized, and I could not replace it fast enough. So I didn't take a salary for nine months. I asked two senior execs to take small pay cuts like 10% and as we hunkered down, and so I didn't have to lay off any good talent, and so I didn't, and we sprinted, we rebuilt, you know, the pipeline, and brought some new clients in. By the end of the year, I paid back my my two senior employees, their 10% that they pay cut. I paid them back, but I didn't take a salary for nine months of that year. It was the worst year I'd ever had, and the only time I ever had to take a pay cut or miss a paycheck myself. So that was the price I paid. The plus side is once I realized that the focus should be on the employees, which was what the credo was, I didn't realize at the time that it wasn't about my clients anymore. They were the life blood. They were the blood flow, right? But we have this organism that needed love, so we I breathe life back into it, one employee at a time until we had a higher functioning group. So it took me five or six years, and in 2019 so six years after I blew the business up, I had an offer on the table, had a sale agreement finalized, and we were less than a week away from funding, and I backed out of the deal because I felt, one, it wasn't a good cultural fit, and two, there was more work to do. It wasn't about increasing my valuation more. It was about finishing my journey of an employee first agency and. Three years later, I sold for one and a half x higher multiple, so an additional seven figures to to another agency based on a stronger profitability, even though the revenue is about the same, stronger, you know, profitability right better. Happy clients, stable clients. It was a lower risk acquisition for them and the so that was the high point. The low point was becoming an employee and wanting to be the best damn employee that agency had ever seen to being a very disappointed, disengaged, disheartened, disheartened employee. And I then I decided I started writing notes of everything, not to do that they were doing wrong. And I decided, once they let me go, I need to focus on this. I think I needed to help my other fellow entrepreneurs ways to avoid going through what I went through as an employee, because I had just been one, and most of my employ, my entrepreneur friends, haven't been an employee for over 10 years. You easily, quickly forget what it's like to be an employee, and I want to remind them and as other senior leaders, how important it is to put your employees first, otherwise you can never deliver on your brand promise no matter what it is, because they won't deliver to your standards. Because it's you know, they don't feel the same attachment to a business if they as if they're not owners, right?   Michael Hingson ** 41:22 But it sounds like you also, when you did sell, by that time, you had employees, one who had bought into the credo, into the philosophy, and two were satisfied. So it was a much better situation all the way around. Anyway,   Kent Lewis ** 41:38 exactly. It's right? And that's, that's the thing is, I realized it's not about throwing money at a problem. It's about throwing time and care at a problem. And the problem is that most employers, there is no loyalty employ to employees anymore, and therefore there's no employee loyalty to brands anymore, to their employers. And so I'm trying to unwind that. And it's not about pension plans, per se. It's not about bonuses, really at all. That's one of 120 items on my punch list of auditing and employee journey is, yeah, do you have a bonus program? Mine was basically spot bonuses, little spot bonuses for timely things, because the big cash bonuses blew up in my face. You know, i i the biggest bonus check I ever wrote. The next day he quit and created a competing agency. Now, he had planned that all along it, the bonus was only helped him do it faster, but I realized there was no appreciation for the bonuses. So stop doing that. So instead, I would bonus, reward the team with experiences rather than cash. And they the cash they got from a really, I paid over market, so that money was not an issue, and so that experiences were the memorable part and the fun part, and it helped motivate when we'd have a little contest with, you know, the wind being a dinner or whatever it was, something fun, right?   Michael Hingson ** 43:00 I was, earlier today, talking with someone who's going to be a guest on the podcast. He's in Germany, and we were talking about the fact that there's a major discussion in Germany right now about the concept of a four day work week, as opposed to a five day work week, and in the four day work week. Inevitably, companies that subscribe to the four day work week have higher productivity, happier employees, and some of those companies have a four day work week with a total of 36 hours and up through a four day work week with 40 hours, which is, of course, 10 hours a day. And what he said, I asked the question, did it make a difference as to whether it was 36 or 40 hours? What he said was mainly not, because it was really about having three days with family, and that that whole mental attitude is really it that we, we have forgotten, I think, in this country, about employee loyalty so much, and we just don't see anything like what we used to see.   Kent Lewis ** 44:09 100% you are correct,   Michael Hingson ** 44:13 and so it is. It is an issue that people really ought to deal with in some way. But you know now the new chancellor in Germany wants to go back to a five day work week, just completely ignoring all the statistics and what's shown. So the discussion is ongoing over there. I'll be interested to see how it goes.   Kent Lewis ** 44:36 Yeah, yeah, totally. I would be in Troy. Yeah. We know for whatever reason, for whatever reason that they've you know that well, I guess it kind of makes sense. But you know, you wouldn't think you could be more productive fewer days a week, but the research is showing that these people, that you know, that the like the Northern Europeans, are the, you know, Finnish and Scandinavians are like the half. People on the planet, despite not being in maybe the friendliest climate, you know, 12 months of the year because of a lot of how they value, you know, work life balance and all of that. And I think that's the thing, you know, we we came from an industrial age where unions got us the weekends off. You know, it's a very different we've come a long way, but there's still a lot more to go, so I, I will be interested to see what happens with the with that concept that four day work week.   Michael Hingson ** 45:26 Well, the other part about it is we had the pandemic, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic, at least, I think, in the minds of a lot of employees, was even working at home, and having to do that, you still got to spend more time with family and people value that. Now I don't know how over time that's going to work, because I know there's been a lot of advocating to go back to just everybody always being in the office, but it seems to me that the better environment would be a hybrid environment, where, if somebody can work at home and do at least as well as they do at the office. Why wouldn't you allow that?   Kent Lewis ** 46:04 Right? Yeah, I think it's that's the other thing is, I do believe hybrid work is the best solution. We were doing three three days, two days in the office, required, one day, optional flex. I ended up going in most days of the week before I, you know, even after we sold and we sell at the office, because I like, I'm a social being, and I really enjoyed the time at the office. And it was, it was, I designed the space, and it was, you know, as my place, and it was my home away from home, you know. So I feel like I've lost a little bit of my identity, losing that office. Yeah, so, but yeah, I do think that it makes sense to be able to do remote work, whatever, wherever people are most effective. But I do know there is a reality that companies are fully remote have a struggle to create cohesiveness and connectiveness across distributed teams. It's just it's just science, right? Psychology, but you can be very intentional to mitigate as much as you can the downside of remote and then play up as much as you can the benefits of remote people having their life and they see, on average, I heard that people valued their remote work about to worth about $6,000 on average, that there's a number that they've quantified.   Michael Hingson ** 47:21 Wow. Well, I know I've worked in offices, but I've also done a lot of work at home. So for example, I had a job back in the late 1970s and worked and lived in Massachusetts until 1981 and the company I worked for was being pursued by Xerox. And the the assumption was that Xerox was going to buy the company. So I was asked to relocate back out to California, where I had grown up, and help integrate the company into Xerox. And so I did. And so that was the first time I really worked mostly out of home and remotely from an office. And did that for two and a half, almost, well, a little over two and a half years. And my thanks for it was I was terminated because we had a recession and the big issue really was, though, that Xerox had bought the company and phased out all the people in sales because they didn't want the people. They just wanted the technology. And I've always believed that's a big mistake, because the tribal knowledge that people have is not something that you're going to get any other place. Totally, totally agree. But anyway, that occurred, and then I couldn't find a job, because the unemployment rate among employable blind people was so high, since people didn't believe blind people could work. So I ended up starting my own company selling computer aided design systems, CAD systems, to architects. Some of the early PC based CAD systems. Sold them to architects and engineers and so on. So I did have an office. We started, I started it with someone else, and had an office for four years, and then decided I had enough of owning my own company for a while, and went to work for someone else, and again, worked in an office and did that for seven years. Yeah, about seven years, and then I ended up in at the end of that, or the later part of that time, I was asked to relocate now back to the East Coast, because I was selling to Wall Street and New York and Wall Street firms really want, even though they might buy from resellers and so on, they want company, companies that make products to have them an office that they can deal with. So I ended up going back and mostly worked out of the office. But then, um. I left that company in 1997 and it was, it was a little bit different, because I was, I I had my own office, and I was the only person in it for a little while. We did have some engineers, but we all kind of worked in the office and sometimes at home. But for me, the real time of working at home happened in 2008 I was working at a nonprofit and also traveling and speaking, and the people who ran the nonprofit said, nobody's interested in September 11 anymore. And you know, you're you're not really adding any value to what we do, so we're going to phase out your job. Yeah, nobody was interested in September 11. And three years later, we had a number one New York Times bestseller, but anyway, your face yeah, so I ended up opening the Michael Hinkson Group Inc, and working out of home, and I've been doing that ever since. I enjoy working in an office. But I can work at home and I can, I can adapt. So my exposure to people and working not at home is when I travel and speak and get to go visit people and interact with them and so on. So it works out   Kent Lewis ** 51:05 that's, that's fantastic, congratulations. That's awesome.   Michael Hingson ** 51:10 It is, it is, you know, sometimes a challenge, but it works. So for you, what is your philosophy? You obviously do a lot of giving back to the community nowadays, is that something that has kind of grown over time, or you always had that? Or what's your philosophy regarding that?   Kent Lewis ** 51:29 So I I believe that, as I mentioned, I believe earlier that learn and return us. I believe that you should giving, giving back your entire life, as soon as you're able to, in whatever way. And so I, you know, when I first moved to Portland, I barely knew anybody. I was volunteering at this local neighborhood house where it was, you know, as tutoring this kid, and ironically, in math. And I'm terrible at math. Then I went to Big Brothers, Big Sisters for a while, and then I for the last 19 for last 25 years, I've been a volunteer, and for eight or nine of those years, I was on the board of smart reading. It's a, it's a, it's not a literacy program in that you're not teaching kids to read. You're teaching kids a love of reading. So you just sit with, you know, title, title, one school kindergarteners in an area near you, and you sit and read with them for 10 to 15 minutes, that's it. And it's a game changer, because some of them didn't own any books. And then they get to take books home with them, you know, like scholastic style books. So anyway, I I decided, of all, like I have friends, that their their passion is pets, others, it's like forests or planet or whatever. To me, I think I can, I can solve all of those problems if I invest in children, because they're shaping our future, and we can put them on a trajectory. So for instance, statistically, prison capacity is based on third grade reading levels in blue. So if you're if you can't learn to read, you can't read to learn, so you need to have a be a proficient reader by third grade, or you're left behind, and you're more likely, 10 times more likely, to be in the system, and you know, not in a good way. So I realized, well, if I can help these kids with a love of reading, I was, I was slow to learn reading myself. I realized that maybe we, you know that one kid that you find a love of reading, that finds books they love and is inspired by the books and continues to read and have a successful educational career, then that's that person may go on to solve cancer or world hunger or whatever it is. So that's kind of how I look at so that's my theory in general about giving. And then specifically my passion is children. So that's kind of my thing, and I think there are a lot of different ways to do it. Last night, I was at my wife's auction or the fundraiser for her nonprofit, which is around the foster system. It's called Casa court, important court, court appointed special advocate. So these kids in the foster system have an advocate, that that's not a lawyer or a caseworker, you know, by their side through the legal system. And I think that's a fantastic cause. It aligns with my children cause. And I was, I had seven my parents fostered seven daughters, you know, Daughters of other people, and the last two were very that I remember were transformative for me as an only child, to have a sister, you know, foster sister that was living with us for, in one case, two years. And it was invaluable and helpful to me. She helped me find my love of reading, helped me learn my multiplication tables, all that things that your parents might be able to do, but it's so much cooler doing with somebody that's, you know, I think she was 17 when she moved into our house, and I was, like, nine, and she was so helpful to me, so inspiring. So in a nutshell, that's, that's what we're talking about   Michael Hingson ** 54:55 when you talk talk about reading. I'm of the opinion and one of the best. Things that ever happened to reading was Harry Potter. Just the number of people, number of kids who have enjoyed reading because they got to read the Harry Potter books. I think that JK Rowling has brought so many kids to reading. It's incredible.   Kent Lewis ** 55:14 Yeah, yeah. 100% 100% I Yeah. I think that even you may, you know, you may or may not like rolling, but I as a person, but she did an amazing thing and made reading fun, and that that's what matters, yeah, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 55:33 yeah, well, and that's it, and then she's just done so much for for children and adults. For that matter, I talked to many adults who've read the books, and I've read all the books. I've read them several times, actually, yeah, now I'm spoiled. I read the audio versions read by Jim Dale, and one of my favorite stories about him was that he was in New York and was going to be reading a part of the latest Harry Potter book on September 11, 2001 in front of scholastic when, of course, everything happened. So he didn't do it that day, but he was in New York. What a you know, what a time to be there. That's fantastic. But, you know, things happen. So you one of the things that I've got to believe, and I think that you've made abundantly clear, is that the kind of work you do, the PR, the marketing, and all of that kind of interaction is a very time consuming, demanding job. How do you deal with work and family and make all of that function and work? Well,   Kent Lewis ** 56:41 good question. I, I believe that that the, well, two things you have to have, you know, discipline, right? And so what I've done is really focused on managing my time very, very carefully, and so I have now keep in mind my oldest, I have three kids, one's graduating college as a senior, one's a sophomore who will be a junior next next year, and then The last is a sophomore in high school, so I'm there at ages where two are out of the house, so that's a little easier to manage, right? So there's that, but similarly, I try to maximize my time with my youngest and and with my wife, you know, I built in, you know, it was building in date nights, because it's easy to get into a rut where you don't want to leave the house or don't want to do whatever. And I found that it's really been good for our relationship at least once a month. And so far, it's been more like almost twice a month, which has been huge and awesome. But I've just intentional with my time, and I make sure 360 I take care of myself, which is typically working out between an hour and an hour and a half a day that I'm I really need to work on my diet, because I love burgers and bourbon and that's in moderation, perhaps sustainable, but I need to eat more veggies and less, you know, less garbage. But I also have been at the gym. I go in the Steam Room and the sauna, and I'm fortunate to have a hot tub, so I try to relax my body is after my workouts, I've been sleeping more since covid, so I work out more and sleep and sleep more post covid. And because I'm working from home, it's really I find it much easier to get up and take breaks or to, you know, just to manage my time. I'm not traveling like I used to, right? That's a, that's a big factor. So, so anyway, that's, that's kind of my take on that. I don't know if that really helps, but that's, that's kind of where I'm at.   Michael Hingson ** 58:59 The other part about it, though, is also to have the discipline to be able to be at home and work when you know you have to work, and yeah, you get to take more breaks and so on, but still developing the discipline to work and also to take that time is extremely important. I think a lot of people haven't figured out how to do that   Kent Lewis ** 59:19 right exactly, and that is so I do have an immense amount of, I do have an immense amount of, what would you say discipline? And so I don't know, yeah, I don't have that problem with getting the work done. In fact, my discipline is knowing when to stop, because I get into it, and I want to get things done, and I want to get it off my plate, so I tend to do sprints. But the other lesson I have from covid is listening to your biorhythms. So, you know, we're a time based society, and we look, you don't want to be late for this and that I you know, that's great, fine. But what's really more important in my mind is, um. Is to, is to be thinking about, is to let your body tell you when it's tired, if and and more importantly, is to not stress about in the mornings when I wake up early. By that, I mean between four and 6am before I really want to get up at 630 and I just if I'm awake, then I'll write stuff down to get it out of my head, or I will just start doing my start my day early and and not stress about, oh, I didn't get enough sleep. My body will catch up, yeah, it will tell me to go to bed early, or I'll sleep better the next day, or whatever it is. So that was important, and also to learn that I'm most I can get a lot of tasks done in the morning. And I think bigger picture, and that's what, that's why I wake up early, is all the things I need to do that I forgot. I didn't write down or whatever, and I think of them at between four and 6am but the other is that I do my best writing in the afternoon, like between four and six. So I told my, my wife and my, you know, my my kids, you know, my first figures out when they were both in the House. I was like, I may be working late, jamming out an article or doing whatever right before dinner, or I might be a little late. Can we can wait for dinner for a little bit? They're like, Yeah, that's fine. We don't care, right? So, but normally I'd be like, I gotta get home because it's dinner time. But now that I'm already home, I just keep working through, and then, and then, oh, I can take a quick break. But my point is, they're totally adaptable.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:27 But you communicate, yes, communication issue is key. Is key, absolutely. That's really the issues that you do communicate.   Kent Lewis ** 1:01:36 It's all about setting expectations. And they had no expectations other than eating dinner. And we've been eating dinner later. Just, just a natural evolution. So it's not, it's not even an issue now, because I don't want to, I don't want to, what, right? What? Late at night, I just found it late afternoon, I just in a zone. Anyway, yeah, you listen to your body, and I'm way less stressed because I'm not worried about, oh my god, I have to get to bed at a certain time or wake up at a certain time. It's like, just kind of run with it, you know, and and go from there. So what's next for you? What's next? So I want to shift from going from speaking for free to speaking for a fee. There you go. And the re the reason why is I never asked for, and I'd even waive, you know, honorarium or pay because I got more value out of the leads. But now that I don't have an agency to represent, two things. One is, I want to get paid to do my employee engagement retention talks, because it's I'm getting great feedback on it, which is fun. But I also am being paid now by other agencies, a day rate, plus travel to go speak at the conferences. I've always spoken on that like me and want me and I just represent. I just changed the name that I'm representing. That's it, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:56 well, and there's value in it. I realized some time ago, and I k

I wonder what they're going to talk about way up North? There will be serious issues covered. What a shame she can't go. The historic meeting has lots of wrinkles. Fun gathering in a safe satellite geometry. Also a lack of undersea cables. The aliens in DC look like black people. That is a The great op. Frankincense and Myrrh offers a sleeping breath. Special blankets from grandma. DOGE is a target again. The Hatch Act will be involved. What they are saying is new, is definitely not. Shutting down unwanted narratives. How are you productive to society? The President will tell us everything. Nobody else is any good. We need a third option. If you are there to solve a problem, you think about humanity. The face skin that has never looked so good. A newly neutralized Turkey will be a topic in Alaska. Let's pretend the aliens show up. What would they look like? Staying silent on the reactive events. Don't fly Alaska Airlines. MI6 is doing a lot of shit right now. it's going to be a fun 911 this year. It's all happening right now. Critical thinking by people who share frog memes. Watch cringe story reels for a fun evening. True Journalism means being unbounded. It's principal first, and then you must add the large doses of perseverance.

With network changes, new routes and new "brand expressions," Alaska Airlines is starting to solidify its plan to transform into a global airline. Jon Ostrower and Brett Snyder discuss Alaska's news, its increasingly complex fleet, and also what these transformative steps could mean for Alaska's home market (Seattle) and nearest competitor there (Delta).We would like to thank Plusgrade for supporting The Air Show.Visit www.theairshowpodcast.com to get in touch with us.

There’s a war being waged in Seattle right now. But you won’t see it out on the streets, among your fellow citizens. Instead – look to the sky. For years, two airlines: Delta and Alaska have battled for supremacy at Seatac. Now, The Wall Street Journal says Alaska Airlines is making a big play to expand international flights – and Delta is striking back. Guest: Alison Sider, a reporter covering airlines and air travel for the Wall Street Journal Related stories: Battle for Seattle: Can Delta Keep Dominating International Flights? - Wall Street Journal Delta Gets Blowback for Using AI to Set Airfares - Wall Street Journal Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes. Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a textDrew responds to a bird strike and gets to learn more about snarge - it ain't pretty. Doug is living a nonrev drama trying to get his family home from Denver. Both of us live vicariously through Drew's husband Robbie who is flying to Turkey. We discuss:How are the travel numbers looking so far this summer?Alaska announces a big change How some of the smaller airlines are doing this year Turbulence avoidance Check out this turbulence forecasting website called TurbliListener feedbackJoin the network! https://www.nexttripnetwork.com/

On this week's episode of AvTalk, what we learned from days two and three of the NTSB's hearings on the midair collision at DCA. A Delta A330neo experiences severe turbulence, Boeing adds a new 777-9 to 777X test fleet, and Alaska Airlines unveils a new livery for its 787s. Plus, ANA retires the R2-D2 livery […] The post AvTalk Episode 331: Stuck on the plane for 28 hours appeared first on Flightradar24 Blog.

Vi er tilbake fra sommerferie. I Canada kjøper de "nye" 7372.00, Alaska Airlines satser på long-haul med 787, Vueling får 737MAX og Air France-KLM ønsker kontroll i SAS. Velkommen ombord på Flypoddens flight 349Ulykkesflight 349: Piedmont Airlines flight 349AKTUELT:Passasjertall i sommerAir France-KLM ønsker kontroll i SASAlaska Airlines varsler ruter til London og ReykjavikAsiana Cargo solgt til Air Incheon -  blir Air ZetaANA kjøper Nippon Cargo AirlinesNolinor kjøper "ny" 737-200Vueling skal få 737MAXNok en ny TOS-ruteNorse skal fly til PhuketIndiGo skal fly til London (med Norse)India er landet i Asia med flest private jets

Every radical progressive and socialist won in the primary in Seattle. // Democrats continue to flip out over Texas’s plans for redistricting. A Democrat Congresswoman said she was more proud to be Guatemalan than American. // Alaska Airlines is adding more international flights from Seattle.

A shooting in Seattle’s U District at the Pursuit Northwest Church left one man dead. You may want to check your Alaska Airlines account and make sure all of your miles are there. Starbucks continues to tinker with its menu. // The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will disband due to recent funding cuts. // Guest: Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla on the drop in Washington's murder rate.

In Episode 131 of the Award Travel 101 podcast, hosts Angie Sparks, Anthony Cave, and Justin Walter kicked things off with a community discussion where member Antha asked whether to use points for a premium cabin on the outbound or return leg of a trip. The consensus leaned toward upgrading the overnight flight for better rest, with 66% of the poll agreeing. The episode also covered a range of updates: Choice Privileges launched a sweepstakes, Hyatt added more Standard and Bunkhouse properties (though with limited Globalist benefits), and Delta is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a slew of SkyMiles promos. Alaska Airlines and Choice Privileges were also named the top travel rewards programs of the year. Meanwhile, all Southwest credit cards underwent significant changes—higher annual fees, reduced benefits, and elevated welcome offers that could help earn the Companion Pass if timed right.In personal updates, Angie closed her BOA Travel Rewards card and debated keeping her WF Autograph Journey. Justin finished a $20K Amex Business Platinum bonus and is planning a trip to Paris, while Anthony just returned from The Hague and is anticipating Alaska's rumored premium card. The main topic focused on EU261, the European regulation that provides broad passenger rights for delays, cancellations, and other travel disruptions. Both Anthony and Justin praised EU261, calling it one of the most passenger-friendly laws globally and noting that its coverage is often enough to make up for the lack of credit card travel protections when booking flights in Europe.Links to Topics DiscussedChoice Privileges SweepstakesHyatt, The Standard BrandUS News Best Travel Rewards ProgramsDelta Airlines Beyond the Summer PromotionsSouthwWhere to Find Us The Free 110k+ member Award Travel 101 Community. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1. You can also email us at 101@award.travel Tickets are now ON SALE for our next meetup in Miami September 19-21. Secure your spot today at https://award.travel/miami2025 Our partner CardPointers helps us get the most from our cards. We love being able to automatically add all of our offers and quickly seeing the best card to use for every purchase. Signup today at https://cardpointers.com/at101 for a 30% discount on annual and lifetime subscriptions! Lastly, we appreciate your support of the AT101 Podcast/Community when you signup for your next card! Technical note: Some user experience difficulty streaming the podcast while connected to a VPN. If you have difficulty, disconnect from your VPN.

Chris Sullivan with a Chokepoint: Previewing the plans for light rail expansion north to Everett // Luke Duecy with "Tech Talk" — looking at what led to Alaska Airlines grounded flights earlier this month // Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson on the passing of her "Pathways to Recovery" plan to tackle addiction in Seattle // Tom Dempsey on the latest trade deals ahead of President Trump's tariff deadline tomorrow // Ted Buehner with "The Insider" — Ted sits down with the Seattle chapter of the American Red Cross to talk about blood donation // Angela Poe Russell on the political divide between male and female youth in Seattle

Two fans seemingly caught in sex act at Yankee Stadium in viral video - https://torontosun.com/sports/baseball/mlb/fans-caught-sex-act-yankee-stadium-viral-videoBar K closes all locations, including St. Louis dog bar amid ‘economic challenges' - https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/bar-k-closes-all-locations-including-st-louis-dog-bar-amid-economic-challenges/British Columbia Man Fends Off Cougar Attack by Punching It In the Face - https://www.theinertia.com/news/smithers-cougar-attack-punch-face/Woman viciously attacked by raccoon on her back deck - https://www.wsmv.com/video/2025/07/28/woman-viciously-attacked-by-raccoon-her-back-deck/Does traveling wreak havoc on your gut? Here's how to avoid an upset stomach - https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/jul/29/upset-stomach-travel#:~:text=Traveler's%20diarrhea&text=It%20is%20most%20often%20the,%2C%20nausea%2C%20vomiting%20and%20fever.The Four Reasons "Everyone Has Hemorrhoids Now" - https://www.thecut.com/article/hemorrhoids-causes-treatments-colon-colonoscopy.htmlPizzeria mishap left at least 85 people intoxicated with THC after infused oil used for dough - https://www.livescience.com/health/marijuana/pizzeria-mishap-left-at-least-85-people-intoxicated-with-thc-after-infused-oil-used-for-doughDollar Tree confirms ‘sneaky' cost change as employees reveal more are on the way – look for ‘red' warning sign - https://www.the-sun.com/money/14719523/dollar-tree-sneaky-cost-change-price-increases/Man arrested after allegedly chugging Tabasco sauce, challenging others to a fight - https://www.kolotv.com/2025/07/17/man-arrested-after-allegedly-chugging-tabasco-sauce-challenging-others-fight/Stomach Bug Sickens Over 140 People on Caribbean Cruise, Forcing Passengers and Crew to Isolate in Cabins - https://people.com/stomach-bug-sickens-140-people-royal-caribbean-cruise-11774803Passengers reach settlement in $1 billion lawsuit over Alaska Airlines flight where door plug blew out at 16,000 feet - https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/boeing-alaska-airlines-door-plug-lawsuit-settlement-b2790339.htmlBath & Body Works candle explodes in former NYC official's face, unleashing ‘unrelenting' pain - https://nypost.com/2025/07/19/us-news/woman-seriously-burned-after-bath-amp-body-works-candle-exploded/Follow us @RizzShow @MoonValjeanHere @KingScottRules @LernVsRadio @IamRafeWilliams - Check out King Scott's Linktr.ee/kingscottrules + band @FreeThe2SG and Check out Moon's bands GREEK FIRE @GreekFire GOLDFINGER @GoldfingerMusic THE TEENAGE DIRTBAGS @TheTeenageDbags and Lern's band @LaneNarrows ⁠http://www.1057thepoint.com/RizzSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this inspiring episode of the Revolutionizing Your Journey podcast, host DeAndre Coke sits down with Carl Brothers—a passionate traveler on a mission to fly four million lifetime miles with United Airlines. Carl opens up about how he got into points and miles, what it means to hold United's invitation-only Global Services status, and the mindset and strategy behind such an ambitious aviation goal.He shares the emotional and physical toll of spending so much time in the air, the importance of building a strong travel community, and how kindness plays a key role in every journey. Carl breaks down how he tracks cost per mile, navigates elite benefits, and stays motivated as he nears his milestone. With just a few thousand miles left, he also teases what's next: a brand-new loyalty adventure with Alaska Airlines. It's a story of dedication, passion, and the true spirit of travel.Key Highlights:Carl's goal: To reach four million lifetime miles on United Airlines.Status earned: United's exclusive invite-only Global Services.Strategy: Uses cost-per-mile tracking to optimize every trip.Timeline: Four million miles in roughly four years.Mindset: Fueled by a love for aviation and elite travel perks.Lifestyle: Lives on planes—physically and mentally demanding.Community: Backed by fellow travelers and friends.Core value: Kindness to airline crew and passengers alike.Next chapter: Plans to pursue Alaska Airlines status post-United goal.Big picture: A masterclass in loyalty, resilience, and travel hacking.Resources:Book a Free 30 minute points & miles consultationStart here to learn how to unlock nearly free travelSign up for our newsletter!BoldlyGo Travel With Points & Miles Facebook GroupInterested in Financial Planning?Truicity Wealth ManagementSome of Our Favorite Tools For Elevating Your Points & Miles Game:Note: Contains affiliate/sponsored linksCard Pointers (Saves the average user $750 per year)Zil Money (For Payroll on Credit Card)Travel FreelyPoint.meFlightConnections.comThrifty Traveler PremiumLTH Online Points & Miles In Depth Course: Use coupon code "BOLDYGO" for a 50% discount!Connect with DeAndre &...

Key Takeaways Jared Thatcher has 20+ years of lean experience across manufacturing, consulting, and government sectors The Global Lean Summit evolved from virtual events during COVID to an international in-person conference This year's summit (Sept 23-25, 2023) features speakers from global companies, a Toyota plant tour, and follow-up support The summit aims to provide a comprehensive learning experience on lean principles and implementation Topics Jared's Lean Journey Started in manufacturing, noticing inefficiencies and developing improvements MBA introduced formal lean concepts, aligning with his natural problem-solving approach Worked at Daimler Trucks NA, saving millions through continuous cost improvement Transitioned to office lean implementation, seeing dramatic efficiency gains Moved to consulting, then to Alaska Airlines, where he solved long-standing data issues Virtual Kaizen Events COVID-19 forced a transition to virtual events Discovered that virtual process mapping was more efficient than traditional methods Benefits: No rework, better collaboration, increased participation from introverts Hybrid approach: Using digital tools even in in-person settings Global Lean Summit Evolution Started as a virtual event during the COVID lockdowns to help small businesses Grew from 21 attendees in the first year to nearly 90 at the 2022 in-person event The 2025 event is partnered with Indiana University, attracting an international audience Features: Toyota plant tour, speakers from GE Aerospace, and City Furniture Focuses on five key elements: strategy deployment, people development, workflow optimization, problem-solving, and daily management Summit Structure and Benefits Day 1: Principles of successful lean organizations Day 2: Toyota plant tour and practical application workshop Day 3: Developing individual lean management roadmaps Post-summit: 30, 60, 90-day virtual follow-ups for accountability and support Additional offering: Japan Kaizen Learning Mission in November Next Steps Visit www.globalleansummit.com for more information and registration Connect with Jared Thatcher on LinkedIn for updates Consider attending the Global Lean Summit (Sept 23-25, 2023) or Japan Learning Mission (November 2023) Early bird pricing for the summit ends August 15, 2023 About Jared! With over 10 years of experience in lean process improvement, project management, change management, business analysis, leadership, and training, Jared is a passionate and results-oriented CPI Program Manager at Port of Seattle, where he engages in a lean transformation of the airport operations and other processes throughout the Port. He teaches, trains, and mentors others in continuous process improvement, and developed a lean network of other Port authorities and government agencies to share best practices, success stories, and group problem solving. He is also the host of the Virtual Lean Summit and the author of Parenting the Lean Way, a book that applies the proven business philosophy of lean to the family. Jared is a Lean Bronze Certified professional, a Project Management Professional, a Certified Scrum Master, and a PROSCI Certified Change Manager, 

This week we hear about the expanding infrastructure to monitor vessels traveling in Alaska's Arctic waters, the Kodiak Police Department has nowhere to store more impounded vehicles, pet boarding facilities and pet hotels can now operate in more zoning districts within the Borough, Starlink had a global outage for a couple hours Thursday that affected Kodiak residents, and an Alaska Airlines plane was grounded after running over deer on the Kodiak runway.

We discuss a Cavalry power move used in the wild by a loyal listener! Then Andrew needs backup on companies awarding rewards points for basic decency. Johnny needs backup that when women moon someone it's not really a prank. Enjoy! Remember to sign up for the Patreon for Post-Show Banter! https://patreon.com/thecavalrypodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

In this Telemetry News Now episode, Phil and Justin cover the global Cloudflare DNS outage, a rumored $10B SentinelOne acquisition by Palo Alto Networks, submarine cable security concerns from U.S. lawmakers, a major Alaska Airlines data center failure, why some say data centers are obsolete before they open, and Arista's latest strategic hire. Plus, upcoming events and industry insights.

In this episode, we speak with Etosha Cave, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Twelve, who shares how the carbon transformation company harnesses carbon dioxide from industrial waste streams to produce efuels. Twelve is one of the visionary companies featured in our new book Sustainability in the Air: Volume Two. You can learn more about the book and order a copy here.Cave discusses:Twelve's carbon transformation technology that mimics photosynthesis, taking CO2 from industrial emissions, air, and landfills, combining it with water and renewable electricity through metal catalysts to create jet fuel and other products.Strategic partnerships with airlines like Alaska Airlines and International Airlines Group (IAG) and tech companies like Microsoft, leveraging growing consumer demand for carbon-neutral travel solutions and the scalability advantages of power-to-liquids.Twelve's Moses Lake, Washington plant location choice, capitalising on abundant hydropower, state incentives, geographic proximity to partners, and the emerging cleantech hub.How the company navigates political risks around climate incentives by focusing on carbon management as a bipartisan issue that creates jobs and economic value.Cave also shares her vision for a future with completely closed carbon cycles and explains how Twelve aims to transform waste CO2 into the building blocks for everything from consumer products to aviation fuel.If you LOVED this episode, you'll also love the conversation we had with Nicholas Flanders, Co-Founder & CEO of Twelve, who discusses the crucial role of clean technology in addressing environmental challenges. Check it out here. Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It's about time.Links & more:E-Jet® Sustainable Aviation Fuel - Twelve Twelve and IAG sign historic long-term multi-million gallon SAF offtake agreement - Twelve Alaska Airlines, Microsoft and Twelve partner to advance new form of sustainable aviation fuel - Alaska Airlines United Airlines Invests in Twelve for Sustainable Aviation Fuel - Carbon Credits 

AI is amazing, and it continues to improve every day. However, with that, there are many people who create content solely for the sake of creating content and attempt to game the system. YouTube and Facebook are looking to rein that in. Additionally, we have a lot of tech news to catch up on after our unusual 500th episode and then drastically short episode 501. Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) The ep. 501 incident - Portable car jump starter (03:25) 4 new subscribers! (07:15) Alaska Airlines resumes - after IT outage (08:25) MAIN TOPIC: Can we stop AI Slop? (10:30) YouTube prepares crackdown on ‘mass-produced' and ‘repetitive' videos, as concern over AI slop grows Following YouTube, Meta announces crackdown on ‘unoriginal' Facebook content Rock band with more than 1 million Spotify listeners reveals it's entirely AI-generated — down to the musicians themselves DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK:  Travel Tech, traveling light (18:45) JUST THE HEADLINES: (24:55) China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match These tiny lasers are completely edible You can now rent a flesh computer grown in a British lab Netflix Says 50 Percent of Global Users Now Watch Anime UK police dangle 75 million pounds to digitize its VHS tape archives “Vibe Coder” who doesn't know how to code keeps winning hackathons in San Francisco Microsoft to stop using engineers in China for tech support of US military Japan sets new internet speed record — it's 4 million times faster than average US broadband speeds Candy Crush maker King lays off 200 staff, replacing many with AI tools they built AI note takers are increasingly outnumbering humans in workplace video calls Hackers can remotely trigger the brakes on American trains and the problem has been ignored for years Chuck E. Cheese launches new arcade concept for adults Russian basketball player arrested in ransomware case despite being "useless with computers" LISTENER MAIL: Todd: Maybe setting up browser profiles and how they work? Right now, I have 4 Google accounts I'm juggling in different windows, and they all sign each other out, and it's hard to manage. (29:25) TAKES: Everything Samsung Announced at Its Summer Galaxy Unpacked Event (36:05) Not News: A foldable iPhone could be slightly thicker than Samsung's latest offering (38:40) Microsoft Patch Tuesday, July 2025 Edition - Microsoft fix targets attacks on SharePoint Zero Day (40:15) Belkin ending support for most of its Wemo smart home accessories (43:20) BulletVPN shuts down, killing lifetime members' subscriptions (45:55) BONUS ODD TAKE: Coldplay Canoodlers (50:20) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave: Saramonic Air 2-Person Universal Micro Wireless Microphone System with Lavaliers, 3.5mm/USB-C Output/Headphone Out/Charging Case/Noise Canceling/Magnetic Mounting (53:35) Nate: Wood Blocks by Staple Games - Ryan Trahan #50states St. Judes (56:20) RAMAZON PURCHASE - Giveaway (01:01:35)

Jeff was joined by Scott McMurren, owner of Alaska Travelgram. They discuss a recent IT issue with Alaska Airlines that grounded their flights nationwide for several hours, some incredible airfare deals that are the result of a fare war between Alaska Airlines and Delta, how the Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines merger is going, and the growth and rising costs of airport lounges. 

In this newscast: Tomorrow marks one month since Juneau resident Benjamin or “Benny” Stepetin was last seen in the capital city; For years, the state has struggled to keep up with Alaskans who apply for government benefits intended to help people facing disabilities and poverty. Despite efforts to address the problem, thousands of Alaskans are still caught in backlogs; It's been three weeks since the Alaska Department of Fish and Game seized dozens of animals from a wildlife facility outside Haines. But a number were left behind; An IT outage that grounded all Alaska Airlines flights Sunday night led to cancellations today at the Anchorage and Fairbanks international airports.

Tonight on the KRBD Evening Report….Hardware failure grounded all Alaska Airlines flights Sunday causing rerouting and delays, thousands of Alaskans have been caught for years in backlogs for government benefits, and a man is being investigated after bringing a “ghost gun” through Wrangell's airport.Those stories and more coming up…And a note, KRBD is currently without regular reporters, so local news will be very limited. We hope to be able to hire someone soon.

Plus: SS&C Technologies is set to buy Calastone from Carlyle for about $1 billion. Microsoft alerts firms to server software attacks. Ariana Aspuru hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft issues emergency updates for zero-day SharePoint flaws. Alaska Airlines resumes operations following an IT outage. The UK government reconsiders demands for Apple iCloud backdoors. A French Senate report raises concerns over digital sovereignty. Meta declines to sign the EU's new voluntary AI code of practice. A new report claims last year's CrowdStrike outage disrupted over 750 hospitals. The World Leaks extortion group has breached Dell's Customer Solution Centers. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) issues a critical warning about two severe security flaws in Aruba Instant On Access Points. A single compromised password leads to a UK transport company's demise. An AI assistant falls for fake metadata magic.  Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Maria Varmazis, host of T-Minus Space Daily, joins Dave Bittner to unpack AST SpaceMobile's request to use amateur radio spectrum for satellite communications. They explore what this means for ham radio users, the role of secondary spectrum access, and why the amateur community is pushing back. It's a nuanced look at spectrum sharing, space tech, and regulatory tensions. Selected Reading Global hack on Microsoft product hits U.S., state agencies, researchers say (The Washington Post) Microsoft releases emergency patches for SharePoint RCE flaws exploited in attacks (Bleeping Computer) Alaska Airlines requests all flights to be grounded: FAA (ABC News) UK government seeks way out of clash with US over Apple encryption (Financial Times) Digital vassals? French Government ‘exposes citizens' data to US' (Brussels Signal) Meta snubs the EU's voluntary AI guidelines (The Verge) At Least 750 US Hospitals Faced Disruptions During Last Year's CrowdStrike Outage, Study Finds (WIRED) Dell confirms breach of test lab platform by World Leaks extortion group (Bleeping Computer) HPE warns of hardcoded passwords in Aruba access points (Bleeping Computer) Weak password allowed hackers to sink a 158-year-old company (BBC News) Claude Jailbroken to Mint Unlimited Stripe Coupons (General Analysis) Audience Survey Complete our annual audience survey before August 31. Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at cyberwire@n2k.com to request more info. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alaska Airlines is still reeling from last night's IT outage, wildfires continue to rage across the state, and Seattle Public Schools faces federal funding cuts. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Paige Browning. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Palestinian health ministry says Israeli gunfire has killed dozens of people trying to get food in Gaza. We'll tell you why a Delta Airlines pilot apologized to passengers, and why Alaska Airlines temporarily grounded their flights. Japan's prime minister is facing even more pressure after the country's election. President Donald Trump says he'll tank a deal with an NFL team unless they change their name. Plus, Coldplay gave concert goers an extra warning after that incident. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 5 things you need to know before the stock market opens today: Block is heading into the S&P 500, Alaska Airlines is back in the air after an IT outage, China's exports of rare earth magnets to the U.S. jumped in June, Trump administration officials are planning to tour renovations at the headquarters of the Federal Reserve, and the viral “Coldplay kiss-cam” moment that broke the internet.  Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin.  Follow Squawk Pod for the best moments, interviews and analysis from our TV show in an audio-first format. 

//The Wire//2100Z July 21, 2025////ROUTINE////BLUF: CHINA BEGINS MAJOR HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT IN TIBET. ALASKA AIRLINES SUFFERS IT OUTAGE, GROUNDING ALL FLIGHTS SUNDAY EVENING.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Central Asia: Over the weekend, Chinese authorities began construction on a major hydroelectric power plant in a remote region of Tibet. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held at a site adjacent to the future Yarlung Tsangpo Hydroelectric Power Plant in Nyingchi. This project is scheduled to be completed by 2033, and for comparison will allegedly be roughly three times the size of the Three Gorges Dam project.-HomeFront-Washington: Sunday evening an IT outage resulted in all Alaska Airlines aircraft being grounded for several hours. Roughly 150 flights were canceled as a result of the outage, and airline representatives have warned of future disruptions due to malfunctioning equipment. So far no cause for the outage has been disclosed, beyond general comments of unspecified equipment failure.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: As with most Chinese industrial projects, the scale of the hydroelectric project in Tibet is impressive. However in this case, they are attempting to build the largest hydroelectric power plant in human history...directly in the middle of a region legendary for extreme seismic activity. More broadly however, there are mitigating factors which complicate this seemingly glaring mistake.As the dam will also be built over a river that flows into India, various concerns are present regarding restricting the flow of water into India. Conversely, since India will be the primary customer of the electricity, these concerns will likely waver over time due to India's extremely poor infrastructure. In short, China knows that India is desperate for electricity, so China is going to dam up a river on the Indian border and use what would have been India's own river to produce electricity to sell back to them. Consequently, since this power plant will be used to provide electricity for export, CCP officials probably don't care as much about the national security risks when/if the plant gets destroyed due to an earthquake or due to combat action.Considering that this dam can also be used to halt the flow of water into India, this dam highlights the often forgotten detail that the People's Republic of China rarely does anything that does not also have military value. The Yarlung Tsangpo River (which is known as the Brahmaputra River in India) accounts for roughly 7% of all of the freshwater supply in India (at least, according to the Indian government). This means that China can quite literally turn the screws on India, and apply pressure to their BRICS partner as necessary. Indian leadership, only interested in short-term gains (and cheap electricity), have either forgotten that there's no such thing as a free lunch and/or are so desperate to keep their failing electrical grid from outright collapse that they don't care about the potential military impacts that will occur in a decade when the plant comes online.Analyst: S2A1Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground//END REPORT//

A major software outage forces Alaska Airlines to temporarily ground all flights overnight, causing potential delays. Also, President Trump marks six months back in office amid renewed turmoil over the Jeffrey Epstein files and the president's own ties to the disgraced financier. Plus, former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron steps down after a viral ‘Kiss Cam' moment at a Coldplay concert sparks rumors of an alleged affair with a fellow employee. And, a teenage surf instructor speaks out following a harrowing encounter with a shark off the Florida coast. 

A man drove into a crowd outside of a Los Angles night club injuring 30 people. The Alaska Airlines IT system went down and it caused flight cancelations and delays. The man who was caught cheating on his wife at the Coldplay concert stepped down as CEO of Astronomer. Lastly, vanilla ice cream was the most ordered ice cream on Instacart!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Daily Herold, Jon dives deep into a newly declassified appendix of the DOJ's OIG report on the Hillary Clinton email scandal, and what he uncovers is jaw-dropping. From thumb drives the FBI never reviewed, to evidence possibly exfiltrated from the Executive Office of the President, Jon walks through the buried intel that shows how the Clinton investigation was stonewalled and mishandled at the highest levels. He breaks down shocking Russian intelligence reports intercepted by the FBI, including claims that Loretta Lynch fed updates to the Clinton campaign and that key evidence was wiped just in time. Jon connects the dots between the Clinton cover-up and the broader Russiagate conspiracy, arguing both were necessary to protect the establishment and undermine Trump. With new attention on the Fed, Bitcoin moves by Trump Media, and curious coincidences around Alaska Airlines and CrowdStrike, this episode delivers a dense hit of corruption, speculation, and long-awaited receipts.

A notorious drug lord is now on U.S. soil. Why “Fito” was extradited, and the federal charges he'll face in court today. Plus, Russia says it's open to peace talks, but with big strings attached. Why Ukraine and its allies are not buying it. And a glitch shuts down Alaska Airlines nationwide. What went wrong?

Alaska Airlines is back in the air after an IT outage. The AP's Jennifer King reports.

TOP STORIES AT 11 with GUESTS Chris Sullivan, Spike O'Neill and travel agent Steve Danishek // AGREE TO DISAGREE // WE HEAR YOU! and WORDS TO LIVE BY

Alaska Airlines gets back on track after an overnight malfunction, sand in between the toes on Revere Beach, and trash workers still have no deal. Stay in "The Loop" with WBZ NewsRadio.

July 21, 2025 ~ Debbie Dingell wants answers in Gaza. Representative Matt Maddock discusses his concerns over ranked choice voting and the status of a budget. Tulsi Gabbard says Obama meddled with 2016 election. Trump tells Washington Commanders to change their name back to the Redskins, sues Wall Street Journal. Alaska Airlines has company wide ground stop. Another close call in the air and the day's biggest headlines.

July 21, 2025 ~ WJR's Marie Osborne discusses today's Alaska Airline ground stop and another close call between two aircrafts.

Millions of Americans across parts of the U.S. are experiencing severe weather. On Wednesday, several suspected tornadoes swept across Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast is under flooding alerts with days of heavy rains expected, and more than 70 million people in the eastern U.S. are under heat alerts through Thursday. In 2023, an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot tried to turn off the engines of a plane after he was feeling the effects of "magic mushrooms." Joseph Emerson, who is set to be arraigned on federal charges next month, spoke to CBS News about the incident and mental health as there is now a bipartisan effort to address barriers facing pilots when it comes to mental health issues. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama addressed speculation about their marriage while on the latest episode of a podcast Michelle Obama co-hosts with her brother. Rumors swirled after she was absent from former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Trump's inauguration. On the podcast, Michelle Obama said, "there hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quittin' on my man." Alexis Ohanian and Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall join "CBS Mornings" to announce the comeback of Athlos, a women's-only track competition launching its first-ever field event this October. Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno join "CBS Mornings" to talk about playing brothers Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher in the final season of the hit series "The Summer I Turned Pretty." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boeing, Alaska Airlines settle lawsuit // Is your hot garbage piling up? // Massive pickleball complex replaces only safe RV lot in Seattle // AGREE TO DISAGREE: Voting at 16 // Private beaches // WE HEAR YOU! and WORDS TO LIVE BY

On this podcast episode, we find out that Turkish has killed their million mile promo, we talk about Ritz card rumors, and we shed some light on how Greg's uncle can redeem his transferable points for cash.Giant Mailbag(01:30) - One reader tries to convince Greg to do the JetBlue 25 for 25 promotionMega Airline Promo Updates(04:53) - Turkish kills their 6 continent, 1 million mile promoFind out more about that promo in our previous podcast episode here. (Or read our post about it here.)(09:09) - Etihad tries to make their promo relevant(13:20) - JetBlue promo(s)Learn more about the JetBlue 25 for 25 promo here.Learn about the Dunkin' promo here.Card News(21:25) - Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (new offer)(22:17) - UBS Visa Infinite: increased fees, increased benefitsCrazy Thing(28:01) - Rumor: Is the Ritz card going to increase fee to $695 on Aug 1? Apparently not...Bonvoyed(36:31) - Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan seems to be having a spat of hacked accountsAwards, Points, and More(38:49) - Porter Airlines now bookable using Alaska Airlines miles. Prices start at 4.5k/6kMain Event: No longer traveling? How to cash out your transferable points(41:03) - The premise...(43:23) - Brokers? Please no. Explicitly allowed options only will be discussed today(46:00) - American Express Membership Rewards(53:06) - Bilt Rewards(55:53) - Capital One Miles(57:18) - Citi ThankYou Rewards(1:01:01) - Chase Ultimate RewardsQuestion of the Week(1:06:35) - How can you book a JetBlue flight with Etihad miles to an airport Etihad claims doesn't exist?Subscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don't forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

An update on the Air India crash investigation, with focus on the flight data recorders installed and recovered from the aircraft.John explains the identical dual flight data and voice recorders installed on the plane. Viewer questions led to further investigation and clarification of the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR) installed on the plane.In other news, the NTSB has issued more than 30 findings related to the January 2024 Alaska Airlines door blowout event. The findings reveal how the manufacturing process of the Boeing 737 Max allowed a plug door to be reinstalled on the aircraft without the bolts that secure the door to the fuselage.Todd shares his insights from his time as a Boeing engineer. He highlights the complexity of the manufacturing process that involves Spirit in Wichita, Kansas making the fuselage and shipping to Boeing in Seattle for final assembly. Todd and John discuss each of the NTSB findings and the story they tell about what went wrong and what went right in this event. Don't miss what's to come from the Flight Safety Detectives - subscribe to the Flight Safety Detectives YouTube channel, listen at your favorite podcast service and visit the Flight Safety Detectives website. Music: “Inspirational Sports” license ASLC-22B89B29-052322DDB8

CPK Kung Pao Pasta Sauce – sauce sold at Costco. Dukes in Malibu. NTSB reports on Alaska Airlines coming off midflight 18 months ago. What were their conclusions? // Dean Sharp, the House Whisperer – his Sunday show will be simulcasting on KOGO in San Diego // Dean Sharp –How often should you be painting your house. Water leaked from the sprinkler valve and ran for 72 hours. Power washing wood deck. //LA County announces 600 layoffs Swamp People star gets married Cheyenne Pickle  #CPK #Costco #KungPaoSauce #DeanSharp #DIY #HomeDesign #Malibu #Dukes #AlaskaAirlines #KOGO #SanDiego #LACOunty #JobLayoffs #SwampPeople 

In our news wrap Tuesday, a heatwave is peaking in some parts of the Northeast with more than 160 million people enduring brutal conditions, RFK Jr. told lawmakers that he's hired back nearly 1,000 staffers who had been laid off from the CDC and the National Institutes of Health and the NTSB said failures at several levels led a door plug panel to come off during an Alaska Airlines flight. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

A ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be on shaky ground after both sides traded strikes. Iranian hackers appear to be eying potential targets in the US. Consumers have been more cautious spenders lately. Boeing and the FAA are sharing the blame for last year's blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight. Plus, the latest target in a string of consumer boycotts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your ex weaponizes restraining orders to steal your kids. Can you beat their legal game of checkers? Welcome to Feedback Friday!And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1165On This Week's Feedback Friday:A glow-up for Gabriel Mizrahi!A glow-up for Alaska Airlines!You're trapped in a custody nightmare where your ex and his new wife weaponize restraining orders, manipulate police reports, and systematically alienate you from your daughters. Can you outsmart their legal chess game before losing your children forever?You're a 62-year-old gay man married to someone you've never been physically attracted to, both secretly using Grindr, until a passionate affair forces an impossible choice. Will you risk everything comfortable for uncertain love?You left your dream job for a prestigious role with someone you admired, only to discover broken promises, micromanagement hell, and career stagnation. How do you escape when going backward isn't an option?Recommendation of the Week: Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks — Plenty, Flavor, and Simple.Your 21-year-old brother is hell-bent on buying a motorcycle despite being a reckless speedster with multiple tickets. Can you convince someone who thinks they're invincible that they're actually mortal?Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps! Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordanShopify: 3 months @ $1/month (select plans): shopify.com/jordanSimpliSafe: 50% off + 1st month free: simplisafe.com/jordanDeleteMe: 20% off: joindeleteme.com/jordan, code JORDANLand Rover Defender: landroverusa.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.